Skylar Grey lost everything when her fiancé died. But her move back to her hometown, Billings, Montana is not the fresh start she seeks, as too many people know her tragic tale. But then she meets a bull riding cowboy who treats her like she’s made of fire and everything changes.

Cody Galen joined the American Extreme Bull Riders Tour to make money, not friends. He enjoys whiskey, winning, and women and he doesn’t care who he pisses off while he pursues the hell out of all three. He figures he only has a few years left before his body gives out and he might as well go down hard in a blaze of glory. He knows the pretty thing he meets his first night in Billings is no buckle bunny, but if she wants to play that role, who is he to argue?

Neither one of them is looking for anything lasting. But there’s only one thing more dangerous than riding bulls—and that’s love

Titles in the American Extreme Bull Riders Tour series include:  Tanner by Sarah Mayberry – Chase by Barbara Dunlop – Casey by Kelly Hunter – Cody by Megan Crane – Troy by Amy Andrews – Kane by Sinclair Jayne – Austin by Jeannie Watt – Gage by Katherine Garbera

Title:  Cody
Series:  American Extreme Bull Riders Tour #4
Author:  Megan Crane
Genre:  Contemporary Romance
Published:  May 30, 2017
Publisher:  Tule Publishing
My Rating:  4 stars

Cody is an intense romance.  For me, there is simply no other way to describe what is happening between Cody and Skylar but… intense.  I don’t know that it makes for a comfortable love story, but it is a compelling one.  I believe part of that feeling is in the delivery of their back stories in a more narrative fashion instead of actual dialogue between them.  In many ways the reader knows more about what this couple is feeling than they do through much of their story being told.  Don’t misunderstand me, it’s definitely not a story that tells us instead of letting the characters express what is going on, but it is also definitely a story that is not dialogue driven – and for Cody and Skylar’s story, that worked quite well.  Why?  Because at different parts of their story neither of them would have been able to put what was happening in words because of their own emotional baggage.  So we’re told until they can talk to each other enough to bring us into the dialogue.  For some readers this type of story telling won’t work, for those readers I’d have to say just hold on, let things unfold and soon enough you’ll get all the dialogue you desire… in their own time.  I mention it because in many ways it adds to the feeling of things being intense almost to the edge of being out of control.

Skylar had lived in Atlanta, Georgia for years, there she was happy, building a life and planning to marry a wonderful man.  All of that changed in a matter of hours when Thayer had left for a meeting with an old friend and when the police arrived at her door.  One drunk driver and her world had been smashed to pieces.  For two years she was in an emotional fog, much like being seen as a widow without the marriage license.  Eventually she moved back home to Montana, and one unexpected cowboy walked into her life.

Cody knew this was his last year on the Tour.  He’s too old now, even though in his thirties should not be considered old in any field – when you’re riding the bulls, it’s almost ancient.  He’s been in this business long enough to see friends injured beyond hope, to feel death at his shoulders and to see men walk away for love and family before the bulls could put them in the ground.  At this point in his life he had no friends on the tour, only fellow cowboys crazy enough to sit on the back of a bull for the thrill, the money and for some, the notoriety.  His plan was simple, stay at the top of the field, bring home the most prize money he could manage and survive this last year intact enough to start a new life doing something else.  And he was sticking to that plan right up until one amazing woman opened a ranch front door – and he was gone.  No logic to it, no sense to be made, for this woman he’d do things he never expected to do – like stay.

Cody hits all of the emotional buttons any reader could possibly have.  What Cody and Skylar have between them is indeed intense, a bit crazy and more than simply fast, hard, amazing sex.  There’s a connection there that will take faith and trust in each other to forge into a life time.  It will take stepping out of comfort zones and letting someone else in to the important parts, the mind, the heart, the reasons they are as they are today.  If they can do that then the future goes on for mile after amazing mile.

I’d recommend this title and any story in this series to Romance readers who enjoy a complicated couple, intense emotions, sizzling sexy times and the discovery that love doesn’t always show up when we expect but it’s a gift to treasure nonetheless.

*I received an e-ARC of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley. That does not change what I think of this story. It is my choice to leave a review giving my personal opinion about this book.*

Available for the Kindle