Naomi Pierce isn’t the type to let a cowboy sweep her off feet. It’s not her first rodeo, after all. But when she returns to her Texas hometown, she can’t help but be swept up again in the rough-and-tumble world of hard-riding, bronco-busting good-ol’-boys she loved as a girl. She might be here to photograph her Rodeo Queen best friend. But it’s one fine-looking cowboy who really captures her eye…
Brice Harper is all man, all muscle, and all heart. From the moment he rides into the stadium, he can’t help but notice the beautiful stranger with a camera watching him from the stands. It doesn’t take a zoom lens to see the sparks of instant attraction. But things really heat up when he meets Naomi up-close–and he discovers that someone is stalking her friend. Brice wouldn’t be any kind of cowboy if he didn’t offer to help the ladies out. But can the rough rider keep this spirited shutterbug out of danger–without risking his heart?
Titles in the Heart of Texas series include: The Christmas Cowboy Hero – Cowboy, Cross My Heart – My Favorite Cowboy –
Title: Cowboy, Cross My Heart
Series: Heart of Texas #2
Author: Donna Grant
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Published: August 28, 2018
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
My Rating: 4.5 stars
It’s been a bit more than a decade (story wise) since we met Abby, Clayton, Brice and Caleb in The Christmas Cowboy Hero. Abby’s younger brothers are all grown up now, and making their own marks in the world. I don’t often do warnings unless the subject matter is totally not obvious from the cover description blurb of the book. In order to avoid spoilers, I cannot go into details (or rather I could but I won’t). Some of the happenings in Cowboy, Cross My Heart could be ripped from recent news headlines. There are some very, very bad men in this story. I loved this story, was drawn in and held captive to the suspense and romance throughout… yet I could not continue with this review without some comment about the bad guys of this story.
I happen to love a series where we get to also see what has happened in previous couples lives since we last met. In this case, it’s been a long while between stories and Brice and Caleb are all grown up, strong men in their own rights and ready for that next adventure that may bring them the love of their lives.
Naomi and Brice seem almost destined to meet since Brice has been aware of Naomi in various ways throughout this rodeo day. When he hears a woman’s scream, Brice sets off to help and discovers Naomi and her friend Whitney being harassed and assaulted by a man. He runs the guy off and gets the chance to be in Naomi’s life, for the moment at least.
Naomi had left her small hometown to go off to college and establish her photographer career. She’s back to photograph her best friend as she is the current Rodeo Queen. What she never expected was the danger her friend is in or the handsome cowboy who steps in to help and along the way captures her heart as well.
Cowboy, Cross My Heart is a compelling Romance that borders more on a Romantic Suspense story. There are very bad guys here, and we’ll watch as not only Brice and Naomi set out to solve this mystery but Brice’s entire family will pitch in to help. That gives us the chance to catch up on lives from the previous book and get a feel for the family dynamics today.
I was totally swept up in this story, in not only the romance of it but the suspense as well. If you love a really good cowboy love story with a large dash of suspense and a mystery to solve, then you’ll enjoy Cowboy, Cross My Heart.
*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.*
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