Seduce Me, Cowboy by Maisey Yates

My reading ruts are nearly paved they are so predictable. Maisey Yates? Yes, please.

From Amazon:

When a rebellious rancher meets the pastor's daughter, it's a match made in…Copper Ridge! From New York Times bestselling author Maisey Yates!

Sheltered from her own desires for so long, Hayley Thompson wants to experience life. A new job at Gray Bear Construction is a start. The work she can handle. It's her boss—reclusive, sexy Jonathan Bear—who's scrambling her mind and her hormones…

No matter how successful he becomes, Jonathan's reputation will always precede him. And his type of woman is usually nothing like prim, innocent Hayley. Yet he can't resist unleashing the fire beneath her pent-up facade—even if seduction means losing his heart…


Ok, tbh, this one wasn't a winner. I loved Jonathan. He's proud and strong and not at all ashamed of who he is- a man who is self-made, rich, and loves his stuff. He knows he's an ass and he still can't help wanting Haley, who is all allll ALLLLLLL wrong for him. Haley is innocent, sweet, pure- all those words that just don't happen in 2017. She's played it safe and sheltered as the pastor's daughter. She's pretty unbelievable. I didn't dislike Haley, but her character would be much better pre-internet days. (That said, I do know a 22 year old woman who has many of these qualities. She wraps herself in her innocence like a martyr and holds it in front of her like an excuse. "I'd rather never have a date than date boys like that!" Riiiiight.)

What I didn't buy, and what ultimately weakened the book for me tho, was the speed at which Jonathan went from "Jerk of the top most level who will never love" to "madly in love with the virginal heroine". We're talking hours. Minutes.  I got whiplash. I feel like the proportion of people in Copper Ridge who were abused/abandoned/orphaned as kids is WAY above the national average, but I'm too lazy to go back and count. That said, I go back to Maisey Yates and Copper Ridge over and over, even with a few serious duds, because even when the plots are flawed, the writing is strong and the characters are interesting, but this one isn't her best.

Seduce Me, Cowboy came out on March 7th.

Hold Me, Cowboy by Maisey Yates

Hold Me, Cowboy is the continuation of the Copper Ridge series. The series seem to circle around a couple groups of people, so I'm not clear on if this is the end or not. Sadly, I missed the one before this, and it's the one I'd most like to know the story on!  I started Hold Me, Cowboy several weeks ago, and through no fault of the book, set it aside and forgot about it. Occasionally, I like to go through and finish up anything I've started, and swept this one up again.

Here's the summary:
Oil and water have nothing on Sam McCormack and Madison West. The wealthy rancher has never met a haughtier—or more appealing—woman in his life. And when they're snowed in, he's forced to admit this ice queen can scorch him with one touch…

Madison had plans for the weekend! Instead she's stranded with a man who drives her wild. A night of no-strings fun leaves both of them wanting more when they return to Copper Ridge. His proposal: twelve days of hot sex before Christmas! But will it ever be enough?

So I didn't really like Madison in the previous books, and the other book with Sam (his brother's book) is the one book in the series that I DNF, so going into this my expectations were not high. Madison is just a total bitch, and she knows it. Amazingly, Yates is able to take her from a bitch to someone you can understand, who is a bitch for good reason. Madison learns early that men can't be trusted and that even if they were equally complicit in scandal that the blame will be unevenly places (very Scarlet Letter.) She's ready to start enjoying life again after a decade of playing the ice queen, and the first man she finds is Sam.

Sam doesn't like Maddy, because he buys into her persona. Sam doesn't like to admit that he has emotion, and as an artist he's completely blocked without admitting he is feeling things. He's determined to fight his way through artist's block without thinking about the things he's pushed down. When he starts this 12 day affair with Maddy it forces him to realize that by ignoring what he feels, he'll be in the same place looking in forever. I liked Sam quite a bit. He's bluntly honest about everyone's life but his own, and doesn't take anything from Maddy.

Is the romance believable? It is very fast (WHAT IS WITH FAST IN EVERY BOOK???) and the climatic ending is fairly anti-climatic. It is true that they have known each other for a long time, and the 12 days are very emotionally intense so I suppose it is entirely possible. Is it a satisfactory ending to the Copper Ridge series? No, I really need to see Daddy West get his, but as everyone pairs up and has babies it seems that the end is nigh without that bit of resolution. Would I recommend the series as a whole? Yes-- but only to someone who has already developed a love for a small intertwined town. I would not recommend this one to a new reader as it is very hit or miss.

Hold Me, Cowboy comes out on November 8th.

One Night Charmer by Maisey Yates

Maisey Yate? Yes, please!

From Amazon:
Copper Ridge, Oregon's favorite bachelor is about to meet his match

If the devil wore flannel, he'd look like Ace Thompson. He's gruff. Opinionated. Infernally hot. The last person that Sierra West wants to ask for a bartending job—not that she has a choice. Ever since discovering that her "perfect" family is built on a lie, Sierra has been determined to make it on her own. Resisting her new boss should be easy when they're always bickering. Until one night, the squabbling stops…and something far more dangerous takes over.

Ace has a personal policy against messing around with staff—or with spoiled rich girls. But there's a steel backbone beneath Sierra's silver-spoon upbringing. She's tougher than he thought, and so much more tempting. Enough to make him want to break all his rules, even if it means risking his heart…

So it looks like Maisey Yates is going to follow the plan laid out by Shalvis' Lucky Harbor and Mallery's Fool's Gold and run an extended small town series focus around small groups of three, a series within a series. This is a setup I enjoy, and of course now I'll be keeping my eye out looking for potential matchups.

As it turns out, this one is a bit hard to talk about without spoilers, as a major event happens early on in the book. This was shocking to me, something you rarely see in novels published this decade, and I immediately worried that it would fall flat.  The unfolding is well done tho, with the reader clearly in the loop from the first moment and instead of playing off as completely corny, the expectation from the reader is built up nicely.  I thought it was handled really well. However, I suspect some readers will hate it. (Sorry to be vague, but spoilers!)

Ace is charming and hot and from his appearance in the first three Copper Ridge books I thought I knew who he was. As it turns out, Ave hides a lot behind his role as the helpful bartender, and his life is empty and lonely. Ace knows everyone and likes everyone but feels like he's messed up so much of his life outside of Copper Ridge and can't really ever recover.  Fortunately for him, Sierra comes along and demands that he face his past (it's really not optional, at all) and while he struggles a bit with it he ultimately pulls it together.

Sierra is a bit of a contradiction. She is a spoiled rich kid, absolutely, but she's also smart and capable. She might have worked at daddy's ranch, but she was good at it. She struggles to find her place when she leaves the ranch, because of course everyone thinks she only got the job because she's family, when really she's a hard worker and completely able to handle what's thrown her way.  I did have a hard time with her stubbornness, and was grateful when she acknowledged that even she wasn't consistent (for example, she keeps driving the truck her dad paid for, after cutting ties.)

In the end, I did enjoy this a good bit. I wasn't expecting to, after the big secret is revealed, but it ended on a good note and I would not hesitate to request another.

One Night Charmer is released on April 19th.

Bad News Cowboy by Maisey Yates

I love love loved the first two Maisey Yates Copper Ridge cowboy books- Part Time Cowboy and Brokedown Cowboy- so of course I requested Bad News Cowboy the instant I saw it.

Here's the summary from Amazon:

Can the bad boy of Copper Ridge, Oregon, make good—and win the rodeo girl of his dreams?

Kate Garrett keeps life simple—working hard, riding her beloved horses, playing cards with her brothers. Lately, though, she feels a bit restless, especially when family friend Jack Monaghan is around. Sexy and shameless, Jack is the kind of trouble you don't tangle with unless you want your heart broken. Still, Kate could always use his help in learning how to lasso someone a little less high risk…

Jack can't pinpoint the moment the Garrett brothers' little sister suddenly stopped seeming so…little. Now here he is, giving flirting tips to the one woman who needs zero help turning him on. Love's a game he's never wanted to play. But he'll have to hurry up and learn how before the best thing that ever entered his life rides right back out again…

Right up my romance loving alley, right? Guys, I struggled so hard with this one. I never really liked Kate at all (in this book, I liked her quite a bit in Part Time Cowboy.) Jack falls hard for her and while she's willing to admit that she really likes him, she's really scared of making a commitment, and more generally, becoming an adult. She has a messed up past, with a mother that abandoned her and a father who drunk himself to death and she desperately wants to remain solo and unattached so that she can't screw up her own life too. By the end of the book I did understand this, but as it's happening Kate is just so unlikable. It's not explained well, even when Kate's internal monologue is explaining it, and if I'm being honest I put the book down for a month before guilt got the best of me.

That said, Jack is so great. He has issues unrelated to Kate that he grows up and resolves in this one. And when it comes time for honesty and loyalty, he never waivers, even when he knows Kate's brothers are going to come after him. In fairness, Kate does recognize these things when no one else does, which makes it all the worse when she ignores it for her own fear.

A few days after the publication date my feelings of guilt got the best of me. I knew I was around 65% and I told myself I was going to dedicate myself to this book and get it down. I sat down to read and imagine my shock when the book ended around 70%  and the rest was a novella! I knew it seemed off to be having this big climatic scene at 65%... score one for a paper book, I guess. (Tho I've been fooled by paper too!)

Overall, not a great entry to the series, but I'm still going to keep Yates on my "must read" list.

Bad News Cowboy came out on July 28.

Brokedown Cowboy by Maisey Yates

Yowsa. Guys, I have a new autobuy (well, auto-read, I rarely buy) author. Remember when I read Part Time Cowboy and loved it so much? I had already requested the next book in the series (this one), and even though it wasn't coming out for months, I could not resist jumping into it. I couldn't stand not knowing how she brought Connor back to life. Was I disappointed? No, not at all. In fact, I'm chomping at the bit to read Kate's story too.

Here's your summary:

There are lines best friends shouldn't cross, but in Copper Ridge, Oregon, the temptation might be too much… 
If practice makes perfect, Connor Garrett should be world champion of being alone. Since losing his wife he's concentrated exclusively on his family's ranch. Until Felicity Foster needs a place to stay and Connor invites her to move in temporarily. That's what friends do. What friends don't do? Start fantasizing about each other in their underwear. Or out of it… 
Since high school, Liss has kept her raging crush in check. But helping Connor rebuild his life only reinforces how much she longs to be a part of it. One explosive encounter, and she'll discover that getting what you always wanted can feel better than you ever dreamed…

Friends to lovers! Cowboys!  Explosive hot attraction! This book has it all.  I am turning into such a fan girl.

Ok, so. Connor is grieving madly. He married his high school sweetheart, his first love, who tragically is killed in a car accident. (Years before the series starts. This is no spoiler.) Connor is frozen in time. He's so afraid to move on and take another chance at life, at all. He's not just afraid to love again, but to enjoy any part of life. He's even afraid to put himself back into the ranch. He really just wants to stay home and drink himself to sleep every night so that he can't feel anything. But... mayyyybe it's all fear, and not so much mourning, not when he really examines it. Can he possibly let go of his fear? Connor has so many terrific quirks and his history is pretty entertainingly straight and narrow. He was so believable in both his grief and his struggle to hold onto it.

Liss' last relationship ended badly as well, for both the relationship and her credit when her ex took off with her new truck and made some new debt in her name. Now her landlord is selling the house and Liss has no place to go because no one will rent to her. Connor wakes up from his stupor long enough to realize that a good friend would let her live with him, and offers her a room. Liss has some reservations, she HAS been in love with him for most her life, but doesn't see that she really has a choice. Things start off friendly, but heat up pretty quickly in such close quarters. They both fight so hard to not let it happen, and then to not repeat it, and then not not feel anything else, and then it all dissolves in bewilderment and heartache. (Before the requisite happy ending, of course.)

Did I ultimately believe in their love story? Yes, I did. Was the tension and the dialogue every bit as delicious as Part Time Cowboy? Yes, it was. Did I love ALL the book to pieces? Well, no. There were moments when I really felt uncomfortable about the way Liss felt about Connor. She was willing to take whatever scraps he'd give her before and after the death of his wife, and while she certainly didn't put her life on hold while he was married, she seemed pretty internally desperate to be with him, and only him. I'm a huge fan of friends to lovers, and this typically would not be a turnoff for me, but something about it gave me a tiny tiny twinge of uncomfortableness. All that said, I'd still give it 4.5 stars on Goodreads, if that were possible, and will likely just go on and give it a full 5.

Brokedown Cowboy is released today.

Part Time Cowboy by Maisey Yates

So we all know how Lisa can't resist a cowboy romance. This makes no sense at all, because I have been to the rodeo and at least half of them wear their pants so tight you can't believe they can sit, let alone ride a horse.  Despite this, I can't resist so of course I requested Part Time Cowboy.

Here's your summary:

A onetime bad girl comes home to small-town Oregon in the first in a sexy, heartfelt new series from USA TODAY bestselling author Maisey Yates 

Sadie Miller isn't expecting any welcome-home parades on her return to Copper Ridge. Least of all from part-time rancher, full-time lawman Eli Garrett. The straitlaced, impossibly hot deputy sheriff glares at her as if she's the same teenage hoodlum who fled town ten years ago. But running from her demons has brought Sadie full circle, ready to make a commitment at last. Not to a man, but to a bed-and-breakfast. On Garrett land. Okay, so her plan has a tiny flaw… 

Eli works too hard to let a blonde ball of trouble mess up his town. But keeping an eye on Sadie makes it tough to keep his hands off her. And if she's so wrong for him, why does being with her feel so right?

Guys. This book is HOT. A lot of romances (but not all, let's not go to that stereotype, k?) contain s-e-x. Honestly, most of the time it's not exciting and I skim it for dialogue or internal dialogue. It's not that it's bad, or purple prose (at least not any more) but it's just not what I care about. THIS book tho? It's believable and hot and the tension is delicious.

Eli is going down (that's what she said!) as one of my favorite heroes. He is straight as an arrow and feels responsible for the entire world. He carefully maintains control of every detail of every aspect of his life, and attempts to control everyone else's. His youth was not happy, and while he logically knows the problems and situation weren't of his making, he can't shake the idea that if he can only control everything that nothing bad will happen again. Of course we can all see how this could turn out badly, right? Sadie is something he absolutely can not control, not the person and not his intense reaction to her. Only around her can he forget about everyone else for any time at all. Most people would revel in this bit of release from responsibility, but Eli sees it as abandoning his duty. These two things ultimately clash at the end, and it's just beautiful.

Sadie isn't really as wild as the summary, and Eli, believe. She too has a a serious history in this town, a secret history of heartbreak, and she's back to try and face that. Eli was a central figure in the events leading to her disappearance ten years ago and Sadie has to face up to the fact that he wasn't actually to blame. I hate that I can't say more without giving it away, but trust me when I say that her exploration of what really happened and his need for ultimate control, always, come together in a fairly heartbreaking manner.  They are so perfect together and you really just want to cheer for them. No one steps out of character and the resolution comes from both of them. I believe in them.

The dialogue is both witty and brutal without getting overly dramatic or hokey. The scenes with the siblings play out just as well as the ones between Eli and Sadie. The cast of secondary characters really round out the book. I've already got the second book, about Eli's brother Connor, on my Kindle and can't wait to dive in. I can't see at all how Yates is going to dig him out of the grief he feels for his dead wife.  Even Lydia, who also wants Eli's attention, is terrific. It looks like there are three potential books here (Eli, Connor, their sister Kate), plus a little novella, but I'd love to see the whole town get some action (Lydia, the bartender Ace, Alison.)

With Part Time Cowboy, Maisey Yates and jumped right onto my list of "grab every title you see" and I am seriously hopeful that she stays there.