Never Love a Cowboy - Lorraine Heath

"I would not make a good husband. I do, however, make an excellent lover..."

Harrison Bainbridge, the second son of an English earl, left his home seeking a scandal-free life away from society's stuffy restraints. Then he arrives in Texas, never expecting that a sassy saloon-keeper's daughter would capture his eye. With her outspoken ways and flashing eyes, Jessye Kane is more than tempting. But although she is willing to be his partner in a daring business venture, she is unwilling to take the passion he offers.

Jessye knows that noble-born Harrison isn't for the likes of her, but beneath his devil-may-care exterior, she senses a deeper vulnerability. Then he's suddenly injured, risking his life to save her from mortal danger. And Jessye vows to do anything to make him whole again-forcing this rugged scoundrel who claims he has no heart to take the greatest risk of all...on love.

 

After having read Lorraine Heath's Texas trilogy I open every one of her books with the expectation of finding similar gems. Unfortunately it never happened again and although this one was a nice read it is still far below the magic of Texas Destiny.

The hero of this book is an Englishman, a younger son whose father decided he had enough of his troubles and sent him to America. He finds himself very much attracted to the heroine but has no thoughts of settling down, what he wants, or believes he wants, is to share some mutual pleasure with her.

They invest in cattle with some of the hero's friends and embark on a journey to take them to market. On the way they get to know each other, what they are running from and their strengths. The heroine is running away from an event in her past who left her hurt and vulnerable, the hero is running from his bad relationship with his father and all that entails. It takes some time for them to realise that they can trust each other and that they want a future in common. I have to say I felt the heroine took a bit too long in realising that and leading us all to a happy conclusion.

I did like it that the heroine was a strong woman. She was a saloon owner's daughter, used to deal with all types of men and thus not trusting many. She is used to do for herself and definitely does not need a man she doesn't feel treats her as an equal. It was good to know that the hero was just not a shallow rake but I didn't quite get what was so bad in his past to make him use that mask.

But all is well that ends well and this one definitely did. It is a part of series, of which I read the first one a long time ago, and while I found it an ok read it did lack that spark to keep me turning the pages and running to get the next one in the series.

Grade: 3.5/5