In general a fairly fun book. I liked the set up of her being his best friend's baby sister and them having known each other for years. The story was mostly well written and I liked the heroine's stick-to-it-iveness. What I didn't care for so much was that the hero took way too long to realize he was in love with the heroine. Plus even though he slept with her twice I didn't feel like he was as attracted to her as I like my heroes to be.

My biggest complaint is a common one for me. The horse details were just not right. I'm going to put them in spoilers in case you don't want to read my rant. First off a common failing of romance authors is that he was well off from raising horses. That's just not very realistic. You raise horses because you're already rich not to become rich. But they had other income and it's a romance I'll give it a pass. Then they sell 2 horses a week. I almost LOL'd. That's 104 horses a year. A person working hard all day long could realistically work 8 horses a day. You'd need 13 people on the payroll just to ride the sale horses. Not to mention the employees to take care of them feed and turnout wise and other duties like keeping fences and barns in repair etc. Also to have that many for sale you'd need at least twice that in young stock coming up in the wings. Those would all have to be worked too. Ground breaking and what not. Not to mention the number of horses you'd have to have for breeding stock to keep that many horses for sale. A horse can only have one foal a year. Let's not even talk about the horse market nowadays.

Then there were smaller errors. Taking a bridle and a lead rope to catch the crazy stallion. First you wouldn't take a bridle and if you did you wouldn't need a lead. Second when she got there she put a rope halter on him. Which she didn't have. Then she attached the lead. Goofy. You always attach lead to the halter before catching the horse. In fact the halter and lead are very rarely ever separated. Then he jerks her off her feet when he rears. I taught riding lessons for years. One thing I always stressed is if the horse goes up don't try to hold him 'cuz you can't. Let the rope slide through your hands until you get to the knot at the end, and there should always be some sort of stopper there. A horse can't rear high enough to pull five feet of rope attached to a five foot person with extended arm included out of your hands. When he comes back down you still have him unless he bolts and even then you got a shot at stopping him. Some horses strike but not many. A horse is a prey animal. His first primordial instinct is to run from danger. Still if he does strike and you're where you're supposed to be by his shoulder and not in front of him he can't strike you. It's a very, very, rare horse that's a killer and this one clearly wasn't by the story that the author told. Also, by the story that the author told the heroine was a professional at this. She would have known all of this.

These things may seem minor to none horse people but they absolutely grate on me. A little research is in order. I'll raise my hand right now to vet any author's horse stuff for believability before publishing.

On the other hand I thought the hero's reasons for his difficulties in letting someone close to him were valid. I do think that a lifetime of having to let go of animals you love might damage a sensitive person. I would just have liked it to have been a bit harder for him to dismiss the heroine though and as I said before, I thought he came to his realization of love a bit too late. So really, other than the horse stuff, it was a middling decent read.

I received this free from netGalley for review. ( )

Review Posted on HarlequinJunkie.com

Sunset Seduction by Charlene Sands: I read the prequel to Sunset Seduction (Sunset Surrender) a few weeks ago, and I’m glad I did. It laid a wonderful foundation for the characters in this book. However, it could be read as a stand-alone easily enough.

Lucas Slade has been friends with Casey Thomas for a long time. They toured the rodeo circuit together, and he always admired his friend for taking care of his half-sister after they lost their parents in a tornado. One night, when Audrey snuck away with a couple of the younger cowboys, she got in over her head and Luke was there in her time of need. He agreed not to narc on her, as long as she came to him when she felt lonely. To a girl with a monumental crush on Luke, that was more than just a haven in the storm. Read More ( )

Very good book. When Audrey shows up at Sunset Ranch to apologize to Lucas for running out on him after they spent the night together she discovers that he has no idea it was her. He had been doped up on pain meds and only had vague memories of what had happened. So she accepts a job on the ranch to stay close to him until she can find a way to tell him.

I really liked Audrey. She feisty and independent and has no trouble going after what she wants. She has been in love with Lucas for years even though he treats her like a little sister. On that night she thought he had finally seen her as a woman. She was stunned and hurt that he didn't remember what had happened but she was also determined that he would see her for the grown woman she was. I really liked the way that Logan's fiancee did her best to help Audrey with opening Lucas's eyes. I also liked the way that she doesn't put up with his overprotective attitude. I loved the fact that she refused to accept a marriage proposal based on honor only and held out for love. The scene between Audrey, her brother and Lucas was a perfect example of the way that Audrey has learned to stand up for herself against the men who try to do things "for her own good".

Lucas has spent a good share of his life looking at Audrey like a little sister. He never really noticed her as a woman. He wasn't sure he hadn't dreamed the encounter at the Tahoe cabin and he certainly never connected that sexy encounter to Audrey. When he hires her to work with his horses he starts to notice her as more than Casey's little sister, but tries to resist those feelings. It doesn't help that there is something about her that reminds him of that night. When he discovers that it was her he is shocked and horrified at what he had done but he is also still attracted to her. I loved watching him try to reconcile the two ideas of his best friend's little sister and the sexy woman he slept with. It is such a struggle for him. When he finds out about the baby and proposes because it's the right thing to do he can't believe she turns him down. Lucas has the problem that he doesn't do long term relationships, he keeps everything light and short term so that he doesn't have to engage his emotions. It took Audrey's refusal and departure for him to finally face his past and realize why he runs from emotions and why he can't run from his feelings for Audrey. ( )