Sexy cowboy TJ Daniels loves Norse mythology, Marvel comics, horses, and dirty talk. Not necessarily in that order. When his brother signs him up for a new Bachelorette-Style reality show centered around a female star looking for love with a cowboy, TJ reluctantly agrees to do it, knowing that it will be great publicity for the ranch.
What he didn’t figure on is the show's photographer being Violet Brooks. Violet is TJ’s gun-toting best friend's little sister. She’s the same woman who left the small Montana town ten years ago and never looked back. And yep, she’s the same woman he lusted after when he shouldn’t have. And still does.
So when the pre-show marketing photo shoot involves channeling his inner underwear model—with Violet as the photographer—TJ ends up losing his shirt. His pants. And, if he’s willing to risk everything—including his place on the show that could save his struggling ranch—his heart could be on the line as well.
I’ve never done drugs.
Okay, let me change that to,
I’ve never done illegal drugs—the kinds of drugs that alter your perception of
reality. I’ve never felt the need to.
But at this moment, my first
thought is that God has rolled a massive joint and is blowing smoke in my face.
That’s the only explanation
for why Violet is standing there, wearing cowboy boots and a lacy white dress
that reveals mouthwatering long legs. Long legs that when I was a teen caused
many a morning wood.
It’s all a delusion.
And since it is just a
delusion, why shouldn’t I get to enjoy it some more?
I go back to checking out the
view.
Violet’s shiny brown hair
brushes against her bare shoulders. The hair I long to run my fingers through,
to see if it feels as soft as it looks. The shoulders I crave to kiss, to lick,
to taste.
Around her waist is the gift I
gave her for her seventeenth birthday: a western leather belt with a horse’s
head engraved on the buckle. In retrospect, the gift might not have been a good
idea—if Austin’s comments back then were any indication. After he witnessed her
innocently kissing my cheek, he pulled me aside and interrogated me.
Interrogated me as to why I gave her the present. Interrogated me as to my
intentions when it came to his sister—only he didn’t state it quite so nicely.
And then he made it clear what
he would do to me if my thoughts about her were less than brotherly.
That was before he spent eight
years in the military.
I’m sure he has since added to
the list. Added newly acquired torture techniques. All with the Navy SEALs’
stamp of approval.
Let the fun times commence.
“This should be interesting,”
Jake says, low enough so only I hear him. His tone is sitting on the fence.
Cracking up is on one side, concern on the other. And right now, his tone is
tottering more on the laughter side of things. “And by the way, you might want
to close your mouth before it fills up with horseflies.”
I snap my mouth shut.
Guess that clarifies some
stuff. I’m not suffering from a delusion.
I wished that Violet would
return to Copper Creek and bam! My
wish came true.
Except…I also prayed that the
show would be canceled. So maybe my guardian angel or fairy godmother—or
whatever the heck it is—is only a rookie. She could only finagle the first
wish.
Oh, well. One out of two ain’t half-bad.
“What should be interesting?”
I ask, unable to take my eyes off Violet, even though my brain is screeching, Mayday, mayday, mayday and demanding I
look away.
“TJ,” Camilla says before Jake
can reply. “This is Violet Brooks, our super talented photographer. Violet,
this is our cowboy, TJ Daniels, and his brothers, Jake and Noah.” She points to
each of them in turn.
That explains why Aubrey is
here. She and Violet have been best friends as long as Austin and I have been
the same. She knew Violet was part of the TV crew.
“We actually know each other,”
Violet says. “TJ has been my brother’s best friend since we were kids.” Her
gorgeous brown eyes, alive with flecks of amber, slide to me—and just like that,
my knees have trouble remembering their function.
She smiles. Christ, how could
I have forgotten what her smile does to me? Between that and those eyes, I’m
surprised I remember how to speak.
Wait—I do remember how to
speak, right?
“It’s great seeing you again.”
Yes! I can still form a coherent
sentence.
“You too.” She steps in for a
hug and wraps her arms around my shoulders. Her breasts press against my chest,
and I inwardly groan. Luckily, Austin isn’t here to witness this, or else the
reality show would have some serious entertainment for its viewers.
My arms loop around her and
threaten to never let go.
“I can’t believe how long it’s
been since I last saw you,” she says so only I can hear her. Her arms remain
around my neck. “I’ve missed you.”
“I’ve missed you, too. I was
beginning to think the only way I’d ever see you again would be if I went to
LA.”
The feel of her soft body
against mine and the smell of her vanilla and rose perfume sparks a memory I’ve
kept close all these years.
I had gone to her house to hang
out with Austin. He was held up at his grandfather’s ranch, where he was
working that summer. I was nineteen; Violet was seventeen.
She was dating a guy at the
time. Some loser, if memory serves me correct. They were supposed to go out
that night, but the dumbass forgot and stood her up for his buddies.
Violet was sitting on the
porch steps, her shoulders slouched forward, her heart in her hand. I sat next
to her, and she told me what happened.
“What’s wrong with me?” she
whispered once she was finished.
My heart pinched at her words.
How could she even believe for a second that something was wrong with her?
Everything about her was right. The way she smelled like vanilla and roses. The
way the world seemed a thousand times brighter whenever she smiled. The way she
made me smile even when I was having
a crappy day.
But I couldn’t tell her any of
this.
Not if I valued my life and my
friendship with Austin.
So I did the second best
thing: I hugged her.
It only lasted a few seconds,
but the memory of it has clung to me all these years like well-chewed gum on
the bottom of your boot.
I reluctantly release Violet,
who goes on to hug Jake and Noah.
Camilla’s face lights up. “You
must have some juicy stories about TJ growing up,” she says to Violet. “What
was he like?”
Amusement flares briefly in
Violet’s eyes. But it’s gone too quickly for Camilla to notice. I only
recognize it because I’m more than familiar with those juicy stories. Stories
my old teacher Miss Truby would be delighted to share—if she was still with us.
Although now that I think
about it, Miss H is still around. She
was my high school English teacher.
Jake’s warning from earlier
comes back for an encore.
Note to self: Make sure
Camilla doesn’t track down Miss H. If my old teacher is given the chance to
talk about my mischief-making days, I’m sure I’ll be painted as the villain on
the TV show. While that would be a great way to avoid advancing to the next
round, it won’t help us promote the ranch.
For a moment, Violet seems to
consider Camilla’s question. “I’m assuming he hasn’t changed much since back
then.” Her gaze sweeps over my body, much like Camilla’s did earlier. Except
when her eyes land on my face, there’s a heat in them that wasn’t in Camilla’s.
But then it flickers away
faster than a flame in a blizzard, and I can’t be a hundred percent certain I
didn’t imagine it. I mean, we’re talking about Violet. I’ve never been anything
but a big brother to her.
I brush the heat in her eyes
off as nothing more than a hallucination—a hallucination brought on by seeing
her again after she’s been away for so long.
Sounds like a reasonable
explanation, right?
What I thought about Cowboy Most Wanted
TJ Daniels and his brothers Jake and Noah are working hard to keep their new horse ranch going but it's not quite a thriving business...yet. Thinking they need more exposure, Noah applies for the latest bachelorette show in his brother's name and TJ gets picked as a contestant.
He's not really happy about it, but he'll do it to help the ranch and he's in for a big surprise when his longtime crush Violet is part of the photography crew. He's always wanted Violet, but she's off limits for two reasons -- she's his best friend's little sister and his contract for the show prohibits him from having a relationship with other women while he's filming the show. Violet has some surprises for TJ too -- one of them being she's looking to hook up with him while in town.
Cowboy Most Wanted has a light and romantic feel to it that I really enjoyed. Where it could have been heavy, it wasn't and I found that a refreshing aspect of the story. TJ and Violet are so sweet together that it made it easy to want them to find a way out of their predicament. There is some nice tension when Bachelorette Natalie appears on the scene, too. It all just worked quite nicely for me as a romantic comedy. A sweet romance with lots of fun. Good start to the series.
An ARC was provided for review.
About the Author
Born in Brighton England, Stina Lindenblatt has lived in a number of
countries, including England, the U.S, Finland, and Canada. This would explain
her mixed up accent. In addition to writing fiction, she loves photography,
especially the close-up variety, and currently lives in Calgary, Canada, with
her husband and three kids.
Website: http://stinalindenblattauthor.com
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