Thank you to L.B. Dunbar and the team at Sarina Bowen’s World of True North for the advance reader copy of Cowboy, a standalone in the Busy Bean series.
I have never had the chance to read a L.B. Dunbar novel so I was super excited for the chance to review. I am excited to read about slightly older characters, because everyone deserves a happily ever after no matter their age.
Check out the Goodreads synopsis…
“Pregnant at forty-two? Back the cow up…
Harland Bull Eaton has lost many things—his first wife, his beloved mother, those three women he proposed to . . . Oh, and there was that time he almost lost the family dairy farm due to a scandal. He’s losing faith in just about everything, especially love.
But one night, his friends give him a dare. No commitments. No heartbreak. Just buy that gorgeous redhead a drink. The big-city bombshell he’s set his eyes on swirls him into a tailspin that lands them in bed for a one-night stand he’s pretty sure he’ll never forget. But this time, he swears, he won’t let his heart ride herd on his common sense.
Recently separated and newly unemployed, Scarlett Russell is at a crossroads. With no other plan than visiting a friend in Vermont, the last thing she expects is a hunky, silver fox offering to buy her a drink. Even less expected is when she raises that offer to “take me to bed, cowboy.” She just wants one night to forget everything gone wrong.
Turns out once won’t be nearly enough. Won’t ever be enough, feeling the way she does. But secrets and an unexpected surprise are a lot to handle . . . unless these two can break a trail to an unexpected happily ever after.”
Check out my more detailed thoughts below…
- Characters: Harland “Bull” Eaton and Scarlett Russell are the main characters of this story. Bull has always lived in the Colebury area and has had a string of bad relationships. He is from a family of dairy farmers and often used cow metaphors to explain things. Scarlett is from Boston originally but flees to Colebury to be with her best friend Rita. Scarlett went through losing her job, catching her husband cheating on her, and finding out that her husband impregnated that girl. Now Scarlett wants to settle down in Colebury for a bit to find a new job and get through her divorce. She meets Bull when she and Rita go to the local bar, the Gin Mill and sparks fly between them immediately.
- Setting: Colebury, Vermont may be charming but this story does an excellent job demonstrating the gossipy nature. There are rumours that Bull has been engaged five times and people in the town chatter about it all the time. Scarlett gets hired at the Busy Bean, so that is how the business gets roped into the story. It is not the most central setting but you get little peaks at Audrey, Zara, and Rodney.
- Pacing: The story opened with a bang! Literally haha. After the hookup, we skip forward six weeks and then “the unexpected surprise” happens. It drives the plot of the rest of the story, and it moves at a pretty good pace. Overall I thought nothing was too rushed in this book.
- Romance: The connection between Scarlett and Bull could be felt right from the start! They hookup that first night they meet drawn to each other sexually at first. After six weeks of not seeing each other, when Bull runs into Scarlett at work he cannot keep his hands to himself. After a little bathroom hookup session, these two cannot deny they have chemistry. They are both forty-two so they have had experiences before each other, they are both divorcees for example. It was nice to spend some time with an older couple who finally find the earth-shattering love they both deserve.
Cowboy receives four out of five stars.
You can pick up the story below…
Amazon: https://geni.us/Cowboy-Amazon
Apple: https://geni.us/Cowboy-Apple
Kobo: https://geni.us/Cowboy-Kobo
Nook: https://geni.us/Cowboy-Nook
Thank you again to L.B. Dunbar and the team at Sarina Bowen’s World of True North for the review opportunity. Thank you for reading and supporting my blog!
