Friday, November 29, 2013

4 stars! Tempting the Cowboy (Painted River #1) by Elizabeth Otto


After taking a job on a quiet Montana dude ranch, ex-cop Rylan Frederickson finds herself surrounded by unbelievably sexy cowboys. Too bad the one she wants is her boss...and the single dad of a four-year-old. It doesn’t matter anyway, because after a recent tragedy, there’s simply no more room in her heart.

Letting a new woman into their life is the last thing Cole Haywood wants for him and his daughter, Birdie. But as Rylan’s presence at Paint River Ranch breathes new life into his family he can’t ignore his growing attraction.

When the sparks between them turn into fireworks in bed, Rylan’s torn between the family she’s lost and the one she may have found. Now she must decide if something that feels this good is worth the risk.

Type: Contemporary Romance
Heat: 3 out of 5
Rating: 4 out of 5

Amazon Goodreads
Tempting the Cowboy totally sucked me in. Seriously, dinner could have been burning away and I wouldn't have been able to put it down. A spider could have scurried...no. no. Okay, that would have me putting the book down for a momentary girly *screaming flail* but as soon as the crisis had passed I'd have picked the book right back up. lol It was sweet and heartwrenching and there were cowboys. It had me chuckling and sighing and did I mention... cowboys? Because, cowboys, people, cowboys! Gah!

The quick of it is that Cole's family runs a ranch and is in need of an extra pair of hands to get things done. And Rylan--who is in need of an escape from unimaginable tragedies that have struck her life--takes on the job of their housekeeper thinking it would be a nice quiet time for her to heal and find peace. But both Cole and Rylan get more than they bargained for from the arrangement when sparks start flying and no matter how hard they resist they can't deny there's more to their relationship than employee/employer.

Cole and Rylan. I really liked these two. Neither is looking for any type of relationship and there's some resistance at first. Cole can be, hrm, grumbly but he's a great guy under it all and Rylan was just someone I immediately felt for and wanted to know. These two each have some deep down hurts they're working through that just killed me. But seeing them pull themselves together was just touching and made you proud of them. I loved the sweeter moments as well, like with Cole and his little girl--man I have a weak spot for single daddies. You could really see them slowly becoming a family and I loved it. Awkward moments and all.
"Staging?" Isn't that where you put things together to make a room look nice?"

He shrugged. "Yeah." He rounded his truck to the driver's side door. Rylan was still standing there with the clipboard.

"I'm, uh, not very good at making things look pretty."

"Did you look in the mirror this morning? I'd say you do just fine." The wide-eyed look Rylan whipped at him told Cole he'd said that out loud. Christ. Not daring to look at her again for fear of what might spill out of his mouth next, he slid into his truck. 
Now, the steamy bits. This one was way steamier than I was expecting. Woot! This was my first time reading from this Entangled line and I thought it would be more on the sweet side but damn. No it wasn't. It was steamy and sensual and...creative in locale for said steamy bits coming together. Just nicely done and perfect for these two.

I enjoyed all of Tempting the Cowboy. And the last quarter of the book? Lordy. I couldn't put the thing down for the life of me. Otto damn near gutted me with some surprise twists and turns. Had me just in tears and holding my breath that things would turn out okay in the end. It was just incredible. From sweet and touching to funny and awkward and just downright steamy Tempting the Cowboy was a hit and will definitely have me grabbing Otto's books again. And I seriously can't wait.


Have you read Otto? What did you think?
Do you have a favorite employee/employer story? Or single daddy?


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