herding cats & burning soup: Quote-tastic/Review-- oh hell-- Must Love Cowboys by Cheryl Brooks

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Okay so this one just made me snort. The heroine came to the bunkhouse to deliver something to one of the cowboys from her grandfather and ended up staying the night before continuing her trip. So it's her vs a whole house of cowboys that aren't used to having women around and smooth? It has abandoned them. lol Nick had gotten a bug in his computer from visiting some porn sites and one of the guys told him he needed to just get a hooker instead of watching porn and it went from there...

Calvin shot a scathing glance at Bull before addressing Nick. "You need to find yourself a nice girl, not a hooker."

Nick stood up, spreading his arms wide. "Do you see any nice girls around here?"

I bowed my head, unable to stop my smile. From the look of him, Nick couldn't have been long out of high school. As far as he was concerned, I was nothing more than an old maid, proving that at lest one of these guys had the proper perspective.

Wyatt cleared his throat. "None that are your age, anyway."

Nick spun toward me, his eyes wide as he gaped at me in abject horror. "I didn't mean you. You seem really nice and all, but--"

I nodded. "I'm too old or you. No problem. I'm not in the market for a boyfriend anyways."

There were a LOT of fun things in Must Love Cowboys. Namely...nekkid cowboys...cheeky cowboys...grumbly cowboys...there were just a lot of cowboys. Be still my heart! And lots of food! And a pretty fab heroine and her trusty pup companion. I had a lovely time with them all. But there were also some pretty cringe worthy descriptions (mainly during sex), a miss named heroine, and a cliche HEA that brought this one down to a 3-3.5 star read for me and really made it feel like a beginning author instead of a seasoned one which I believe Brooks is.

What did work for me.

OMG the characters! Wyatt and the cowboys he works with at the ranch are fabulous. They're so funny and cute and are such a handful! Not in a bad way but in a fun one. They just totally charmed the pants off me. lol I really liked the heroine as well. She's on a journey fulfilling her grandfather's dying wish and is kind of floating on the wind with nothing tying her down and no where to go after this. I loved seeing her settle in, gain some confidence and taking care of the guys. I loved that all the guys wanted to keep her too for their own various reasons. It was just sweet seeing her complete their "family".

The food! She actually has my dream job. I would LOVE to cook for a large group of people on a regular basis. I loved all the inclusion of the food she made them and them sitting down to meals together. It's not what I'd call a foodie romance but there was that heart and home quality of it.

The mystery was kinda fun too. One of the older guys lands in the hospital shortly after her arrival which wouldn't be too curious other than the fact that lots of weird stuff has been happening on the ranch. Cut fences, strange lights, a stranger claiming to be family showing up at the hospital then disappearing. It was fun watching them piece things together and try to figure out what was going on.

One kinda odd thing was that this was told from the heroine's POV exclusively. I've read many contemporaries from first person POV but never a mainstream cowboy romance. In New Adult or erotic...sure I can see that happening. Urban fantasy? Definitely. But of all the cowboy romances I've read...and I've read a LOT..this was the first using a first person POV. It took some adjustment and I kind of felt like I missed out on seeing some of the moments when the guys were together without her. I think I would have enjoyed seeing that.

Okay so for the things that weren't working for me.

Every time someone said the heroine's name--Tina-- I had an instantaneous who the hell is Tina?! moment because this heroine did NOT feel like a Tina. It just didn't suit her right at all and seriously every time it was mentioned that's what I thought. Every. Time.

The sex scenes. They'd be pretty steamy hot and then all the sudden... his "drooling dick" would make an appearance, "delightful" cum on a tongue or things like taking a "sip of the juice from the head" of his cock would happen. And just...ergs no, please. I did find the inclusion of her being on her period and that throwing a kink in things interesting. That's so often glossed over in romances. But switching up to anal (only the 2nd time she'd had sex) and everything happening like *snap* that! was pretty eye rolly.

And then the cliche ending. They'd known each other for a week and wound up engaged. It felt like there was a checklist and things were being marked off in the writing process. I really wish more authors--especially when so very little time has passed-- would realize that okay for there not to be a marriage proposal. Leave them happy and in love and looking forward to the future. Especially when it's a series and you can show them getting engaged later on in the series as secondary characters. That's much more believable and not so A romance must have A..B..C..D..E...

So I had some issues. But that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy Must Love Cowboys. I really did have a good time with it. I'm totally smitten with these guys and want to see how all of their stories will play out. I just hope things in the next one are a little less I'm-following-a-checklist and that the sex scenes will be a little more, well, sexy.

Shy computer specialist and amateur chef Tina Hayes travels to Circle Bar K ranch to scatter her father’s ashes in the Tetons of Wyoming. Once there, her father’s old army buddy and his cast of cowboy ranch hands persuade her to stay on as the ranch’s cook for a while. It’s not a hard decision, especially when she meets Wyatt McCabe, a man who makes her heart gallop like no one else. But with so many cowboys to choose from, can Wyatt show Tina that he’s the only one for her?