Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca (February 3, 2015)
Series: Hot Cowboy Nights, 2
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Two loves ...
Janice Combes has two loves, bucking bulls and Dirk Knowlton. But Dirk only has eyes for a dazzling rodeo queen. How can Janice ever compete while mired ankle-deep in manure? Exchanging playful banter with Dirk is all Janice can expect-until the stormy night he knocks on her door dripping wet and needing a place to crash.
Different Dreams...
Dirk Knowlton is living the cowboy dream. Life should be good-roping, branding, backing broncs, riding bulls, but there's a void he can't seem to fill. After getting hung up by a bull, he wonders if this is really the life he wants. Restless and rebellious, he bolts...but there's a certain cowgirl he can't forget.
When a battle-scarred Dirk returns to his Montana ranch he's determined to hang on at any cost. Janice has come back home to lick her own wounds. When old dreams turn to dust, can two wary hearts take another chance on love?
Janice Combes has two loves, bucking bulls and Dirk Knowlton. But Dirk only has eyes for a dazzling rodeo queen. How can Janice ever compete while mired ankle-deep in manure? Exchanging playful banter with Dirk is all Janice can expect-until the stormy night he knocks on her door dripping wet and needing a place to crash.
Different Dreams...
Dirk Knowlton is living the cowboy dream. Life should be good-roping, branding, backing broncs, riding bulls, but there's a void he can't seem to fill. After getting hung up by a bull, he wonders if this is really the life he wants. Restless and rebellious, he bolts...but there's a certain cowgirl he can't forget.
When a battle-scarred Dirk returns to his Montana ranch he's determined to hang on at any cost. Janice has come back home to lick her own wounds. When old dreams turn to dust, can two wary hearts take another chance on love?
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Reviews of Vane's Previous Reviews:
Slow Hand (#1) -- Kame
Kame's Review:
Janice is twenty-one years old and chute boss for her family’s bucking bull’s business. The rodeo is a male dominated world and most women her age are trying to become the rodeo queen. Janice is at home on a ranch and a hard day of work is nothing she will hide from; what she will hide is her feelings for Dirk. She has known Dirk her whole life, but the rodeo collegiate champion is destined to marry the rodeo queen; he would never notice the chute boss – or would he?
Janice grew a lot as a character during this book. I will say I liked her a lot more at the end than at the beginning. Her life brought her confidence to be able to push back when Dirk needed her the most. Dirk had moments I really wanted to strangle him, but he was a solid cowboy throughout the entire book.
Although she’d tried to move on, her heart had never belonged to anyone but Dirk Knowlton. She’d come back to Montana and so had he, but they were both damaged and broken. It was heartrending how many mistakes they’d both made, but the past couldn’t be changed. The present was what counted. The here and now.
The plot of this book was very trying to me, it was long and in some points drawn out. I understand that Janice and Dirk’s history was crucial to their HEA, however I am wondering if it needed to be told in such detail. There were times I truly questioned if I was reading a romance book; as the path to Janice and Dirk acknowledging their feelings was long and at times I doubted it would happen. There is a lot – A LOT of pain both of these characters must encounter before they are ready for their feelings for each other. Victoria Vane does well to show how age has brought insight. Once they finally found each other the plot was quickly resolved – I really would have liked a little more time “courting” their relationship.
Dirk, by all accounts, was a shattered man. The question she intended to answer was whether his pieces could ever be put back together again.
Rough Rider is the second book in the series. I started it before reading the first book Slow Hand, and as I was reading I got the feeling I was missing something. So I stopped and started Slow Hand, and boy am I glad I did. I gained insight into Dirk that I never would have had, and I came to appreciate his brother Wade that much more too. Sometimes when you read a series it is okay if you read out of order – but with this series this is not the case. I can absolutely assure you that my rating for Rough Rider would have been lower had I not read book 1 first. Another thing that I appreciated and I think Victoria Vane did so well, we see a few of the same scenes in both books but from different character’s points of view – that was one of my favorite parts.
He’d screwed up his life so many times and in so many ways that all he wanted was the opportunity to start over. Just one stinking chance to see if he could finally get it right – whatever-the-hell “it” was.
I will admit it was the cover that got me to request this book; and a scheduled blog hop stop at TBQ that prompted me to start reading the series – now I am anxiously waiting for the third book in the series.
4 STARS!
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Kame received an e-ARC of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for her honest opinion.
*Note: The quotes used belong to Victoria Vane; Kame and TBQ's Book Palace do not claim them.
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In Victoria Vane’s second Hot Cowboy Nights book, ROUGH RIDER, readers’ hearts may in fact soften to the rough and bitter Dirk Knowlton they met in Hot Cowboy Nights #1, Slow Hand.
A big thanks to TBQ's Book Palace for sharing an excerpt with their readers so y’all can get to know a little bit more about the rough and tough hero of ROUGH RIDER. Be sure to enter the Rafflecopter for a chance to win one of three copies of Slow Hand by Victoria Vane!
Enjoy!
DIRK KNOWLTON ON TOUR
ROUGH RIDER by Victoria Vane
Excerpt
Janice pulled out another shirt and offered it to up to him with a twinge of embarrassment. “How ’bout SpongeBob? Is he politically safe?”
“SpongeBob’s my man.” He chuckled and took the shirt. Their fingers brushed. Their eyes met. She shivered. His gaze drifted southward. “You cold too?” he asked.
She tracked the direction of his eyes and swiftly crossed her arms over her chest to hide her hardening nipples. “Yeah, I must be cold.” She turned away, briskly chafing her arms. “I don’t have any jeans that will fit you, but maybe some sweatpants?
“Would you be offended to see me in my boxers?” he asked.
Janice pursed her mouth and shook her head, unable to form a coherent response.
Hell no, her brain screamed. “Offended” was the very last word that came to mind.
Thanks for the review, Kame! :)
Have you read Victoria Vane before? Do you have a favorite of hers?
Have you read Victoria Vane before? Do you have a favorite of hers?
Enjoy!
Until Next Time,
*TBQ's Book Palace is a member of both the Amazon and Barnes and Nobles affiliates program. By using the links provided to buy products from either website, I receive a very small percentage of the order. To read my full disclosure on the matter, please see this post!
1 comment :
Love the covers on these books!
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