Unwrapping a Review of ROUGH RIDER, book two in the Hot Cowboy Nights series by Victoria Vane

The Hot Cowboy Nights series by Victoria Vane is turning out to be an exceptionally good contemporary romance set from an author who has given us richly researched and in depth looks into Georgian period piece romances. Am I surprised? Yes. And no. ROUGH RIDER, book two in the Hot Cowboy Nights by Victoria Vane is worth the ride if you love cowboys, rodeos, and steamy second chance romance.

***eARC provided by author via NetGalley in exchange for an honest and unscripted review.

Blurb for ROUGH RIDER:

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?

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Janice Combes grew up around tough talking, rough acting cowboys so she was used to how they acted around each other, and her. She was one of the crew when it came to rodeo life and the men, who rode the bulls she took care of and carted from rodeo to rodeo. She may understand them, but it didn’t keep her from wanting one particular cowboy to look at her the way he looked at the Rodeo Queen.

Dirk Knowlton loved the rodeo, the freedom of the road, and when his long-time girlfriend started making noises about getting married and settling down, he did what any self-respecting cowboy would do, he bucked and ran. Ending up on the doorstep of the woman he’d watched grow up, one he’d watched his buddy, Grady, take notice of and discovered he didn’t like it, surprised him. What happened next surprised him even more and haunted him for the next ten years?

Phew! Some cowboys are definitely hotter than others. ROUGH RIDER by Victoria Vane treats us to one hot cowboy and the only woman meant to tame him. We first meet Dirk Knowlton in SLOW HAND, book one of the Hot Cowboy Nights series. Whereas Wade was dreamy to die for, Dirk came across as a complete and total ass. All the more reason why I wanted to read his story. Yeah, he was still a bit of an ass in this one, but once you learned why, everything made sense.

ROUGH RIDER started out a bit slow for me. I appreciate Victoria’s research into rodeos and bull riding, but maybe I didn’t need quite so much time in the bullpens with talk about manure. *laughing* Once things heated up between Janice and Dirk, this story took off like a lightning flash. Grady was just creepy enough to keep us hoping Dirk would rescue Janice from his clutches, but goofy enough to keep us thinking Janice could handle him on her own. What happens isn’t all that surprising but what is learned later, is most definitely surprising. Nope, not going to tell you anything more, you’ll just have to wait until February 3^rd to read it for yourself. I will treat you to the trailer for the book though, just to whet your interest even more.

I highly recommend reading ROUGH RIDER, book two in the Hot Cowboy Nights series by Victoria Vane mainly because if you read SLOW HAND, which I definitely recommend, you will want to read this one too. If for no other reason, but to find out what bug is up Dirk’s well shaped butt and why Janice would even begin to be interested in the curmudgeon. This one is hot, hot, hot, and in the end, very sweet. Victoria gives us a wonderful happily-ever-after.

Happy Reading Everyone!

ROUGH RIDER, a Hot Cowboy Nights novel by Victoria Vane, Sourcebooks Casablanca, release date – February 3, 2015 – to be available in print and ebook formats at Amazon, Barnes &Noble, and Kobobooks.

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