Susan F. (scoutmomskf) -
Very good start to the new series. Case has just been elected as the new president of the TCC and is feeling a bit overwhelmed by everything he has to do. He has a busy ranch, his investments to track, and now the TCC. Unfortunately, his house falls at the bottom of the list and it is beginning to show. He needs to hire a housekeeper to replace the one who retired.
Case is a very private person who has trust issues. Long ago he had fallen in love and married an employee, who turned out to be interested only in his money. Since then he has kept his liaisons superficial, and women are not invited to his home. Mellie's company comes highly recommended, so he decides to take a chance. He doesn't expect his new housekeeper to be a beautiful redhead who piques his interest.
Mellie has devoted all her time and energy to her business, with big plans for eventual expansion. Having a client like Case would be an excellent advertisement. The last thing she needs to do is fall for a man who is way out of her league, but she can't deny that he tempts her.
I loved the relationship that developed between Case and Mellie. There were sparks from the beginning, but not all of them were good. Case was kind of obnoxious with his attitude about his privacy, and sort of put his foot in it when he asked his friend the sheriff about her. I loved seeing her stand up to him and let him know exactly how she felt. It also added to the sparks of attraction he felt for her. They came to a cautious truce over the next few days, though Case had a disconcerting way of flirting with Mellie that left her off balance.
Things got really interesting when she arrived one day to discover Case down with a bad case of flu. It was pretty amusing to see her try to help him while attempting to maintain her distance from him. A feverish Case was pretty funny, as was his conversation with his doctor friend when he started to recover. Mellie had some pretty interesting conversations with herself as she was caring for him. It really broke the ice between them, and as he was recovering they spent a lot of time together. Case really started laying on the flirtatiousness, determined to get her into bed with him, and Mellie was finding it harder to resist him. The night of his TCC party finally brought them together, but not without some later doubts on her part. She's afraid that she's falling in love with him and that she'll end up with a broken heart. The night's problems are capped by the appearance of Mellie's father.
Mellie's father is an alcoholic, a gambler and a man who takes advantage of Mellie's love for him. We see several instances of the way he treats her, and it isn't pretty. There's definitely a feeling that he is going to find a way to ruin anything she might have with Case, and that feeling turns out to be accurate. His actions that night are really terrible and leave Mellie caught in the middle. But it gets even worse after he sobers up.
In the prequel, Reclaimed by the Rancher (reviewed at the end), there is an oil company that is buying up land all around Royal. In this book, Mellie's father, whose company owns properties around Royal (including the land on which the TCC stands) suddenly uses his position to threaten Case and the TCC. He also claims that Mellie knows and approves of what he is doing. This plays into Case's fears about being used, and he makes a real ass out of himself, saying some really terrible things to Mellie. Though devastated and heartbroken by his attitude, I loved that she doesn't just fall apart. Mellie takes action, and I loved what she did. It was really satisfying to see Case, once he got over his own feelings of betrayal, to realize what he had done. Then "all" he has to do is find a way to apologize and see if he has succeeded in ruining everything. I loved his big moment and seeing him properly grovel in front of her. I'm looking forward to the rest of the series and finding out what the story behind the land grab is.
Case is a very private person who has trust issues. Long ago he had fallen in love and married an employee, who turned out to be interested only in his money. Since then he has kept his liaisons superficial, and women are not invited to his home. Mellie's company comes highly recommended, so he decides to take a chance. He doesn't expect his new housekeeper to be a beautiful redhead who piques his interest.
Mellie has devoted all her time and energy to her business, with big plans for eventual expansion. Having a client like Case would be an excellent advertisement. The last thing she needs to do is fall for a man who is way out of her league, but she can't deny that he tempts her.
I loved the relationship that developed between Case and Mellie. There were sparks from the beginning, but not all of them were good. Case was kind of obnoxious with his attitude about his privacy, and sort of put his foot in it when he asked his friend the sheriff about her. I loved seeing her stand up to him and let him know exactly how she felt. It also added to the sparks of attraction he felt for her. They came to a cautious truce over the next few days, though Case had a disconcerting way of flirting with Mellie that left her off balance.
Things got really interesting when she arrived one day to discover Case down with a bad case of flu. It was pretty amusing to see her try to help him while attempting to maintain her distance from him. A feverish Case was pretty funny, as was his conversation with his doctor friend when he started to recover. Mellie had some pretty interesting conversations with herself as she was caring for him. It really broke the ice between them, and as he was recovering they spent a lot of time together. Case really started laying on the flirtatiousness, determined to get her into bed with him, and Mellie was finding it harder to resist him. The night of his TCC party finally brought them together, but not without some later doubts on her part. She's afraid that she's falling in love with him and that she'll end up with a broken heart. The night's problems are capped by the appearance of Mellie's father.
Mellie's father is an alcoholic, a gambler and a man who takes advantage of Mellie's love for him. We see several instances of the way he treats her, and it isn't pretty. There's definitely a feeling that he is going to find a way to ruin anything she might have with Case, and that feeling turns out to be accurate. His actions that night are really terrible and leave Mellie caught in the middle. But it gets even worse after he sobers up.
In the prequel, Reclaimed by the Rancher (reviewed at the end), there is an oil company that is buying up land all around Royal. In this book, Mellie's father, whose company owns properties around Royal (including the land on which the TCC stands) suddenly uses his position to threaten Case and the TCC. He also claims that Mellie knows and approves of what he is doing. This plays into Case's fears about being used, and he makes a real ass out of himself, saying some really terrible things to Mellie. Though devastated and heartbroken by his attitude, I loved that she doesn't just fall apart. Mellie takes action, and I loved what she did. It was really satisfying to see Case, once he got over his own feelings of betrayal, to realize what he had done. Then "all" he has to do is find a way to apologize and see if he has succeeded in ruining everything. I loved his big moment and seeing him properly grovel in front of her. I'm looking forward to the rest of the series and finding out what the story behind the land grab is.
La-Shauna F. (SHADY) reviewed Courting the Cowboy Boss (Texas Cattleman's Club: Lies and Lullabies, Bk 1) (Harlequin Desire, No 2409) on + 1266 more book reviews
Good read.
