Wendy H. (donkeycheese) -
I love western romances! I don't know if it is because of the rugged living or if it's the cowboys.....probably the cowboys lol
Charlie Banks, New Jersey grad student and avid PETA member, heads to the desolate plains of Wyoming to research horse whispering. But when she arrives on the supposedly lavish dude ranch, the brochure pictures looks nothing like the reality, she is stuck. Her car breaks down almost there and it will take a week for it to be fixed. The only person on the ranch is Nate Shawcross, a rangy cowboy without alot of words.
Nate's not surprised that his ex-girlfriend Sandi concocted the idea, but Sandi's recently left for greener pastures. To boot, she's cleaned out all of his bank accounts. He is flat broke and doesn't see how he is going to feed him and Charlie, let alone any other students who may be on their way to the ranch.
Charlie has a plan. Finish school, then get a good job. Falling in love with Nate is not in the plans. Nate wants Charlie to stay but isn't sure how to tell her. But then Sandi comes back, and convinces Nate he'll have to sell the ranch if he wants to keep their daughter Sam. And along the way, Charlie helps Nate with the animals and keeping "house" for all of the other guests that showed up.
Charlie knows Nate is not in the plan, but can she work it out? Nate wants Charlie, but he'll give her up if it costs him his daughter. These two will have to do some fancy whispering of their own if they want a future together.
One of my favorite parts was when an older student put her bags in the front of the bed of the truck, just so she could watch Nate's denim clad butt wiggle and squirm to get it. Charlie and Nate have a tender, yet spicy romantic relationship, and it was a delight to watch them together. Joanne Kennedy writes a darn good romance, and I will be looking for her next novel.
Charlie Banks, New Jersey grad student and avid PETA member, heads to the desolate plains of Wyoming to research horse whispering. But when she arrives on the supposedly lavish dude ranch, the brochure pictures looks nothing like the reality, she is stuck. Her car breaks down almost there and it will take a week for it to be fixed. The only person on the ranch is Nate Shawcross, a rangy cowboy without alot of words.
Nate's not surprised that his ex-girlfriend Sandi concocted the idea, but Sandi's recently left for greener pastures. To boot, she's cleaned out all of his bank accounts. He is flat broke and doesn't see how he is going to feed him and Charlie, let alone any other students who may be on their way to the ranch.
Charlie has a plan. Finish school, then get a good job. Falling in love with Nate is not in the plans. Nate wants Charlie to stay but isn't sure how to tell her. But then Sandi comes back, and convinces Nate he'll have to sell the ranch if he wants to keep their daughter Sam. And along the way, Charlie helps Nate with the animals and keeping "house" for all of the other guests that showed up.
Charlie knows Nate is not in the plan, but can she work it out? Nate wants Charlie, but he'll give her up if it costs him his daughter. These two will have to do some fancy whispering of their own if they want a future together.
One of my favorite parts was when an older student put her bags in the front of the bed of the truck, just so she could watch Nate's denim clad butt wiggle and squirm to get it. Charlie and Nate have a tender, yet spicy romantic relationship, and it was a delight to watch them together. Joanne Kennedy writes a darn good romance, and I will be looking for her next novel.
Danielle L. (DanielleFM) -
great steamy book! im a new Joanne Kennedy reader but i can't wait to see more from her!
Rachel A. (ra7) reviewed One Fine Cowboy (Acquainted with the Night, Bk 2) on + 1045 more book reviews
Charlie was annoying in the beginning with her preconceived ideas, but she learns (gradually). Nate is the perfectly wounded hero. I did like Charlie and Nate together. Their differences complimented each other. Sandi is just a bitch; a good villain for the story. The side characters are good ones too.
Susan F. (scoutmomskf) -
Good city girl/country boy romance. Charlie is a psychology grad student from New Jersey. She has a Plan for her life - finish school, get a good job, then look at the possibility of a relationship. She's not especially happy to be sent to the wilds of Wyoming to do a research project on âassessing the parallels between the training techniques of Western livestock managers and the nonverbal cues with which humans communicate their wants and needs.â That means dealing with cowboys, whom she considers the lowest of the low. As a card-carrying member of PETA, she believes them animal abusers of the worst kind. But she has no choice, and off she goes, only to have her car break down miles from the ranch house. Lucky for her, she's rescued by the "horse whisperer" himself. But there's quite a shock waiting for her.
Nate is surprised to have this city girl show up for a seminar that he has no idea he's giving. It's all he can do these days to stay focused on making ends meet so that he doesn't lose the ranch he loves. It turns out that his ex-girlfriend sent out flyers advertising the seminar, took deposits, and then took off with the money, plus everything in their checking and savings accounts. Nate is flat broke and isn't sure he can come up with the money to feed the incoming "students," much less refund their deposits.
The first meeting between Charlie and Nate was interesting. She's got a pretty big chip on her shoulder about men in general and cowboys in particular, and she is free with her opinions on both. Nate was blindsided by the whole seminar thing and isn't particularly welcoming. The sparks fly between them when she jumps to conclusions about his training methods. She'd like nothing more than to leave, but with her car out of commission and no chance of a refund on the seminar, she's stuck there. Charlie's rough edges soften a bit when she meets some of the horses, and her love of animals comes to the fore. I loved the scene with Junior and how quickly she connected with him, and Nate's surprise that it happened at all.
I liked the development of their relationship. It is very much an opposites attract at first. Charlie is outgoing and blunt, and about as independent as could be. Nate is quiet, shy, and more than a bit grumpy thanks to circumstances. The attraction between them is strong, but both try to fight it. Charlie has her plans and doesn't intend to let anything distract her. Nate is just trying to keep it all together. Charlie feels bad for Nate, especially when the other three students arrive, and finds herself wanting to help him. The more time they spend together, the more they find they have in common. The attraction also burns hotter each day. I felt a little sorry for Nate as he frequently found himself tongue-tied around Charlie, though his looks were far more eloquent. He ultimately won me over when his daughter Sam arrived, and his evident love for her showed a different side to him. I also liked seeing him in his element with the horses, and his ability to make his students understand. It was obvious that Nate was falling hard for Charlie. Though he dreams of something bigger between them, he doesn't believe it could happen. Charlie falls just as hard but pushes him away even harder. She has her plans and fights her desire to change them.
Things get complicated when Nate's ex arrives back on the ranch. Sandi is a piece of work and knows exactly how to manipulate Nate to get what she wants. I got very frustrated with Nate and the way he let her bully him into doing what she wanted. Charlie saw Sandi for what she was. I ached for Nate when Sandi started in on her demands and threats and wanted him to push back. It took an intervention from Charlie and fellow student Doris for Nate to see what was happening and find his backbone. I did like the final solution, and the epilogue was great.
The secondary characters of the other three students were great. Doris was an older lady, a rancher who was still interested in learning more about horses. She is practical, a bit blunt, and ends up almost like a mother figure to Charlie and Nate. She had very definite matchmaking tendencies, and it was fun to see her try to nudge the two together. Phaedra is the goth teenager with some serious daddy issues. She isn't all that happy to be there at first, and there are some pretty difficult scenes as she settles in. I liked how she and Charlie connected and the difference that Charlie made in her outlook. The last arrival was Phaedra's dad, a movie star who hasn't seen her in ten years. Taylor turned out to be a nicer guy than I expected, with more behind his issues than first suspected. He was more down-to-earth than I expected and I liked his growing friendship with Nate.
Nate is surprised to have this city girl show up for a seminar that he has no idea he's giving. It's all he can do these days to stay focused on making ends meet so that he doesn't lose the ranch he loves. It turns out that his ex-girlfriend sent out flyers advertising the seminar, took deposits, and then took off with the money, plus everything in their checking and savings accounts. Nate is flat broke and isn't sure he can come up with the money to feed the incoming "students," much less refund their deposits.
The first meeting between Charlie and Nate was interesting. She's got a pretty big chip on her shoulder about men in general and cowboys in particular, and she is free with her opinions on both. Nate was blindsided by the whole seminar thing and isn't particularly welcoming. The sparks fly between them when she jumps to conclusions about his training methods. She'd like nothing more than to leave, but with her car out of commission and no chance of a refund on the seminar, she's stuck there. Charlie's rough edges soften a bit when she meets some of the horses, and her love of animals comes to the fore. I loved the scene with Junior and how quickly she connected with him, and Nate's surprise that it happened at all.
I liked the development of their relationship. It is very much an opposites attract at first. Charlie is outgoing and blunt, and about as independent as could be. Nate is quiet, shy, and more than a bit grumpy thanks to circumstances. The attraction between them is strong, but both try to fight it. Charlie has her plans and doesn't intend to let anything distract her. Nate is just trying to keep it all together. Charlie feels bad for Nate, especially when the other three students arrive, and finds herself wanting to help him. The more time they spend together, the more they find they have in common. The attraction also burns hotter each day. I felt a little sorry for Nate as he frequently found himself tongue-tied around Charlie, though his looks were far more eloquent. He ultimately won me over when his daughter Sam arrived, and his evident love for her showed a different side to him. I also liked seeing him in his element with the horses, and his ability to make his students understand. It was obvious that Nate was falling hard for Charlie. Though he dreams of something bigger between them, he doesn't believe it could happen. Charlie falls just as hard but pushes him away even harder. She has her plans and fights her desire to change them.
Things get complicated when Nate's ex arrives back on the ranch. Sandi is a piece of work and knows exactly how to manipulate Nate to get what she wants. I got very frustrated with Nate and the way he let her bully him into doing what she wanted. Charlie saw Sandi for what she was. I ached for Nate when Sandi started in on her demands and threats and wanted him to push back. It took an intervention from Charlie and fellow student Doris for Nate to see what was happening and find his backbone. I did like the final solution, and the epilogue was great.
The secondary characters of the other three students were great. Doris was an older lady, a rancher who was still interested in learning more about horses. She is practical, a bit blunt, and ends up almost like a mother figure to Charlie and Nate. She had very definite matchmaking tendencies, and it was fun to see her try to nudge the two together. Phaedra is the goth teenager with some serious daddy issues. She isn't all that happy to be there at first, and there are some pretty difficult scenes as she settles in. I liked how she and Charlie connected and the difference that Charlie made in her outlook. The last arrival was Phaedra's dad, a movie star who hasn't seen her in ten years. Taylor turned out to be a nicer guy than I expected, with more behind his issues than first suspected. He was more down-to-earth than I expected and I liked his growing friendship with Nate.
Susan F. (scoutmomskf) -
Good city girl/country boy romance. Charlie is a psychology grad student from New Jersey. She has a Plan for her life - finish school, get a good job, then look at the possibility of a relationship. She's not especially happy to be sent to the wilds of Wyoming to do a research project on âassessing the parallels between the training techniques of Western livestock managers and the nonverbal cues with which humans communicate their wants and needs.â That means dealing with cowboys, whom she considers the lowest of the low. As a card-carrying member of PETA, she believes them animal abusers of the worst kind. But she has no choice, and off she goes, only to have her car break down miles from the ranch house. Lucky for her, she's rescued by the "horse whisperer" himself. But there's quite a shock waiting for her.
Nate is surprised to have this city girl show up for a seminar that he has no idea he's giving. It's all he can do these days to stay focused on making ends meet so that he doesn't lose the ranch he loves. It turns out that his ex-girlfriend sent out flyers advertising the seminar, took deposits, and then took off with the money, plus everything in their checking and savings accounts. Nate is flat broke and isn't sure he can come up with the money to feed the incoming "students," much less refund their deposits.
The first meeting between Charlie and Nate was interesting. She's got a pretty big chip on her shoulder about men in general and cowboys in particular, and she is free with her opinions on both. Nate was blindsided by the whole seminar thing and isn't particularly welcoming. The sparks fly between them when she jumps to conclusions about his training methods. She'd like nothing more than to leave, but with her car out of commission and no chance of a refund on the seminar, she's stuck there. Charlie's rough edges soften a bit when she meets some of the horses, and her love of animals comes to the fore. I loved the scene with Junior and how quickly she connected with him, and Nate's surprise that it happened at all.
I liked the development of their relationship. It is very much an opposites attract at first. Charlie is outgoing and blunt, and about as independent as could be. Nate is quiet, shy, and more than a bit grumpy thanks to circumstances. The attraction between them is strong, but both try to fight it. Charlie has her plans and doesn't intend to let anything distract her. Nate is just trying to keep it all together. Charlie feels bad for Nate, especially when the other three students arrive, and finds herself wanting to help him. The more time they spend together, the more they find they have in common. The attraction also burns hotter each day. I felt a little sorry for Nate as he frequently found himself tongue-tied around Charlie, though his looks were far more eloquent. He ultimately won me over when his daughter Sam arrived, and his evident love for her showed a different side to him. I also liked seeing him in his element with the horses, and his ability to make his students understand. It was obvious that Nate was falling hard for Charlie. Though he dreams of something bigger between them, he doesn't believe it could happen. Charlie falls just as hard but pushes him away even harder. She has her plans and fights her desire to change them.
Things get complicated when Nate's ex arrives back on the ranch. Sandi is a piece of work and knows exactly how to manipulate Nate to get what she wants. I got very frustrated with Nate and the way he let her bully him into doing what she wanted. Charlie saw Sandi for what she was. I ached for Nate when Sandi started in on her demands and threats and wanted him to push back. It took an intervention from Charlie and fellow student Doris for Nate to see what was happening and find his backbone. I did like the final solution, and the epilogue was great.
The secondary characters of the other three students were great. Doris was an older lady, a rancher who was still interested in learning more about horses. She is practical, a bit blunt, and ends up almost like a mother figure to Charlie and Nate. She had very definite matchmaking tendencies, and it was fun to see her try to nudge the two together. Phaedra is the goth teenager with some serious daddy issues. She isn't all that happy to be there at first, and there are some pretty difficult scenes as she settles in. I liked how she and Charlie connected and the difference that Charlie made in her outlook. The last arrival was Phaedra's dad, a movie star who hasn't seen her in ten years. Taylor turned out to be a nicer guy than I expected, with more behind his issues than first suspected. He was more down-to-earth than I expected and I liked his growing friendship with Nate.
Nate is surprised to have this city girl show up for a seminar that he has no idea he's giving. It's all he can do these days to stay focused on making ends meet so that he doesn't lose the ranch he loves. It turns out that his ex-girlfriend sent out flyers advertising the seminar, took deposits, and then took off with the money, plus everything in their checking and savings accounts. Nate is flat broke and isn't sure he can come up with the money to feed the incoming "students," much less refund their deposits.
The first meeting between Charlie and Nate was interesting. She's got a pretty big chip on her shoulder about men in general and cowboys in particular, and she is free with her opinions on both. Nate was blindsided by the whole seminar thing and isn't particularly welcoming. The sparks fly between them when she jumps to conclusions about his training methods. She'd like nothing more than to leave, but with her car out of commission and no chance of a refund on the seminar, she's stuck there. Charlie's rough edges soften a bit when she meets some of the horses, and her love of animals comes to the fore. I loved the scene with Junior and how quickly she connected with him, and Nate's surprise that it happened at all.
I liked the development of their relationship. It is very much an opposites attract at first. Charlie is outgoing and blunt, and about as independent as could be. Nate is quiet, shy, and more than a bit grumpy thanks to circumstances. The attraction between them is strong, but both try to fight it. Charlie has her plans and doesn't intend to let anything distract her. Nate is just trying to keep it all together. Charlie feels bad for Nate, especially when the other three students arrive, and finds herself wanting to help him. The more time they spend together, the more they find they have in common. The attraction also burns hotter each day. I felt a little sorry for Nate as he frequently found himself tongue-tied around Charlie, though his looks were far more eloquent. He ultimately won me over when his daughter Sam arrived, and his evident love for her showed a different side to him. I also liked seeing him in his element with the horses, and his ability to make his students understand. It was obvious that Nate was falling hard for Charlie. Though he dreams of something bigger between them, he doesn't believe it could happen. Charlie falls just as hard but pushes him away even harder. She has her plans and fights her desire to change them.
Things get complicated when Nate's ex arrives back on the ranch. Sandi is a piece of work and knows exactly how to manipulate Nate to get what she wants. I got very frustrated with Nate and the way he let her bully him into doing what she wanted. Charlie saw Sandi for what she was. I ached for Nate when Sandi started in on her demands and threats and wanted him to push back. It took an intervention from Charlie and fellow student Doris for Nate to see what was happening and find his backbone. I did like the final solution, and the epilogue was great.
The secondary characters of the other three students were great. Doris was an older lady, a rancher who was still interested in learning more about horses. She is practical, a bit blunt, and ends up almost like a mother figure to Charlie and Nate. She had very definite matchmaking tendencies, and it was fun to see her try to nudge the two together. Phaedra is the goth teenager with some serious daddy issues. She isn't all that happy to be there at first, and there are some pretty difficult scenes as she settles in. I liked how she and Charlie connected and the difference that Charlie made in her outlook. The last arrival was Phaedra's dad, a movie star who hasn't seen her in ten years. Taylor turned out to be a nicer guy than I expected, with more behind his issues than first suspected. He was more down-to-earth than I expected and I liked his growing friendship with Nate.
