Classification: Adult Fiction
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Montana Men
Format: Paperback; 384 pages
Publisher: Avon (August 25, 2015)
ISBN-10: 0062334956
ISBN-13: 978-0062334954
Author's Website: http://www.jennifer-ryan.com/
Notes: I received an eARC loan from the publisher. This is the third book in the Montana Men series.
Years ago Dane Bowden had a blue feather tattooed on his arm with the words, "An angel watches over me" printed underneath. He had gotten it after a chance encounter with mysterious girl who he believes saved his life. Now Dane is about to retire from the rodeo circuit and is attempting to win the Pro Bull Riders World Championship. Unfortunately, the bull he is riding takes exception to his endeavors and throws him unceremoniously in a heap shattering his left leg. Lucky for Dane the mysterious girl from his past, now a doctor, is there to do for Dane what all the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't do for Humpty Dumpty--put all the pieces back together again.
Bell has proven to be Dane's lucky charm more than once, will he prove himself to be her equally lucky cowboy?
I will confess that I'm not a big fan of cowboys, but Jennifer Ryan heats up the pages with her sexy suspenseful Montana Men, and has burned a place in my heart for this series. Montana Men is not your average romance series. It's a little more gritty and real to life with a whole lot of suspense mixed in. I wouldn't be surprised if in the future Ms. Ryan follows in the footsteps of Sandra Brown and jumps the genre boundary into thriller territory.
Dane Bowden, known as Great Dane on the rodeo circuit, is good-looking, charismatic, and sexy as all get-out. He's the type of guy who can walk into a bar and in thirty minutes have a woman in his bed. Only one woman has ever caught his attention, but she disappeared as mysteriously as she'd appeared years ago when he needed her most. Now that he's found her again, he's determined not to let her slip through his fingers a second time. The only problem is how can he convince her he's playing for keeps?
Bell is not your average woman. She's a certified genius who graduated from college at 18, medical school by 22, and is one of the best orthopedic surgeons around. She was raised knowing she was the dirty little secret in her family's closet and treated accordingly. She was the result of an affair between a married father and a fortune hunter beauty queen. She was literally the child no one wanted. Hidden away from the world by her grandmother, she's never learned how to fully interact with others. While she never forgot Dane and has followed his career over the years, she's determined not to end up like her mother--abandoned with a baby. From what she's observed, Dane has all the markings of being just as shallow as her father where women are concerned. How could she possibly take a chance on him?
Overall, I gave this one 4 1/2 out of 5 roses. It was smartly written, suspenseful, and tugged at my heart strings. I loved the way Dane was with Bell, but was a little surprised at how fast their relationship progressed toward the end. I would have loved for the story to have been expanded and gone a little more in-depth as to how Dane won Bell over. She didn't strike me as the type to fall so quickly, but Dane did dangle a very enticing package in front of her which contained the one thing she wanted most--a family. Granted Dane wasn't too shabby himself *grin* so I couldn't blame her for falling fast and hard. On the Lisarenee Romance Rating Scale, this one earned a Steam rating--too hot for a fan, but you still have a handle on things. You should use extreme caution when reading a book with this rating in public. People may inquire as to why you looked flustered and flushed. I loved the chemistry between these two.
Order of the series: