Review Tour - - Lone Star Nights

Lone Star Nights
The McCord Brothers - Book 2
By Delores Fossen
Publisher: HQN
Release Date: May 31, 2016

Every family needs its black sheep, and Austin "Lucky" McCord is happy to oblige. The bad-boy bull rider lives fast and loose, until his business partner leaves him an unexpected bequest. Suddenly Lucky is sharing custody of two children with Cassie Weatherall, one of the few homegrown women he hasn't bedded. And not from lack of trying… 

Cassie fled her messy past to become a celebrity therapist in LA. So why does it feel so right to come back and share parenting duties—and chrome-melting kisses—with a man she's striven to avoid? Loving Lucky always seemed like a sure bet for heartache. But for this perfectly imperfect family, Cassie might just gamble with everything she's got.

I don't know why I haven't discovered Delores Fossen before now but, after finishing Lone Star Nights, I'm excited to read more from this talented author. Her characters are well-developed and realistic, as are the situations in which she places them. I was instantly intrigued by the main characters of this book and the challenges they faced. She pulled me right into the McCord family and I'm looking forward to knowing them better.

The two sisters Lucky and Cassie find themselves responsible for are fully dimensional characters who help move the story forward, providing twists, turns, and a few surprises along the way. I fell in love with them both even though one of them makes it very difficult.

Though there are serious issues addressed in this story, by both Lucky and Cassie, there's also a lightness and well-placed humor that keeps the reader from feeling overpowered or weighted down. That's not to say there's a dearth of emotion, only that it's well balanced by the humor. I really like Lucky and Cassie and was on their side from the get-go. They've been through a lot and both deserve a happy ending though it takes them awhile to tune in to that fact. There are some truths to be faced and emotional hurdles to be cleared before they are ready to fight for their happiness.

While surrounded by family and townspeople, the focus of the book remains primarily on Lucky, Cassie and the girls with peripheral characters adding richness to their story and providing insight into the people Cassie and Lucky have become. I wanted to hug some of them and drop-kick a few others off the nearest cliff. Just like real life, right? ;-)

Cassie's father, her last living relative, is one of those just waiting for a drop-kick and Lucky has a complicated relationship with his siblings, especially his "seemingly perfect" twin brother, Logan. I have the feeling Logan's life is heading for a major upheaval and I can't wait to read all about it when the next book, Blame it on the Cowboy comes out in late September. In the meantime, I'm going to check out brother Riley's story in Texas On My Mind...and more of Delores Fossen's contemporary western romances. There's a reason why she's won so many awards.

~PJ

USA Today bestselling author, Delores Fossen, has sold over 70 novels with millions of copies of her books in print worldwide. She’s received the Booksellers’ Best Award, the Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award and was a finalist for the prestigious Rita ®. In addition, she’s had nearly a hundred short stories and articles published in national magazines.

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