Cowboy, Cross My Heart by Donna Grant
Heart of Texas series (book 2)
St. Martin’s Press (August 28, 2018)
Romance/Western

New York Times bestselling author Donna Grant takes you deep inside the Texas rodeo scene, where danger and desire ride side by side. . .
Naomi Pierce isn’t the type to let a cowboy sweep her off feet. It’s not her first rodeo, after all. But when she returns to her Texas hometown, she can’t help but be wrapped up again in the rough-and-tumble world of hard-riding, bronco-busting good-ol’-boys she loved as a girl. She might be here to photograph her Rodeo Queen best friend, but it’s one fine-looking cowboy who really captures her eye.
Brice Harper is all man, all muscle and all heart. From the moment he rides into the stadium, he can’t help but notice the beautiful stranger with a camera watching him from the stands. It doesn’t take a zoom lens to see the sparks of instant attraction. But things really heat up when he meets Naomi up-close—and he discovers that someone is stalking her friend. Brice wouldn’t be any kind of cowboy if he didn’t offer to help the ladies out. But can the rough rider keep this spirited shutterbug out of danger—without risking his heart?

BUY LINKS

https://www.donnagrant.com/cowboy-cross-my-heart/

REVIEW

“How did this happen to our town?”
“It started when Naomi Pierce returned to town to visit her best friend, Whitney Nolan.”

I liked that this book picks up twelve years later from book 1, The Christmas Cowboy Hero. Very seldom do you get to revisit characters you met when they were teenagers and are now young men. In book 1, we read Abby’s road to happiness with Clayton East. Now we have her brother Brice’s story and his road to putting the past behind him and finding his HEA. Abby is still very much the Harper brothers sister/mother/father, supported with Clayton, but the brothers are young men who are rodeo champions and take care of their own. Brice comes to the aid of Naomi and finds himself, along with his family and friends, going up against unknown powerful men who are intimidating, frightening, and terrorizing girls of the rodeo and anyone who may find them out. The brothers military background help bring justice to the town. Lack of communication has the brothers divided but they still have each other’s backs. With a little help from Naomi, Brice is putting his hurt and abandonment issues behind him and mending his relationship with his brother. Story started strong with a good buildup, then it kind of fell flat for me, but still a good read. A small town, ranch/rodeo setting with a mix of mystery, danger, and romance.
Note: This can be read completely as a stand alone read and you will not be lost with not having read book 1. However, The Christmas Cowboy Hero is a really good read and I enjoyed it.
ARC provided by St. Martin’s Press via Netgalley

Reviewed by Comfy Chair Books/Lisa Reigel (August 28, 2018)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Donna Grant has been praised for her “totally addictive” and “unique and sensual” stories. She’s the author of more than thirty novels spanning multiple genres of romance including the bestselling Dark King stories. The acclaimed series features a thrilling combination of dragons, the Fae, and Highlanders who are dark, dangerous, and irresistible. She lives with her two children, a dog, and four cats in Texas.
Website: http://www.donnagrant.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Donna-Grant/27841130699
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/donna_grant
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1141209.Donna_Grant