Wrangled And Tangled (Blacktop Cowboys #3) by Lorelei James
Erotic Western Romance
Trade Paper Back
November 1, 2011
NAL Trade

Reviewed by Tori

Favorite Quote: “This is why I was against casual Thursdays. There’s always one person who takes it too far.”

I’m a huge fan of Ms. James’s Rough Riders series so when I was offered this one for review thought, “Ride’em cowgirl!” Wrangled and Tangled is an erotic western romance that centers around two couples; one starting down the path of love and one trying to find their way back.

Janie Fitzhugh divorced Abe Lawson eight years ago when she realized being a rancher’s wife was slowly killing her spirit. She comes back to Muddy Gap to work the Split Rock Ranch for her friend Renner Jackson. Abe never stopped loving Janie but she is not the same woman he married. He finds himself intrigued by the woman she has become and when a series of events places her in danger, Abe offers to let her stay the ranch…figuring it’s only a matter of time before he gets her back in his bed and life.

Renner Jackson, manager of the Spilt Rock Ranch and Resort wants to get the resort finished…but when Tierney Pratt shows up to "help" he can’t help but wonder exactly why she’s here. Her father owns the property and Renner feels that the spoiled daddy’s girl is going to be nothing but trouble. Tierney has her own reasons for being at the resort and while she finds Renner be exactly what she wants in a man…she knows this rough and tumble cowboy will be is nothing but trouble.

I enjoyed the first half of this story. Lorelei James’s characters are imbibed with so much spirit and personality that they are indeed larger than life. Sassy independent woman and stoic sexy cowboys has the pages smoking as you follow their rocky path to love. Add in some suspense and mystery and you have a thoroughly engrossing read. Ms. James does a great job of blending the two separate plots into one storyline. Each able to maintain some semblance of independence of one another yet complementing and uplifting each other as you wade further into their lives.

While the town thinks that Janie is in Muddy Gap for a job, we learn that she is actually in hiding. A former boyfriend has been stalking her and she has a series of accidents that lead her to believe he has followed her here. When Abe finds out, he demands she come stay at the ranch. There he knows she will be protected. While there, he and Janie discuss what when wrong in their marriage and Janie sees that Abe has made a lot of changes to the ranch and to himself. The sexual attraction is still scorching hot between them but they slowly begin to rebuild the feelings that brought them together in the first place. Janie left Abe because once they married, she found herself nothing more then another piece of the ranch. Abe’s brother and sister lived with them so their was no privacy and she was forbidden from changing anything in or out of the house She wanted to be special and instead felt used, so she left. Abe realized after a few years, especially after his brother Hank got married, just how wrong he was in how he treated Janie and their life together. When Janie comes back to town, he realizes he has a second chance to make it up to her. I enjoyed hearing Abe’s POV as his insecurities about his life and Janie come into play. He really is sorry and it shows. You really don’t hear much of Janie’s POV beyond the past and the story suffers a bit from that.

Renner and Tierney have a love/hate relationship. Watching them argue and fuss at one another is funny, especially when they realize just how attracted they are to one another. Renner is a hard nose cowboy who has invested everything he has into the Spilt Rock Ranch. If it fails-he fails. After being married to one spoiled rich daddy’s girl, he has built a wall of iron around his heart. Tierney brings out the worse in him. He sees nothing but a rich little girl playing at being a manager and he thinks she’s here to spy on him. Tierney Pratt is nothing like Renner thinks. Her dad may be rich but she has fought for and paid for every thing she has. She left her dad’s company when she was passed over a promotion she knew she deserved. A numbers genius but lacking in people skills, Tierney is looking for the home she never had.

I loved watching Tierney break out of her shell and settle into Muddy Gap. She goes to the one place guaranteed to find acceptance-the local beauty salon. I have to say the best part of the book is the woman in the beauty salon. I laughed so hard at their antics. They have no boundaries.

“At least someone is dating. I don’t remember that last time I saw a live penis.”

“You saw several last week when we went to the ‘Crash with the Past” all male review in Casper smarty.

“Oh them penises don’t count. Them penises were in captivity. I was guaranteed to see at least one when we shelled out for the show. That’s not like finding a penis out there in the wild. Where at the end of the night when that zipper comes down and you find out if he’s hung like a horse or dangling a worm.”

I enjoyed the steaming sex scenes and the sexual tension that leads up to them. Ms. James is a master at invoking some heavy duty day dreaming when she writes of her cowboy loving. New territories are explored and boundaries pushed that kept my eyes glued to the pages.

It was in the second half when it fell apart for me. Janie’s stalker plot goes nowhere. The storylines begins to rush to the finish line and we end with pages of filler clichés. I am also not fond of bitchy people. There is bitchy-funny; snarky yet good natured. Then you have bitchy-annoying. Those people are bitchy because they are always right, even when they are wrong. They are quick to anger and quick to point the finger of blame. Janie and Renner are two very emotionally bitchy people, and not the good kind of bitchy. Janie is all about her and her feelings. She felt overlooked and lost with Abe yet she goes to the extreme opposite and becomes one those people who are determined never to be "taken advantage of" again. I tried to sympathize with her because of the way Abe treated her in the beginning of their marriage and a few other situations she’s been through, but her way of speaking to those around her was grating. She doesn’t ask-she demands. When she throws a hissy fit because she finds out she is last to know about a situation, I was done. The situation that had nothing to do with her. Yet, she threatens to "leave" because she can’t deal with the fact everyone figured it out but her. Abe talks to her, making her realize that she is being a prude and bitchy and all is forgiven but I couldn’t help but think a leopard doesn’t change it’s spots overnight.

Renner is no better with his bi-polar personality and always jumping to conclusions. He wants Tierney yet treats her abominably at times. One minute he’s sweet then the next he goes all alpha on her and says things that would have had me punching his lights out. When she doesn’t act or do what he wants or expects, he accuses her of all sorts of things rather then do what any sane person would do and ASK. Once they start having sex she turns in to a ‘yes" girl. I liked her better when she went toe to toe with Renner. If Tierney had a past with him I could almost understand it but they meet for the first time in here. There is one scene where she and Celia (Abe’s sister) tease the men with a little girl on girl flirting. It both angers and turns Renner on so he drags her outside, accuses her of being a tease and an exhibitionist and proceeds to engage her in sex out in the open. She enjoys it of course and that would have been okay, if Renner hadn’t been so angry and done it more as punishment then something for her enjoyment.

The ending was okay. It wraps up the main conflicts yet leaves enough open to let us know we will see more of these couples in the future. I would have felt better about it though if both couples had done more to settle their problems then just paying lip service to finish the story. While this one was one smoking hot read read, I find myself more enamored with Ms. James Rough Rider series. The characters in that series are more realistic and approachable.

Overall Rating: C-

Recent Reviews:
Happy Ever After – 4.5/5
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