One Night Rodeo by Lorelei James (Blacktop Cowboys #4)
Contemporary Romance
August 7, 2012
Penguin

Celia Lawson had to grow up fast when her parents died when she was just 11 years old. Her older brothers, Hank and Abe, did their best, but they were young and clueless when it came to raising a young woman so Celia grew up kind of a tomboy. Once Celia was old enough to take care of herself, they let her do her thing and though she was 1/3 owner of the family’s ranch, Hank and Abe didn’t really include her in any ranch decisions though Celia would have loved nothing more than to be involved in the day to day ranching business. Feeling like she didn’t belong, Celia takes to the rodeo circuit as a barrel racer, as she tried to find her place in the world.

Kyle Gilchrist has had his eye on Celia for a long time. When he first noticed her, she was too young for him and her brother’s would have kicked his ass. So he watched her from afar, as she grew up into a beautiful young woman. And even then he hung back; their teasing and bickering like some odd form of foreplay. When Celia joins the rodeo circuit and realizes that she’s going to need some help getting from location to location, she and Kyle agree to be travel partners.

While on the road they attend a concert by friend Devin McClain and after a few too many tequila shots, they let their guard way down and wake up the next morning to find themselves married, Las Vegas style. Kyle is secretly thrilled, but Celia insists on an annulment even though the thought of being married to Kyle excites her more then she’d thought it would.

If that wasn’t enough to deal with, Kyle gets a phone call from his mom and finds out he’s inherited a large ranch from his biological father, a man who he never knew, who had never acknowledged him. For years he’s been trying to save enough money to buy some land, have something he could call his own; and now in the blink of an eye, it’s dropped in his lap. The problem here is that Kyle doesn’t know the first thing about running a ranch. He needs Celia’s expertise here, so he comes up with a plan.

Celia is tired of the rodeo circuit. She misses having a place to call home. So when Kyle proposes they stay married and work the ranch together, Celia agrees. Only this marriage has a six month shelf life.

Celia Lawson and Kyle Gilchrist have been dancing around each other since the first book in this series, so I was thrilled to finally get their story. No matter the bickering and fighting these two did, there was always that undercurrent of sexual tension there and I’m so glad this author didn’t make us wait any longer for their story. While I’ve enjoyed this new series of Ms. James, they’ve been a bit hit and miss for me. Not so with One Night Rodeo; it is by far my favorite of the series to date!

There is so much focus on Kyle and Celia’s relationship and I loved that. They have the most page time here while they learn things about each other and themselves. Also, it was great to see Kyle in a different light. He’s always come off as the bad boy just looking for a good time, but with Celia he lets his true self show and it was great to see this side of him. The “real” Kyle, the man behind the façade.

In addition to the strong romance between the couples, there is a big emotional element relating to Kyle and his relationship with his mother, as well as Celia’s relationship to her brothers. Both Kyle and Celia have had difficult pasts, and while they start out being disappointed with their respective family members, there is some time spent on healing their damaged relationships as well. This is an area where Ms. James always exceeds all my expectations. She writes her stories with strong family values and even when they disagree, the love they have for each other brings them together in the end.

Kyle and Celia are so good together, but their relationship is far from perfect as they navigate being married and running a ranch. I found the conflicts that the author introduced to be real and make sense in the context of the story. Kyle and Celia have known each other for years. They’ve teased and gotten on each other’s nerves for a long time as well. They know each other so well, but they still had believable struggles before their long awaited HEA.

And they are totally hot together. Here’s a quote from Kyle that says it all:

“Oh, yes, little wifey mine, we’ll be having sex. Lots and lots of sex. Sweet sex, raunchy sex, shower sex, sex on the floor, sex against the wall, sex in bed, sex in the truck, sex in the barn, sex on the tractor and sex on this table.”

I don’t know how many books Ms. James plans for this series, but I really liked how this book truly focused on the couple and their relationship, while still bringing in previous characters and little updates there. The strong sense of family and bonds of friendship come through as well, which made this book an all around perfect addition to this series.

Rating: A

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