Bad News Cowboy by Maisey Yates
Released: July 28, 2015
Contemporary Romance
Harlequin
Reviewed by Mandi
The third book in the Copper Ridge series (I hear there are more coming!), I’ve enjoyed the heck out of this entire series. We finally get Jack and Kate’s story. Kate’s two older brothers have already had books. Owning a family ranch with two, grumpy and cranky brothers, Kate has a lot of grief in her life. With no parents as a role model, she has grown up with two loving brothers, even if they are overbearing. She has also grown up a total tomboy. Now 23, she is totally comfortable with no make-up, jeans, flannel shirt and on the back of her horse. She also competes in barrel racing , and works part-time in a home and garden store. She is pretty content in life, except she has never really had a boyfriend. Her brothers still think she is a kid, and that bothers Kate a lot.
Jack is a very close friend of Kate, Eli and Conner. He comes over for their weekly poker games and helps out on the ranch if needed. He came from nothing – he came from a family where his father actually paid him to not tell anyone they were related. As an adult, Jack has done financially well for himself – but deep down, he still has a nasty voice telling him that he has dirty blood. That he doesn’t belong to anyone and is worthless. Jack is a good guy, but a known womanizer and sometimes seen as just caring about himself. When Kate starts to see inside of Jack, it changes her.
Because he was Jack, and he had a tendency to be kind of a self-centered asshole. So when he did things for other people, it was notable.
And strange.
And it made her throat a little bit dry. And her face a little bit hot.
He is charming and has quick wit. I loved him from book one. Kate has too. Their sexual tension is sizzling and finally explodes in this book. Jack realizes he doesn’t like it when Kate tries to flirt with other guys, and Kate realizes the effect she really has on him.
Although Kate is a virgin and less experienced in the romance department, Jack is the one that bares his soul and goes for committment and Kate is the one that gets more scared. I liked that though – Kate is young and for her to go from tom boy and never being in love to being totally committed to someone is a big deal for her. Their romance is tension filled, and emotional and very sexy. For building up to this relationship for three books, it paid off well.
Since Kate hasn’t had a lot of experience wooing the male gender, Jack offers his advice. It goes as well as you would expect:
“Lesson one – don’t look at the object of your affection like you want to stretch his scrotum out and wrap it around his neck.”
“But what if that’s what I want to do?” she asked, keeping her face purposefully blank.
“I didn’t realize you were kinky,” he said, arching a brow.
She bit the inside of her cheek to keep from reacting. “There’s a lot you don’t know about me, Jack.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yeah, really. I’m a complex woman and shit.”
Besides a strong romance in each book, I adored the chemistry of the Garrett family. Eli, the grumpy oldest brother. Conner, the widow who dared to love again. They give each other quite a hard time, they laugh, the egg each other on. I loved their interactions and they made this series more special.
A very strong contemporary romance series. Super cute and sexy.
Grade: B
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Arg! I still need to read Eli’s book!! And now this one. Yes, I really like the family dynamic in these books.
I have been picking up these books as they come out & plan to read them together, hopefully by the end of summer. Thanks for the review!