Cowboy for Keeps-Brenda Mott

Cowboy for Keeps
Brenda Mott
Harlequin SuperRomance, Nov 2008, $5.50
ISBN: 9780373715268

In Colorado, rancher Reno Blackwell is concerned when rustlers try to steal her wild Mustang herd. She wants her horses safe so she turns to her former lover Cade Lantana, who has just come home after years away, for help.

Cade wants to say no because he remains haunted by the incident that had him run away from her love and his home. Although exonerated afterward by Internal Affairs, while on duty as a local police officer, he killed her stepfather. When Cade sees Reno he knows he still loves her; she feels the same way. He wants a second chance; she does not feel the same way. She remains livid that he dumped her when she needed him most while he knows he was unable to help himself get past the trauma caused by killing his lover’s stepdad let alone be there for his beloved.

The key to this wonderful ranch romance is the hurt and trauma neither of the lead couple let go of from that fateful day when Reno saw “the man who had stolen her heart. Then killed her father”. Neither has moved on, but now Cade sees a chance to make amends while Reno remains furious with him for deserting her when she most needed him. Contemporary romance readers will appreciate Brenda Mott’s well written tale of a tragic incident in their past still threatens to keep this couple apart.

Harriet Klausner