Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Taken, Not Spurred (Lone Star Burn #1)

 Taken, Not Spurred 
 1/2
 Would-be writer Sarah Dery has just turned twenty-five and feels like her life is on hold. She's done squat with her English degree and is just killing time working for her parents. So, when the opportunity to spend the summer working on a ranch in Texas comes her way, she jumps at the chance, figuring it might be just the jolt she needs to get her creative juices flowing.
Tony Carlton is a handsome and reclusive horse trainer with a tortured past and an eye for trouble, this time in the form of a naked blonde stranger he finds in his shower.
The wrong turn that led Sarah into the arms of this sexy, brooding cowboy turns out to be just what she needed to find her steamy inner voice, but will their connection be enough to break down Tony's defenses? 

Review
****Montlake Romance, via NetGalley, provided me with a complimentary ARC of this book for my honest opinion****
Sarah Dery has decided she's done hiding in past regrets. Now 25, she's ready to pursue her career as a writer, but her voice remains stubbornly silent. When summer rolls around, she decides to take a break from it all. Punishing herself for the past, working for her parents in a career she has no passion for, she's ready to throw it all to the side and try to discover what it's like to truly live her life. What better option than to hitch her trailer, load herself and her horse Scooter, and take a road trip to spend the summer at her friend Lucy's Texas ranch? What she ends up discovering is there is in fact more than Double C ranch in Texas, and the short-tempered, hot as sin cowboy who discovers her in his shower may be the answer to her dried up writing inspiration. If she can just keep her heart from joining the party, she may just survive the summer.
Taken, Not Spurred is a fun roller coaster romance that's filled to the brim with multi-layered characters, ping ponging emotions, and lines that bring a smile to your face. Sarah made me instantly fall in love with her sarcasm. She's relatable even if she is naïve, her inner dialog had me laughing from the first chapter. Tony Carlton is a damaged roguish main character that will break your heart. Together they somehow form a fantastic pair that you want to see survive and thrive through all the struggle. There is instant chemistry between the two. I don't know if this series will continue or we will get other character's stories but they were certainly intriguing enough to make me read their story if it does. There were some things that were brought up, but never addressed, leaving me to assume more will be told, but time till tell. While having a level of emotion and commitment, the story was light enough that it didn't leave you with an emotional hangover while still leaving you aware. Really a fun book overall and one I'm glad I picked up.