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Wyoming Men #1

Wyoming Tough

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A cowboy through and through, ranch owner Mallory Kirk knows what it means to put in a full day's work. But does his new cowgirl? He has his doubts that Morie Brannt will be able to pull her own weight, even if the petite young woman does seem to have a lot of spirit.

As they spar over events at the ranch and a past that threatens their hopes for the future, sparks begin to fly, and Mallory can't help but notice Morie in a new light. But is this tough Wyoming man ready to love?

296 pages, Mass Market Paperback

Published October 25, 2011

1134 people are currently reading
2419 people want to read

About the author

Diana Palmer

1,039 books3,097 followers
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.

Diana Palmer is a pseudonym for author Susan Kyle.

(1)romance author
Susan Eloise Spaeth was born on 11 December 1946 in Cuthbert, Georgia, USA. She was the eldest daughter of Maggie Eloise Cliatt, a nurse and also journalist, and William Olin Spaeth, a college professor. Her mother was part of the women's liberation movement many years before it became fashionable. Her best friends are her mother and her sister, Dannis Spaeth (Cole), who now has two daughters, Amanda Belle Hofstetter and Maggie and lives in Utah. Susan grew up reading Zane Grey and fell in love with cowboys. Susan is a former newspaper reporter, with sixteen years experience on both daily and weekly newspapers. Since 1972, she has been married to James Kyle and have since settled down in Cornelia, Georgia, where she started to write romance novels. Susan and her husband have one son, Blayne Edward, born in 1980.

She began selling romances in 1979 as Diana Palmer. She also used the pseudonyms Diana Blayne and Katy Currie, and her married name: Susan Kyle. Now, she has over 40 million copies of her books in print, which have been translated and published around the world. She is listed in numerous publications, including Contemporary Authors by Gale Research, Inc., Twentieth Century Romance and Historical Writers by St. James Press, The Writers Directory by St. James Press, the International Who's Who of Authors and Writers by Meirose Press, Ltd., and Love's Leading Ladies by Kathryn Falk. Her awards include seven Waldenbooks national sales awards, four B. Dalton national sales awards, two Bookrak national sales awards, a Lifetime Achievement Award for series storytelling from Romantic Times, several Affaire de Coeur awards, and two regional RWA awards.

Inspired by her husband, who quit a blue-collar manufacturing job to return to school and get his diploma in computer programming, Susan herself went back to college as a day student at the age of 45. In 1995, she graduated summa cum laude from Piedmont College, Demorest, GA, with a major in history and a double minor in archaeology and Spanish. She was named to two honor societies (the Torch Club and Alpha Chi), and was named to the National Dean's List. In addition to her writing projects, she is currently working on her master's degree in history at California State University. She hopes to specialize in Native American studies. She is a member of the Native American Rights Fund, the American Museum of Natural History, the National Cattlemen's Association, the Archaeological Institute of Amenca, the Planetary Society, The Georgia Conservancy, the Georgia Sheriff's Association, and numerous conservation and charitable organizations. Her hobbies include gardening, archaeology, anthropology, iguanas, astronomy and music.

In 1998, her husband retired from his own computer business and now pursues skeet shooting medals in local, state, national and international competition. They love riding around and looking at the countryside, watching sci-fi on TV and at the movies, just talking and eating out.

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Displaying 1 - 30 of 369 reviews
Profile Image for Jacqueline J.
3,565 reviews371 followers
February 11, 2014
So I'm going to pick my jaw up off the floor and try to compose myself to write this review. I keep falling off the "No More Diana Palmer" bandwagon. I have seriously got to get myself a seat belt and stay on that puppy. This book is a veritable feast of tell not show with epic helpings of info dumping. When I was already full up with that I was fed a nauseating, treacly dessert of "my morality is better than yours and that's why the world is going to Hell in a sinful handbasket."

SERIOUS SPOILERS BELOW

I learned a lot from reading this book.

I learned things like fracking (a non eco friendly way to get oil from shale) is bad and evil.

I learned this three or four times in fact.

I learned you're a poser if you try to pass yourself off as a debutante to ranchers in Wyoming while wearing last year's colors.

I learned that it's okay to let poor girls work on ranches with those nasty cows and all that back breaking labor but that if only they'd known the poor girl came from a good i.e., rich family they never would have let her sully her hands.

I learned that scads of random conversations between two secondary characters about other people who were not in the book and were in fact only mentioned once, do not a riveting story make.

I learned that the hero Mallory, and seriously, Mallory? is in fact not an alpha male but a seriously naive, or dare I say stupid gullible fool.

I learned that there is no way that I can buy that a very rich 23 year old rancher's daughter in this day and age would not know that a guy can't just keep it up all night but needs her new husband to tell her that fact in a very clinical sex ed sort of lecture on her wedding night.

I learned that if you have just left a hunted criminal behind you with a shotgun and you hear a sharp crack in the distance, it's probably just thunder ever though there is only a light drizzle going on.

I learned that a considerate husband will break his new wife's hymen with his fingers out of consideration before he F***s her. I really wish I hadn't learned that one.

What I really hope I learned from this inane fiasco is my lesson: Stay on that Wagon!.

I received this book free for review from netGalley.
Profile Image for Vintage.
2,714 reviews721 followers
September 24, 2020
Oy vey, Diana!


Plot:
Rich girl runs away to join the circus ranch and break a nail so she can practice being a cowhand because Big Daddy won't let her.

Not-as-rich guy hires her, lusts after, but is dumber than dirt and believes his evil girlfriend about everything. He believes his evil girlfriend in part because of the whole dumber than dirt thing, but also because the evil girlfriend tells him how handsome he is. He knows (and worries) he’s not handsome like his handsome other brothers so he buys her line of goods hook, line and sinker.


Rich girl takes no guff from anyone especially the evil girlfriend. RG uses her fashion detective skills to figure out that the evil woman is not what she seems because she is dressed in last year’s dress and, even worse, bad shoes. This Sherlockian fashion faux pas realization is mentioned several times.

Poorly dressed evil woman finally gets rid of the h by framing her. This is modus operandi when there is someone she doesn’t like. EVERYONE but the H knows the h has been framed, and the h leaves promising retribution.


There’s a bumbling fool of a cowhand, a possible murderer who may or may not have murdered people and beat a mule, fracking and a fashion throwdown where the h in white wows the evil woman in black, last season's black.
Profile Image for willaful.
1,155 reviews363 followers
April 1, 2012
Well fan me with a blowtorch -- I actually kind of enjoyed this! No question it has many flaws, not the least of which are the holier-than-thou, Mary Sue of a heroine -- Morie is the hardest working ranch hand ever, but she was also offered a modeling career and a musical scholarship, can cook and organize fancy parties, tames escaped convicts, and has birds suddenly appear every time she is near -- and the hero, who's such an idiot I suspect someday he'll drown in the rain like a turkey. (In typical Palmer fashion, having driven away the woman he really loves, he ponders marrying the girlfriend he's suspicious of and finds annoying.) And what's with all the weird names? I kept thinking Mallory was the heroine, not the hero, and then there's Morie and Mavie -- and the evil girlfriend, Gelly. Obviously only the good people get to have M names.

Nonetheless, I found this far more readable and coherent than any Palmer book I've tried lately, and was actually really caught up in the story after awhile. And though it's overdone, I liked that Morie is successful and confident, not hideously downtrodden like so many Palmer heroines.
Profile Image for boogenhagen.
1,993 reviews882 followers
December 8, 2017
Oh DP is so crackalicious, but in this one we get genuine DP Philosophosizing which is kinda scary if you think about it.

We also get mention of practically everybody in the DP universe but hey, that is why I still read these things.

The usual DP mixup, ugly alphahole H tangles with beautiful feisty but naive h in disguise as regular cowhand. There are false accusations of theft towards h from vicious OW who is the real thief.

The H finally wakes up and sees his mistake.

There is a daring rescue of kidnapped H by h from mentally unstable former worker and then there is the avowal of love and the big wedding night sex scene cause DP's ladies have principals don't you know.

All in all it was a silly fun read and the Philosophy (everything happens for a reason) was just an added eccentric DP bonus.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Syndi.
3,713 reviews1,042 followers
September 26, 2021
DNF

I heard so many good reviews regarding Miss Palmer's reputation. She is regarded as a veteran writer in romance genre. So I decided to pick up this book since I have minimum exeperience reading cowboy romance.

Sadly to say, I lost my interest toward 2 hour of this book. Too much inner dialog. I usually do not have problem with third person's POV. Sadly it does not work in Wyoming Tough.

2 stars
Profile Image for Lu Bielefeld .
4,304 reviews639 followers
March 20, 2018
UPDATE: Re-read in March 2018 (I added highlights)
UPDATE: Re-read in March 2015
Read: 05/11/2011
--------------
O livro conta a história de Morie (Filha de Shelby Kane e Kingston Brannt do livro To Love And Cherish) e Mallory Kirk.

Ele é um herói típico da DP, moreno, alto, corpo definido pelo trabalho no rancho, olhos escuros e um temperamento difícil. Como ele é feioso e já foi enganado antes ele desconfia das mulheres em geral e acha que elas estão somente atras do dinheiro dele.

Ela é de família rica e criada numa redoma de vidro pela família amorosa. Ela gosta do trabalho no rancho e da criação de gado, mas a família não permite que uma moça aprenda este trabalho de natureza masculina. A mocinha é virgem, mas não é imbecil... tem personalidade e cultura.

Ela acaba indo trabalhar no rancho do Mallory e enfrenta o ciúme da namorada interesseira dele e faz alguns amigos também.

O livro é bem movimentado... tem bandidos, festas, intrigas, namorada, pretendente arranjado para a mocinha, armação, roubo, tango... personagens de livros anteriores. Uma delícia!

Para quem estava com saudades do estilo antigo da DP é um prato cheio!

She loved her family, but she was tired of being chased for who she was related to instead of who she was inside.

she wanted to learn ranch work and her father refused to let her so much as lift a rope on his ranch.

He had thick black hair, parted on one side and a little shaggy around the ears. He had big ears and a big nose, deep-set brown eyes under a jutting brow, thick eyebrows and a mouth so sensuous that Morie hadn’t been able to take her eyes off it at first.

He studied her curiously. She was small and nicely rounded, with black hair that was obviously long and pulled into a bun atop her head. She wasn’t beautiful, but she was pleasant to look at, with those big brown eyes and that pretty mouth and perfect skin. She didn’t seem the sort to do physical labor on a ranch.

She was pretty. Not only pretty, she had a sense of humor. She was unlike his current girlfriend, a suave eastern sophisticate named Gelly Bruner, whose family had moved to Wyoming a few years previously and bought a small ranch near the Kirks.

Her mother was one in a million, beautiful and talented, but equally able to whip up exotic meals or hostess a dinner party for royalty. Morie admired her tremendously.

THE GIRLFRIEND==>“I can’t see you wearing anything…feminine, myself,” Gelly returned. Her smile had an ugly edge to it. “You aren’t really a girlie girl, are you?”

THE GIRLFRIEND==>Gelly’s muttered, “Very egalitarian of you to offer cappuccino to the hired help,” she said in a tone that stung. “I bet she doesn’t even know what it is.”

“You believe reviewers know what they’re talking about?” he queried with a twinkle in his eyes. “They don’t buy books or movie tickets, you know. They’re just average people with average opinions. One opinion doesn’t make or break a sale in the entertainment business.”

THE GIRLFRIEND==>Gelly frowned. “He’s not your boyfriend, either, and you’d better not make eyes at him,” she added coldly. “You won’t last long here if you do.”
“You won’t be the first person I’ve helped off this ranch. It isn’t wise to make an enemy of me.”

THE DUMBASS==>“She’s a socialite. You’re a hired hand on my ranch. That’s what makes the difference.”

“Nobody throws a punch at me and gets away with it. I don’t care who she is! If she’d landed that blow, I’d have had her prosecuted and I’d call every damned newspaper and television station in Wyoming to make sure everybody knew what she did!”

THE CHEATER==>He was out of his mind with the pleasure. He hadn’t felt it in years, certainly not with Gelly, who was something of a cold fish, despite her flirting.

“Gelly’s poisoned you against Morie.”

“She doesn’t think that. She wants you. And she’ll find a way to get rid of Morie, you mark my words. She’s not going to let her stay here.”

“I’m not afraid of her.” “You should be,” he replied. “Because Mallory believes the things she tells him. I don’t know why.

“He was a beast. He had a girlfriend who was pretending to be something she’s not. She had someone plant a jeweled egg in my rucksack and went to the boss and told him I stole it from him. So he fired me. I came home. End of story.” “He accused you of theft?” she exclaimed.

“He won’t change his mind, Morena,” he said gently, using her real name. “Men like that are never wrong, in their own opinion. You’re clinging to dreams. It’s better, always better, to deal in reality.”

“The lowlife son of Satan is going to find himself on the wrong side of a defamation-of-character lawsuit just as soon as I find out who framed you! And his isn’t the only head that’s going to roll when I do!”

He’d been taken in by Gelly, lock, stock and barrel. Morie hated him. Her father hated him. He’d never live this down.

“Not with your girlfriend planting evidence right and left,” Morie replied curtly. “Not my girlfriend,” Mallory said quietly. “Not anymore.”

“You wouldn’t like to hear my side of it?” “Sure,” she replied. “Just like you wanted to hear my side of it.”

THE CHEATER==>“I was never intimate with her in the first place.” “Good...
Mallory didn’t mention that there had been a close call once, just once, after Morie left and he was depressed enough to need comforting. But he hadn’t crossed the line with Gelly.

“You’re the most gorgeous man alive to me.” His eyebrows arched. “Me?” “You. It isn’t the way you look that makes you gorgeous. It’s the man you are.”
Profile Image for Raffaella.
1,947 reviews298 followers
June 22, 2021
The title should be Wyoming dense. How much stupid can a man be? And now I'm beating my head because I loved it so much. Now I'm going to explain what I loved and why:
-The setting. DP is sooo good in describing those wonderful cattlefields, the prairies, the mansions with their magnolia and gardenia plants... I so love those cattlemen and their lifestyle! I'm Italian, the most similar scene I saw was six cows peacefully grazing some grass in a valley near the mountains. Vast spaces are only a dream here.
- The good old values of an iron generation: virginity, chauvinism, the man in the field and the woman in the kitchen, double standards, the smoke, the alchol...
-The heroine, not a doormat until 3/4 of the book.
- The hero suffering from a inferiority complex because he thinks he's ugly.
-The sexual tension: despite the lacking of explicit sex scenes, DP can build a sexual tension that keeps you entranced, you can really feel the heat, literally.
-The evil ow. Here's she's really evil, and she ends in prison.
-the scene where the heroine's father, an ultra rich cattleman, meets the hero and publicly scorns him and threatens to sue him for having charged his daughter of theft. Priceless.
- The angst.
What I didn't like:
-The hero's stupidity. How could he believe that b***h? Everyone else understood how evil and conniving she was. He believed her and fired the heroine because he thought she stole from him. Unforgivable.
- He didn't grovel enough. He didn't look for her even when he understood his mistake.
- He still kept ow almost until the end and he almost had sex with her after firing the heroine. What a dumb coward.
After all those average hp books with all those politically correct behaviours and tame feelings I really needed something strong, like a good drink after a detox therapy.


Profile Image for Coco.
1,138 reviews582 followers
May 4, 2015
Da la sensación de que el libro ha ido desinflándose poco a poco según iba llegando el final. De ahí la sensación agridulce que tengo.

Aún así, tengo muchas ganas de leer la historia de Tanque, y sobre todo de Cane.
Profile Image for Margo.
2,113 reviews129 followers
December 4, 2018
For once we have a Diana Palmer h who is fully resourced -- she is smart, pretty, strong, rich, and has doting, protective parents and a strong support system. In other words, she doesn't have to be at the mercy of a petty, cruel, moody H if she doesn't want to. The difference in the dynamic between the MC's and the average Palmer MC's is dramatic.

This h is working icognito at a ranch so she can learn about her wealthy family's business. The H is the part owner of the ranch, along with his two brothers. He's automatically drawn to, and suspicious of, the h in equal measures. He's moody and says some awful things and makes some terrible mistakes, but the h has her revenge, so to speak, and it's a fun moment.

This book is pretty low-stakes. There's an OW, but she's a schemer who gets a comeuppance, and the H is seriously humbled, but there isn't an extended grovel because he is convinced that the h will never have anything to do with him after he misjudged her, and he resigns himself to this loss, which he correctly feels he deserves.

Profile Image for Ana M. Román.
655 reviews93 followers
May 1, 2016
Me apetecía leer algo de rancheros así que lo leí sin meditarlo mucho.

La historia está bien, ideal para pasar un rato entretenido sin grandes pretensiones ni complicaciones.
Profile Image for Maite Gil.
940 reviews31 followers
June 20, 2019
3,5 estrellas

"El camino más largo" es un libro típico de Diana Palmer, y está protagonizado por un ranchero no demasiado guapo, cabezón y malhumorado y por una chica más joven e inocente.

Mallory Kirk tiene 35 años y ha sido militar antes que ranchero. Tiene un fuerte carácter y al ser más bien feo está convencido de que las mujeres solo lo quieren por su dinero.

Morie Brant puede ser una inocente joven de 23 años, pero no es una tímida florecilla. Nuestra protagonista sabe lo quiere y lucha por ello. Sus padres fueron los protagonistas de otro de los libros de la autora y, al igual que su hija, también tenían su carácter.

En la novela se hace referencia a otros personajes de la autora, aunque no pasa nada si no habéis leído sus correspondientes libros porque no influyen en la trama.

La historia no es novedosa, pero es entretenida, sin complicaciones y engancha bastante. Yo había leído este libro hará unos cuatro años y como tenía sin leer la historia de los hermanos he pensado que era buena idea una relectura antes de ponerme con los otros libros de la serie.

En esta novela encontraremos malentendidos, discusiones, personas odiosas y el típico romance de la autora. Puede que no sea uno de sus mejores libros, pero tampoco es de los peores. Yo he disfrutado mucho de la lectura, de la cabezonería de Morie y del comportamiento, algo snob a veces, de Mallory.

Estoy deseando ponerme con las historias del los otros dos hermanos Kirk.
Profile Image for Vashti.
1,233 reviews29 followers
October 30, 2011
My second DP for this month and it was quite enjoyable.Again Ms Palmer writes a nice old fashioned love story ,this time with the daughter of Kingston Brandt and Shelby Kane whose story was one of my favorites.We meet up with some old characters from her beloved LONG,TALL,TEXAN series and it was nice to "meet" these characters again.I immmediately wanted to do a reread of all her older novels,it was like going home again.The h goes to work at the H's ranch as her father won't let her particpate with any at their ranch.The h is a big departure from the downtrodden h's that DP usually writes about,here she is a confident,educated,rich,accomplished young woman who did not let the H's girlfriend bully and intimidate her.Instead,she just went right after her,quip for quip.I loved the scene where they meet up when her father is giving this big party and they see who she really is,priceless.Highly rec for Dp fans.Hope that she writes more about the children of prior characters,there was a hint of something with her older brother and the daughter of the couple from Heather's song.
Profile Image for Jenny.
3,160 reviews558 followers
February 22, 2014
Morie is a rich heiress who leaves home and goes to work at the H's ranch. There she pretends to be a poor plain nobody. Hero's girlfriend is a bitch and she tries to make Morie's life miserable. However Morie is a very feisty, spirited heroine. She speaks her mind, she is confident, super rich and sophisticated. When hero accuses her of theft she goes back to her rich daddy, she gets engaged to a rich tycoon and never looks back until she finds out Mallory is in danger. Then she goes after his kidnapper alone, she confronts him and she saves Mallory's life. She’s just badass!
Profile Image for Aarann.
989 reviews82 followers
July 20, 2015
I think this might have finally gotten me back on the Stop Reading Diana Palmer wagon.

I didn't even put this on my "Currently Reading" shelf because I was too embarrassed to admit I was reading it. I always admit to hatereading Diana Palmer. To put it into perspective, I once admitted to reading -- and liking -- Palmer's "Maggie's Dad", which is so laughably old-skool, so incredibly outside the bounds of logic and reason, and so ridiculously anti-feminist that I was embarrassed to be even reading it, let alone enjoying myself as much as I did. (Not to mention the fact that you will have to pry that paperback out of my cold dead hands because I need that much ridiculousness in my life.)

There was a reference to this book in the fourth book in the series... Wyoming Superhymen (I dunno the title and you can't make me look it up!) and I thought, Ooohh! Secret heiress masquerading as normal girl who gets accused of something she didn't do and MMC has to grovel when he realizes who she is! Booknip alert! so I added this to my library wishlist and figured I'd pick it up sometime I didn't have anything else to read.

I should have known better. I really should have. I mean, I got the secret heiress plot, but what passed for a love story in this book was so dry and stupid, with very little actual contact between the MMC and FMC (did they have, like, three scenes together before Mallory (btw, blech on that name, I say -- blech!) accuses Morie of stealing and kicks her off the ranch?). The MMC was so stupid, I actually found myself wondering if his brothers or Morie should put him in an assisted living facility so he didn't hurt himself or others. In the face of pretty overwhelming evidence against his girlfriend, he continues to blithely believe the absolute stupidest conclusions. Something tells me this guy thinks Occam's Razor is something he uses to shave with in the mornings (hopefully not though, as Mallory's demonstration of intelligence does not make me think entrusting him with sharp objects is a good idea).

Even the Big Reveal was a let-down. When Mallory sees how gorgeousrichawesomeamazing Morie really is, he declares that there is no way he'd let her marry someone else... then promptly goes back home with this tail between his legs. Seriously, the other alpholes are laughing at you, Mallory -- laughing. I actually wanted to put Mallory on my "alphole" shelf, but honestly he didn't have enough of the "alpha" to put him there. He was so busy being led around by the Bitch Face From Hell (by the end of this book I was expecting to be told she was responsible for the fall of the Roman Empire, shinsplints, the weather, and wrote the screenplay to Gigli) that there just wasn't time in his schedule of explaining fracking ad nauseum (I think there were at least three explanations of it in this book) and being so ridiculously whipped to be an "alph-" anything, on top of everything else. And don't even get me started on the ending. Suffice it to say, I laughed. I wasn't supposed to, but I laughed.

This wasn't even a good Diana Palmer. It was disappointing and silly and the only reason I'm giving it two stars is because I actually managed to finish it. I'm still not sure it was worth two.
Profile Image for Vero Rinconin.
521 reviews134 followers
April 30, 2016
2'5 en realidad
Hubo momentos en que se hizo un poco pesado con descripciones que para mi sobraban y el protagonista no terminó de convencerme.
Entretenido y rápido de leer para momentos en que no sabes que libro elegir y que se pueda leer con media neurona XDDD
Profile Image for Jac K.
2,517 reviews490 followers
December 13, 2021
4 "Girl Power" Stars
Wyoming Tough is the first book of the Wyoming Men series originally released in 2011, and Ms. Palmer is shaking shit up! First, I’ll be the first to say she needs to get a baby name book and switch up her character monikers, but IMO she missed with this set. Our H’s named Mallory which does not sound tough, cowboy, or manly. Originally, I was so confused, because I kept picturing the heroine every time, I read Mallory. ugh.. I hated it.. The OW’s name is Gelly, is that even a name? moving on..

My favorite change is that the h was the more “worldly” of the couple. Morie (23) is not the standard mousy h, and she has quite the resume. Daughter of a famous model and uber rich cattle baron, (couple from To Love and Cherish) granddaughter of a famous actress, ties to Spanish royalty, vast knowledge and access to high fashion, Tae Kwon Do master, accomplished cook, pianist prodigy, and a talented party planner. She’s also attractive, funny, super hard working, and can tame angry criminals.

Mallory (36) is the oldest brother of three. He’s wealthy-ish, but nowhere close to Morie’s heiress level. He’s unattractive, and portrayed as a dumb-ass that believes everything his stupid GF tells him. I found him weak, and not alpha at all.

Gelly made an excellent OW, she was sneaky, manipulative and added so much drama-llama to the plot. She also gets hers in the end which is always a bonus.

Bottom Line- This is a silly read where the heroine is the star of the show, and single handily saved the H’s ass… literally. There’s also a major Mallory smack down scene compliments of the Brannt clan. There’s tons of name dropping of previous characters, and DP attempts to go all wisdom-y. “We all make mistakes. It’s why they put erasers on pencils.” It all ends in one epic :) sex scene after the couple’s marriage because Morie was raised right.
Profile Image for Lady Lioness.
1,088 reviews92 followers
October 16, 2011
Train. Wreck. This is a classic case of an author who has aged with her books and those books have not held up well. Palmer was never big on sexy times in her books, which is fine, but her later novels are full on preachy about sex, lawsuits, agricultural matters, gender attitudes, etc. In addition, the books all follow the exact same storyline: Cowboy/Rancher hero, who is a full-on Mr. Crankypants, falls for a much younger female who is subordinate to him in some way. The heroine worships him for no clear reason, there's some big misunderstanding, and the hero realizes the error of his ways & immediately proposes.

I am giving this two stars instead of one because, quite frankly, this is the book Palmer has always written and there is certainly still an audience for it. It just feels like, to me, that Palmer made the choice at some point to go from entertaining readers to educating them on what she feels is proper behavior. I really believe that if it wasn't for her long career and the fact that some people will buy based on her name alone, there is no way Palmer would be able sell a manuscript in today's market. If Harlequin ever drops her, she should retire gracefully or pursue more conventional inspirational fiction opportunities.
Profile Image for amanda s..
3,115 reviews95 followers
July 12, 2013
One of my favorites!

When her life keeps giving her more reason to stand on her own feet, Morie get a job in a local ranch. Even though she needs no money, she has to be herself and not smothered anymore. Mallory take fancy of this young girl who just got hired in his ranch. But when Mal's so-called beautiful girlfriend starts seeing Morie as a threat, she'll do anything to get rid of her.

It's been a while since I enjoyed reading Diana Palmer this much. I mean, some of her books can be very shallow and disturbing, but this one is totally fit the bill.

I liked Morie's guts. And the way she handle situations are exquisite, judging from Diana Palmer's usual heroine. Mallory, also not her typical Hero. Sure he's arrogant and bull-headed, but he's not that infuriating. I can do him.

But the ending, to be honest, is a total anticlimax. I expect something more pow daboom, but it turns out a bit nyeeeh. I need more.

So far so good. Diana Palmer's my definite favorite. ;)
Profile Image for Scrill.
412 reviews236 followers
March 25, 2019
I wanted a cowboy read. And I guess I got one. I am completely underwhelmed.
1,217 reviews1 follower
February 21, 2019
Love this first book in the Wyoming men series tough as nails Mallory Kirk almost loses the love of his life Morie Brannt because he listened to someone else instead of his heart but she through for him when he was in trouble than he realizes what he almost loses
Profile Image for S.
1,105 reviews25 followers
January 28, 2025
No chemistry. Boring boring boring.
Profile Image for Alison.
1,849 reviews16 followers
July 26, 2024
Was I entertained? Absolutely

Was this story lacking depth? Sure, but not a deal breaker. After all, that is what made for most of the entertainment.

Was there ow drama? Yes, quite a bit of drama was incited by a gal with the unique name of Gelly.

Did you like the hero? He was stubborn while also being too easily swayed by one person…. that nutty Gelly gal. The former trait was fine, but the latter trait made him seem like a weak hero.

Did you like the heroine? I liked her except for when the author used her as an example of piety, and used her dialogue as a way to lift up purity culture. It wasn’t heavy handed, but it was present a few times and very noticeable.

So why did I enjoy the story so much with all that said?
I really enjoyed the tropes present in this book: ow drama, secret identity, betrayal, swan transformation, and a righteous comeuppance (not sure that’s a trope, but I think it should be).
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Judy & Marianne from Long and Short Reviews.
5,476 reviews177 followers
September 24, 2011
Originally posted at: http://longandshortreviews.blogspot.c...

Morie Brannt is trying to create a life for herself. She's the daughter of wealthy and well known cattle baron King Brannt and his top model wife, Shelby. So why is she working as a hired ranch hand on Rancho Real in Wyoming? Because she is doing what she loves, learning to work a ranch, since her father would not teach her and her brother thinks she is just plain nuts. But Morie loves what she does. Too bad she doesn't like her boss, Mallory Kirk. Mallory's opinion of women leaves a lot to be desired and he isn't going to give Morie any leeway. If she wants this job she is going to need to work for it just like the men on his ranch.

Taken under the wing of an older and wiser hand and with Mallory's brothers for moral support, Morie tries to make a new life, appreciated for what she can do not just for what she is worth.

Throw in Mallory's jealous and suspicious girlfriend, an escaped convict hiding on the ranch, fancy dinner parties, the theft of a family heirloom and a surprising family member showing up at the ranch to put Morie in over her head and you have plenty of conflict.

Morie is a wonderful character, someone trying to be who she isn't but her true nature and passion come to the front at every turn. She is a constant source of surprise for Mallory and brings out the very best in him while also bringing out the very worst.

He is a typical Diana Palmer heartthrob hero...tall, sexy, stubborn, unwilling to believe he could be wrong and fighting falling for the wrong woman who is really the only right woman.

Diana Palmer has been a staple among romance fans for years now. She has always maintained a steady stream of devoted readers while consistently attracting new generations. With the introduciton of the Kirk brothers, she lays the ground work for more stories involving Cane, the war vet, and Dalton the former border agent.

I have been reading Diana Palmer books since the the 1970's. I admit I am a true fan of her Long Tall Texan series and appreciate the formula for her books.She is truly the Queen of the sensual, heartwarming, heart breaking romance where the hero eventaully comes to his senses before losing the great love of his life. This particular book is true Diana Palmer and is a must read for her die hard fans but is also a great place to start to eventually become one of her die hard fans.

At her worst she is fantastic and at her best she is amazing. With Wyoming Tough she is at her best!!!

Profile Image for Denise.
671 reviews8 followers
April 8, 2018
So... her grandpa is a king. Her grandma is a movie star. Her dad is a huge cattle baron. She grew up with designers making clothes for her but she “whips on a fanny pack” when going on her date while working on a ranch as a cowgirl where no one recognizes her.
And the movie they saw (the cartoon lizard Jonny Depp movie) was actually described as “clever and funny”.
None of this makes any sense. These are just a couple of examples, but basically every page is screaming for me to call BS. Not to mention there’s a murderer on the loose and she’s just going to go ride and check fence with her headphones on. RESEARCH PEOPLE. You can’t just set your royals on a ranch with fanny packs and iPods. And don’t tell us how everyone has college degrees and yet they can’t see the obvious set ups. Or the completely incompetent and inconsistent BS.
Gah! I’ll just be over here pulling my hair out while rocking back and forth mumbling, “Overkill.”
Profile Image for Lori (on hiatus, life is crazy busy)).
452 reviews161 followers
June 10, 2019
Good book! Morie is a girl that comes from a rich cattleman family. She is supposed to be elegant and not get her hands dirty. But she insists on going against her Father to prove that a woman can do a man's job. She finds a job working as a ranch hand on Mallory Kirk's ranch. No one knows who she is or where she came from. Mallory finds Morie to be a thorn in his side. Everyone else on the ranch thinks she's just great. This story is filled with hope, a little danger, crooked people and an unthinkable match for these two!
Profile Image for StellaR.
309 reviews2 followers
February 10, 2013
I thought I wouldn't say this to Diana Palmer's book..this book is unbelievable, no chemistry at all, no depth, it's boring enough to the point that I had to force myself to finish it.
I am a fan of Diana Palmer, love her old-fashioned sweet stories, I even love how predictable they are :D Unfortunately this one doesn't work for me. Too bad.
Profile Image for Melanie♥.
1,094 reviews1 follower
November 9, 2011
2.5 stars. The first half wasn't too bad and I had hopes this would be better than the last few books. Only one or two brief comments on gaming. But then it went downhill....
Glad I still have my old DP keepers when I need a fix. This one will need to find a new home.
Profile Image for GuisBell.
1,299 reviews31 followers
July 13, 2019
Típico de Mallory creer a la víbora y lastimar a una mujer inocente, creí que Mallory lucharía mas Morie, pero ya se había rendido desde el inicio, solo espero que ella viniera y lo perdonara, baaaaaa...
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