What do you think?
Rate this book
Rocky Mountain Heirs #4
The Cowboy's Lady
Cody Jameson knows that hiring gourmet chef Vivienne Clayton for the Circle C Ranch has to be a mistake. He once secretly loved her, but she's back in tiny Clayton, Colorado, for just a year. Vivienne wonders how she'll survive in the town she couldn't leave fast enough. Yet she soon finds herself cooking beans and biscuits for cowboys and helping Cody with his sassy teenage sister. To the entire ranch's surprise, it seems like this big-city chef might actually stand a chance of becoming a cowboy's lady forever.
224 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published September 20, 2011
52 people are currently reading
304 people want to read
About the author
Carolyne Aarsen
213 books723 followersEven with over 1.5 million copies of my books in print, I still feel like I haven’t written the perfect story. From my office in the woods of Northern Alberta, I’ll keep trying. Inspired by spectacular sunrises, breathtaking Northern Lights and long walks through wooded trails, the stories keep coming. To find out more about my life and my writing, check out my website at www.carolyneaarsen.com
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
July 29, 2018
I didn't win this book on Goodreads First Reads. It was left with one of the girls in check out, by a patient who had finished reading it at the doctor's office where I work. The girl in check out brought it to me, knowing how much I love to read. This book is a sweet, Christian, "Love Inspired" short romance. It takes place in the fictional town of, Clayton, CO. The two main characters are Vivienne Clayton and Cody Jameson. The story is very well written from start to finish. It starts with the Bible verse: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways submit to him and he will make your paths straight." Proverbs 3:5-6. It's a story of hope, prayer, and redemption with a little romance thrown in for good measure. I found it to be a real "feel good" story and a reminder to me that my time will come in the good Lord's time, not my own. Little did the girl in check out know how much I truly needed this book.
December 29, 2017
This was another good western romance. Vivenne has come home due to her grandfather's will. All her cousins has to come home to get their inheritance.
Cody is not too sure of her. He thinks she is too fancy. But they slowly get to like each other and Vivenne comes to love the ranch.
When things happen and her soup makes people sick she leaves, but Cody find out what happened. He comes to her and tells her that he loves her. She loves him and the ranch and does not want to leave.
They find their love.
Cody is not too sure of her. He thinks she is too fancy. But they slowly get to like each other and Vivenne comes to love the ranch.
When things happen and her soup makes people sick she leaves, but Cody find out what happened. He comes to her and tells her that he loves her. She loves him and the ranch and does not want to leave.
They find their love.
June 18, 2021
Together At Last
Cody and Vivienne had known each other in school and that is when their love for each other had started. Vivienne is back in Clayton beginning her years stay so she and her cousins can inherit their Grandfather 's fortune. Would Vivienne give up her dreams to start a new life with Cody or take the money and run?
Cody and Vivienne had known each other in school and that is when their love for each other had started. Vivienne is back in Clayton beginning her years stay so she and her cousins can inherit their Grandfather 's fortune. Would Vivienne give up her dreams to start a new life with Cody or take the money and run?
April 10, 2025
I enjoyed this book way more than I expected. I appreciated the way the author very seamlessly switched perspectives of the two characters. I liked the story and how it developed throughout. I am glad I took a chance on a free book I found at the Free Library near the playground my son loves to go to.
January 18, 2017
Loved the storyline. Enjoyed it very much Definitely 5star !!!
Inspirational. sigh !
Reinforced by their Christian faith.
Definitely recommend this book .
Inspirational. sigh !
Reinforced by their Christian faith.
Definitely recommend this book .
August 9, 2021
A sweet love story to read.
July 29, 2022
I would like to have known what happened to her cousin and if they got the money and how the whole ranch turned out but other than that it was pretty good
November 18, 2023
So cute!
December 8, 2024
Good story
Nice second chance book. Opinions change as you age. Dirty overcrowded cities with corrupt DA's aren't the best places to live or work.
Nice second chance book. Opinions change as you age. Dirty overcrowded cities with corrupt DA's aren't the best places to live or work.
May 27, 2013
“The Cowboy’s Lady” is book 4 in the Rocky Mountain Heirs miniseries. It focuses on the return of the prodigal, Vivienne Clayton, a Cordon Bleu-trained chef, to the small town of Clayton, Colorado, which was built by her ancestors. She’s retreated from city life due to being fired from her job, and is hired to cook for a local ranch. However, the ranch is run by Cody Jameson, who harbored a crush on her back in high school but she rejected him as being “too country” for her; the reader can empathize with the peer pressure that was on her.
Vivienne is back, ostensibly to get her inheritance which stipulates that she (and five of her cousins) must live in Clayton for at least one year. Then she will receive 500 acres of land (for ranching or farming) and $250,000. Vivienne plans to get the money and run back to New York, but her growing attraction to Cody may alter her plans.
Vivienne is an amusing heroine; she cooks fancy city food for the ranch hands, not realizing that 500 calorie plates don’t’ do justice for a man working outside all day long. She walks around the ranch in Christian Louboutin heels and gives makeup advice to surly teenager Bonnie Jameson. Bonnie is Cody’s younger sister and there are moments in the story where you wish someone would slap some sense into her.
Cody is pure country boy, and he tells Vivienne “what you see is what you get”. He thinks Vivienne is a snob, but to her credit, she doesn’t really behave this way. She’s welcomed back into town by her relatives and she begins to see how much Cody loves the country. Cody’s disdain for this “city girl” is annoying at times, but eventually they see how they can merge their two lifestyles together (it’s suggested that they open a dude ranch for visitors). The reader is also aware of Cody’s distrust of city people which came about after his wife, Tabitha, left him to live in Denver and died in an auto accident which also killed her unborn baby.
There’s some conflict in the story as well, and not just between Cody and Vivienne. Mysterious things have been happening around the ranch, including cows getting loose and cowboys complaining about the work. The book will make you want to visit Colorado, and it’s an easy , highly recommended read.
Vivienne is back, ostensibly to get her inheritance which stipulates that she (and five of her cousins) must live in Clayton for at least one year. Then she will receive 500 acres of land (for ranching or farming) and $250,000. Vivienne plans to get the money and run back to New York, but her growing attraction to Cody may alter her plans.
Vivienne is an amusing heroine; she cooks fancy city food for the ranch hands, not realizing that 500 calorie plates don’t’ do justice for a man working outside all day long. She walks around the ranch in Christian Louboutin heels and gives makeup advice to surly teenager Bonnie Jameson. Bonnie is Cody’s younger sister and there are moments in the story where you wish someone would slap some sense into her.
Cody is pure country boy, and he tells Vivienne “what you see is what you get”. He thinks Vivienne is a snob, but to her credit, she doesn’t really behave this way. She’s welcomed back into town by her relatives and she begins to see how much Cody loves the country. Cody’s disdain for this “city girl” is annoying at times, but eventually they see how they can merge their two lifestyles together (it’s suggested that they open a dude ranch for visitors). The reader is also aware of Cody’s distrust of city people which came about after his wife, Tabitha, left him to live in Denver and died in an auto accident which also killed her unborn baby.
There’s some conflict in the story as well, and not just between Cody and Vivienne. Mysterious things have been happening around the ranch, including cows getting loose and cowboys complaining about the work. The book will make you want to visit Colorado, and it’s an easy , highly recommended read.
January 14, 2012
The Cowboy's Lady by Carolyne Aarsen
Rocky Mountain Heirs Book 4
Vivienne Clayton had escaped Clayton, Colorado to live her dreams. She went to school in Paris and worked as a Chef in New York. Now she has come crawling back to Clayton with her self-confidence shattered. One error had taken her job and dreams. Her grandfather's money could be the answer though, to open her own restaurant in New York. She quickly finds that there is a lack of jobs in Clayton, until a rancher hires her as the cook, she has bills to pay off and a year to get through, so why not?
Cody Jameson is not happy that Uncle Ted hired the city gal. His wife was one and she could not handle ranch life. And worse, he always cared for Vivienne but the one time he asked her she shot him down. Now here she is in his cook house and she looks as beautiful as she did in high school. He is also concerned about his fourteen year old sister, Bonnie, wanting to be like Vivienne and her city gal ways.
Not to mention the “other Clayton's” and their underhanded schemes to chase Vivienne back out of Clayton so they will get the inheritance money. Can a cowboy and a city girl find happiness or will they end up with two broken hearts?
http://justjudysjumbles.blogspot.com/...
Rocky Mountain Heirs Book 4
Vivienne Clayton had escaped Clayton, Colorado to live her dreams. She went to school in Paris and worked as a Chef in New York. Now she has come crawling back to Clayton with her self-confidence shattered. One error had taken her job and dreams. Her grandfather's money could be the answer though, to open her own restaurant in New York. She quickly finds that there is a lack of jobs in Clayton, until a rancher hires her as the cook, she has bills to pay off and a year to get through, so why not?
Cody Jameson is not happy that Uncle Ted hired the city gal. His wife was one and she could not handle ranch life. And worse, he always cared for Vivienne but the one time he asked her she shot him down. Now here she is in his cook house and she looks as beautiful as she did in high school. He is also concerned about his fourteen year old sister, Bonnie, wanting to be like Vivienne and her city gal ways.
Not to mention the “other Clayton's” and their underhanded schemes to chase Vivienne back out of Clayton so they will get the inheritance money. Can a cowboy and a city girl find happiness or will they end up with two broken hearts?
http://justjudysjumbles.blogspot.com/...
July 23, 2021
I really liked this cowboy/big city girl romance. When Vivienne must come back to her hometown, she is looking for a job. When she finds work on the local cattle ranch with an old flame, things happen. Such a wonderful love story that I enjoyed.
October 28, 2011
I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway.
This is the first “Love Inspired” book I have read and I was pleasantly surprised.
I expected an easy read and that is what this book delivered. I did not expect a very complicated story and this one was not. I expected there to be some conflict (where is the story if there is no conflict?) but it was not as silly as some I have read. The romance was gentle and so was the theology.
I found the ending a bit quick. One day driving cattle as a date seems a bit slim in the courtship department. The water fall walk might have had its’ moments of closeness but it only started as an unplanned walk. I think the hero asking for a serious relationship and courtship would have been just as satisfying as “will you marry me?”
I think the book delivered what it was suppose to. So I give this book a 3.5 but it gets 4 stars cuz I round up.
This is the first “Love Inspired” book I have read and I was pleasantly surprised.
I expected an easy read and that is what this book delivered. I did not expect a very complicated story and this one was not. I expected there to be some conflict (where is the story if there is no conflict?) but it was not as silly as some I have read. The romance was gentle and so was the theology.
I found the ending a bit quick. One day driving cattle as a date seems a bit slim in the courtship department. The water fall walk might have had its’ moments of closeness but it only started as an unplanned walk. I think the hero asking for a serious relationship and courtship would have been just as satisfying as “will you marry me?”
I think the book delivered what it was suppose to. So I give this book a 3.5 but it gets 4 stars cuz I round up.
August 22, 2011
Book Four in the Rocky Mountain Heirs series. Vivienne's story, the NY chef returned to Colorado. Cody had held a crush on her since high school when she was too popular and too easily swayed by her peers to give him the time of day. Although I liked Vivienne and the story, it felt as though the romantic conflict between her and Cody wrapped up too quickly, because it was the end of the book.
January 27, 2013
Great book...gotta love any storyline about a Cowboy!!! One of my favorite books in the series. Quick read but left me not wanting the book to end. Loved the main characters in this book. Now on to next book......
August 8, 2015
Cody Jameson and Vivienne Clayton went to school together, but never connected then. When she moves back to town to collect her inheritance, can they develop a friendship or more? Will her drive to be a chef get in the way?
July 9, 2016
Great read!
It's so nice to read a realistic romance containing challenges, faith, and God's work in people's lives. The characters, so true to life with faults and fears, deal with plenty of drama as well as successes in their everyday lives.
It's so nice to read a realistic romance containing challenges, faith, and God's work in people's lives. The characters, so true to life with faults and fears, deal with plenty of drama as well as successes in their everyday lives.
November 24, 2016
I didn't think this book was as good as others in the series because it was a little tiresome in places. I did like the farm setting and watching the relationship between Cody and Vivienne develop. I did wonder why Vivienne had trouble facing her problems.
Read
December 24, 2014Miniseries: Rocky Mountain Heirs
November 10, 2011
Loved this book..What an amazing series..
September 20, 2012
I really liked this sweet story about downhome Cody and sophisticated chef Vivienne. Very well written, great attention to detail and believable love story. A keeper!
December 9, 2012
I loved the Rocky Mountain Heirs series! The Cowboys Lady was so enjoyable, with a unique texture to its characters and development. Don't miss a book in this continuity!
March 17, 2013
My favorite of this series. It's just a sweet love story.
October 5, 2014
I really enjoy these cowboy romance books! Makes me want to head up to a ranch and see the life! ;)
May 2, 2017
So cute!
August 13, 2016
The ranch and country setting is beautiful.
How a city girl fell in love with it and the country folks.
How a city girl fell in love with it and the country folks.
Read
December 24, 2014Miniseries: Rocky Mountain Heirs
January 9, 2014
Rancher Cody Jameson hires his high school crush groumet chef Vivienne Clayton at his ranch.
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews