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Campbell-Strayhorn Dynasty #1
Lone Star Woman
Jude Strayhorn, the only child of the vast Circle C Ranch’s CEO, is in constant conflict with her father and grandfather. Her greatest desire is to exert her education and influence on the ranch’s operation, but the two men thwart her at every turn. Giving up, she goes outside the Circle C intending to use her trust fund to buy a small spread from a deceased widow’s estate where she can put her ideas into practice. That is, until she runs headlong into the widow’s heir, Brady Fallon, who has his own plans for the 6-0 Ranch.
Brady Fallon is no stranger to Willard County, though he hasn’t been around since childhood. His inheritance needs a lot of work and he needs money to put it back into shape and revive it as a cattle operation. He hires on as a hand at the Circle C Ranch, a move that leads to unexpected benefits for his future as well as unwanted conflict with his boss’s daughter. Can he set his attraction to her aside for his own good?
Brady Fallon is no stranger to Willard County, though he hasn’t been around since childhood. His inheritance needs a lot of work and he needs money to put it back into shape and revive it as a cattle operation. He hires on as a hand at the Circle C Ranch, a move that leads to unexpected benefits for his future as well as unwanted conflict with his boss’s daughter. Can he set his attraction to her aside for his own good?
319 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2009
5 people are currently reading
130 people want to read
About the author
Anna Jeffrey
24 books160 followersAnna Jeffrey is an award-winning author of romance novels as well as romantic comedy/mystery. She has written 11 romance novels and co-authored 8 as USA Today Bestselling author, Dixie Cash. Her most recent book is "The Cattleman."
Her Anna Jeffrey books have won the Write Touch Readers' Award, the Aspen Gold, and the More Than Magic awards. Her books have been finalists in the Colorado Romance Writers award, the Golden Quill and Southern Magic as well as the Write Touch Readers' Award, the Aspen Gold and the More than Magic awards. She is a member of Romance Writers of America and NINC.
Anna is a fifth generation Texan. She was born and grew up in West Texas, where most of her family members were farmers and ranchers or worked in the oil fields. She left Texas for many years and lived in four of the western states, a rich experience she'll never forget.
She loves most things western, from the customs and culture to the philosophy of life. She enjoys many hobbies, i.e., reading, painting and drawing, crafting, needlework and beading.
These days, she's back home in Texas. She and her husband currently live in Granbury, Texas, a small town not far from the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex.
Her Anna Jeffrey books have won the Write Touch Readers' Award, the Aspen Gold, and the More Than Magic awards. Her books have been finalists in the Colorado Romance Writers award, the Golden Quill and Southern Magic as well as the Write Touch Readers' Award, the Aspen Gold and the More than Magic awards. She is a member of Romance Writers of America and NINC.
Anna is a fifth generation Texan. She was born and grew up in West Texas, where most of her family members were farmers and ranchers or worked in the oil fields. She left Texas for many years and lived in four of the western states, a rich experience she'll never forget.
She loves most things western, from the customs and culture to the philosophy of life. She enjoys many hobbies, i.e., reading, painting and drawing, crafting, needlework and beading.
These days, she's back home in Texas. She and her husband currently live in Granbury, Texas, a small town not far from the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
July 31, 2011
I was pleasantly surprised by this book. Sadie Callahan is a pseudonym for Anna Jeffrey. I’ve only read one of Ms. Jeffrey’s books, so I was curious when I came across Lone Star Woman. There isn’t an underlying mystery or that type of thing in this book. It’s about a woman who has trained and worked and waited her life to someday be able to take over a portion of her father’s ranch, pull her weight, do what she feels she’s destined to do. Falling in love along the way really wasn’t in the plan, but life can surprise a body sometimes.
Jude is on her way toward a destiny she’s finally realized she’s going to have to make herself. Her grandfather and father don’t seem to value what she has to offer the Circle C, always turning her down when she knows she can help to make things better, so she’s going to buy land of her own and start from scratch. She’s going to have her own ranch like she’s always wanted, her dream come true.
On her way, though, she finds someone else on her property. By the looks of it, the man thinks he’s going to be staying a while, and when she finds out it’s Brady Fallon, nephew of the previous deceased owner, her heart breaks a little bit more. He has every right to be where he is, and her dream dissolves into nothingness. And when she realizes her grandfather isn’t about to play fair where Brady and his land are concerned, she feels a need to help the handsome cowboy just to even the playing field, even after he comes to work for the Circle C.
Brady isn’t quite a low as he can go on the life sucks scale, but he’s close. When his ex-wife wants a divorce, things were going fine until her high-powered father steps in. Next thing Brady knows, not only did he no longer have a wife, he also didn’t have his son or his business. So when word came he’d inherited land from his elderly aunt, Brady is determined to make a go of it to finally have a place for the father-son visits he looks forward to when his visitation dates come up. He’ll even take the help of the beautiful Jude Strayhorn, though he knows once her father gets wind of their goings-on things will go straight to hell again.
I enjoyed both of these characters. They’re the type who never quit when they’re down, and their down is so very different from the other’s. Jude was born with the proverbial silver spoon while Brady has worked for everything, only to lose it. But dreams shattered, rich or poor, are still dreams shattered. These two are also good together. They felt real whether they were working side by side, making love, or arguing.
Jude is not one to be pampered, she wants to be out on the ranch doing the physical labor like everyone else involved, but it’s her father who nixes that idea every time. He knows how hard the work is and what it does to someone day in and day out and he doesn’t want his daughter old before her time. Brady agrees, and it’s not until events work against her and she needs Brady’s help that she realizes it herself. I liked the fact she fought for herself when needed, but she’s also intelligent enough to know when something won’t work like she’d always thought; there’s something else in life worth having and working for.
This is not one of those super-WOW! books, but it’s a nice love story of two people who belong together, have a time getting there, but once they do make it, nothing will keep them down and the fight has been worth every single roadblock they’ve overcome.
See my complete review at http://www.goodbadandunread.com
Jude is on her way toward a destiny she’s finally realized she’s going to have to make herself. Her grandfather and father don’t seem to value what she has to offer the Circle C, always turning her down when she knows she can help to make things better, so she’s going to buy land of her own and start from scratch. She’s going to have her own ranch like she’s always wanted, her dream come true.
On her way, though, she finds someone else on her property. By the looks of it, the man thinks he’s going to be staying a while, and when she finds out it’s Brady Fallon, nephew of the previous deceased owner, her heart breaks a little bit more. He has every right to be where he is, and her dream dissolves into nothingness. And when she realizes her grandfather isn’t about to play fair where Brady and his land are concerned, she feels a need to help the handsome cowboy just to even the playing field, even after he comes to work for the Circle C.
Brady isn’t quite a low as he can go on the life sucks scale, but he’s close. When his ex-wife wants a divorce, things were going fine until her high-powered father steps in. Next thing Brady knows, not only did he no longer have a wife, he also didn’t have his son or his business. So when word came he’d inherited land from his elderly aunt, Brady is determined to make a go of it to finally have a place for the father-son visits he looks forward to when his visitation dates come up. He’ll even take the help of the beautiful Jude Strayhorn, though he knows once her father gets wind of their goings-on things will go straight to hell again.
I enjoyed both of these characters. They’re the type who never quit when they’re down, and their down is so very different from the other’s. Jude was born with the proverbial silver spoon while Brady has worked for everything, only to lose it. But dreams shattered, rich or poor, are still dreams shattered. These two are also good together. They felt real whether they were working side by side, making love, or arguing.
Jude is not one to be pampered, she wants to be out on the ranch doing the physical labor like everyone else involved, but it’s her father who nixes that idea every time. He knows how hard the work is and what it does to someone day in and day out and he doesn’t want his daughter old before her time. Brady agrees, and it’s not until events work against her and she needs Brady’s help that she realizes it herself. I liked the fact she fought for herself when needed, but she’s also intelligent enough to know when something won’t work like she’d always thought; there’s something else in life worth having and working for.
This is not one of those super-WOW! books, but it’s a nice love story of two people who belong together, have a time getting there, but once they do make it, nothing will keep them down and the fight has been worth every single roadblock they’ve overcome.
See my complete review at http://www.goodbadandunread.com
October 26, 2013
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and all of its characters. Ms. Jeffrey does a great job with the description of the settings and also the emotions that they are projecting.
You've got Jude Strayhorn in her late 20's, living on a cattle ranch with her father and grandfather – whom also have raised her – she's got a soft exterior, but inside she's actually pretty tough. She's been engaged twice, both by the completely wrong man. Her “parents” so to speak, are just trying to do what's right by her and see her married to a man of wealth and start having babies. What they're not seeing though is the bigger picture. What Jude wants. Basically treating her as if she were just a part of the livestock herself, poor Jude.
She's got plans of her own though, to buy a derelict ranch down the road and breed cattle on her own, since she's into the genetics of crossbreeding and doesn't have the freedom to do as she wants on her family's ranch. That plan falls thru when she drives by said ranch and spots a strange truck parked in the driveway. I laughed when she confronted the stranger at the ranch and thought that she's a little firecracker!
So then walks Brady Fallon into her life, an old childhood friend that moved away many years ago to come back and take claim to the 6-0 ranch his aunt left him. The ranch is in terrible shape and will take a lot of back breaking work (and money) to fix up. Seeing that he just moved back into town and needs a job, where else to go but to the Strayhorn Circle-C ranch. Right before he starts working at the ranch though he and Jude spend some time together when she offers to ride out of town (in secret from her family) and help him move his things to his new home. Things between them heat up to N-U-C-L-E-A-R while on this trip!
Now, with Jude knowing good and well not to get mixed up with the hands working the ranch, this is a huge problem.
I love how Jude is an extremely smart woman, but also doesn't know when to put a sock in her mouth, ha! I related to her in that way, lol! Knowing all sorts of sometimes useless knowledge, and then rambling on and on about things to whoever you're trying to impress, all the while after a few minutes you look at them and they're just sitting there staring at you with a deer-in-the-headlights sort of look! Too funny. I would hate growing up like she did, not the way of living or anything, but how she had to go by who her father and grandfather would want her to date. Just because Brady didn't come from money and worked for her father, automatically put him in the do-not-date pile, even though he's everything Jude wants and is perfect for her. I kept waiting for Jude to tell her father exactly what was wrong with the other two men he picked out for her to shut him up!
Like I said I really loved this book and there were a lot of parts where I either cracked up, or threw my hand over my eyes because I was embarrassed for Jude! There are two scenes in particular that I'm talking about; where she was cleaning up the garbage outside that Ginger left and she noticed Brady's pictures.............Hot...and then when started to pack up his things in the bedroom and found a certain box with certain things of an XL size. LOL
March 22, 2009
This book would have been good, however the ending really really really teed me off. It left too many things up. I felt like I was missing about 6 more pages of story. I now know that Ms. Callahan will be continuing the story in her next book, out in 2010 but that doesn't really help me now. I'm not sure if my thoughts would have differed had I know that going in or not, because the rest of the book, while slow at first was enjoyable. However the ending just turned me off completely. Others may find the ending fine, especially if you enjoy Women's Fiction or Chick Lit. I don't want to say you shouldn't read this one, just be prepared to possibly be upset over the ending. Otherwise Ms. Callahan can really make you feel as though you are there in Texas with the characters, who are very realistic.
September 20, 2013
I loved this book! One of my very favorite Anna Jeffrey novels. I loved the characaters and the complexity of their relationships. My only wish is the story had carried on a bit farther in the Epilogue. Thank you, Ms. Jeffrey! 5 stars :)
September 25, 2010
3.5 stars. Enjoyable reading throughout the book, but the ending felt unfinished and not romantic enough.
STORY BRIEF:
The Strayhorn family is one of the richest in West Texas. They have a huge cattle ranch. Jude’s mother ran off shortly after Jude was born. Jude grew up lonely, a single child. Her dream is to take over the running of the family ranch. She obtained college degrees in agriculture and genetics to prepare her for this. Her father won’t give her the job. He claims it a man’s work. He wants Jude to get married and make babies. He even arranges a couple of marriage engagements for her which she manages to get out of. Jude teaches at the local school to be able to feel useful.
Brady just inherited a large ranch next to the Strayhorn’s from his aunt. It is run-down but livable. Brady is recently divorced. He lost all his money fighting and losing a custody battle for his son. He needs money to build up the ranch, so he gets a job as a ranch hand working for the Strayhorns. Jude’s father has demanded that Jude stay away from the ranch hands her entire life, but she’s attracted to Brady.
REVIEWER’S OPINION WITH SOME VAGUE SPOILERS:
While reading this book, I felt like I just came back from a nice long vacation in Texas, being on a cattle ranch. It has the feel of real people with regular problems. It’s life like. I felt sympathy for Jude. Brady was smart, competent and didn’t talk much. I liked both of them, and I enjoyed reading about them. I liked the way Jude helped Brady work on his own ranch. It was interesting how they were attracted to each other but backed off because Brady didn’t want to jeopardize his job working on her family’s ranch.
I did not like the ending. It was too subtle for me. Brady and Jude had fought and separated. I assumed they were going to get back together, but the author didn’t show it. Instead, Brady makes one statement which implies they would get together, but that was all. I wanted to see what would happen with Jude and Brady. I wanted to see and feel a more romantic ending. I felt like the story was chopped off. At the least, I would have liked an epilogue showing them together. I also wanted to know what was going to happen with Brady’s son and stepson. The author implies that the boys might be spending more time with Brady or live with him, but it’s not told.
This is the author’s first romance novel. Her prior books were written under the name Anna Jeffrey and were relationship stories, leaning toward women’s fiction. As a human relationships story, I would give “Lone Star Woman” 4 stars. But since it was advertised as a romance novel, I’m giving it 3.5 stars for weak closure at the end. Closure is part of “feel good” for me.
DATA:
Story length: 342 pages. Swearing language: strong. Sexual language: moderate. Number of sex scenes: 3. Total number of sex scene pages: 15. Setting: current day Texas. Copyright: 2009. Genre: contemporary romance and relationships fiction.
STORY BRIEF:
The Strayhorn family is one of the richest in West Texas. They have a huge cattle ranch. Jude’s mother ran off shortly after Jude was born. Jude grew up lonely, a single child. Her dream is to take over the running of the family ranch. She obtained college degrees in agriculture and genetics to prepare her for this. Her father won’t give her the job. He claims it a man’s work. He wants Jude to get married and make babies. He even arranges a couple of marriage engagements for her which she manages to get out of. Jude teaches at the local school to be able to feel useful.
Brady just inherited a large ranch next to the Strayhorn’s from his aunt. It is run-down but livable. Brady is recently divorced. He lost all his money fighting and losing a custody battle for his son. He needs money to build up the ranch, so he gets a job as a ranch hand working for the Strayhorns. Jude’s father has demanded that Jude stay away from the ranch hands her entire life, but she’s attracted to Brady.
REVIEWER’S OPINION WITH SOME VAGUE SPOILERS:
While reading this book, I felt like I just came back from a nice long vacation in Texas, being on a cattle ranch. It has the feel of real people with regular problems. It’s life like. I felt sympathy for Jude. Brady was smart, competent and didn’t talk much. I liked both of them, and I enjoyed reading about them. I liked the way Jude helped Brady work on his own ranch. It was interesting how they were attracted to each other but backed off because Brady didn’t want to jeopardize his job working on her family’s ranch.
I did not like the ending. It was too subtle for me. Brady and Jude had fought and separated. I assumed they were going to get back together, but the author didn’t show it. Instead, Brady makes one statement which implies they would get together, but that was all. I wanted to see what would happen with Jude and Brady. I wanted to see and feel a more romantic ending. I felt like the story was chopped off. At the least, I would have liked an epilogue showing them together. I also wanted to know what was going to happen with Brady’s son and stepson. The author implies that the boys might be spending more time with Brady or live with him, but it’s not told.
This is the author’s first romance novel. Her prior books were written under the name Anna Jeffrey and were relationship stories, leaning toward women’s fiction. As a human relationships story, I would give “Lone Star Woman” 4 stars. But since it was advertised as a romance novel, I’m giving it 3.5 stars for weak closure at the end. Closure is part of “feel good” for me.
DATA:
Story length: 342 pages. Swearing language: strong. Sexual language: moderate. Number of sex scenes: 3. Total number of sex scene pages: 15. Setting: current day Texas. Copyright: 2009. Genre: contemporary romance and relationships fiction.
January 21, 2014
The only reason this book retains a 3-star rating is because the chemistry rates a 5+ stars.
The heroine, Jude, is shown to be a very strong, idealistic, and mostly independent woman. I wanted to like her, I really did. But I ended up hating her. In spite of being strong and smart, she is constantly bending to her family's will for her. Somehow, she never gets mad at them. The few times she does get mad at her family for ruining her life (literally), she ends up telling herself that SHE'S the one being selfish because she has a family "legacy" to live up to. Ick! Her family literally treated her like property, but she ended up being okay with that - not just forgiving them, but yes thinking that they had done the right thing, and she had been the one that was wrong. WTF??!! I wanted to bitch-slap some sense into the girl.
The ending was way too soon/fast also. AND..AND, again in spite of being a strong person, she suddenly needed to be rescued by a man??!! Jude and her man are on the outs in the last bit of the book, yet suddenly, in the middle of him rescuing her, they make up and are going to be okay. Yep. That's where the book ended, in the middle of the rescue. Sorry, but I can't believe that everything's okay just because she needs rescuing. She has never even met the guy's son and stepson who just came to live with him. This ending especially was completely unbelievable to me.
The heroine, Jude, is shown to be a very strong, idealistic, and mostly independent woman. I wanted to like her, I really did. But I ended up hating her. In spite of being strong and smart, she is constantly bending to her family's will for her. Somehow, she never gets mad at them. The few times she does get mad at her family for ruining her life (literally), she ends up telling herself that SHE'S the one being selfish because she has a family "legacy" to live up to. Ick! Her family literally treated her like property, but she ended up being okay with that - not just forgiving them, but yes thinking that they had done the right thing, and she had been the one that was wrong. WTF??!! I wanted to bitch-slap some sense into the girl.
The ending was way too soon/fast also. AND..AND, again in spite of being a strong person, she suddenly needed to be rescued by a man??!! Jude and her man are on the outs in the last bit of the book, yet suddenly, in the middle of him rescuing her, they make up and are going to be okay. Yep. That's where the book ended, in the middle of the rescue. Sorry, but I can't believe that everything's okay just because she needs rescuing. She has never even met the guy's son and stepson who just came to live with him. This ending especially was completely unbelievable to me.
September 24, 2010
How you end a book with the sentence, "and she wiped her nose with the back of her hand", regardless of the situation is beyond me.
It's a romance not a fifth grade read-a-long book!
Anyway, the book was pretty good. A good beach read and a decent cowboy fiction. It was a little chauvinist and that got a little annoying but I ended up liking the way things resolved.
Jude, well at first you think you'd hate her and you don't. Brady, well he's an alpha male for sure but he has his soft side. I wish we could have seen more of his kids though.
I'm not going into a long diatribe here and I'm not going to give you a synopsis. It's actually not really about the plot of land but more about the difference between Brady and Jude in terms of trust, communication, standards and class.
This book needed to be a bit more fleshed out in terms of characters and backstory. I would have liked to see Jude do more than just be helpless. She should've struck out on her own somewhere else.
I don't know, I'm a little wishy-washy with this book which could be why this review can't make up its mind.
It's a romance not a fifth grade read-a-long book!
Anyway, the book was pretty good. A good beach read and a decent cowboy fiction. It was a little chauvinist and that got a little annoying but I ended up liking the way things resolved.
Jude, well at first you think you'd hate her and you don't. Brady, well he's an alpha male for sure but he has his soft side. I wish we could have seen more of his kids though.
I'm not going into a long diatribe here and I'm not going to give you a synopsis. It's actually not really about the plot of land but more about the difference between Brady and Jude in terms of trust, communication, standards and class.
This book needed to be a bit more fleshed out in terms of characters and backstory. I would have liked to see Jude do more than just be helpless. She should've struck out on her own somewhere else.
I don't know, I'm a little wishy-washy with this book which could be why this review can't make up its mind.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 12, 2017
Went into this read blind thinking it might be a sell back but no way. This story never let up and was totally engrossing. Nice surprise find for me! Recommended.
February 2, 2014
Judy is the privileged, but unlucky in love, heir to one of the largest ranches in Texas. Her dream of running the ranch seems like it is just that, a dream. Her father thinks that running a ranch is man’s work. Judy decides to use her money to buy a neighboring land and start her own spread instead. Unfortunately, the land has been left to the handsome but down on his luck Brady.
Brady is a hardworking man that learned the hard way how much trouble rich women can be. After going through a messy divorce, his only plan is to work a piece of land and hopefully get his son back. His attraction to Judy is strong but is it enough to overcome their different backgrounds.
I adored this Cinderella in reverse story of love and life!! Great job!!
Brady is a hardworking man that learned the hard way how much trouble rich women can be. After going through a messy divorce, his only plan is to work a piece of land and hopefully get his son back. His attraction to Judy is strong but is it enough to overcome their different backgrounds.
I adored this Cinderella in reverse story of love and life!! Great job!!
April 8, 2010
Ick. Schlock. And not a romance, to boot, since there was no Happily-ever-after, which as far as I know is a requirement for the genre!
It seemed to me as though the author looked at several "formulas" and took bits and pieces that she liked, but then didn't know how to make them work. Lots of unnecessary backstory that went nowhere, lots of plot complications that went nowhere. Completely contrived ending, even more hurried than a Star Trek episode.
I guess I should be glad I saved this one for last in my contest reading; had it been first, I would have had a hard time continuing.
It seemed to me as though the author looked at several "formulas" and took bits and pieces that she liked, but then didn't know how to make them work. Lots of unnecessary backstory that went nowhere, lots of plot complications that went nowhere. Completely contrived ending, even more hurried than a Star Trek episode.
I guess I should be glad I saved this one for last in my contest reading; had it been first, I would have had a hard time continuing.
September 1, 2016
I really enjoyed this book. I found the main female character refreshing. Not what you'd expect from someone who's life is set for the rest of their life and their children's children. Brady was fun to read and get to know as well. And I also liked the fact that the author used something outside of the box (at least to me) as one of his prior jobs.
The ending was kind of off, it's almost like the author just stopped writing. There is one more book to this "series". Hope I can locate it and see if it finishes the story for this couple.
The ending was kind of off, it's almost like the author just stopped writing. There is one more book to this "series". Hope I can locate it and see if it finishes the story for this couple.
February 15, 2009
I loved this book. I loved the setting and I loved the characters (Jude and Brady). I quite enjoyed the slow and complex development of Jude and Brady's relationship. I did have some issues with how Jude handled her father's and grandfather's expectations, but I'm not certain what else she could have done. I wish the ending had been more definitive, but the author has said this is the first book in a trilogy. I hope that Jude and Brady show up again in the second book.
May 12, 2014
Interesting -- contemporary western romance set in the heart of Texas. Even though I gave it a mediocre rating, I sincerely hope there is a 2nd book and think there might be because of the way the book ended.
July 12, 2015
Is a great book to read
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews