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THE LAST HART BACHELOR GETS LASSOED!

As the holiday season approached, the residents of Jacobsville were whispering about Janie Brewster's hopeless crush on Leo Hart. Up till now, all her efforts to lasso the dynamic cattleman had crumbled quicker than those mouthwatering biscuits the Hart men coveted. However, this time the starry-eyed debutante had come up with the perfect self-improvement campaign to dazzle Leo�she'd become a courageous cowgirl!

Still, her sudden transformation seemed to rouse Leo's formidable temper more than ever. But was it tender yearning�not dark disdain�that gleamed in his eyes when they kissed beneath the mistletoe? Could the last Hart bachelor be on the verge of taking Janie as his bride?

133 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 1, 2002

219 people are currently reading
1165 people want to read

About the author

Diana Palmer

1,038 books3,098 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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5 stars
1,264 (42%)
4 stars
913 (31%)
3 stars
585 (19%)
2 stars
140 (4%)
1 star
43 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 120 reviews
Profile Image for Vintage.
2,714 reviews718 followers
October 28, 2018
Well, the final Hart brother’s story is pure DP.

I had high hopes for the H based on Leo’s behavior with his stupid brothers’ women, his great leonine hair, and the title: Lionhearted. It implies honorable, gentlemanly behavior and a good heart. In true DP hero fashion, these qualities only apply to OTHER women, not the heroine.

The heroine has a crush on Leo, and in true DP heroine Mary Sue style tries to transform herself into the kind of girl he would want. Gag. She’s helped along by a duplicitous best friend who wants the H as well, but is too wussy to really be an evil OW. In other words, she does evil deeds, but feels bad about it. Poor girl. The DP brotherhood and sisterhood run her out of town on a rail when her little betrayals are found out, but she runs to Europe so let’s not feel too sorry for her.

It’s been a couple of days since I read this and sad to say the details are blowing away. There is your standard overheard horrible hero declaration about the heroine that the hero WILL do some time in Purgatory for, and more misunderstandings. The H finally gets a clue after everyone else in J-ville and we have another arranged wedding.
Profile Image for StMargarets.
3,204 reviews630 followers
November 18, 2018
The last of the biscuit brothers! And the last of the LTT series I’m going to read for awhile. Peeking ahead, I can see that DP is all in with the anti-terrorist experts, the mercenaries and law enforcement heroes and I’ve had my fill for awhile.

This story is category length and is all the better for it. The story covers the same timeline and events from the first half of Lawless (the Cattleman’s Ball* and the brothers who were killing bulls and murdering people to be specific.)

The central trope is that the heroine has been in love with the hero since she was 16 and he’s not interested. She’s twenty now, with two years of community college psychology courses under her belt. Her father is a rancher who has fallen on hard times. The poisoned bull is the final straw. Hero is in the position to help her father out financially and he does.

Heroine has an older bff who is also interested in the hero. She gives the heroine a lot of bad advice about how to attract the hero (learn to cook, don’t dress up, and learn to ranch). The hero is turned off by this new tomboy, hot-mess heroine and starts to avoid her. The bff also tells lies about the heroine to the hero (she’s telling everyone he’s going to take her to the Cattleman’s ball, she is sexually active with a lot of boyfriends, etc).

Heroine is in the Jacobsville Hardware Store when she overhears the hero vehemently deny he is going to take her to the ball and he adds in some choice insults about the heroine. The heroine is devastated and finally realizes her bff isn’t her friend and hero is never going to come around.

She goes to the ball with an OM (whom the hero is jealous of) and they wow the crowd with their waltzing. (The crowd was also wowed when the heroine from Lawless and the hero of Renegade do a Latin dance. )The H/h have a big argument and the hero and the bff end up leaving the dance early.

Hero realizes he’s been wrong about the heroine and now the book shifts to the hero in pursuit of the heroine – without really understanding his feelings – and with the heroine resisting him all the way. Another common trope for DP.

The crossover with Lawless comes again when the heroine is assaulted by one of the bad guys at her job as a waitress at cocktail bar roadhouse. Neither the hero nor the OM can save her. The hero from Renegade finally subdues the bad guy with his mad martial arts skills.

The hero does get to take the heroine home and put the moves on her. They are interrupted from having sex (of course), but the heroine now knows an affair is inevitable.

There is a sweet scene after the H/h make out in his parked truck and are interrupted again. The hero drives directly to the jewelry store to buy a ring. He has it all figured out. It’s Saturday. If they get their blood test and license today then they can be married by Wednesday. He’s that eager to finally consummate their relationship – but he doesn’t want sex out of wedlock.

He’s knows the drill because he has arranged all of the weddings for his brothers. They return the favor by pulling out the stops and creating a huge white wedding, complete with symphony orchestra by Wed.

When home from the honeymoon, heroine makes biscuits and all is well.

*And since this is my last DP for awhile, I’m going to quote the roll call that the author provided when describing the Cattleman’s Ball:

The guest list read like a who's who of Jacobsville:

The Ballenger brothers, Calhoun and Justin, had just added another facility to their growing feedlot enterprise, and they looked prosperous with their wives in gala attire beside them. The Tremayne brothers, Connal, Evan, Harden, and Donald, and their wives were also in attendance, as were the Hart boys; well, Corrigan, Callaghan, Rey and Leo at least, and their wives.

Also at the ball were Micah Steele, Eb Scott, J. D. Lang-ley, Emmett Deverell, Luke Craig, Guy Fenton, Ted Regan, Jobe Dodd, Tom Walker and their wives.

Harley Fowler was a courageous young man who'd actually backed up the town's infamous mercenaries-Eb Scott, Cy Parks and Micah Steele-when they helped law enforcement face down a gang of drug dealers the year before.


Just looking at that roll call makes me think that DP and her publishers lost the plot with this series. Some books are category length, others are single title. Some titles belong to both the LTT series and the Hutton & Co series. This makes it difficult to systematically analyze the changes in this series that started in 1988. Why did she suddenly people Jacobsville with meth dealers and terrorists? A reaction to 9/ll? It’s hard to tell when I’ve obviously missed some stories along the way.

Getting a Phd in Diana Palmer studies is a lot more complicated than I thought. But I’ll be back eventually!

Diana Palmer checklist:
Hairy chest Check Her hands spread on the thick mat of hair that covered the warm, strong muscles of his chest.
Breast Description firm, tip-tilted little breasts.
New sex kink? second book in a row with this sentiment: "I want...to make you pregnant," he said in a rough whisper.
Cigarettes N0
Alcohol Hero was drinking whisky at the Cattleman’s Ball and got into an argument with the h
Town Descriptions Jacobsville Hardware Store, Courthouse Tower
Gardenia Scent No Haven’t seen this for awhile.
LOL detail The fire station takes marriage license applications when city hall is closed.
They drop a pair of horns instead of a ball from the courthouse tower to mark the new year.
Cutesy detail Biscuits. Hero was even wondering if he would have to learn to make them himself - but then immediately dismissed the idea.
Profile Image for Jenny.
3,160 reviews558 followers
March 2, 2014
Janie has loved Leo since forever but her love is an unrequited one. He rejects her but he comes to her rescue when she starts working at shady bar due to her father's financial problems. But now it is Janie who doesn't want his love not when he stays with her out of pity and not love.

I ADORED Leo and Janie. Janie is strong but cute, sweet and very smitten with Leo. Leo is alpha but charming and when he falls for Janie he falls hard. Watching Leo beg and grovel was so amusing. Plus the love scenes were super romantic and sensual! Sizzling chemistry!
Profile Image for Melluvsbooks.
1,570 reviews
February 5, 2022
Fun old-school age-gap romance with just enough angst and heat.


Our heroine, Janie (21), has a hopelessly devoted crush on her dad’s rich rancher friend, Leo (35). He’s resisting because he’s known her most of her life and he’s not interested in settling down.

There’s a crappy bff who tries to make a play for Leo, by feeding him lies about Janie. These lies lead him to say some terrible things about Janie, that she overhears, and her heart is crushed.

Queue the chase. We get jealous scenes and Torrid Embraces and Damsel in Distress moments. Its delish.

Sure, he’s kinda a condescending ass, but it made it fun. I feel like the h is underestimated and the set up was kinda funny. He’s supposed to be a very Wordly Man, but he’s kinda a pearl-clutcher, when it comes to the h. 🤣🤣


Bottom Line? If you like old school mean grumpy cowboys who eat their words and bulldoze their way into forgiveness from their love, you’ll love this. 👌🏻 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️



⚠️SAFETY SQUAD SPOILERS⚠️

- no cheating or sharing

- OW drama - the h’s bff tries to steal the H, he believes her lies, but he’s not into her

- OM drama - OM asks the h to a dance - the H is NOT happy

- no dubcon - but there are a couple forced rough Torrid Embraces

- h is a 21 yr old virgin

- H is a 35 yr old experienced man

- no condoms - they kinda talk about it, but mostly the H just tells the h he wants to get her pregnant and that’s that. No discussion of his sexual health
Profile Image for Chantal ❤️.
1,361 reviews912 followers
October 8, 2016
4 FULL LEO STARS

In this emotionally charged story we have Janie who has always loved the hero Leo from afar and has been trying to hid it.
Trying and failing at it as everyone is aware of her feelings.
Janie has to take a job to help out her father's financial situation! She starts working at the local bar and the hero goes NUTS.

description

How dare she work!?
How dare she try to move on!?
HE NEEDS TO PROTECT AND CLAIM HER!
Before she finds another and he has to do this without letting her know his true feelings!

description

NOW THE PASSION IN THIS BOOK IS OFF THE CHARTS!
The hero is a total panty dropper/cherry popper KING here.
He tells her:
"If he touches you, I'll kill him." His big hand slip under her nape and brought her mouth under his. "You belong to me, Janie. Your first man is going to be me. Believe it!"

description

Safety: perfectly safe with some light OM/OW drama but they are completely faithful and true to each other.
Profile Image for Jac K.
2,514 reviews485 followers
March 21, 2022
3.45 Biscuit Lovin’ Stars
This is Leo Hart (the last single biscuit brother) and Janie Brewster’s story. Janie (21) has loved Leo (35) for years, but he's just not into her. She’s been trying to pull out all the stops to catch his eye, but nothing's working. She enlists the help of her BFF Marliee, who turns out to be a frenemy.

Some might find Janie’s actions pathetic, but I found her adorable, and can’t fault the girl for going after what she wants. Besides, riding a horse and cooking are good life skills to have. Although, she probably could’ve saved herself a lot of time if she'd just mastered the biscuit baking first, cuz that seems the way to the Hart boys’ hearts.

I LOVED the first 35-ish%, and was thinking this might be a 4 or 5 ⭐. That overheard lashing at the hardware store...OMG…DP gold!! 🤗 The Cattleman’s ball dance offs while Leo/Marliee /Judd watched on...🤗 🤗 The backstabbing BFF…🤗🤗🤗 But, then after the big reveal everything just slows down. Initially, I was pumped because I thought we were going to get TONS of groveling with all those pages left. What we actually got were a lot of pages of the mc’s separately going about their business, a small bull murdering mystery, and then some of the cringiest DP sexytime I’ve ever read. Don’t believe me…. Here’s some highlights.

“I want… to make you pregnant.”

“I can feel you all around me, like a warm glove.”

Take me inside you. Take all of me. Make me scream, baby,” he murmured.

“Yes,” he moaned. “Yes. Oh… God…baby…do it, do it! Do it!”

“Do it … harder,” she choked.

“Get it,” he groaned. “Yes. Get it…!”

He cried out and then began to shudder rhythmically. A sound like a harsh sob tore from his throat.

He groaned endlessly as his body shuddered into completion.

“I can go again, right now.”

His head lifted, “I lost consciousness for a few seconds,” he said quietly.

“I thought… I might die, trying to get deep enough to satisfy us both.”

“I think I made you pregnant.”


Add in some erotic nipple play and I was all 😲 and 🤣!!

Bottom Line- Started out great, then went down hill from there. I recommend for DP fans only as it is full of her standard stuff…. Young virgin h besotted with the older H who’s not into her. He totally believes every unsavory thing the wannabe OW says. (even though he’s known h for years and just met OW) He bullies her rather than apologizing…and she may be second best to biscuits.

*Overlaps with Lawless and the Judd, Crissy, Cash and that bitch Tippy’s love quadrangle.

*Biscuit word count 33…biscuit highlights.

“I’m lonely,” Leo said simply. “I’ve had the house to myself since Rey married Meredith and moved out, almost a year ago. Mrs. Lewis retired. I’ve got no biscuits, no company…”

Bacon, scrambled eggs, and… biscuits? Biscuits!

He’ll run out of biscuits in about ten minutes, at that rate.

Who made the biscuits?

Those were wonderful biscuits. Flaky and soft inside, delicately browned. Absolutely delicious.

I’ll make biscuits for dinner.

She made wonderful biscuits, she could shoot a shotgun, she made love like a fairy.
Profile Image for Margo.
2,112 reviews130 followers
August 22, 2018
This is one I periodically re-read for inexplicable reasons. I think it's because
Profile Image for Cheesecake.
2,800 reviews509 followers
January 15, 2018
I must confess I skimmed this one a while ago and decided to revisit it again.
This time I quite enjoyed it. A typical DP with a stubborn bachelor H who believes the h is all wrong for him. (In this case because she is too young and the daughter of his good friend). A woman who falls prey to the machinations of a third party (in this case her back stabbing friend who also wants the H).
Janie has had a crush on Hart for years and he has been adept at avoiding her. The whole town knows it. But lately she has become more alluring... until Janie's BFF tells him some things that turn him against her. He crushes her quite publicly and shortly after learns he's been duped and now has to live with the consequences. The shoe is now on the other foot!
At this point we are only 33% into the story so there's lots of time for him to make it up to Janie, and it was pretty sweet!
There's also a convenient villain that doesn't make a big dent in the story.

Really wish this one was available on audio!
Profile Image for Lu Bielefeld .
4,304 reviews637 followers
April 21, 2023
3 ⭐⭐⭐ - OK or decent reads.
=========================


★ *˛ ˚♥* ✰。˚ ˛˚ ♥ 。✰˚* ˚ ★
.•°*”˜˜”*°•. ˜”*°• •°*”˜ .•°*”˜˜”*°•.
.•°*”˜Diana Palmer's Marathon, 2023˜”*°•.
.•°*”˜.•°*”˜.•°*”˜ ˜”*°•.˜”*°•.˜”*°•.
★ *˛ ˚♥* ✰。˚˛˚ ♥ 。✰˚* ˚ ★

=========================

Relido em 21 de junho de 2016.
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TIPPY: (WHORE)
- Seu destaque na página 95 | posição 1449-1451 |
"Don't get Judd Dunn mad," Fred warned. Leo shrugged. "He's too stuck on his pretty model to care much about Christabel right now, or Grier, either."
==========
- Seu destaque na página 168 | posição 2571-2572 |
"Tippy's not Grier's sort," Janie murmured sleepily. They didn't do a lot of sleeping at night, even now. She cuddled up in her husband's lap and nuzzled close. "He needs someone who is gentle and sweet. Not a harpy."
---------------
GRIER: (SAVED THE DAY)
- Seu destaque na página 143 | posição 2180-2181
"I was taught by a guy up in Tarrant County," Grier told her with a smile. "He's on television every week. Plays a Texas Ranger."
==========
- Seu destaque na página 143 | posição 2183-2183
"Leo was watching him with a twinkle in his own eyes. “I did think the spinning heel kick looked familiar."
-------------------
LEO AND JANIE:
- Seu destaque na página 155 | posição 2368-2368 |
"I'll make biscuits for supper."
==========
- Seu destaque na página 155 | posição 2370-2370 |
"Honey, you just said the magic word!"
==========
- Seu destaque na página 166 | posição 2545-2546 |
"I love you, Mrs. Hart. I love you with all my heart" "I love you with all mine."
Profile Image for Jacqueline J.
3,565 reviews371 followers
December 5, 2014
This is a high rating for me with a DP book. There wasn't a lot of misunderstanding and willful ignoring of facts as in many of this author's books. The hero was being chased by the heroine and didn't appreciate it. She was too young for him, 14 years younger. Also he had been told some lies about her from her supposed best friend who wanted him for herself. So he lost his temper and said some nasty things about her where she accidentally overheard him.

So when she suddenly stopped chasing him and he felt bad about hurting her feelings , his own feelings began to change or at least become clearer. So then he tried to apologize and start up a relationship with her but she kept cutting him off at the knees. I liked his feeling for her and the goofy way her chased her. The love scenes were well done here and pretty hot for DP. There was some virginity worship and you weren't real sure of his level of experience. I think this would have worked better if he had been in his 20s instead of in his 30s. Still his characterization was pretty solid. Hers on the other hand was a bit wonky. She grew up on a ranch and couldn't ride? I just find that nearly unbelievable. She was a girly girl in fancy clothes but didn't really want to be that either. She was talked about as if she was always offering psychological advice to everyone because she was taking that in college but come to find out she really wanted to be an archeologist. But that was dropped too. She was all over the place. That was the biggest misstep in the book. Still gotta say for a DP book I thought the plot held together pretty well.
Profile Image for Paige  Bookdragon.
938 reviews645 followers
December 1, 2015

That moment when you realized that your perversion has crossed the boundary of acceptable when a book by Diana Palmer failed to make you giddy because it's too tame and you want the dirty hot nasty business?

description

Sorry guys. I really am.

Lionhearted is a cute book. A feisty heroine who doesn't let herself be trampled by the hero, a hot cowboy and some weird but funny secondary characters? What more can you ask for?

Answer: Hot raunchy sex.

The book didn't have that.I'm not sure if it's a good thing or not though. Oh sure, there are some sexy scenes here but it can be categorized as " sweet and pure". I know that I've been whining about irrelevant sex scenes on my romance books lately but it's just that, Lionhearted is a good book and I enjoyed it and I feel like the characters deserve some supernova orgasm..

description
Profile Image for Sometime.
1,718 reviews173 followers
January 15, 2021
My first DP book. I liked this one. Pretty good lightly angsty read. I loved the beginning when Leo is being such a jerk and Janie is just so crazy about him. I love the woman wronged theme of the book. There was good grovel and Leo pursues Janie once he pulls his head out of his rear. But I was a little disappointed.

Janie has put Leo up high on a pedestal and I hoped that after he treats her so poorly, it would knock him down and they would be on a more equal footing. But although Leo recognized that he screwed up, he always seemed to have the upper hand and I had hoped that Janie could be more of an equal. She still seemed to worship him a bit too much. She does a great job of sticking up for herself, but maybe it was just the way that DP heroes are written and he couldn't give up any of his Alpha-ness. Who knows.
Profile Image for GuisBell.
1,299 reviews31 followers
April 11, 2020
Otro Hart al que creía que era bueno y al final no sabe lo que quiere y en su proceso de descubrimiento, lastima horriblemente a una persona que lo ama incondicionalmente, y lo odie por salir con la amiga de Janie, sabiendo que eso la lastimaría muchísimo y no importándole y por esas horribles palabras que salieron de su boca. Pobre Janie teniendo amigas así, imagínate de enemigas...
Profile Image for Asteria.
163 reviews14 followers
December 1, 2021
Rating: **4stars**

This one started out like a typical DP book with FL young and pining after the much older ML and him being an immature asshat in the first half of the book but the second half was really unexpected. The ML took a 360 turn from a cruel asshole to the sweetest loverboy of DP I have read.

It was honestly tough to overlook some of the cruel things he said and did and his justification sucked too but unlike other DP books where FL forgives easily with the ML doing bare minimum just uttering a small sorry and them riding off into the sunset. Leo in my eyes at least made up for his callous behavior with his utter devotion. It was really sweet and heart warming to read how utterly love sick he was and treated Janie as if she was the centre of his universe.

He lay awake for a long time, his eyes intent on her slender, sleeping body. She made wonderful biscuits, she could shoot a shotgun, she made love like a fairy. He wondered what he'd ever done in his life to deserve her.

The FL was far better in estimate than most other DP FLs though she did give in easily and didn't make him grovel, she was still decent and sweet for me.
Overall really liked this one, it didn't make my blood boil as much.
Profile Image for Rose.
686 reviews46 followers
February 4, 2022
I loved this one! Such delicious drama. I wish there was a tad more grovel and more focus on the heartbreak after what a douche he was to her and the things he said but it’s Diana Palmer so I wasn’t expecting much in regards to grovel. I still loved him even without one though. He was so so so J/P and I love how annoyed he was at all the feelings she invoked in him. Their chemistry was great too! I swear I swooned when he said “…you’re a surprising little treasure…”. Gah 🔥🔥 so good!
Profile Image for Nelly.
475 reviews13 followers
June 17, 2019
I've noticed a pattern with Diana Palmer... Her books are so catchy in the beginning, story and execution are flawless...

But once the problem keeping the hero and the heroine appart is resolved, it goes down!

Same with this book. I really enjoyed it before Marilee was exposed. But then Leo became so annoying... I had enough reading about him explaining to Janie how and why he was hard. It really was bad.

3 stars, good thing it wasn't a long book...
Profile Image for JillyB.
802 reviews71 followers
June 23, 2021
Book 5 of the Hart Brothers, completes my quest to read about all of them in order. 😅 This book focuses on Leo and Janie Brewster. Janie has been mentioned in the last couple of books. It is common knowledge she has a thing for Leo, who really can’t be bothered with a psych major who cannot cook or bake biscuits. He sees her often because her father is a good friend of his and raises the best bulls around. Their relationship reminds me a little of Evan Tremayne and Anna(from Evan). Anna used to throw herself at Evan all the time until he made some remarks. Then she gave him the cold shoulder. They are actually mentioned in this book. (Well it is Jacobsville)

In this case, Janie’s bff is working behind the scenes to make a bigger gulf between the H and h, while pretending she is helping the h. The h keeps doing things out of character to become the woman Leo wants at the urging of the bff. Meanwhile the bff is making the moves on Leo and telling Leo lies about Janie(such as Janie telling everyone that she is one step from being engaged to the H etc) Well Leo isn’t going to be manipulated into a relationship with anyone(except he is being manipulated by the bff). He shared 1 very intense kiss with the h realizing she couldn’t be as experienced as the bff indicated. Yet a kiss doesn’t equate to anymore than that. While in the hardware store he lets the owner know his feelings loud and clear about the h, and of course the h is standing right behind him the whole time. The owner tried to get Leo to stop but he was on an insulting roll and just went with it. Now our h is heartbroken but proud. So, she decides it’s time to move on off the H. The cattleman’s ball is in a few days and she wasn’t going to go but Harley Fowler a good friend of hers ask her. She dresses to kill. When she walks in and sees the H with her bff she can’t believe how she was played. She and Harley wow everyone on the dance floor. She gives the H the cold shoulder and indicates he is too old anyway. Meanwhile, the H is told he has been bamboozled by the ow. He doesn’t believe it, and he is getting drunker by the minute. The ow bff is getting the cold treatment from most of the women at the ball as they know what she has been up to. The bff was already feeling guilty about her part in everything and came clean with the H. Our OW’s time is quickly coming to an end. She ends up leaving town shortly after the ball. The H eventually corners the h and she skewers him with her shoe. This was fantastic.

So the rest of the story continues with the H fighting to get back into the h’s good graces. They end up having some pretty intense make out sessions. He also becomes her protector and she becomes quite the cook to his ever loving surprise. Her virgin status is almost revoked. At the end of the story, the H is like he can’t go on not having her. She basically says he can have whatever he wants from her. They get in the truck, she thinks they will go to his house but they drive to town. They park outside the pharmacy and she is thinking condoms. She starts heading to the pharmacy and he’s like wrong way then he takes her to the jewelry store where they pick out rings(this was his way of proposing), then onto blood tests, and a license. They tell her dad and when they break the news to the brothers, the brothers take over the preparations for a full scale wedding. I wouldn’t be surprised if they added Harts ❤️ wedding planner to their business repartee.

I like that we see how the rest of the brothers are doing and how they are all happily married with children. We see lots of other characters as well. But before I read their stories, I need to do a little DP detox after 4 books in a row.

Again, I am going to refer to Stmargaret’s review. Her thoughts on the Mercenary stuff is my feeling too. Also, she not only includes a checklist but a roll call for the Cattleman’s Ball. I have to make sure I read all their stories.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Profile Image for Yames Bond.
904 reviews14 followers
July 3, 2024
3⭐️⭐️⭐️

This author is a timeless one. She has great writing and good tropes, but sometimes the classic “billionaire-random girl” becomes a bit eye-rolling and very predictable.

Cover: 3/5 very nineties. Related to the story and definitely could use a makeover, but it also keeps the classic author’s style. So, it works.

Characters: they were fine, a bit soap-opera but entertaining. I just felt the hero’s possessiveness started out of nowhere.

Story: predictable. I love unrequited love but it was not enough heartbreaking for me. However, it entertains.
Profile Image for Joanne Farley.
1,250 reviews31 followers
June 3, 2024
I am on a overheard mean words binge and this book was on the list that I have. I enjoyed it way more than I thought I would given the age of the book.
Profile Image for Fran Alsaud.
811 reviews1 follower
December 5, 2017
Hombres que defienden con celo su soltería y en el proceso ese esfuerzo eclipsa las bondades que se muestran ante sus ojos de la chica que lo quiere de verdad, lo que demuestra inmadurez y estupidez. Ella demostró mucho aplomo luego de su desdén ante sus sentimientos.
509 reviews
August 30, 2023
Thought I was reading a book from the 1960's. Both MC's were immature & acted juvenile. I actually laughed out loud when, on their wedding night (when they first have sex), Leo admits he lost consciousness after sex/taking Janie's virginity. OMG - really??
Profile Image for Sandra Patiño.
Author 8 books16 followers
May 8, 2018
Odié a Leo y a la amiga malvada de Janie, pero disfruté mucho la historia.
Profile Image for Lynden.
178 reviews17 followers
July 3, 2022
Funny and heart-warming.

This is Book 5 of the Hart Brothers and a typical Diana Palmer story showcasing a stubborn bachelor hero (hairy-chested of course) who believes the heroine is all wrong for him. 

Janie, 21, has been pining after the much older hero, Leo, 35, for years. She's young and inexperienced and the hero seems not to "see" her. Only he does. He keeps trying to buy the idea that she does nothing for him as a man. He forces himself to resist because he keeps saying to himself she's just a kid who he’s known all his life, he's friends with her dad and he’s just not interested in marrying and having kids.

He was a complete ass at the beginning (but not as mean as other DP heroes). Now this is the typical case where he doesn't realize how much the heroine means to him, and everybody else does, everybody except the MCs. We get some really FUN scenes where Leo gets so jealous that he goes nuts. I was smiling the whole time. He goes all caveman on her and I just found that super entertaining. I loved seeing him all annoyed at his feelings for her and how he was so so so J/P. There was some very mild OM/OW drama that was incredibly fun to watch!

Janie was kind of stereotypical but still she was portrayed as sweet, sassy, strong, and determined, AND very smitten with Leo. Leo is alpha but in a charming way and when he realizes he has fallen for her he goes all hardcore. Watching Leo grovel was so amusing. I loved the comical way he chased her. Oh, and the love scenes were super romantic and sensual, I loved reading those. There is this sweet scene at the end

description

I recommend this book to those who like old-school grumpy alpha cowboys who end up having to eat their words and grovel their way back to the heroine, all in a comical way.

"She made wonderful biscuits, she could shoot a shotgun, she made love like a fairy."
SWOONY!
Profile Image for Floriana Amoruso.
1,343 reviews11 followers
May 30, 2019
https://labibliotecadellibraio.blogsp...
Letto e recensito da Iaia
Anche in questo romanzo, Leo Hart e Janie Brewster sono i tipici protagonisti della Palmer. La differenza d'età è di 12 anni. Lui è un bell'uomo, arrogante, ricco e soddisfatto della vita che conduce. Lei è una bella ragazza, infatuata di Leo, che fa di tutto per farsi notare, spinta anche da un'amica che non è tale, ad avere atteggiamenti contrari al suo modo di pensare.
Abitano a Jacobsville, una cittadina del Texas, in cui l'autrice ha ambientato molti libri. Ogni romanzo è una storia a sé, ma spesso gli abitanti di questo paese compaiono nelle varie vicende ed è piacevole ritrovarli, poiché si viene a conoscenza di alcune novità dei personaggi incontrati in storie precedenti e che fanno parte della vita che stanno conducendo.
Amo la Palmer. E' brava a intrecciare storie e mi fa appassionare a quello che scrive. E anche in questo romanzo ho trovato il romanticismo che spero sempre di leggere nelle storie di questa scrittrice.
Difficilmente mi ha deluso, ma è capitato, e l'ho anche perdonata, visto che, prolifica com'è, può capitare che non sempre raggiunga l'apice del mio gusto.
Tornando a Leo e Janie, devo dire che ci vuole un bello spavento per far capitolare il protagonista, a comprendere quanto lui tenga alla dolce ragazza. Mi ha fatto molto piacere leggere come si sia allarmato quando Janie era in pericolo.
E' da leggere sicuramente e anche se fa parte di una saga (i fratelli Hart sono 5) non c'è la necessità di leggere i precedenti perché come ho già detto, la Palmer scrive libri autoconclusivi.
Profile Image for Bea Tea.
1,191 reviews
October 6, 2023
Just a weird observation - This is marketed hard as Christmas book. Look at it, those twinkly Christmas lights on the cover, the tag-line 'his winter bride', and the blurb banging on about Christmas. No idea why as there is no Christmas in this book, it doesn't even seem that wintery.

That said, ahhhh, what a fun book. We're back to classic Diana Palmer here. The H is just a cattle man, the h is a shy virgin with a mega-crush. He says a mean thing because he doesn't want to be chased, she hears the mean thing and distances herself. He realizes he's crazy about her and goes into alpha beast mode to win her over and make her his. You know the drill, DP has done this plot a bunch of times ad I fricking love it.

The biggest drama is who is going to take her to the cattleman's ball. No mercenary story lines, no drug barons or international slave rings to bust up. Just small town stuff in good old Jacobsville There is a hilarious fight scene in Shea's Roadhouse, when our old chum Cash shows up and breaks out his Chuck Norris moves. We also learn about an EVIL DOJO in Victoria that trains criminals how to kill. God I bust my side laughing at that - these towns are probably the best part of the Palmerverse. And of course, the spice is flamin' hot.

I had so much fun, and yes, the biscuit story line is finally at an end.
Profile Image for A.
49 reviews1 follower
January 3, 2025
DNF at chapter 5. Outdated and giving pedo-vibes. The main male character keeps referring to the female lead as being "child-like" while still going all cave-man on her in an almost rapey fashion.

On top of that, the woman is written to be as tragic and spineless as humanly possible. She has so far spent the first 4 chapters changing literally everything about herself to fit him and his idea of "a good woman". He, meanwhile, has spent the same amount of chapters describing all the ways he finds her annoying and childish. Oh, and he's sort of seeing her bff on the side. But he feels guilty about it sooo...I'm sure that's supposed to make us think he's a good character.

My absolute last straw was when he suddenly just went all horn-dog on our female lead while still throwing around the child comments about her in his head.

"Maybe you are old enough," he says while pushing her up against a wall in her kitchen, feeling her up and "teaching her to follow" his commands while straight up grabbing her and taking what he wants. He also "fights for control" a lot and wants to keep their kissing and fondling a "cute little secret just for them" when her father (his business partner) walks in. Again: such pedo-vibes! Red flags on every page.
Profile Image for Lisa Gibbs.
802 reviews2 followers
October 19, 2019
Leo Hart is a devoted bachelor, he loves biscuits but doesn't want to get married. He knows that his business partner's daughter has a crush on him. Janie Brewster was out to impress Leo Hart. She had known him almost half her life and she relied on her good friend to help her but alas her so called best friend feed Leo lies about her and told Janie that Leo didn't like who she was. So Janie set out to be the girl that Leo wanted. In true DP fashion Leo berated her because he wanted her so much and thought that she was too young for him.

There were a lot of characters that popped up from previous books and it's always good to see them. It did crossover a bit with Judd and Cristabel Dunn's story. And of course his brothers and their wives got their revenge in the end for Leo's antics in the other novels about the Hart brothers.

This was a fast read and I enjoyed revisiting some of the characters and catching up with the Hart brothers and their families.
Profile Image for Tiny Shen 沈帝妮.
1,251 reviews34 followers
February 16, 2019
Lionhearted ~ Diana Palmer 🌟🌟

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Leo Hart ini 11 12 dengan Judd Dunn (Lawless). Janie Brewster juga 12 13 dengan Christabel (Lawless). Gemes deh!



Janie udh naksir Leo Hart sejak lama. Leo menolak mentah2 perhatian Janie, tapi ketika Janie menjauh Leo malah seperti cacing kepanasan. 😌
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Lalu, datanglah Harley Fowler yang mendekati Janie. Janie juga menyambut perhatian Harley dan Leopun kebakaran jenggot. Hingga perkelahian di bar tempat Janie bekerja membuat Leo mengakui kesalahan dan juga perasaannya.
Dan segampang itu juga Janie memaafkan Leo. 😢
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Hero di buku DP pasti bikin darting. Dan Heroinenya meminjam istilah @katherine_st_vincent Too Stupid to Live 😂



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