Heart of a Texan

Night Riders #7

by Leigh Greenwood

"An emotional, fast-paced western tale, full of realistic characters, authentic settings, nonstop action, backstabbing villains and rough justice.";—RT Book Reviews

From USA Today bestselling author Leigh Greenwood comes a historical western romance filled with gritty cowboys, strong-willed women, and a whole lot of heart in the Wild West

When a group of masked bandits raid Roberta's ranch, killing her father, she is determined to discover who is behind the attack. But first she'll need to nurse the neighbor back to health. The one who came to help her; the one she shot in the chest!

Roberta never meant to hurt anyone. But the night of the raid it was hard to tell friend from foe. She didn't know Nate Dolan was only trying to help when she shot him. And when he offers to help her catch the culprits, she only feels guiltier. The absolutely least she can do is take care of the rugged cowboy while he recuperates.

Nate has been on the vengeance trail so long, he nearly forgot what a real home looked like. And Roberta is mighty fine incentive to stay put for a while—even if she has a stubborn streak as wide was the great state of Texas. She might be convinced she's healing the wound in his chest, but neither of them knows she's also soothing the hurt in his heart.

Night Riders

Texas Pride

Heart of a Texan

What readers are saying about Heart of a Texan

"Strap yourself in for a wild ride with this cowboy and the stubborn love of his life."—Fresh Fiction

"Rip-roaring, fast-paced high adventure... a delicious romance."—Historical Hilarity

"An emotional, fast-paced western tale, full of realistic characters, authentic settings, nonstop action, backstabbing villains and rough justice."—RT Book Reviews

 

Genres: Romance, Historical Romance, Westerns, Western Romance, Historical, Fiction

373 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 1, 2012

Reviews

[Tiffany · Rating 4 out of 5]

Leigh Greenwood’s “Heart of a Texan” is about one young woman’s courageous fight to stand her ground in a man dominated world. Even though several offers of marriage would take her away from the back-breaking work of her farm, she plows ahead, unafraid of the obstacles hurtled at her from all sides. Standing her ground may mean standing up to friends and not letting idle gossip deter her. From the beginnings of death and tragedy, she finds forgiveness and love. This was a good read from the beginning, with well-rounded characters (especially the kind-of-scary Prudence popping up everywhere) and the mysterious villain just out of reach...

(Thank you Goodreads Firstread for the complimentary book)

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was fine. First Leigh Greenwood book, read for library book club, theme is romance written by men. It had the elements of a fun western times romance. It begins with the heroine‘a father being brutally murdered and her farm destroyed right in front of her. In the aftermath she shoots the hero, thinking he’s one of the baddies. He’s the FIRST person she shoots AFTER all the bad stuff happens. Like, girl, could you have started shootings anytime in the past 30 minutes? She has to nurse this guy back to health, and they become friendly. There’s flirting and banter.

Ooof though the side characters. “Crazy Joe” is the local giant. Even though the FMC asks over and over for people to stop calling him “Crazy” they don’t. Prudence is friend of FMC and local busy body and uptight keeper of propriety. There’s a jerk boyfriend, or wanna be fiancé, town doctor, another friend, cowboys, THEN THE FMC’s CHILDHOOD LOVE INTEREST shows up. She was 14 when she last saw this guy, 5 years later he turns up to marry her and it seems like they haven’t spoken since. Meanwhile there’s a big bad sneaking around and some mystery henchmen.

This was book 7/7 in the series. Maybe the big finale would have been more meaningful if I was more invested. But I had tagged the bad guy and henchmen already.

It felt like it dragged a bit, too many details and background.

I did like that the MMC wasn’t after every woman in town. He was uninterested in any woman until he meets the FMC. He’s been too busy getting revenge. The FMC was stubborn but stuck to her decisions. How she was going to run a farm by herself I don’t understand, but whatever.

[jennifer simmons · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hate to see the series end

This was my 2nd favorite of this series, Broc being my favorite. Loved the story of Nate and Roberta, love to bring these characters alive in my thoughts but so hard to say goodbye to them.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The romance itself felt too easy; it was a bit insta-love-y. I think that's because this book had to tie up the Laveau diViere story running through the entire series and therefore tended to focus on that.

[Lisa Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

HEART OF A TEXAN by Leigh Greenwood is another stellar addition to the Night Riders series. Ms Greenwood takes a rough rancher and a rebellious young woman on a fascinating journey about love and revenge.

Nate Dolan was always one to lend a helping hand, so when he comes home to see his neighbor's ranch on fire, he rushes over to help. He's shocked to see the Tryon ranch under attack and its owner viciously murdered. Next thing he knows, he is shot by the rancher's daughter, Roberta Tryon. Since Roberta believes Nate had something to do with her father's murder, she's reluctant to let him stay in her home to heal. Yet she agrees to nurse him back to health as she works to bring her father's killer to justice. As Roberta gets to know the real Nate Dolan, she realizes this rancher's heart may be the biggest reward in Texas.

Leigh Greenwood has delivered another heartfelt romance with HEART OF A TEXAN. Be prepared for a very sweet romantic story. The words ‘I love you' are thrown around a lot, so readers may feel the romance is a little too sweet. HEART OF A TEXAN truly lets you experience the old fashion romance complete with gentle manners and a charming courtship. It has everything you could want in a historical western romance. Mainly because Leigh Greenwood can create the best and most eloquent stories. They sweep you away with the heartfelt emotion held within the pages. It's not too difficult to fall in love with these innocent and heartwarming characters.

If there is one thing to be amazed at in HEART OF A TEXAN, it is how perfectly Ms Greenwood pens the heroine, Roberta Tryon. You easily understand her and her life on the ranch. She is a resilient woman that fights for justice and believes in doing the right thing. There was something extraordinarily honorable about the way she lived her life and how she treated those around her. All of the more reason for Nate to fall in love with her, because he share a lot of her best qualities.

Nate was a chivalrous, kind and compassionate man that was taking care of everyone else before he even thought about what he wanted. As with most of Ms Greenwood's other Night Riders characters, Nate tends to be a loner on a mission for vengeance because of his past. Yet you love him because he wears his heart on his sleeve. He's not one to spend much time withholding his emotions. He is also a strong fighter that relentlessly fights for what he wants.

The one problem is that the inner dialogue and conflict the characters face does become a little repetitive at the end. Just when you think they have it figured out, they seem to end back up at square one. Also, the ending wraps up rather quickly. An issue that was central to the plot is ended suddenly just a few pages before the novel ends. I would have appreciated just a little more elaboration to wind down the story and explain how this event affected all the characters involved. This would have been crucial to new fans of the series and fans like myself who haven't read all the stories. Yet it was such a short part of the book it hardly dampens the overall enjoyment of the romance between Roberta and Nate.

HEART OF A TEXAN is another excellent western romance to add to the ever impressive list of novels penned by Leigh Greenwood. The small town life and characters created within this novel are certainly something to remember. They share great dialogue that enriches the overall story, make you laugh and let you become completely attached to their lives. Roberta has plenty of men fawning over her and others protecting her virtue. They all create hilarious situations and lighten the haunting drama that Roberta faces as she works to find her father's killer. Throw all the drama, humor and romance together and you have a great novel. With such a sweet romance at its core, you can pick up HEART OF A TEXAN and rarely be tempted to put it down.

Lisa Jo @ The Romance Reviews

[Linda Banche · Rating 5 out of 5]

Leigh Greenwood gives us another of his rip-roaring, fast-paced, high adventure Western romances in HEART OF A TEXAN, the latest and last of his NIGHT RIDERS series.

The night when bandits attack her farm and kill her father, Roberta shoots one of the men. Trouble is, Nate isn’t a raider. A guilty Roberta reluctantly nurses Nate, one of the despised ranchers whom she’s convinced are responsible, back to health. As they talk, she comes to realize he may be different from his comrades.

Nate rode over to help Roberta and her father and got a bullet hole in his chest as a reward. He’s spent the past two years in an obsessive but fruitless search for the villain who killed his brother. The enforced inaction and his conversational sparring with the lovely Roberta, who’s determined to keep her farm going, has him thinking maybe the time has arrived for a change.

Interweaving action, suspense and romance, HEART OF A TEXAN has you frantically turning pages to find out how Roberta’s and Nate’s romance plays out against a background of multiple disasters that seem bent on cleaving them apart.

While the action is fast and furious, the changes in the characters are just as momentous. I don’t care for tortured heroes, especially ones who make everyone else’s life wretched. I like even less the doormat heroines who let them get away with their infantile behavior. Although Nate has his demons, he’s not one who expects anyone else to lie down before his misery. Roberta wouldn’t do it anyway. While she acknowledges his pain, she doesn’t cater to it, but, with gentle common sense, urges him to let his futile endeavor go. While Roberta at first leans on others, she learns to stand up for herself, which is not an easy task in a society that treats women like brainless idiots. She also comes to realize the error of lumping everyone together.

With an admirable hero and heroine and a delicious romance unfurling against a life-and-death background, HEART OF A TEXAN has it all.

ARC provided by Sourcebooks

[Judy & Marianne from Long and Short Reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally posted at: http://www.longandshortreviews.blogsp...


Out of nowhere, riders stormed onto the ranch and began running off stock and setting the barn aflame. Roberta’s father goes out to stop them and they taunt him and deliberately shoot him to death. She runs out to help when they ride away, but there’s no hope. When she hears a rider returning, she shoots him. Unfortunately he was not one of the raiders, he was her neighbor…

Nate has to stay at Roberta’s because of his injury and blood loss. Roberta is more than willing to take care of him because she shot him. I enjoyed the banter between them. They’re not friends nor are they enemies. When he tells her she’s beautiful, she thinks he’s crazy.

Mr. Greenwood makes his heroine a very strong young woman. She wants to sell the farm and move back to Virginia, her home. She begins to feel a conflict about that because Texas is becoming home. Her other conflict is that she has three men trying to marry her. That sets up the stage for the men to prance about and show off their testerone around her. It’s amusing to watch her deal with all the attention she’s getting from suitors.

This story includes grudges from the past and resentments in the present and is a well told tale. Mr. Greenwood keeps your interest and makes you care about his characters. I found this almost like a cozy western and I enjoyed it. If you haven’t read Mr. Greenwood’s books yet, you need to take a look.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not a review of a particular book per se but my thoughts on King Leigh.

If Willie Nelson, the enduring & amazing country writer/singer didn't perform in his chosen field, I could easily see him giving this author stiff competion. Willie writes & sings about cowboys & other drifters, Texas is generally a theme in his 3 minutes or less stories & cause/effects of life are laid out. Leigh Greenwood does the very same work but in the mass market romance sub-genre of Americana. Some might say Leigh's work is too formula driven but essentially aren't all the top writers caught in this trap? He was doing long series back in the 1990s when most authors were still doing stand alones, maybe a trio or quartet. The late 90s-mid 2000s was filled with excellent writers of "Americana" romances. Authors like Stef Ann Holm, Maggie Osborne, & Pamela Morsi competed for the historical American romance with Leigh. Then a sudden shift in publishing put Vampires (Stephanie Myers killed the Americana scene, in my opinion) & horror/paranormal became vogue & Americana was out leaving the authors scrambling for new genres. Pamela Morsi & Steph Ann Holm have transitioned to contemporary romance & chick lit with success. King Leigh didn't transition at all. He just kept publishing his sagas/series of cowboys of the American west, usually Texas. How did he do it? Quality product & a distinct voice. Just like Willie through the decades.

[Karlen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wasn't obvious to me that it was written by a man and I think that's a good thing. I figured out who the traitor was VERY early on so there was no big reveal. That didn't ruin it for me. It played like it was supposed to be a slow burn but it still felt sort of insta to me. Still a sweet, easy read if you're looking for a western romance.

[Arshia · Rating 2 out of 5]

The blurb on the back got my attention so I started the book. It took me a week to finish it (usually takes me a few hours). I didn't like the characters, they just didn't make any sense. Roberta can't make up her mind to save her life (honestly, to save her life!), Nate falls in love in a heartbeat. They both keep thinking about the same damn issue over and over again. After awhile it just got old (like 5 chapters into the book). The premise was a good one but the characters never moved passed the trifle issues (She wants to go back to Virginia and he wants to kill his brother's murder). It's like the book was in a loop.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a book I could not stop reading or put down as I neared the end of the story. A romantic western mystery is how I would characterize the book. Highly recommend this book I won as "first reads' winner.
I do believe women would enjoy this story more than men, but all in all I fully enjoyed the mystery and adventure as the story flowed easily and kept my interest throughout the book. So happy to have won this book that introduced me to an author I probably would of never heard of and will look into his other novels to read as well.

[Russell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won this book on First Reads at Goodreads website and it's the first one i've read by Greenwood. He has done a great job of writing from a woman's viewpoint. I think he understands women better than Nate Dolan in the book. There was some dilly-dallying around about her not loving him and him not loving her, but they finally came to thier senses and found thier own idententies. Most of it was pretty predictable. There was a little violence thrown in which helped bring them together and over all this was a nice Texan romance were two people finally found out who they really are.

[Jennifer Trela · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was truly bored with this book after the third chapter. Nate and Roberta kept having the same conversations over and over - almost verbatim, actually - and I didn't care one diddly about any of the characters. Even the bad guy was boring and practically non-existent. At least in Her Sky Cowboy, a steampunk romance I read last year that was pretty terrible in this department in particular, had a shadowy villain who was entertaining (although not really in a good way). I may skip the other books by Greenwood after this.

[Theresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This romance is set in Texas after the Civil War. Roberta lives on a farm
with her father when he's murdered by riders on the night she mistakenly shots Nate Dolan as one of the riders. Liked the pace of the story and
the mystery of who was behind the murder. Nate's a believable hero trying to deal with things from his past and Roberta a spunky lady trying to figure out who killed her father.

[ReadingWench · Rating 4 out of 5]

Leigh Greenwood has done it again. How a man can write a romance so well is beyond me. His characters, setting and plot all had me engaged.

It was great to see the Night Riders again in HEART OF A TEXAN. There are a few predictable things that happen, but then there are the surprises. At one point I couldn't read anymore. I thought, woah, what? Did that just happen?

A great read.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable read. Unlike many romances Roberta is a very strong woman and not to be over run even though she is in a land of men in Texas. Well written..felt very attached to Nate and Roberta both.
I have read other books by Leigh Greenwood and have enjoyed them as well. She does not disappoint.
I received this book from Goodreads.com.

[Janice · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heart of a Texan is MY kind of book!! I LOVE the story and the characters. There is nothing better than a good, Texan gentleman and Nate was certainly that!! Great, good, clean romance and a great story. Thank you Leigh Greenwood for the awesome book!! Thank you Goodreads for another fantastic giveaway!

[Colena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to Goodreads for this book.

From the first few pages of this book I was instantly hooked.
I really enjoyed reading this one, this will be one I would recommend to my friends and anyone else who enjoys a good romance book. :)

[Angief · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like both Nate and Roberta's characters. This book has just the right mount of romance and romantic tension. I have not read any other books by Greenwood but I hope to read more from this series.

i received a free copy of this book through GoodReads FirstReads.

[Terryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a bad story, relatively good to read. Probably would have been better if I had started at book 1.

[Christy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't expect the way Laverie died in the this book. Great series.