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Conard County #11
Cowboy Comes Home
SHE COULDN'T KEEP RUNNING
Not when she had finally found a place to call home. So this time, when her past reared its ugly head, Anna Fleming dared to seek shelter in the last place she had ever thought possible ...the arms of a man.
Hugh Gallagher knew what haunting memories could do to the mind. He taught her to trust, to embrace the passion his gentle touch evoked ...and to make a stand for their future.
Not when she had finally found a place to call home. So this time, when her past reared its ugly head, Anna Fleming dared to seek shelter in the last place she had ever thought possible ...the arms of a man.
Hugh Gallagher knew what haunting memories could do to the mind. He taught her to trust, to embrace the passion his gentle touch evoked ...and to make a stand for their future.
251 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published June 1, 1998
9 people are currently reading
78 people want to read
About the author
Rachel Lee
372 books140 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Rachel Lee is a New York Times best-selling author and the winner of Six Romantic Times magazine Reviewers' Choice Awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award, and is a five-time finalist for the Romance Writers of America's RITA® Award. She has penned a wide variety of novels in several genres including fantasy, romantic suspense, and romantic comedy. She resides in Tampa, Florida.
Rachel Lee is a New York Times best-selling author and the winner of Six Romantic Times magazine Reviewers' Choice Awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award, and is a five-time finalist for the Romance Writers of America's RITA® Award. She has penned a wide variety of novels in several genres including fantasy, romantic suspense, and romantic comedy. She resides in Tampa, Florida.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
August 19, 2010
I don’t read many category romances anymore, but I hit on this one when someone dropped off a bunch of books at work. On a whim, I started thumbing through Cowboy Comes Home and fell into the story immediately.
Anna Fleming has a dark past- one she’s kept from the small community she settled into five years ago. But she has a huge heart, so when one of the local teens gets into trouble, she feels compelled to help- especially because the source of the young girl's pain is eerily similar to Anna’s own.
Stoic Hugh “Cowboy” Gallagher has his own baggage to deal with, but that doesn’t stop him from desiring more out of life. His goal is to start a ranch for troubled teens and he suspects the shy Anna Fleming is just the person to help him. When their lives become entangled with Lorna’s, the girl Anna is helping, both He and Anna must finally face their past- and the passion springing up between them- so that they can have a brighter future …
I have to give it to her, Lee handled the sensitive subject matter in this book with brutal honesty, yet she still managed to give us the kind of HEA ending we all long for in our romance reading.
She didn't let her characters' problems magically disappear, though- if I were completely honest- they did come through it all almost miraculously. Still, most authors in the romance genre only hint at the kind of history she gave Anna, so kudos to Lee for not backing down.
Yep, Rachel Lee navigates the sensitive subject matter in Cowboy Comes Home with admirable aplomb so- 4 out of 5 from me. If you enjoy short, emotional, HEA reading- this one’s for you.
Anna Fleming has a dark past- one she’s kept from the small community she settled into five years ago. But she has a huge heart, so when one of the local teens gets into trouble, she feels compelled to help- especially because the source of the young girl's pain is eerily similar to Anna’s own.
Stoic Hugh “Cowboy” Gallagher has his own baggage to deal with, but that doesn’t stop him from desiring more out of life. His goal is to start a ranch for troubled teens and he suspects the shy Anna Fleming is just the person to help him. When their lives become entangled with Lorna’s, the girl Anna is helping, both He and Anna must finally face their past- and the passion springing up between them- so that they can have a brighter future …
I have to give it to her, Lee handled the sensitive subject matter in this book with brutal honesty, yet she still managed to give us the kind of HEA ending we all long for in our romance reading.
She didn't let her characters' problems magically disappear, though- if I were completely honest- they did come through it all almost miraculously. Still, most authors in the romance genre only hint at the kind of history she gave Anna, so kudos to Lee for not backing down.
Yep, Rachel Lee navigates the sensitive subject matter in Cowboy Comes Home with admirable aplomb so- 4 out of 5 from me. If you enjoy short, emotional, HEA reading- this one’s for you.
October 4, 2010
This is somewhere between a three and a four, really. There's a lot it does really well with the dark subject matter, but at times the relationships between characters felt a bit forced, lessening the emotional impact.
Anna Fleming has settled into the small Wyoming town of Conard City after a misspent youth running from her demons. When the local sheriff asks her to have a word with a young girl who tried to set the local school on fire, the mousy church secretary who relishes anonymity finds herself very visibly involved in a major scandal. As Anna takes custody of young Lorna and guides her through the process of getting Lorna's father convicted of molesting her, Anna comes face to face with her own past as well.
Hugh Gallagher, known as "Cowboy" by the locals, is no less a damaged soul than Anna. When the PTSD from his involvement in Desert Storm became too much, he checked out and hid in the woods, living in a tent for years. Now cleaned up and relatively recovered, he dreams of giving back to the community by establishing a ranch for troubled teens. He has the land, but he wants to get Anna to agree to a partnership so they can take in girls and boys. In his approaches to get her cooperation in his plan, he finds they have even more potential in another kind of partnership altogether.
The book explores the difficulty of facing your demons and moving on from them. Lorna essentially has to choose between her family and her safety and then learn to live with her choices and memories. While Anna helps Lorna with this process, she also has to learn to live with what's happened to her in the past. Up until now she's consciously avoided thinking or talking about her past, but current events won't let her ignore it any longer. Hugh is a nice contrast in this regard as he's already well down the road of acceptance. He's seen and done horrible things, but he can be open about them now and is determined to move forward rather than look back.
As a result of her troubled youth, the romance between her and Hugh is slow and gentle. She's quite understandably frightened of men, and that doesn't disappear quickly. Lee takes the full length of the book to establish enough trust and affection between them to allow for full intimacy. Hugh sees in her the rare woman who can truly appreciate how harsh life can be, and Anna revels in his calm, gentle and giving nature.
Though she does an admirable job taking the time to deal with serious issues, things felt a bit forced at times. The characters make a number of decisions and react in ways that didn't always make sense to me. Lorna was awful agreeable for a girl going through what she was and adopted Anna as a mother with amazing speed. Anna's reluctance to tell Hugh about her past dragged on a lot longer than it should have based on the pace they had been moving at. Hugh's decision to put distance between them so as to not jeopardize her potential participation in his ranch scheme - after they'd already had sex - just seemed to drag the conflict out needlessly. Then the ranch itself was a MacGuffin. It was only ever trotted out as a delay tactic, and is never really fleshed out.
And that epilogue! If you dislike epilogues in general for their tendency to pile on the absurdly sweet blessings, this one will give you cavities and a stomachache all in one go.
For all of the skill Lee treats the subject matter with, and the nice slow-burning romance, the book ultimately suffers from the heavy handed management. I enjoyed the story, but the detachment kept me from feeling truly involved with the characters.
Anna Fleming has settled into the small Wyoming town of Conard City after a misspent youth running from her demons. When the local sheriff asks her to have a word with a young girl who tried to set the local school on fire, the mousy church secretary who relishes anonymity finds herself very visibly involved in a major scandal. As Anna takes custody of young Lorna and guides her through the process of getting Lorna's father convicted of molesting her, Anna comes face to face with her own past as well.
Hugh Gallagher, known as "Cowboy" by the locals, is no less a damaged soul than Anna. When the PTSD from his involvement in Desert Storm became too much, he checked out and hid in the woods, living in a tent for years. Now cleaned up and relatively recovered, he dreams of giving back to the community by establishing a ranch for troubled teens. He has the land, but he wants to get Anna to agree to a partnership so they can take in girls and boys. In his approaches to get her cooperation in his plan, he finds they have even more potential in another kind of partnership altogether.
The book explores the difficulty of facing your demons and moving on from them. Lorna essentially has to choose between her family and her safety and then learn to live with her choices and memories. While Anna helps Lorna with this process, she also has to learn to live with what's happened to her in the past. Up until now she's consciously avoided thinking or talking about her past, but current events won't let her ignore it any longer. Hugh is a nice contrast in this regard as he's already well down the road of acceptance. He's seen and done horrible things, but he can be open about them now and is determined to move forward rather than look back.
As a result of her troubled youth, the romance between her and Hugh is slow and gentle. She's quite understandably frightened of men, and that doesn't disappear quickly. Lee takes the full length of the book to establish enough trust and affection between them to allow for full intimacy. Hugh sees in her the rare woman who can truly appreciate how harsh life can be, and Anna revels in his calm, gentle and giving nature.
Though she does an admirable job taking the time to deal with serious issues, things felt a bit forced at times. The characters make a number of decisions and react in ways that didn't always make sense to me. Lorna was awful agreeable for a girl going through what she was and adopted Anna as a mother with amazing speed. Anna's reluctance to tell Hugh about her past dragged on a lot longer than it should have based on the pace they had been moving at. Hugh's decision to put distance between them so as to not jeopardize her potential participation in his ranch scheme - after they'd already had sex - just seemed to drag the conflict out needlessly. Then the ranch itself was a MacGuffin. It was only ever trotted out as a delay tactic, and is never really fleshed out.
And that epilogue! If you dislike epilogues in general for their tendency to pile on the absurdly sweet blessings, this one will give you cavities and a stomachache all in one go.
For all of the skill Lee treats the subject matter with, and the nice slow-burning romance, the book ultimately suffers from the heavy handed management. I enjoyed the story, but the detachment kept me from feeling truly involved with the characters.
October 15, 2022
This is an older book so it is a little dated but still a very good read.
Warning: Much of this story revolves around child molestation and abuse. It was not an easy read but I thought the issues were handled sensitively and well. No magic cure after one kiss or one night with the H like so many books try to get away with.
There were some minor problems in the storyline. The main one for me was that the puppy seemed to largely disappear about halfway through. After the way Jazz was introduced in the beginning, I expected the dog to play a much bigger role than she did beyond the occasional mention of her sitting in someone's lap. I think that is more my problem than a failing by the author, though.
I would recommend this book as I found it quite good and loved the relationship between the H and h. Keep in mind the subject matter, though, and the possibility for triggers. The topic is explored not only as past experinces of the h, but also current to the storyline involving the character of a minor child.
Warning: Much of this story revolves around child molestation and abuse. It was not an easy read but I thought the issues were handled sensitively and well. No magic cure after one kiss or one night with the H like so many books try to get away with.
There were some minor problems in the storyline. The main one for me was that the puppy seemed to largely disappear about halfway through. After the way Jazz was introduced in the beginning, I expected the dog to play a much bigger role than she did beyond the occasional mention of her sitting in someone's lap. I think that is more my problem than a failing by the author, though.
I would recommend this book as I found it quite good and loved the relationship between the H and h. Keep in mind the subject matter, though, and the possibility for triggers. The topic is explored not only as past experinces of the h, but also current to the storyline involving the character of a minor child.
October 28, 2023
i might be new to this author gotta be sure??! i read this my local library leaning program, i will say if you are not familiar please check that out. you could get FREE books (kindle, i believe it is called Libby program, which then goes through Amazon ... correct me if i am wrong there ...but it works so lovely. sometimes they don't have a kindle version they will allow you to use your computer, i prefer not do that method but whatever works for you.) i will read more from this series and this author soon. so cool. i love a good cowboy romance. out on December 17, 2012. romantic comedy (kindle store & books), romantic suspense.
August 8, 2017
Loved Cowboy from when he was first mentioned. Really happy he got his happy ever after.
January 25, 2015
This book was sad. It was hard for me to get through. I kept thinking it would get better, but it never really did for me. The ending should have been happy, but it felt rushed. The book just made me feel cold and sad.
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August 16, 2008Conard County: Cowboy Comes Home (Silhouette Intimate Moments, #865) by Rachel Lee (1998)
June 9, 2024
Best one of the bunch recently. No age gap for one thing. Likeable characters and a heartwarming story. It gets really dark at times, but it ends well and we even get an epilogue! Finally!
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews