Contemporary Romance set in Texas, Sequel to "The Tycoon"Ever since a disastrous marriage and divorce at a young age, Pickett Lockhart has kept his emotions under control. He’s preoccupied anyway with learning to be the general manager of the vast Double-Barrel Ranch outside of Drinkwell, Texas. Still, his older brother’s marriage and looming fatherhood has aroused an envy within him to have a wife, kids and home of his own. But he can’t get married, even to a woman he loves who also loves him. His divorce cost him and his family a bundle, leaving him with an overwhelming fear of stepping into another financial trap. Amanda Breckenridge, winning swim team coach and English teacher in Drinkwell High School, has been in love with Pic for as long as she can remember. They were high school sweethearts. After he eloped with someone he met in college, Amanda left Drinkwell. Her father’s illness brought her back to town and a revived relationship with Pic. But Pic’s mother has never thought Amanda was good enough for him. She intends to destroy their relationship by sending a friend’s beautiful daughter to the ranch to tempt Pic. Can Amanda and Pic’s bond survive his mother and her schemes? Or the unexpected career opportunity that falls into Amanda’s lap?
Anna 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.
If you are okay with a man who is wildly attracted to another woman who isn't the h, (who he has been sleeping with for two years as a convenient booty call), and while he doesn't sleep with said other woman there is plenty of alternative contact with her, but still decides to propose to the h because she is reliable, (although not his ideal feminine body type and too independent and really not that pretty in his eyes,) then you should like this book.
If on the other hand, you prefer a romance that is an actual romance, with an H that actually thinks the h is attractive and loves her and wants to be with her because she is the light of his life and not someone he can use as a support post, you might want to consider another book.
Needless to say my disappointment with this book knew no bounds because the H just wasn't that into the h and the h was too pathetically grateful to take what little she could get. I guess we will see how soon the H cheats on her when some hot, curvy blonde offers in the follow up books. Not something I am particularly looking forward to, but the way this man acts, it will happen.
Why this is even considered a romance I don't know-- there is no mutual love, minimal lust for the h on the H's part, and all in all the h is basically picked for her drudge and broodmare abilities and also probably because the H lives on a remote ranch and she was the only available piece willing to drive out for a quickie.
Not my cuppa, sad I read it, wasted my money.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I rarely rate books as 1*. But this! I was looking for a rubbernecking kick and I got – a big smack down. Guess I deserved it.
What I just read is not really improbable - rather this is what many RL women settle for and maybe they do live hea - sort of. A creep who lusts for another woman while slotting the h as a friend-with-benefits/booty call who is not-exactly-beautiful but has an okayish-body . An embarrassingly lovesick h who's always second best or even a non-blip for him as first he married a bitch (he loved) and who cheated and ripped him off (I do love some ow!) and then this second one appears -a Kim Kardashian lookalike, his mom's wingman/choice- who 'spikes his adrenaline' and more. Aaand he starts ghosting the h!
She does get some sane moments and begins to think of reclaiming her life and career. But then a huge ring (bigger than a pencil eraser, smaller than a dime) supposedly makes everything okay, even makes do for the zero grovel? And the h happily jumps him – all forgiven? And no ILY from him because - “I have a hard time saying it.”
Convenience? Plastic bags are convenient, disposable pens are convenient and keeping your convenient, biddable friend-with-benefits from running away is convenient too, I guess! Just hope they have a longer mean life.
This is not the escapism I look for when I dive into romance (or actually angsty/dark romance). I like my Hs thoroughly repentant and chastened.
WTF!!? I obviously love to torture myself since I kinda knew what was going to happen before I even started this book. Spoilers/Rant were graciously provided by an amazon forum participant who read and shared (She took a BIG one for the team!) what this terrible book had going on....which by the way, WAS NOT A Romance!
All I can say is, Thank god this book was free. I tried to return it but apparently you can't do that when the book is free. So...I deleted it. I have never deleted any book from my kindle or Cloud. My kindle and my books are my babies, but I didn't bat an eyelash when I hit delete on that sucka.
The main male character in this book was weak. He was a coward. He is not even worthy of being the "hero" in this book. This man was in a 2 year relationship with his girlfriend. He didn't know if he loved her. He didn't know if he wanted to marry her or have kids with her. Definitely didn't want to have a conversation with his girlfriend about all of this either. He repeatedly thought about how far the heroine lived away from him and how far he had to drive to visit her.
Then there was the Other woman, who was sent by his mother to basically break up the relationship with the girlfriend. Straight away, he can't take his eyes off of her. He can't 'help' but get hard around her every time he sees her. He thinks she is 'gorgeous' and her boobs are 'beautiful'. Yadda yadda...
Meanwhile, the heroine is starting to become self conscious of her looks and begins to doubt herself. The main male character is so handsome and can get any woman he wants (and has). She talks about her boobs being small and how she's flat chested. (mind you...she's a C cup) She cuts her past-shoulder length hair to a short hairstyle and then starts to regret it as the male character likes long hair. The other woman was likened to that of Kim Kardashian. The heroine is in self doubt mode. Heroine thinks that because she is jealous of OW, she must not be secure in her relationship.
The scenes with the OW are terrible and even though the male character tells the heroine that 'nothing happens'...he still kisses the OW. He looks at the OW and wants something to happen. He imagines what he could do with her. When he sees the OW naked, he compares her to the heroine.
I did finish this book. I admit to skimming pages. In the end, I wanted the heroine to leave him, get on with her life and never look back. That didn't happen unfortunately.
Not a love story in any form. Hero was a self absorbed ass who wanted the OW more than the heroine. He actually kissed the other woman, but keeps saying nothing happened! He also dated heroine years ago and then chose someone else over her! So heroine is not even second choice but third really. There is no love really, he just cares about her and she is a safe option! Avoid, if you don’t want to read about the hero literally getting an erection every time he sees the other woman, and keep picturing fucking her! Also, apparently this book was apparently pointless, as when I asked about Amanda and Pick’s relationship she was kind enough to reply. This is what she told me:
‘Pic suffered from middle-child-syndrome. He was unsure what he wanted. Their relationship is the story of 2 people who more-or-less had a relationship out of habit. Pic married young the first time and his ex-wife found someone else and cost him and his family a lot of money. He expected his older brother to be handed the responsibility of the ranch. Suddenly it was thrust on him and he felt unprepared even though it was something he had always wanted. My thinking when I developed him was that he felt Amanda was indeed safe. He had known her all of his life, knew she loved him. He didn't worry about her cheating on him or picking up and taking off with someone else like his ex-wife did. Amanda thought that all she wanted in life was to marry Pic. The irony was that after they got married and the longer she lived within the Lockhart family, the more she found to complain about and she did cheat on him. .... I wanted to show how Drake married someone he hardly knew and was extremely happy, but Pic married someone he had known forever and didn't have a great marriage.’ Seriously?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
This is not a romance. There is no connection between Pic and Mandy except a lot of sex. On top of that, Pic spends most of the book lusting after the other woman. I gave it two stars cos I read to the end, hoping that Pic can redeem himself somehow or Mandy will stop being a doormat and kicks him in the balls. Nope. Nada. Waste of time.
Let's just start with the elephant in the room...aka Pic... but instead of an elephant he is a jackass.
Mandy has loved him apparently from grade school and has had to sit by as he left her to go to college and married a trashy woman who wanted his money and who cheated on him WHOM HE STILL LOVES...Pic is an idiot. But when you meet his mother you know where he gets it from..she is a nasty piece of work herself. Miss Betty has done everything that she can to destroy anyone who dares to love her boys, no one is good enough for Pic, or Drake.....there is also Troy but..he is from another woman..... She has planned against both women Shannon (Drake's woman) as well as Mandy. Whereas Drake is worth fighting for... having to put up with Pic and his mother.... NOT ENOUGH MONEY IN TEXAS.
Mandy is not good enough because she is a smalltown teacher and was married before (duh like the loser Pic was married too), she has tried to sabotage her reputation as well as her job, but Drake stood for his woman, but Pic is wishy washy about it in the end he is still allowing his mother some dictating in his life.
SPOILERS
There is a whore (now Mandy a school teacher who has a job, a career and a good heart is NOT good enough) but some slut who drops her clothes at the drop of a hat and has NO job in debt upto her eyeballs she sends to entice him to cheat on Mandy. Sorry I am a mother...ain't NO slut ever going to be my goto girl to end up with my son.... but she picked her because she was a ho like his first wife so she figured he would go for it......another thing the slut is named something like zosha...a nickname from a name I cannot spell .....
Pic is loathsome, he falls into the trap so to speak constantly walking around with a arousal because a woman that probably everyone has taken a turn with dresses like a dime store hooker on a ranch full of men. bikini top and ass baring shorts.... yeah... a real cowboy wants every onery worker looking at his woman on display... no one BUT Pic would. Can you tell I hated him...with a passion.
Meanwhile back to the story, Pic is replacing Drake as the ranch overseer, Drake has chosen another occupation, so he is working all the time and pretty much when he manages to get away from the ranch it is nothing much but sex with Mandy and heading home. He has no time for her, but is somehow allowed to show zosha whatever her name is around because "she is a photographer" she ain't. The nasty piece of work strips naked for him to entice him.... and he flashes back on her body in a couple of scenes and many times before then as she doesnt hide much.
There is someone sabotaging the things they own, so they are under protection of armed security, I had high hopes that the nasty slut would win pic as they were their own little match made in hell, whereas Mandy's security guard was hot and he paid attention to her and seemed to find her as appealing as the reader did. Her only downfall was her unimagineable desire for Pic.
HATED PIC, BETTY and ZOSHA whatever whom I hope to heck is NOT going to be given to Troy as his heroine. There was a unbelievable HFN, as if his nasty ex or the skank drop into his vision his "love" with lower as his parts rise.
Anna Jeffrey continues on with the Lockhart family, this time by following Drake's younger brother Pic. By the way the author describes this cowboy, he is delicious. And there is A LOT of heat in this book! * fans self *
This story is about a second chance at your first, true love. Pic and Mandy have been inseparable since they were both young kids. What started out as a friendship, turned into a romance by high-school, but once they both separated for college, that romance flickered away for Pic. He became quickly enamored by a beautiful cowgirl who competed in the rodeo, and foolishly married her on a whim.
Mandy also married, and thought that she and her husband were going to be happy, but turns out, he was not the man she thought him to be. As fates would have it, both Mandy and Pic divorced and found themselves in each others' arms once again...but, Pic's meddling mother is not going to have any of it. You'd think she'd learn her lesson to stay out of her GROWN child’s lives by now after she tried, and failed, to break up Drake and Shannon from the first book in this series!! I definitely would not want to have that person as a mother-in-law, she'd be a monster-in-law for sure!!!
Soo, here in lies the problem. Betty Lockhart – Monster-in-law – implants a nuisance into the Double-Barrel Ranch – where Pic resides and also manages – named Zochimilka. A beautiful dark-skinned woman who's on the lookout to be a Mrs. Anyonewhocanstandher !! Ha! Pic seriously just needs to get over his fears of commitment and make an honest woman out of Mandy! You can tell that they're both still very much in love with each other!! :)
I enjoyed reading this story very much, and was glad to have returning characters (Drake and Shannon) once again. I can't wait to get to the bottom of what's going on with Trouble-Troy (youngest brother) and hear his story (if there's going to be one)! I also love how spunky Kate is. I laughed out-loud in the beginning of the book where they made fun of her Pocahontas outfit!
Thank you for gifting me this copy Anna, in exchange for an honest review! I loved it!!
im laughing my ass at all those 5 stars given. if you looking to read this book, better read my review first and all the reviewers that dare to give this book it's less than 3 stars rating. coz BELIEVE me, some even want to erased this book from their mind after finishing it.
why in the world this was a romance novel? if romance means the Hero always getting a hard on and blunt words about "cum and cumming and cock" that frequently throwing around in this novel was a part of how romance is, then you got yur romance there cowboy. me? this was a soft porn - erotics novel that lost it's point. and if you were looking a novel where it seems the Hero was more INTO the other women emotionally and sexually rather than his relationship w/the heroine that's hardly "heart-to heart" then it's yours. for godsake, even the author makes the whole full of like 7-8 chapters where it was only a talk to talk activity between the Hero and the other women with constant hard on ofc, then again, it's yours. me?? thank god i didnt buy this book
so, what went wrong? first, forget all those lines that saying "ouwh.. this is such a cute sweet story about the reunion of hischool sweetheart" - my ass! yes, indeed, the H and the heroine was a childhood friend, then they become lover in hi scholl. what kind of lover? well acording to this novel, it's a friendship and a fucking like mad each time they can - relationship. and then when the Hero goes to unive, he married other girl bcoz this other girl was giving him a mad attraction-one that goes beyond mad-i'll do anything just to fuck you-sparks fly-dicks out-and cum are everywhere- kind of girl, he then broke up w/the heroine. but even in this state, their relationship is leaning more to Fuck buddy than GF-BF. the heroine married other man. years after, she and he are divorced, she's back to hers and his town, meet again, and becom a fuck buddy again for 2 years, well, ofc to make this more like a romance novel as what it's claimed to be, they "have " a relationship as a lover. she live in some placed miles away from his ranch and he goes to fuck her once in a month. see..?? how romantic this hi school sweetheart reunion was. and the word of cum start to repeated over and over again. such a romantic sweet story. bah. get out of your freakig delusional mind!! and start see this novel as what it was!
along the way, the heroine was loving him since hi scholl, but the Hero still confused of his feeling toward her. he liked her, he friends w/her, and she got that tight -peeep- that he love very much, but weirdly, the author ALWAYS steer the Hero's feeling as the unsatisfying bastard that felt nothing "lovingly" to the heroine. he still comparing the heroine w/his ex wife. he said, he doesnt have that "tingle" itchy-scrathy (maybe he got fungus on his dick??) dizzy - madly feeling to the heroine like he got for his ex wife. and he longed to have that kind of sparks again. well, lucky him, his mom sending him a friend's daugter to his ranch and stay w/him bcoa she was a photographer that wants to do some shoot aroung his ranch and probably around his dick. and this girl was described as ........... KIM KARDASHIAN's Clone! you knw, all big butts and big boobs and big lips and all those steroid w/maybe some of taylor swift's dirt in her phone (who knows) and ofc, to make it perfect, this girl also wear skimpy clothes w/no tops that can squeez enough those boobs. and HE got an instant hard on, our Hero spent his time to imagined how it would like to taste this girl -peeep- and how it will b good if he can -*peep- her on her -*peeep- and mayybe that way he can -*peeep- her to be his -*peeep- and then he can -*peeep- some -*peeep- more. this was start from chapter 5 until the END!!! even there'was 1 scenes when he -peeep- the heroine, he also imagining that it was that girl that he -peeep- on the back of her car and giving her a taste of his cum and marking her. i mean.... does this author in heat when she was writing this novel??? look, i got no objection about dirty words, dirty scenes, even if this author wants to throw a scenes when the hero maybe fucking one of his calf. and do some bdsm stuff with his brother's ass. but do please make the tortured worth it's final point!!! and it's getting worse bcoz not only he always wants to -peeep- this girl in his mind, but this author also throwing some real -i got to knw you- conversation between the hero and this girl like full frontal 4 continuity chapters!! at this point, it's better if the Hero ended w/this girl and believe me it was more believable that way rather than make a twist and ended it w/the supposed to be heroine, just becos she was the heroine. i mean, the hero attraction toward this zocki ( i forgot her name) something, was MAD!! he got all sparks fly, want to protect her, interested w/her and her boobs-butt-lips-and her other lips. he even got annoyed when his brother acompany zocki to look around the barn and unsetteled if his brother was fucking her or not while he was with the heroine at the same accasion w/everyone!! oh, the heroine never knw or watched in detail how her fuck buddy having a hard time making his dick in a normal state, bcoz it always hard whenever zocki was around, bcoz there never that "broken hearted" scenes that revealed his unfithful mind. not until like 30 chapters towards the end. and that was interupted bcoz some of his calf was run away or some shit like that. at the end, the h proposed to the heroine, but dont worth a shit, bcoz it was just hard to believed that the hero love the heroine. coz until the end, all we got was he saw her as a good fuck and his friend and trusted enough to play house w/him. i just disgust w/this novel. i dont hv problem if the hero having a dirty mind towards zocki, coz ofc, othr than kanye west, every man in this planet hard to resist kim kardashian's ass, but the way this author penned her describtion was crossing the line from "yowza, she's hot, and i want to fuck her" to "im obssesed and i need to possess her and marking her as mine!". you see there? "curious" man only have a mind to fuck the hot girl, but this Hero wants to put his -peeeep liquid- in her so he was marking her!!
i wont marry this kind of guy, and his constant hard on? he better see a doctor, maybe his dick has some muscle problem. and it's a wonder how the Hero can stayed alive throughout this book when all of his blood was flows directly only towards his dick.
this book was -peeeeeppppp- im sorry if my review was harsh, hey, i try to -peeeep- it, after all, this book for all it's words was worth -peeeep- i rather read some real porn-erotics novel.
I enjoyed this story. The H has some serious emotional issues and was s-l-o-w-l-y maturing. On this level, he did not label his feelings for the h as love. He had had a history of 'one and done' but had been committed to his girlfriend for 2 years. His highly dysfunctional family and ex-wife were a large influence on his stunted maturity.
His mother (a piece of work) sent his typical choice of the perfect woman as a distraction. He was attracted to her and even kisses her but his budding awareness of his feelings for the h stopped him from going further.
Yes he was slow to emotionally mature, but the H did it and both earned their HEA.
At times, The Cattleman felt more like a family epic. The pace of the story is slower and this was an interesting--possibly more realistic--depiction of ranching life and small towns in Texas. While the romance between Pic and Amanda was already established, both--especially Pic--have to confront personal issues. I look forward to reading the next book.
This book was a mess from start to finish. I was expecting a book about a second chance love story in which high school sweethearts find each other again after each experiencing messy marriages, what I got was a dying relationship with a selfish, misogynistic hero and a spineless heroine.
At the time our story begins the protagonists have been “dating” for two years since the heroine returned to their small town to support her sick father. Previous high school sweethearts, they dated until “spontaneously” the hero elopes with a rodeo queen. When thrown back together they begin seeing each other again. I’m hesitant to call it dating since they only see each other every few weeks when our hero gets “horny,” and our heroine jumps when called. The remainder of the time the hero is working at the family ranch and agonizing over his failed marriage in which his gold digging wife took him for all he was worth, putting the ranch at risk.
The relationship development was some of the worst I have ever seen. This was in no way a romantic storyline, but rather a relationship breaking up. The hero is easily swayed by another woman, a poor cliche with her “barely there” clothes and promiscuous attitude who’ll jump at any man she sees. For a while I started to think that the story would revolve around the hero and the OW from all the attention and sexual chemistry the author paid to their relationship. The OW was such a clear example of a cliched romantic trope. A “photographer” hailing from Austin, she’s portrayed as an offensive Liberal stereotype, questioning the cattle industry, gun laws, hunting culture, meat eating, Fracking, and climate change without “knowing anything.” She’s portrayed as being idiotically optimistic and uneducated, while the hero is a stereotyped rural Republican who pokes holes in her logic and arguments easily. While I don’t expect romance authors to herald political debates, such an obvious bias left a bad taste in my mouth. When she questions him on the impact of the cattle industry on climate change, he counters saying that he doubts humans could make such a significant impact on the planet that it would put humanity at risk. Barf.
Also, if you are offended by cheating heroes avoid this book. While the hero is portrayed as being ethically sound because he turns down the OW’s blatant offer of promiscuous sex, he instigates a kiss for which he feels no remorse. He doesn’t consider it cheating, and it's never discussed again. Clear double standards between the male and female characters are further exaggerated when the hero argues that, while its ok for his brothers, father and himself to have promiscuous sexual relationships, its not ok for his 29 yr old sister to do the same because “she’s a girl.” When the heroine makes the argument, its treated by both the hero and the heroine as a spontaneous emotional outburst indicative of a romantic spat.
In the end the author had made such a compelling argument for the heroine to leave the hero it was almost a betrayal for them to reconcile. It was only in the last two pages that he “grovelled.” I would have been elated for there to be an alternative happy ending in which she moves away from their antiquated small town, finds happiness in a new job, and finds new love in someone who doesn’t have clear trust issues and an understanding about what a loving, equal partnership looks like. In my book, if a romance novel gets me to wish for a breakup between the main characters, the author has failed.
I have not read the first book in this series but that did not stop me from enjoying this second book. The author provides just enough information so readers will not become lost but are not overwhelmed with everything from the first book. I thought the book would go one direction but the author took the book in a different direction and worked out so much better than my thoughts.
Readers are quickly introduced to the whole Lockhart family. The family is waiting at a 5-star restaurant in downtown Ft. Worth for the new bride and groom, Drake and Shannon.
To say there is tension during this dinner is an understatement. Betty, Drake’s mother is an old bitty who believes no one is good enough for her children unless she hand picks them out. A woman who is only interested in her status to others than her children being happy, Betty believes she has an image to protect and will do anything to keep from allowing anyone into the family.
When I realized this book was about the second oldest brother Pic and that he already had a girlfriend I figured they would marry early in the story and have a major breakup shortly after the ceremony. Boy oh boy was I wrong. I will not go into when or how about Pic and his girlfriend, Amanda.
Pic’s mother does not like Amanda. She believes that Amanda is an upstart trying to get her hands on the family’s money. When Betty’s current plan fails she tried to send in a female that does not understand anything about a ranch or farm. Does not believe that killing a wild boar is just part of farm/ranch life, thinks it is wrong to drill for oil but not willing to give up her gas powered vehicle, this female is beyond understanding how or where food comes from. Her idea of getting more food is the local grocery. The thought that food has to come from somewhere else is beyond her understanding. To say this female is a witch with a Capital B is an understatement. She is someone that I would take, roll around in manure then pour sugar & honey over her tie to a tree where several nest of fire ants lived. That would be too nice for Zochi and Betty.
This story has a nice mystery rolled over from the first book. This mystery rolls over to the third book in the series. Readers do not know a lot except bad things are happening. I admit that I have my suspicion on who but I guess we will find out later in the series.
I really enjoyed this book. It was a great contemporary read with some hot sex scenes that were well written. I recommend this book to any who enjoy contemporary romance especially cowboys.
Second chances romance with two high school sweethearts and some gold digging selfish people that make trouble. Pickett Lockhart is finally doing what he wanted from childhood which is running the vast Double-Barrel Ranch outside of Drinkwell, Texas for his rich powerful family. He also has a sweet girlfriend, Amanda Breckenridge, who is busy being a successful swim team coach and English teacher at the local high school. They don't see each other as often as they like, but they have chemistry in bed. Then comes in a sexy photographer that tests their relationship which ends up being good because Pickett was probably never going to takes the next step with out being pushed. No surprises in this story, but it was still a fun read. 289 pages and kindle freebie 2 stars
I didn't read the first book in the series, but that didn't take away from me reading this one. I found it very interesting and immediately drawn to Pic (Pickett). Something about that cowboy and his relationship with his family, as well as his history. The past seems to define how he looks at the future and what he should and shouldn't do. The story revolves around Pic and his family, starting with the new marriage of his older brother, Drake. The characters are weaved into each other's lives perfectly. If you love a good cowboy romance, then this is the book to read.
There was quite a bit to enjoy about this story. Cowboy romances are always enjoyable. The dynamic of a large family is always a great tie for a series, and a meddling mother who can't keep her nose to herself is a great test for any relationship. I also enjoy reunion romances. The thought of reuniting with a high school sweetheart and finally getting your happy ever after is such a sweet story. I enjoyed the way the author wove the story and look forward to reading more in the series
I was provided a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
Wasn’t sure I’d fall for another Lockhart man after the first book because Drake was so dang hot! But I did! There is a lot going on in this family and the author keeps it all rolling smoothly! Wonderful book!!