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The Good, The Bad, and The Texan #6
Tempted by the Texan
This Texas cowboy wants the one woman he can’t have…
Jaron Lambert has his pick of willing women, but he only has eyes for lovely, young Mariah Stanton. For years, he’s tried to stay away. But on one perfect, tender night they set aside their nine-year age difference and indulge in everything they’ve both been wanting.
But Jaron is still dealing with the effects of his dark, troubled past. He can’t tell Mariah the truth so he has to tell her their night was a mistake. Because falling for her is the one thing he can never do…
Jaron Lambert has his pick of willing women, but he only has eyes for lovely, young Mariah Stanton. For years, he’s tried to stay away. But on one perfect, tender night they set aside their nine-year age difference and indulge in everything they’ve both been wanting.
But Jaron is still dealing with the effects of his dark, troubled past. He can’t tell Mariah the truth so he has to tell her their night was a mistake. Because falling for her is the one thing he can never do…
- GenresHarlequin
250 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 1, 2016
About the author
Kathie DeNosky
363 books179 followersKathie writes at night with country tunes playing from a local radio station while the rest of the world sleeps. It's the quiet time of the night that inspires her to craft her stories with a unique style of sensuality, interspersed with a little humor.
Kathie has been a Romance Writers of America Golden Heart finalist twice. Her June 2001 release, His Baby Surprise, received the National Readers' Choice Award for Best Short Contemporary Romance of 2001. All of her books have been listed on the Waldenbooks Category Romance Bestsellers list.
Kathie lives in the Illinois area her family settled in the early 1800's when they moved from North Carolina. Besides writing, Kathie loves to read romances, travel to historic locales, and delights in trying to rid the world of chocolate -- one bite at a time! She also enjoys meeting readers and writers at the numerous conferences, workshops, and booksignings she attends.
Kathie has been a Romance Writers of America Golden Heart finalist twice. Her June 2001 release, His Baby Surprise, received the National Readers' Choice Award for Best Short Contemporary Romance of 2001. All of her books have been listed on the Waldenbooks Category Romance Bestsellers list.
Kathie lives in the Illinois area her family settled in the early 1800's when they moved from North Carolina. Besides writing, Kathie loves to read romances, travel to historic locales, and delights in trying to rid the world of chocolate -- one bite at a time! She also enjoys meeting readers and writers at the numerous conferences, workshops, and booksignings she attends.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
September 8, 2016
2.5 stars
January 8, 2019
Dear Kathie DeNosky,
1986 called and it wants its book back. If I didn't know any better, you actually wrote this one back in the late 70s or early 80s but didn't sell it, and when another deadline loomed, you yanked this one out from the bottom drawer, blew the dust off the top, perhaps updated a few bits here and there, and then sent it off to the publisher. It's the only thing I could think of that would explain all of the outdated scenarios and dialogue that crop up!
You may be surprised to learn that it isn't really appropriate for the hero to tell the heroine that she shouldn't walk into a rowdy bar looking like she was ready for a roll in the hay. I know this was published in early 2016 before the #metoo movement really kicked off, but even back then, if a TV show had had a character say, for example, "Betty Mae, if you keep on wearin' them tank tops, you're gonna get yourself raped," there would have been a major outcry. By and large, people don't think that way anymore, and the fact your hero did was the first major strike against him.
But I won't stop there. I just have to say, Jaron is the most mealy-mouthed excuse for an "alpha male" I've ever come across. "I've had a bad, bad life! You wouldn't understand! Just drop it!" was a common refrain within the pages of your book. I understand that part of Jaron's dilemma was that he believed people would think badly of him if they knew about his past, and this was something he had to move past, but considering what came in the later parts of the book, you completely undermine that and make him look like a martyr. But I'll get to that later. Indeed, the ancillary characters from the previous 5 books all say they had the same obstacle in their romance: mealy-mouthedness from the hero. I know 5 previous books I won't be picking up any time soon!
And what is it with heroes afraid to love or have kids because they have a no-good father and think they're carrying the same evil gene? Is this actually a thing? I personally do not get it at all. By the same token, imagine that someone's dad was an all around absolutely terrific guy. Does that mean the kid is going to turn out that way as well? Nooo. The kid still has to work to be that way. If Jaron doesn't want to be like his father, he doesn't have to be. He's not going to pass any evil down through his genes. Even if it's a life-long thing he has to work on, being not evil, so be it. It's up to him to change things. Jaron's "I have the evil gene!" approach to life is a bullshit one. I think he just enjoyed being a martyr.
And Kathie, I'm very annoyed that after spending the whole book thinking Jaron's redemption will come from accepting his past, winning Mariah's love, and getting the confidence he'll never be like his father so long as he works at it (and here I'm taking into account this nonsense about evil genes), you go and completely undermine all that by having Jaron discover his father is actually his stepfather. He doesn't have an evil gene after all! Hooray! How convenient! He won't pass it on to his own kids. SERIOUSLY??? Kathie, I nearly threw the book across the room at that point. It meant Jaron hadn't learnt a single thing.
But Kathie, I'm still not finished. So many other offensive, outdated scenarios jumped out of the pages of your book at me. Jaron giving Mariah a job and changing its responsibilities when it turns out she's useless at cooking, simply because he knows she has her pride, made me cringe. Poor widdle Mariah. She has no job, no roommate and no car, but let's shield her from the big bad world and keep her gainfully employed in a position she can't actually do. It's not noble. It's condescending. Especially when Jaron can already do the "new" job he just gave her. When he thought it was "endearing" that she had tried to learn a lot about ranching, it was nauseating. Again, condescending! Jaron might as well have patted her on the rump and sent her on her way like one of his horses. Yuck!
Oh yeah, and the naive-virgin-who's-bad-at-cooking thing? Look! Mariah's a fish out of water who can't do the job she was hired for! So funny! Back in 1986, that is.
And the twins we learn about that Jaron and Mariah have added to their family in the epilogue? Good grief, just when I thought your book was already chock-full of cliches, you just had to add that one to the pot, didn't you? My eyes were sore from all the rolling they were doing.
The one thing I did like about your book, Kathie, was the spunk-muffin on the cover. I had to keep flicking to that image to convince myself to finish reading the book. Did you have anything to do with his choice as the cover model? Because I approve! If only I could find a ranch where they bred hunks like that. I'd certainly be tempted by that Texan. The one within the pages of the book? Not so much. Mariah can have him.
If you want to drag your plots and characters into the present day, I might read you again one day, Ms DeNosky.
Regards,
Paula
1986 called and it wants its book back. If I didn't know any better, you actually wrote this one back in the late 70s or early 80s but didn't sell it, and when another deadline loomed, you yanked this one out from the bottom drawer, blew the dust off the top, perhaps updated a few bits here and there, and then sent it off to the publisher. It's the only thing I could think of that would explain all of the outdated scenarios and dialogue that crop up!
You may be surprised to learn that it isn't really appropriate for the hero to tell the heroine that she shouldn't walk into a rowdy bar looking like she was ready for a roll in the hay. I know this was published in early 2016 before the #metoo movement really kicked off, but even back then, if a TV show had had a character say, for example, "Betty Mae, if you keep on wearin' them tank tops, you're gonna get yourself raped," there would have been a major outcry. By and large, people don't think that way anymore, and the fact your hero did was the first major strike against him.
But I won't stop there. I just have to say, Jaron is the most mealy-mouthed excuse for an "alpha male" I've ever come across. "I've had a bad, bad life! You wouldn't understand! Just drop it!" was a common refrain within the pages of your book. I understand that part of Jaron's dilemma was that he believed people would think badly of him if they knew about his past, and this was something he had to move past, but considering what came in the later parts of the book, you completely undermine that and make him look like a martyr. But I'll get to that later. Indeed, the ancillary characters from the previous 5 books all say they had the same obstacle in their romance: mealy-mouthedness from the hero. I know 5 previous books I won't be picking up any time soon!
And what is it with heroes afraid to love or have kids because they have a no-good father and think they're carrying the same evil gene? Is this actually a thing? I personally do not get it at all. By the same token, imagine that someone's dad was an all around absolutely terrific guy. Does that mean the kid is going to turn out that way as well? Nooo. The kid still has to work to be that way. If Jaron doesn't want to be like his father, he doesn't have to be. He's not going to pass any evil down through his genes. Even if it's a life-long thing he has to work on, being not evil, so be it. It's up to him to change things. Jaron's "I have the evil gene!" approach to life is a bullshit one. I think he just enjoyed being a martyr.
And Kathie, I'm very annoyed that after spending the whole book thinking Jaron's redemption will come from accepting his past, winning Mariah's love, and getting the confidence he'll never be like his father so long as he works at it (and here I'm taking into account this nonsense about evil genes), you go and completely undermine all that by having Jaron discover his father is actually his stepfather. He doesn't have an evil gene after all! Hooray! How convenient! He won't pass it on to his own kids. SERIOUSLY??? Kathie, I nearly threw the book across the room at that point. It meant Jaron hadn't learnt a single thing.
But Kathie, I'm still not finished. So many other offensive, outdated scenarios jumped out of the pages of your book at me. Jaron giving Mariah a job and changing its responsibilities when it turns out she's useless at cooking, simply because he knows she has her pride, made me cringe. Poor widdle Mariah. She has no job, no roommate and no car, but let's shield her from the big bad world and keep her gainfully employed in a position she can't actually do. It's not noble. It's condescending. Especially when Jaron can already do the "new" job he just gave her. When he thought it was "endearing" that she had tried to learn a lot about ranching, it was nauseating. Again, condescending! Jaron might as well have patted her on the rump and sent her on her way like one of his horses. Yuck!
Oh yeah, and the naive-virgin-who's-bad-at-cooking thing? Look! Mariah's a fish out of water who can't do the job she was hired for! So funny! Back in 1986, that is.
And the twins we learn about that Jaron and Mariah have added to their family in the epilogue? Good grief, just when I thought your book was already chock-full of cliches, you just had to add that one to the pot, didn't you? My eyes were sore from all the rolling they were doing.
The one thing I did like about your book, Kathie, was the spunk-muffin on the cover. I had to keep flicking to that image to convince myself to finish reading the book. Did you have anything to do with his choice as the cover model? Because I approve! If only I could find a ranch where they bred hunks like that. I'd certainly be tempted by that Texan. The one within the pages of the book? Not so much. Mariah can have him.
If you want to drag your plots and characters into the present day, I might read you again one day, Ms DeNosky.
Regards,
Paula
April 13, 2023
Me gusto como escribí anterior mente algunos aspectos no me encantaron y me sacaron un poco de mis casillas pero fuera de eso la historia fue buena y sobre todo me gustó el final de la saga en la cual ellos recrean el rancho last chance y le dan la misma oportunidad a otros jóvenes que les dieron a ellos un punto que diría me gustaría saber aunque no es muy importante es el nombre de todos los bebes que tuvieron ya que algunos nunca digeribles el nombre y me equivoque en el nombre de la protagonista ya que realmente es Mariah.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 15, 2021
Tantas vueltas y abstenciones que no llevan a ninguna parte. Pasar por situaciones traumáticas logran crear inseguridades, pero solo debemos aprender a superarlas y disfrutar de la vida, disfrutar de lo que Dios no regala y si es el amor de una persona increíble, pues los tomamos y no la dejamos ir de nuestro lado, saber que si no apreciamos ese regalo increíble, ese regalo no va estar ahí por siempre...
May 19, 2017
Loved the book! And Loved the serie!!!! The Last Chance cowboys where the sweetest and they can't end doing it better!!!!
January 14, 2025
B- Audiobook.
April 19, 2025
Mi segundo menos favorito, Jason me hartó bien indeciso el wey
February 11, 2016
This is the 1st book I read by Kathie DeNosky. I'm sorry I only read chapter 1 because this book didn't grab my interest. I might read other books by Ms. DeNosky
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews