Broken trust is hard to rebuild. But temptation is even harder to deny…
Wealthy rancher Camden Guthrie is back in Royal to rebuild his life and join the prestigious Texas Cattleman’s Club. To become a member, the widower needs help from Beth Wingate, the woman who shattered his heart fifteen years ago. Their attraction flares as strong as ever — but will long-buried secrets threaten a future with Beth all over again?
Mills & Boon Desire — Luxury, scandal, desire — welcome to the lives of the elite.
USA Today best selling author Maureen Child is the author of more than ninety romance novels and novellas. Maureen is a five time nominee for the prestigious Rita award from Romance Writers of America. One of her novels, A Pocketful Of Paradise, was made into a CBS-TV movie called The Soul Collector, starring Melissa Gilbert, Bruce Greenwood and Ossie Davis. Over the years, she’s written under lots of different names and she prefers the term ‘pseudonym’ to ‘alias’. As Ann Carberry, she wrote western historical romances. As Kathleen Kane, she wrote not only Americana romances, but western paranormal romances as well. As Sarah Hart, she wrote one really spectacular western paranormal that is still one of her favorites. And once, Ann Carberry even wrote a Victorian historical which she absolutely loved doing.
Under her own name, Maureen writes short contemporary novels for Silhouette Desire—books she loves to write because of their fast pace and condensed story telling. Maureen is also writing funny, contemporary paranormal romances for NAL and darker paranormal stories for Silhouette Nocturne.
Maureen writes paranormal romance novels under the pesudonym of Regan Hastings
There’s just too darn much going on, for one thing. Too many storylines that came from left field. Too many characters and storylines to possibly give room to the H/h.
Wasn’t crazy about the h (there was a lot to question about her choices during the lengthy separation), but she still had me on her side.
Flat-out hated the so-called Hero. He was just such an arrogant a******. They were teenage lovers for three years and he took her ‘maybe we should slow down’ conversation to mean they were over so he MARRIED a classmate of hers that WEEK and left town. He comes back 15 years later and he is such a **** to her face, while alternately thinking lustful and/or dismissive thoughts about her. He was unlikable and poorly written.
His lack of understanding that he hurt her was bizarre. He took ZERO responsibility for the past and then spent the novel going hot/cold on her, expecting her to forgive the past with no explanation for his choices and no regard for her in the present either. He wanted her to do all the running, and treated her poorly all the while. Yeah, I hated him.
He supposedly bought ‘their dream ranch’ because he was thinking of her, but made countless decisions for it on his own. So much for ‘their’ dream.
Why they should be together now was never made clear, because this was no love story. 15 years was too long. He’d built a marriage and then loved the other woman. He made no discernible effort to clear up the past (in fact, he was deliberately horrible), while expecting her to be okay with his betrayal, no questions asked. His dismissive attitude toward her feelings then and now doesn’t equal HEA, it spells future disregard for her.
Very sorry I read this. Crappy heroes are always a big letdown. The complete lack of romance was too.
I admit upfront that I didn't quite read all the chapters in the book. It was just one melodrama after another - 18 year old love affair that was overblown into an unrequited love story of the century! There is a secretary winning a 60 million dollar lottery, a factory fire with suspected arson thrown in and in all that the H doesn't even factor in to give a minute or two via text or phone to check in if the h is able to cope but still all is forgiven and the h is the one who shows up to show support for H's TCC membership! Its just a club membership and she supports him way more than he ever did and then of course there is a dumb proposal and a supposed HEA. I really couldn't read it and skimmed and what I skimmed didn't impress me much.
Despite their very different upbringings as teenagers Cam and Beth fell in love and were planning their future together until Beth caved to pressure from her father and told Cam that they needed a little time apart which he took to mean that they were over. In hindsight Beth believes it was the best decision she could have made as shortly thereafter he left town married.
More than a decade later Cam has returned to his hometown after the death of his wife. From the first time that he and Beth see each other again the chemistry and connection between them is stronger than ever. Will they be able to heal from the misunderstandings of the past and live the life they planned or are they destined to end in heartbreak once again?
Every time that Cam and Beth were together the sparks flew but dealing with the past and learning to trust each other again was the biggest challenge they had to overcome.
The Price of Passion by Maureen Child is the first book in Harlequin Desires’ new Texas Cattleman’s Club: Rags to Riches continuity series. This story exemplifies what I look for and love about continuity series. There’s love, passion, family, drama, and a little mystery.
The Price of Passion is a second chance love story featuring Beth Wingate and Camden “Cam” Guthrie. Fifteen years ago, eighteen-year-old Beth, the daughter of one of the most influential families in Royal, Texas, and nineteen-year-old Cam, the half Native American son of ranch hands loved each other deeply. They shared their hopes and dreams and planned to be together forever. That all changed when Cam suddenly married and left town with Julie Wheeler, a one time friend of Beth’s.
Cam and Julie built a good and prosperous life for themselves in Los Angeles, California. They amassed fame and fortune. But none of that saved Julie from dying of cancer. Now a year after her death, Cam returns home to work on reclaiming a portion of the dream he once had. Cam purchases the Circle K Ranch, the ranch he and his parents all worked on. The ranch where his parents died in a fire.
The fifteen years since she last saw Cam have been good for Beth. She’s gone to college and now finds herself working for her family’s charitable foundation. She’s more than happy to leave running the family business to her brothers and cousins. She’s grown as a person and is more reliant on herself. So what if her love life is in the gutter? Who needs a man and love anyway? Nothing prepares Beth for Cam’s return and seeing him all over town.
While the two strike up a truce and ultimately a relationship, things at Wingate Corporation, Beth’s family’s company, are taking a turn for the worse. It seems someone is looking to destroy the company and the Wingate name. The who and why remain to be seen.
I LOVED The Price of Passion. I’ve already looked ahead at the descriptions of the other books in the series and they all seem to be interconnected. This story mentions characters in the upcoming books and even gives you a little idea of what’s to come. As far as Beth and Cam go, these two never stopped loving each other. They are similar in so many ways. They both are stubborn and are really bad at communication. Their passion is explosive and shows that true love withstands the test of time.
~ FAVORITE QUOTES ~
“You don’t get a guarantee. You get chances. Whether you take them or not is up to you.”
“Always take the chance when you get it. Living a life with regrets isn’t the way to go.”
**Received a copy of the book from the publisher and voluntarily reviewed it. I also purchased a copy of the book myself.**
It's been a long time since I read a Texas Cattleman's Club novel. I started reading this series in the 1990s, but when I saw that this one was written by Maureen Child, whose books I usually love, I requested an advance reader copy. This is a second chance at love, poor guy/rich gal, contemporary western romance with plenty of heat, but it saddens me to say that I didn't love this novel, and the best I can do is give it 3 stars.
Fifteen years earlier, Cam and Beth were high school sweethearts. Beth is the daughter of the old money, privileged Wingate family in Royal, Texas. Cam is a half-Native American cowboy who works on a nearby ranch, the Circle K, along with his parents. Beth and Cam can't get enough of each other but her wealthy parents don't approve. Beth is 18, Cam is 19, and when Beth suggests that they slow down, after all, she'll be leaving for college soon, Cam takes it as the kiss-off he's been expecting all along.
Within a week or so, Beth is shocked to learn the Cam has married Julie Wheeler, another classmate of theirs, and that the newlyweds have moved to California. She assumed that Cam's words of love to her were a lie, and that he'd been cheating on her during the entire 3 years they were a couple. She was crushed, but eventually managed to move on with her life, and 15 years later, and still unmarried, she knows that Julie died of cancer two years earlier, and she isn't at all happy to learn that Cam, now a multi-millionaire, has just bought the ranch he used to work on, and he is back in Royal to stay. When they bump into each other at the bank, both realize that there is still plenty of sizzle between them, but Beth has one very large chip on her shoulder and Cam doesn't seem to fully understand why, since all along he believed she'd ended their relationship 15 years ago, assuming that "slow down" meant, "we're over."
This is a story of wrong assumptions and sexual attraction, but I found Beth to be more than a tad bitchy and bitter, and Cam seemed only to be attracted to her looks and his memories of the heat between them. Beth also still finds Cam's good looks hard to resist, but where was the love? Where was the romance? At no point did I see common ground or affection between these two main characters, and Beth still is harboring hurt feelings without fully knowing the truth behind Cam's hasty marriage to Julie. And Beth is in for a major surprise. Will the truth draw them together or tear them even further apart? You'll have to read his novel to find out, since I don't do spoilers.
I respect Maureen Child's ability as a romance writer, but was disappointed by this novel. I think this would have been a far more successful story had the two characters spent more time talking it out rather than locking lips and/or trading barbs whenever they saw each other. It's not a bad read, but it's not a great one either--there were simply too many missed opportunities for this reader.
As stated earlier, I read an advanced reader copy of this novel. The opinions expressed are my own.
I really struggled with this one. The Price of Passion is a short read which was good because if it was any longer I may not have finished it. Most of my issues with this book revolved around Cam who is a bit of a shit. When he was 18 his girlfriend wanted to have a little space as things were moving too fast. His response? Run away that same week after marrying her friend. He disappears for 15 years and when he comes back blames her for everything. He takes ZERO responsibility for his actions and everything has to be done on his terms. She has to be the one to want him, she has to be the one to call him. At one moment when she is being very clearly hassled by some guy he gets his knickers in a twist because he thinks she wants it. I really hate him. A lot.
The ending was stupid. They spent all of 2 hours in each other's company when they were ripping each other's throats out and they think they are ready to get engaged. They sorted out none of their problems at all.
I love all the Cattleman Club series . I see we will have to wait until the end mist likely ti figure out the fire mystery. I already have a suspect. . . Young love so special and yet so tragic. Rich princess and guy from the wrong side of the tracks. Not a good choice as far as the rich parents see-it. Cam feeling he was dumped because of her family, and Beth feeling Cam cheated on her destroys both fir 15 years. Cam did what a great guy would do for someone in trouble when he thought his love and shot at happiness was over. Misunderstandings and reactions without talking it out and finding the truth destroys. Who sre after the Wingate’s?
I really liked the first book in this series and Beth’s dress on the cover is beautiful. It’s a second chance romance for Cam and Beth - or is it? There’s a lot going on with book, as it sets up the Wingate business scandal and future plot lines. The only thing I didn’t like about the story was the way Cam’s dead wife was talked about. Almost like we needed to know who she was, but not anything more. I don’t know how many times Cam would be thinking about her and end with “Then she died.” Overall, a fun Texas family saga with some romance thrown in.
I have read and enjoyed all the books in this series so far and this one is really good. Maureen Child has contributed to this series from the beginning and always does a fantastic job. I would recommend this series to anyone who likes romantic suspense, friends and family
Complementary copy given for honest review and opinion from Netgalley. Quick, fun and cowboy romance is delivered with this sweet book. Deliverance from speculation brings an end to years of heartache. Two stubborn people come back together after so much is learned. I loved this book and stayed up to finish it.
Not my favorite Texas Cattleman book, but I love the setup for the Rags to Riches series. I liked Cam and Beth, but I didn't love them as much as I should have. Why can't people just talk to each other!?!
Love, disappointment,friendship, loyalty l , intrigue and commitment. This book had it all. Justin really thought he was God's gift to women or he was just that desperate.
This was a decent read. It was light and quick to read. The characters were ok, but miscommunication plot points drive me nuts! Especially when it’s a second chance romance, which is always a toss-up to me. **I voluntarily read and reviewed this book
Camden and Beth's story is one of reunited after 15 years of separation and mistrust on both sides. The truth is restored will they be able to move forward?
Cam left Beth fifteen years ago after she said they needed a break. But he was soon married to another girl Julie. Beth still has the hurts after all those years. When Cam comes back to Royal it is to stay. He has bought a ranch and has made plans to expand and build onto. When he goes to the bank he runs into Beth. They are like to hit fires ready to burn. Every time they get close it is that aT but they finally give into the passion. Can they overcome the hurts of the past to make a life. This is the exciting start of the next chapter in the TCC! Looks to be lots of good to come
A reunion of temptation! With the kick-off to the newest Texas Cattleman's Club spin-off series Rags to Riches Maureen Child brings a reunion of first loves back to Royal, TX in THE PRICE OF PASSION! The characters are intriguing and their attraction is quick to reignite.
Camden Guthrie is easy to like. He took off for California years ago after his first love broke his heart, and now he's returning to start his life anew. He's done well for himself and wants nothing more than to join the prestigious Texas Cattleman's Club in his hometown Royal, TX ... but he's going to need the help of the one person he never thought he'd need again.
Beth Wingate was a little harder to like. She is strong and self-assured, but she seems to like to hold a grudge for things she herself precipitated. She eventually lightens up, but her background story wasn't as complete as I needed it to be to understand her actions back in the day and truly redeem her.
I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a romance filled with powerful players and ritzy settings as they work towards finding their happily ever afters. I'm looking forward to more in the series!
Gracie and Camden broke up over 15 years ago with Camden leaving town and returning to Royal a very rich man two years after his wife has died. Camden and Gracie's first meet up shows their chemistry has not deminished but each has a different perspective as to why they broke up. Gracie makes a lot of assumptions and reacts with an emotional bias about Camden regarding their past and how he and his wife got together while Camden just emotionally shuts down thinking what is the point Gracie does not want the truth so why bother. Gracie really needs to talk to a counsellor or a stranger about her break up with Camden as she is reacting like a hurt teenager instead of an adult which is the emotional level Camden is at. Thank goodness for Aunt Piper with her advice But lots of story threads to continue to read as about in this series
Second Chance Love: Check Enemies to Lovers: Check Rich Cowboy: Check Steamy Love Scene: Check
The Price of Passion has all this and more. This is the first book in Texas Cattleman's Club: Rags to Riches series and let me tell you it does not disappoint.
I enjoyed reading Camden and Beth reconnect after 15 years apart. While I wish the story had been a little longer to be able to see them reconnect a bit more. I am a sucker for a good quick romance. There was a lot of passion between these two and I am glad that after 15 years and a misunderstanding they were able to reconnect.
Thank you to Harlequin and Netgalley for the book in exchange for an honest review. I give the book 3.75 stars but rounded up.