Count on a Cowboy, the seventh book in Vicki Lewis Thompson’s Sons of Chance series, witnesses the return of Wyatt Locke. Readers will remember that Ms. Thompson introduced Wyatt at the end of Cowboys Like Us and revealed that Wyatt is Jack Chance’s half-brother from his mother Diana. Diana abandoned Jack as a child so the news that she went on to raise his half-siblings unsettled him, and the meeting between the two brothers did not go particularly well. Despite this, Jack did leave open the idea that Wyatt could return to the Last Chance in the future. But when Wyatt finally does reappear, he finds that Jack is away on ranch business with the other men from the ranch. He also finds Olivia Sedgwick, local hair stylist, getting ready to pamper all the Chance women for a girls’ night. Wyatt and Olivia feel an immediate connection and quickly begin a very steamy affair. Wyatt soon realizes that he’d be happy to relocate if it means being with her. Unfortunately, Olivia has a few hang ups about commitment because of a series of failed engagements, forcing Wyatt to carefully explore his deepening feelings for Olivia. He doesn’t want to scare Olivia off and ruin any chance of future with her. But, all the while, Jack’s return looms over their relationship. If Jack can’t accept Wyatt in his life, moving to Shoshone won’t be possible for Wyatt, no matter how much in wants to be with Olivia.
Wyatt and Olivia have the steamy affair that Ms. Thompson’s readers should expect from her novels, but no romance novel gets to the happily-ever-after without a few obstacles. Obviously, Wyatt’s relationship with Jack presents a major roadblock for him and Olivia, but she brings her own issues to the relationship. I already mentioned that Olivia has had several failed engagements, primarily because her former partners couldn’t accept her eccentric father. Olivia still believes in marriage and wants to spend her life with someone, but she’s not going to let a man push her into a commitment before she’s sure that he will also love and respect her dad. I’ve read romances (including a couple by Ms. Thompson) where one character is vehemently opposed to marriage and the central tension between a couple is their different relationship goals, and I have enjoyed that storyline. But this novel twists that situation around. The immediate result is similar; Wyatt has to be careful not to move too fast and scare Olivia off. I love that Ms. Thompson creates a unique premise for Wyatt and Olivia’s relationship. She’s has a tremendous ability to keep her storylines fresh by offering these nuanced tweaks to familiar romance plots.
Of course, the other central relationship in Count on a Cowboy concerns Wyatt and Jack. Ms. Thompson lets the tension in this novel grow by not having Jack and Wyatt face off until towards the end of the book. Knowing that that confrontation was coming actual made me a little uncomfortable. That may not seem like a compliment, but that’s exactly how I mean it. I felt so invested in Wyatt’s happiness by the time Jack returned that I couldn’t help but feel what I imagined he would be feeling— the anxiety, the nerves, the uncertainty. I appreciate an author that has the ability to make me identify with a character that strongly.
I feel that Jack and Wyatt’s relationship offers a pretty valuable lesson. Quite understandably, neither of them have a particularly positive opinion of their mother. Jack’s jealous and hurt because Diana abandoned him but raised Wyatt and Rafe. Wyatt’s jealous that Jack didn’t have to deal with their mother’s drama and had a loving mother in Sarah. Unfortunately, neither of them can recognize or understand the other one’s position. They both insist on making it a competition over who Diana hurt the most. But their mother hurt both of them deeply, and they could have formed a bond sooner if they had taken the time to see the other one’s perspective. I feel that’s a pretty realistic flaw in many of us. We get so bogged down in our feelings, our opinions, our experiences that we lose sight of other people’s experiences. Too many times our failures to see things from someone else’s perspective keeps us from repairing existing relationships and forming new ones. Ms. Thompson, once again, conveys a useful life lesson through her characters’ actions.
I loved Count on a Cowboy and highly recommend it to other readers. I look forward to reading the next book in this series. I received an ARC from the author, but that did not influence my review.