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The Cowboy Code
Enjoy two classic Lone Star romances from New York Times bestselling author Diana Palmer!
Ethan
Arabella Craig was eighteen when she first fell for Ethan Hardeman…and he turned around and married another woman. Four years later, tragedy brings Ethan, still just as tall and handsome, back into her life. He runs his family’s cattle empire with an iron hand, and keeps just as tight a grip on the reins holding back his heart. But Arabella is determined not to let this Long, Tall Texan escape her again!
Harley
Cool, composed rancher Harley Fowler finds his world turned upside down when a beautiful whirlwind bumps into him. Investigator Alice Jones has come to Jacobsville, Texas, to solve a deadly mystery, and all too soon, Harley finds himself square in the middle of her case. But sparks fly between the cowboy and the beautiful brunette, leading them to wonder which will win out—true love or a dangerous threat?
New York Times Bestselling Author Diana Palmer
2 Heartlfelt Stories Ethan and Harley (Previously published as The Maverick)
Ethan
Arabella Craig was eighteen when she first fell for Ethan Hardeman…and he turned around and married another woman. Four years later, tragedy brings Ethan, still just as tall and handsome, back into her life. He runs his family’s cattle empire with an iron hand, and keeps just as tight a grip on the reins holding back his heart. But Arabella is determined not to let this Long, Tall Texan escape her again!
Harley
Cool, composed rancher Harley Fowler finds his world turned upside down when a beautiful whirlwind bumps into him. Investigator Alice Jones has come to Jacobsville, Texas, to solve a deadly mystery, and all too soon, Harley finds himself square in the middle of her case. But sparks fly between the cowboy and the beautiful brunette, leading them to wonder which will win out—true love or a dangerous threat?
New York Times Bestselling Author Diana Palmer
2 Heartlfelt Stories Ethan and Harley (Previously published as The Maverick)
347 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 26, 2023
219 people are currently reading
46 people want to read
About the author
Diana Palmer
1,041 books3,097 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
Diana Palmer is a pseudonym for author Susan Kyle.
(1)romance author
Susan Eloise Spaeth was born on 11 December 1946 in Cuthbert, Georgia, USA. She was the eldest daughter of Maggie Eloise Cliatt, a nurse and also journalist, and William Olin Spaeth, a college professor. Her mother was part of the women's liberation movement many years before it became fashionable. Her best friends are her mother and her sister, Dannis Spaeth (Cole), who now has two daughters, Amanda Belle Hofstetter and Maggie and lives in Utah. Susan grew up reading Zane Grey and fell in love with cowboys. Susan is a former newspaper reporter, with sixteen years experience on both daily and weekly newspapers. Since 1972, she has been married to James Kyle and have since settled down in Cornelia, Georgia, where she started to write romance novels. Susan and her husband have one son, Blayne Edward, born in 1980.
She began selling romances in 1979 as Diana Palmer. She also used the pseudonyms Diana Blayne and Katy Currie, and her married name: Susan Kyle. Now, she has over 40 million copies of her books in print, which have been translated and published around the world. She is listed in numerous publications, including Contemporary Authors by Gale Research, Inc., Twentieth Century Romance and Historical Writers by St. James Press, The Writers Directory by St. James Press, the International Who's Who of Authors and Writers by Meirose Press, Ltd., and Love's Leading Ladies by Kathryn Falk. Her awards include seven Waldenbooks national sales awards, four B. Dalton national sales awards, two Bookrak national sales awards, a Lifetime Achievement Award for series storytelling from Romantic Times, several Affaire de Coeur awards, and two regional RWA awards.
Inspired by her husband, who quit a blue-collar manufacturing job to return to school and get his diploma in computer programming, Susan herself went back to college as a day student at the age of 45. In 1995, she graduated summa cum laude from Piedmont College, Demorest, GA, with a major in history and a double minor in archaeology and Spanish. She was named to two honor societies (the Torch Club and Alpha Chi), and was named to the National Dean's List. In addition to her writing projects, she is currently working on her master's degree in history at California State University. She hopes to specialize in Native American studies. She is a member of the Native American Rights Fund, the American Museum of Natural History, the National Cattlemen's Association, the Archaeological Institute of Amenca, the Planetary Society, The Georgia Conservancy, the Georgia Sheriff's Association, and numerous conservation and charitable organizations. Her hobbies include gardening, archaeology, anthropology, iguanas, astronomy and music.
In 1998, her husband retired from his own computer business and now pursues skeet shooting medals in local, state, national and international competition. They love riding around and looking at the countryside, watching sci-fi on TV and at the movies, just talking and eating out.
Diana Palmer is a pseudonym for author Susan Kyle.
(1)romance author
Susan Eloise Spaeth was born on 11 December 1946 in Cuthbert, Georgia, USA. She was the eldest daughter of Maggie Eloise Cliatt, a nurse and also journalist, and William Olin Spaeth, a college professor. Her mother was part of the women's liberation movement many years before it became fashionable. Her best friends are her mother and her sister, Dannis Spaeth (Cole), who now has two daughters, Amanda Belle Hofstetter and Maggie and lives in Utah. Susan grew up reading Zane Grey and fell in love with cowboys. Susan is a former newspaper reporter, with sixteen years experience on both daily and weekly newspapers. Since 1972, she has been married to James Kyle and have since settled down in Cornelia, Georgia, where she started to write romance novels. Susan and her husband have one son, Blayne Edward, born in 1980.
She began selling romances in 1979 as Diana Palmer. She also used the pseudonyms Diana Blayne and Katy Currie, and her married name: Susan Kyle. Now, she has over 40 million copies of her books in print, which have been translated and published around the world. She is listed in numerous publications, including Contemporary Authors by Gale Research, Inc., Twentieth Century Romance and Historical Writers by St. James Press, The Writers Directory by St. James Press, the International Who's Who of Authors and Writers by Meirose Press, Ltd., and Love's Leading Ladies by Kathryn Falk. Her awards include seven Waldenbooks national sales awards, four B. Dalton national sales awards, two Bookrak national sales awards, a Lifetime Achievement Award for series storytelling from Romantic Times, several Affaire de Coeur awards, and two regional RWA awards.
Inspired by her husband, who quit a blue-collar manufacturing job to return to school and get his diploma in computer programming, Susan herself went back to college as a day student at the age of 45. In 1995, she graduated summa cum laude from Piedmont College, Demorest, GA, with a major in history and a double minor in archaeology and Spanish. She was named to two honor societies (the Torch Club and Alpha Chi), and was named to the National Dean's List. In addition to her writing projects, she is currently working on her master's degree in history at California State University. She hopes to specialize in Native American studies. She is a member of the Native American Rights Fund, the American Museum of Natural History, the National Cattlemen's Association, the Archaeological Institute of Amenca, the Planetary Society, The Georgia Conservancy, the Georgia Sheriff's Association, and numerous conservation and charitable organizations. Her hobbies include gardening, archaeology, anthropology, iguanas, astronomy and music.
In 1998, her husband retired from his own computer business and now pursues skeet shooting medals in local, state, national and international competition. They love riding around and looking at the countryside, watching sci-fi on TV and at the movies, just talking and eating out.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
March 13, 2025
The Cowboy Code includes two books from Diana Palmer’s Long, Tall Texans series—Ethan (Book #5) and The Maverick (Book #37). While both books share Palmer’s signature Western romance style, my experiences with them were vastly different. However, while both stories revolve around virgins and religious morals, the second book shows some changes in Palmer’s writing over the year from the early 90s to 2009.
I did not enjoy Ethan at all. The heroine, Arabella, is weak-willed, allowing her father to exploit her talent for most of her life. Meanwhile, Ethan, the male lead, is unkind and frustrating. Arabella has loved him most of her life. When she was eighteen, she believed Ethan would be her boyfriend. Instead, he turned around and married someone else. Ethan’s divorce and an automobile accident put Arabella back in his life. Ethan's decision to let his ex-wife stay at his house—knowing she intended to win him back—was the final straw for me.
On the other hand, Hadley, The Maverick, number 37 in the series, was a much better read. It leans more toward romantic suspense rather than pure romance, making for a more engaging story. Both Hadley and Alice are stronger, more developed characters, though secrets unfold throughout the book. The biggest downside? The mystery remains unsolved, leaving justice unserved for the murdered victims. While this storyline might continue in another book, I won’t be following up to find out.
Unfortunately, the audiobook experience didn’t help. Narrator Todd McLaren’s performance was distracting—his attempt at voicing a group of teenagers sounded like a group of old men, and his "female" voices pulled me out of the story too often. I ended up speeding the audio to 2.5x just to get through it. I would have DNF’d the book, but I stuck it out since this was a group read.
Overall, I wouldn’t recommend The Cowboy Code unless someone is looking for a strictly G-rated romance. As for the first part, Ethan, I’d suggest skipping it entirely.
My 3* rating is for Hadley only.
I did not enjoy Ethan at all. The heroine, Arabella, is weak-willed, allowing her father to exploit her talent for most of her life. Meanwhile, Ethan, the male lead, is unkind and frustrating. Arabella has loved him most of her life. When she was eighteen, she believed Ethan would be her boyfriend. Instead, he turned around and married someone else. Ethan’s divorce and an automobile accident put Arabella back in his life. Ethan's decision to let his ex-wife stay at his house—knowing she intended to win him back—was the final straw for me.
On the other hand, Hadley, The Maverick, number 37 in the series, was a much better read. It leans more toward romantic suspense rather than pure romance, making for a more engaging story. Both Hadley and Alice are stronger, more developed characters, though secrets unfold throughout the book. The biggest downside? The mystery remains unsolved, leaving justice unserved for the murdered victims. While this storyline might continue in another book, I won’t be following up to find out.
Unfortunately, the audiobook experience didn’t help. Narrator Todd McLaren’s performance was distracting—his attempt at voicing a group of teenagers sounded like a group of old men, and his "female" voices pulled me out of the story too often. I ended up speeding the audio to 2.5x just to get through it. I would have DNF’d the book, but I stuck it out since this was a group read.
Overall, I wouldn’t recommend The Cowboy Code unless someone is looking for a strictly G-rated romance. As for the first part, Ethan, I’d suggest skipping it entirely.
My 3* rating is for Hadley only.
August 7, 2024
When Arabella was 18 and Ethan was, I don't know, 23?, she was in love with him and I guess he started to feel the same. They were down at the swimming hole and had a hot and heavy make out session. At the same time, people were at the ranch filming a commercial and he started dating one of the actresses from the commercial. He said some pretty mean things to Arabella to get her to leave the ranch. He married the actress/model. Now in the present day he's divorced and the 2 have a forced proximity situation back at his ranch, where Arabella came to recuperate after a car wreck.
I don't really understand why Ethan rejected Arabella. He gave different reasons as the book went on. It was only physical, he didn't care about her. He cared, but she was too young (18). She wasn't too young but her father warned him off marrying her. (I don't see when he could have even talked to her father before he decided to date the other woman, so I think he lied about that? I don't know.)
In the present day, the angst was similar to DP's book Wyoming Tough, the H has another woman talking bad about the h, and he trusts the OW more. I don't like that at all.
Ethan also kisses the other woman "goodbye," which he thinks h should be ok with if h only understood they were only kissing on the lips as "friends." Um... Still not ok dude. Ethan's such a loser, he convinced me over the course of this book that he and Arabella shouldn't be together.
What I liked: angst, Ethan's mom. Arabella was actually cognizant of the fact that Ethan was not someone she should marry, and I had high hopes for our heroine, but he convinced her to marry him at the very end. My heart is crushed. Poor Arabella.
But I still enjoyed it. I read DP for the guilty pleasure of all the angst and drama.
(Also sold on Kindle as "Ethan.")
I don't really understand why Ethan rejected Arabella. He gave different reasons as the book went on. It was only physical, he didn't care about her. He cared, but she was too young (18). She wasn't too young but her father warned him off marrying her. (I don't see when he could have even talked to her father before he decided to date the other woman, so I think he lied about that? I don't know.)
In the present day, the angst was similar to DP's book Wyoming Tough, the H has another woman talking bad about the h, and he trusts the OW more. I don't like that at all.
Ethan also kisses the other woman "goodbye," which he thinks h should be ok with if h only understood they were only kissing on the lips as "friends." Um... Still not ok dude. Ethan's such a loser, he convinced me over the course of this book that he and Arabella shouldn't be together.
What I liked: angst, Ethan's mom. Arabella was actually cognizant of the fact that Ethan was not someone she should marry, and I had high hopes for our heroine, but he convinced her to marry him at the very end. My heart is crushed. Poor Arabella.
But I still enjoyed it. I read DP for the guilty pleasure of all the angst and drama.
(Also sold on Kindle as "Ethan.")
July 27, 2024
Good story. Only read the first one. A little choppy. After reading several of DP's westerns they come with similar tropes. They are good tropes, simplistic in their design with some good 'ol fashioned angst, but they get kind of old. The outbursts that cause the turmoil seem rather contrived. After indulging in authors like Mary Balogh, Sherry Thomas or Scarlett Scott, with their exquisite abilities to convey an emotion, and then returning to an author like DP, it just leaves something to be desired. Yet, in the mood, these stories can be simply satisfying. Ethan's story had some depth to it, but aggravating because of his inability to simply say, "I love you."
April 13, 2024
Genuinely disgusting, grossly predatory, and feels borderline illegal. My mouth was permanently open the whole book because I could not believe this was actually written and sold. This is NOT a book if you’re looking for a romance or cowboys, however if you like reading low effort fanfiction with no real character development and strange porn dialogue, this is definitely the book for you. Bought this book at walmart as a joke but it belongs in the trash. It was so bad it made me laugh until I cried, so maybe there’s something of value there.
August 31, 2024
Totally amazing stories.
September 21, 2024
A dnf. Yuck.
March 30, 2025
The book Harley had me laughing so hard! Very good! Also enjoyed Ethan.
May 19, 2025
Great stoy
Very interesting & enjoyable story line.
I enjoy reading Diana Palmer's books. Very easy to follow story & enjoyable reading.
Very interesting & enjoyable story line.
I enjoy reading Diana Palmer's books. Very easy to follow story & enjoyable reading.
June 11, 2025
Two stories in one book. Quick read. really into it
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews