Not one of my favorite Lorelei James books, but a pretty good start to a new series about cowboys. I think my problem with this one was that I didn't really fall in love with any of the characters, and at times the background info (about rodeos) surrounding the plot got a bit...boring. I'm sure that anyone interested in all the behind the scenes info about rodeos would love this book, it just isn't a subject that I'm too interested in. I realize that LJ had to fill the reader in on what competing in rodeos is all about, so that we could appreciate what the characters have to go through, but I just think she went a bit too far with giving us too much info. But maybe that's just me.
Anyway, the plot: Lainie Capshaw, mid-twenties, petite, curvy, long curly-haired daughter of a legendary bull rider who died tragically in the ring, works the rodeo circuit as a sports med tech. That means that Lainie, who's an LPN and an EMT, takes care of bandaging/fixing up cowboys who are injured while competing. She meets tall, dark, and studly bull fighter Hank Lawson, and after rebuffing his advances a couple of times (doesn't want to mix business with pleasure) she finally succumbs to his persuasive charms. They've been dating for a few months, and although Hank's an excellent lover, he's not very inventive or spontaneous. When Lainie meets a flirty blond Viking-esque bull rider from a different rodeo organization named Kyle Gilchrist, who is everything Hank is not, she can't help but be smitten by him. What Kyle lacks in height and bulk, he makes up for in spontaneity--their first time is a passionate quickie in a restaurant bathroom. So now Lainie is 'seeing' two men--she wonders, does that make her a slut? But since her guys compete on different rodeo circuits, chances are that neither will find out about the other, right?
Wrong. Not only do they find out about the other, but coincidentally, they know each other, and they're friends, having gone to the same school growing up.. Uh-oh. Now what should Lainie do? Neither one wants to give up Lainie, and Lainie refuses to choose between them (she'd rather not see either if she must choose) so they come up with an idea. Would Lainie like to share them? Or should I say, would Laine let them share her? And secretly they hope, may the best man win. Since Lainie has some vacation time coming, she agrees to travel around the rodeo circuit with them for a couple of weeks from venue to venue while they compete in something called "Cowboy Christmas" as a way for Kyle to improve his ranking in the bull riding division. So can they do this? Can the men 'share' Lainie without becoming jealous, suspicious, and competitive? And can Lainie do this without getting her heart involved? At the end of "Cowboy Christmas" will she lose her heart to one of her men, or will they all just walk away after the good times are over?
Okaaay...I'll admit at the beginning I wasn't too fond of Lainie and her two-timing ways. Yeah, yeah, she made a point to say how neither of her men said the relationship was 'exclusive', but still...and when confronted by her guys, her first instinct was to run away. She must have been 'something' sexually, because neither guy seemed to want to give her up, even though they hardly knew a thing about her. It wasn't until they all went on the road together in their little travel trailer that they learned anything about Lainie (besides what she liked to do in bed) and then she learned stuff about Hank and Kyle. And after spending weeks on the road with her guys, she realizes that there's only one guy for her after she sees all the sides of him.
So how did this ménage relationship work? Not exactly how I expected. Kyle and Hank spent the majority of their time with Lainie in one-on-one situations, which helped fuel a lot of jealousy and competition between them. If Hank spent the night with Lainie, then Lainie (and Kyle) felt that she should give Kyle equal time. And then Kyle would do his best to out-do Hank, and Hank would be jealous, wondering if Lainie preferred Kyle to him. This got to be exhausting, watching these two compete over Lainie! Finally Lainie had to tell them that she wanted them both--together--and that's when the competing and the jealousies were put to rest, and then they concentrated on blowing Lainie's mind--together. And I must say, in typical LJ fashion, the sex scenes were raunchy and hot. These three did just about everything you could think of--even one time incorporating a saddle, a sawhorse, and some rope...yowza!
LJ introduces a lot of characters in this one, so have your pencil and paper handy, because I'm sure these people are going to pop up again, especially Hank's brother Abe and his younger sister Celia. She also did such a thorough job explaining just about every aspect of what goes on in a rodeo (god, I learned a lot!)and setting up the series that I'm thinking in the follow-up books she won't have to go into as much detail and she can spend a little more time on the characters.
If you're a fan of LJ's Rough Riders series, you'll probably want to check this out. It's very similar in tone, and while maybe she's won't feature characters all from the same family (like the McKays), they will be characters who pop up from time to time in each book. There's p-l-e-n-t-y of sexcapades in this book, a couple of sweet heroes who like to get 'nekkid' all the time, and who like to order Lainie to 'get nekkid', and a heroine who finally decides to grow up and take control of her life. Add a sweet HEA and you've got a pretty decent read and a promising beginning to a new series. 4 stars.
Warning: This book contains explicit sex (including oral and anal); raunchy language; some light bondage and use of an unusual item as a sex toy; and a m/f/m ménage. Not for the faint of heart!