Clay

Armed and Dangerous #3

by Cheyenne McCray

**Author note below
Rancher Rylie Thorn loves everything about men, but she’s positively phobic about commitment. After growing up in a broken family and witnessing too many failed marriages, Rylie knows “forever” is just not in the cards for her.

Sheriff Clay Wayland has been called in to investigate a rash of crimes in the southeastern corner of Cochise County. But one night when he goes into the field to do some observation, he comes across a sensual woman who’s doing some investigating of her own. Rylie immediately sets his blood on fire and he knows he has to have her. And it isn’t long before Clay begins the job of taming this wildcat and making her his . . . for keeps.

**Please note: “Clay” was published in print only with St. Martin’s Griffin. “Clay” was originally published in eBook and print with Ellora’s Cave under the title “Wildcat”. Character names were changed at St. Martin's request, and the “Armed and Dangerous” versions were expanded considerably from the original "Wild" series.

Genres: Romance, Romantic Suspense, Contemporary, Erotica, Contemporary Romance, Westerns, Erotic Romance

209 pages, Trade Paperback

First published August 14, 2015

About the author

Cheyenne McCray fell in love with reading and writing early, deciding in kindergarten that one day she would become an author. Today, she is an award-winning New York Times and USA Today bestselling fiction author who’s sold millions of books worldwide. Having published more than 100 novels and novellas in contemporary and paranormal romance, urban fantasy and romantic suspense, she is now also writing cozy mysteries as Deb Ries.

Chey grew up on a ranch in southeastern Arizona and delights in creating stories of suspense, love, and redemption with characters and worlds her readers can get lost in. Chey and her equally geeky husband live with their two dogs, six ducks (the neighborhood celebrities), and a small flock of chickens in a small Arizona town where she enjoys gardening, crazy quilting and, of course, writing.

Find out more about Chey, how to contact her, and her books at https://cheyennemccray.com.

Reviews

[Auntee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute, quick read, featuring a feisty blonde rancher heroine (Rylie Thorn, 28) not afraid to speak her mind (or go without underwear!), who likes sex (but no commitments, please) and a hunky, mustachioed sheriff (Clay Wayland, 30-something) out to tame his little "wildcat" (the original name of this previously published book--Wildcat). There's a little mystery plot of who is stealing trucks from all the neighboring ranches in SE Cochise County, Arizona, that Clay is investigating, and that is how he first meets our heroine (whose ranch trucks have been stolen).

This one is hot, as expected. Clay is to-die-for. Clay and Rylie are a good match, and the author provides plenty of snappy, witty dialogue for them. Rylie is a little reckless and impulsive (with an exhibitionist side) and is determined not to feel anything for Clay besides lust. After witnessing too many failed marriages (including her parents) Rylie doesn't believe in 'forever'. So it's up to Clay to change her mind, and he has a very convincing way of doing it. And doing it...

Rylie does have a TSTL moment at the end of the book (but man can she wield a knife! Ouch...) but it wasn't enough to ruin the book for me. If you like them short, hot, and uncomplicated, this is the book for you. 4 stars

*This book (and others in the series) was previously published by Ellora's Cave as Wildcat. The story is the same (but expanded) and the character's names have been changed.

[Victoria · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25-3.5 RATING- A quick, okay read. Spicier than expected from this author but this is the first in this series I've read.

[Em · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was ridiculous. The plot, the characters, the smut scenes. All of it made me cringe and it was hard to finish. Definitely not what I was expecting.

[jenjn79 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fairly average book. I didn't enjoy it as much as the last one in the series, but it didn't suck either.

Series Note:
Fourth book in the "Armed and Dangerous" series that takes place in Arizona and generally involves illegal immigration law enforcement.

Summary:
Rancher Rylie Thorn is sick of the vehicle thefts going on in the area. A bunch of her ranch trucks were just stolen and she's not about to take it lying down so she goes to confront local sheriff Clay Wayland to ask him what he plans to do about it. But from the moment she sees Clay, she's struck dumb by her attraction to him. And the feeling is mutual for Clay.

Rylie is all for a hot affair with Clay, but she doesn't believe in love and commitment. She's seen too many relationships to go sour to believe they last. Clay, on the other hand, is determined that Rylie will be his. He'll have a lot of convincing to do to win her over. To make things more complicated, he has a truck thief to catch, that might lead him straight to Rylie's brother.

Review:
This has been a pretty average series for me and this book followed the same way. I liked the book, but it didn't standout in any way. It had good point and bad points and basically it was a book I didn't mind reading but could have liked more.

I liked the characters mostly. Clay was a good character and I enjoyed reading about him. Rylie sometimes got on my nerves but overall she was okay. The two had good chemistry and there were definitely some hot sex scenes.

There are also some nice tie-ins to books 1 & 2 in the series. It was nice to get mentions/appearances by the characters from those books. I always enjoy getting to play catch-up with them.

I did think the storyline was rather predictable. I saw exactly the way the story was going on several levels from pretty close to the beginning. I guessed the bad guys early on and figured out how that was going to go. And I also guessed what the romantic conflict was going to be with little trouble. It kinda takes some of the intrigue out of a book when you can guess how everything is going to go from early on.

Another thing I didn't quite like was how Rylie's brother was used int he story. I would have much rather him had a book of his own. His off-the-page romance with a woman sounded like it would have been interesting to read and I'm disappointed it was just a sidenote.

Not a bad book, though, just didn't quite hook me. I'll still continue reading the series.

WARNING, this book contains: explicit sex and language, oral sex, some bondage, spanking, handcuffs, semi-public sex, and peeping

[Lise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clay is one of the titles in McCray's Armed & Dangerous series. As always, I hate finding a great book that is in the middle (call me obsessive, I love to start at the beginning). But Clay is totally great as a stand-alone title with visits with prior titles' characters woven in beautifully. I like feisty, kick-ass (in this case, literally) heroines. I love tall, dark, handsome, macho heroes. So I loved Clay. (The book and the guy.). There was a nice element of surprise after some suspicious clues, and there was a terrific aura of fear that snaked through the book, building up tension as the story progressed. There is also an interesting character I am hoping is explained in later stories, because I'm not sure of my verdict on this character. I think McCray has a surprise in store for me!

The only issue I had with this book, and it is not an issue with the writer, but this book is on the very shortest spectrum of novels; shorter even than most category novels. It made it a bit of a self-argument paying the full trade paperback price of $15 for such a short book. I expect I'll buy further titles in the Armed & Dangerous series as e-books, but only if the prices are significantly lower. I'm not someone who pays much attention to a dollar here or there (what bibliomaniac does?) but it is a factor when the book in question is really a very long novella.

[Kerry sullivan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was reviewed for Musings of a bookworm


I love these book and I have to say I hope there will be a few more yet. These are hot to trot with a really good story to keep you interested. We also get to see a little more of some of the other characters we met in the books 1-2 The little town that these people live in has to be the centre of crime with all the cattle and truck rustling that been going on but I say keep it up bad guys if it means we can have more hot stories about the fantastic alpha males of Cochise County!!

[Deb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book 3 in series. This is Clay Wayland and Rylie Thorns story. Clay is the fairly new sheriff in Douglas AZ. He has solved the cattle rustler case and managed to close down a drug smuggling ring trying to take over the current drug lord. Now he has a truck robbery problem. Someone is stealing trucks off of all the ranches. When they hit Rylie's ranch she is furious and goes to Guerrona (drug lord) and accuses him of being is involved. He acts like he knows nothing and Rylie madder still. She goes to Clay yelling at him for taking so long to solve it. Clay can't believer his eyes when he meets Rylie, thinking she's quite the wildcat. He knows from that moment on that he has to make her his. Rylie and her brother Levi grew up in a loveless family. Both mom and dad weren't loving to them or each other. So they grew up to not believe in being in love. Its just sex. Rylie is fascinated with Clay but refuses any commitment. This is their story how Clay with Rylie's help solve the truck stealing case and Clay gets Rylie to realize she is really in love with him.

[Danielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick read which was a nice change of pace after reading a few of Karen Rose’s 600-700 page novels. This is the first I have read of this author but I like Susan Stoker and she seemed similar. I give the steamy side of this book a 5 but the suspense/mystery part a 2. Pretty predictable and very small portion of the book was dedicated to the main plot. Most was just their sex and love story. Don’t get me wrong, it was hot and entertaining but no nail biting suspense if that is what you’re looking for. Overall, nice way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clay Wayland is sheriff of Cochise County, Arizona and Rylie Thorn is part owner of the Thorn Ranch with her brother Levi. The first time glances locked between Clay and Rylie caught both by surprise. Sex was hot between them and he told her she belonged to him. Rylie’s mother had left the family and her father had been married to his sixth wife when he died. Growing up, she and Levi had taken care of themselves. Seeing the bad marriages she had grown up around, Rylie wants no part of marriage.

[Connie]

I read the first three way back when. Clay was not out yet. Finally got back into reading it and what a ride! Clay is one hot man, much less a sheriff. He was attracted to Riley from the first time he heard her and then came around the door and laid eyes on her he was a goner. He read her so well, melted down all her walls. They are one hot couple. Very good read.

[Foggygirl · Rating 2 out of 5]

an ok read but nothing really special.

[Danielle Nicholson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely fell in love. Looking forward to getting the rest of this series!

[Connie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every woman wants a Clay.

[Glenda Bettin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book

[wendy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome read

Quick pace, great storyline. All around great book with well developed characters. This series has been great so far. Can’t wait to read Kade’s story next.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

More of The Same

This story line was the same as the first two books in the series. Love the characters in the series but the story lines are getting repetitive

[Carol Bowser · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great story in this series.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoying this series.

I’m really enjoying this series. There are some questions unanswered, which is a little annoying. Overall a very enjoyable read.

[Mollie *scoutrmom* · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an enjoyable story with well-written, frequent sex scenes and a great suspense plot that did not have much else going for it.

The hero and heroine seem to have fallen in love with each other based on great sex and little else. McCray does not give us much dialogue between them that is not of the "do me right now" variety. We are given a lot of physical description and little introspection. Too bad, in the hands of Lora Leigh or Sarah McCarty these characters' potential might have been better fulfilled.

For instance, we are told but not shown the reasons why the heroine and her brother are commitment-shy. I understand why falling in love scares her as much as it thrills her, but we are not shown the thinking that makes it possible for her to reverse herself and commit to the hero.

The character of the hero is a little too perfect to believe. He is very shallowly drawn, the only introspection of his we are shown is his thinking on how the relationship would be affected when her brother is a suspect in a crime.

There is little in the way of subplot, I wish the heroine's brother's story had been expanded upon.

I enjoyed the book in spite of that. Go figure.

[Kerry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clay had me tied up so fast my head was spinning! Okay not quite the way you are thinking...I couldn't put this book down! OMG..That scene where Clay is investigating and comes up on Rylie also investigating...that was so hot! But, alas I don't do spoilers, so you are just going to have to read it for yourself.

I adore these two characters, You can "feel" the heat coming off these two when reading this book. Clay is the ultimate alpha dude~ he is sexy, dominant, and knows how to handle his gun. Rylie is a "tell it like it is" kind of gal, with a fiery stubborn attitude. Trucks are being stolen from ranches all over the county, and when they are taken from Kylie's ranch she decides not to sit around and wait to see what happens, she marches right over to the Sheriff's office and demands that Sheriff Clay Wayland do something about it. Clay falls hard and fast for the feisty rancher, but Rylie wants nothing to do with a commitment of any kind...oh, she will play, but not for keeps...and Clay is only playing for keeps!

This story has action, mystery, and a fantastically sexy game of cat & mouse between Clay & Rylie !

[Mags · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great read in this series, this one is probably the hottest of the series and features Sheriff Clay Wayland and Rancher Rylie Thorn. Who meet when Rylie having had several ranch vehicles stolen, arrives at the sheriff's station to report them stolen, and encounters new sheriff Clay. After giving him a piece of her mind, Rylie storms from the police station to confront the one person she believes responsible for the thefts, with Clay hot on her heels and worried for her safety.Then hours later Clay arrives at the Thorn Ranch and catches Rylie in a compromising position and from that moment they are drawn to each other, although Rylie is determined to have her fill and move on, where as Clay is determined to make her his permanently.

Overall this story is a great read, although it is a lot less suspenseful than the previous stories, but more than makes up for it with the combustible sparks between Rylie and Clay and is definitely worth reading especially if you are a fan of the series and authors other works.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was much better than the previous one (Kade). Clay was such a sexy hero: a tough, smart, loyal and fun-loving sheriff who knows what he wants and goes after it. What more could you want? Rylie was a little harder to like. Sometimes it's hard to buy into the spunky, spitfire, attitude the size of Texas heroines some authors write about. Rylie was an interesting mix of tough but vulnerable, but I didn't LOVE her as a match for Clay. The suspense was done well, and I like that Rylie didn't let what happened at the end turn into the dreaded big misunderstanding. She realized why Clay did what he did and didn't hold it against him. I love a hero who knows his lady's faults and doesn't let her get away with them. He knew Rylie had commitment issues but he barged right into her heart anyway and declared himself here to stay. A very solid, sexy read.

[Carole-Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although McCray mentions in an Author's Note that this is the most erotic of the Armed & Dangerous series, it wasn't too 'off the wall'. Both Clay and Rylie are boisterous , and handcuffs play a 'bit' part, but if you've read the previous Kade, Luke and Zack stories, then the love-making won't bother you (well, not much) :D

I've always enjoyed McCray's H/h couples and their developing relationships; so this is in fact a quite easy read. And it has possibilities for Levi (Rylie's brother) as being the next in the series.

[Angel · Rating 5 out of 5]

(Actually book 3) Rylie Thorn is a determined little rancher with her brother and does have a healthy love of men and all they are good for, but a commitment of any kind from a man is not what she's looking for in the least...Clay Wayland has been knocked over by a few women in his day, but the day that the wildcat Rylie comes stomping into his sheriff's office demanding that something be done about all the truck thefts, he knows that he wants and needs to tame her....Talk about a roller coaster this one definitely took me for a ride, the sheriff whoa..is anybody else hot...onto the next

[Jessica Alcazar · Rating 5 out of 5]

awesome...awesome...awesome.
I can't say enough. very funny and very sensual. The couple was very well matched and the romance was ON FIRE. I enjoyed the humor that went along with the sensuality....perfect, easy read! highly recommend this series (this version of the series since I have not read the 'Wild" version....

A word of advise to anyone just starting this series, Clay, Zack and Luke's stories are connected by friends, but Kade's can be read on it's own...

[Laura Pinciotto Bury · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just finished reading this book. I've read the original one from Eloise caves. What a difference more detail more content much more overall. Loved the way she expanded the book.

Did not figure out who the bad buys were till the end of story. I like when that happens keeps me interested and trying to figure out who's the good guys and bad guys. The chemistry between the two main characters were unbelievable. Clay and Rylie hit it off almost from the start. It just got better from there on.

[Lori Meehan · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75*
This is a fast erotic suspenseful romance. One of the things I liked best was that it was the heroine this time with the torched past and the hero who knew they were meant to be together. Rylie Thorn knew that love only meant heartbreak after living through her parents horrible marriage. Sheriff Clay Wayland knew the moment he seen Rylie she was the woman meant for him, know he only had to convince her. But all could go up in smoke if he has to arrest her brother Levi.

[Sassy Angel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. This was a great book. I couldn't put it down. I really enjoy reading anything by this author. I really like this series and can't wait to finish it.

Rylie is a ranchers who has some of her trucks stolen so she confronts the sheriff, Clay about it. Rylie and Clay get off to a bad start but a chance encounter changes Clay's mind. Rylie doesn't believe in love or relationships. Can Clay convince her that they can work or will something get in their way to happiness?

[Kim O · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this while I was at the beach last week and I agree with the author, it was the hottest of the series so far. My only complaint is the books are so short, but she always does a nice job of bringing the story together and I never know who "did it" until the end. There are enough characters, I hope she continues the series.

[Season · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love this series. I still think Zach was the best in the series, but really liked where this one went. I actually wish there was more, because I so want more of this!!

I had to reread this one because I think I read it too fast the first time. Still loving this series, but not the best one in the series, at least to me.