Sandy M’s review of Long Hard Ride (Rough Riders, Book 1) by Lorelei James
Contemporary erotic romance eBook released by Samhain 1 May 07, paperback release 1 Feb 08

It’s so nice to finally find an eBook that I enjoyed so much I finished in fairly short order.  I’ve had a string of disappointments in eBooks lately, but Lorelei James’ Long Hard Ride has hopefully brought my disappointment to an end.  She has strong characters with a sense of humor and who know how to play, and, boy howdy, do the characters in this book play! 

Channing Kinkaid has finally wised up and decided to live the life she wants, not the one her parents want for her.  Walking out on everything she’s ever known, she runs away with the rodeo.  Things don’t go all that well for her at first.  She gets tangled up with the wrong guy.  Jared is someone who doesn’t take to crowds, is a little too possessive, and doesn’t know how to have fun.  And fun is something Channing is definitely looking for at this point in her new life.

The deal breaker for her is when she finds out Jared is married, so his sorry ass is now on its way to Australia and his wife and Channing is hooking up with the bad boys of the rodeo circuit, sexy Colby McKay and equally sexy Trevor Glazner.  She’s had her eye on Colby for a bit now and she’s not about to let the opportunity pass to spend some quality time with him, whether in his bed or out.

Colby is finding life on the rodeo circuit is not as exciting as it used to be and having a different woman in his bed in each new town is suddenly just as lackluster for him.  Lately he’s been thinking more and more about Channing, what it would be like loving her every night of the week.  When he finds out she’s split from Jared, Colby makes tracks straight for her.  He offers her exactly what she wants to hear — a week on the road with him to Cheyenne, the last rodeo of the season.  Of course, there are a few conditions they each want.  As long as Colby doesn’t have a wife or girlfriend hiding in the wings, Channing is ready for the trip.

Colby, however, gives her something to think about.  She’d already figured she’d end up in Colby’s bed, but when he tells her he shares everything with Trevor and their third traveling companion, Edgard — especially their women — a whole new world opens up for Channing.  Agreeing to Colby’s condition that she submit to anything the three men ask of her, she heads off toward the horizon for a week of raunchy, down-and-dirty sex and the ride of a lifetime.  If only her parents could see her now.

In all her life Channing has never experienced the sensations Colby and Trevor make course through her when they’re loving her.  She just wishes Edgard would loosen up and join in. So far he’s refused to participate in their free-for-alls.  Assuming Ed just doesn’t like her, Channing gives her everything to the other two men who are hard as rocks and can rev her engine with hardly any effort at all.

As the week rolls on and she makes friends with family members of the other cowboys, Channing suddenly finds herself wanting only Colby to love her, even as much as she’s enjoyed their threesomes.  But she knows what the rules are.  This freedom and this man that have finally come into her life will only last as far as Cheyenne and then they’ll go their separate ways.  Colby will go home to his family’s ranch and Channing will end up teaching on the East Coast, just like her parents have always planned.

He’s never once been jealous when Trevor has shared women with him, but suddenly Colby can’t stand the thought of Trevor’s hands on Channing, the thought of another man, even his friend, making love to her.  He has no idea what to do with these feelings that have crept up on him, and the only thing he knows is he’s not sure if he can walk away from her when the time comes.  But when Colby is seriously injured during the Cheyenne rodeo, his family swoops in and circles the wagons around him, leaving Channing on the outside with a broken heart.

It was rather difficult for me to write this review because so much happens in this book!  This is a book full of good old boy charm from marble-sculpted cowboys that would make any woman whimper if one just winked at her.  It’s full of friendship, kinship, and family, all from sources you’d never expect.  It’s full of fun and humor, roarin’ good times at the rodeo, and it’s definitely full of lip-smackin’, toe curlin’, sweaty, everything-goes sex.

As much as I liked those ménage scenes with Colby, Channing, and Trevor, I loved the sweet and tender scenes that came with just Colby and Channing, especially the closer they got to realizing they’re falling in love, and their underlying vulnerability when each is not sure what to do when their time is up makes those love scenes that much more poignant.  These are two strong characters who know what they want, they go after it, they enjoy it, and when it comes down to the hard decisions to continue on with their lives, they don’t even think about giving up. Lorelei James has done herself proud with this book.

Grade: B+

Read reviews and info of the books in this series by following its tag.

Summary:

One lucky woman…three sexy cowboys…she’s in for the ride of her life!

Channing Kinkaid itches for a change; a wild western adventure with an untamed man. Determined to shed her inhibitions and embrace the steamier, seamier side of life, she sets her sights on hooking up with a real chaps-and-spurs-wearing cowboy.

Enter Colby McKay-bull rider, saddle bronc buster and calf roper. From the moment he sets lust-filled eyes on the sweet and fiery Channing, he knows he’s found the woman who’s up to the challenge of cutting loose. What rough and rowdy cowboy could resist a no-holds-barred sexual romp with a sassy young thing starring as his personal buckle bunny?

Intrigued by Channing’s bold proposition of horsing around on the road, Colby impulsively sweetens the deal; sexual escapades not only in his bed, but in the bedrolls of his rodeo traveling partners, Trevor and Edgard.

Although Channing’s secretly longed to be the sole focus of more than one man’s passions, Colby’s demand for complete submission behind closed doors will test her willful nature.

Can Channing give up total control? Especially when not all is as it seems with the sexy trio? Or will the cowboys have to break out the bullropes and piggin’ string to break in this headstrong filly?

Warning: This title contains the following: lots of explicit sex, going strong long after the cows come home, graphic language that’d make your mama blush, light bondage with bullropes, ménage a trois, and – yee-haw! – hot nekkid cowboy man-love.

Read an excerpt.

Other books in the series (paperback releases referenced where available):