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Sandy M’s review of Gone Country (Rough Riders, Book 14) by Lorelei James
Contemporary Western Erotic Romance ebook published by Samhain 11 Dec 12

Fans of this series have waited for Gavin’s story. He’s the surprise Lorelei James threw into our reading a couple of books ago. The McKay child given up for adoption years ago turns up out of left field, and we couldn’t get enough of him. So many questions we wanted answered. We got a few of those answers, but that only posed more and more questions. Would we ever be satisfied discovering anything and everything about this newest McKay?

Well, one thing’s for sure – there’s a lot more to Gavin Daniels than we ever imagined. And Ms. James answers every one of those questions in Gone Country. Well, at least without giving away any future storylines!

The main reasons I keep coming back to read Lorelei James are her smokin’ hot, larger-than-life, sexier-than-anything heroes, the heroines who pull those heroes into line, the erotic lovin’ between said characters, and the sense of family in every book. It’s a rare author who can combine those, plus other, elements into a scintillating, edgy, romantic, and real read.

Gavin pulls up stakes when his daughter Sierra gets into a bit of legal trouble. He’s got a passel of family neither one of them knows, so looks like it’s about time all the way around to find out more about this ranching brood, especially his mother and father. So with angry daughter in tow, he heads to the house he bought two years ago from Rielle when she needed a little financial help. What he doesn’t expect is the new sassy and beautiful woman he’s going to share a house with for the time being. Making his business his number one priority after his marriage was over maybe wasn’t the smartest thing, Gavin’s a bit out of practice when it comes to the opposite sex.

Trying to keep her emotions and second thoughts in check when giving up her space in her home, Rielle takes another look at Gavin and thinks this situation just might work after all. Especially when the flirting can easily turn into something much more fun. There will be a period of readjustment for them all, and if they respect the boundaries set up, smooth sailing might be the order of the day. Of course, with a teenager in the house, a hot tycoon in a business suit, and her own daughter making a few waves here and there, Rielle isn’t sure she’ll survive. Until things begin to really heat up with the hot tycoon, that is.

I enjoy Gavin and Rielle together. They both have issues to get through, having been alone with their daughters for a while now. Rielle does the work of ten people. She’s used to making it on her own, so she finds it difficult when Gavin wants to help too much. She’s almost too independent for her own good. Her daughter, Rory, has a hard time when she realizes her mom and Gavin have something more going on than just being roommates. And Sierra is having a time of it fitting in at her new school, making friends, the usual teenage angst. Then there’s Gavin’s McKay family. I love the dynamic between them and it changes with each interaction over time. He has so much to discover about his family and there’s some resentment and hurt to overcome when it comes to his parents. Some of the best scenes in the book are between Gavin and Vi, whether she’s optimistically giving advice or finally giving him motherly what-for. I had such fun with the brotherly conversation between Gavin and Ben, but Gavin definitely learns a thing or two from his more experienced brother.

Of course, it’s a zoo when the entire McKay family is gathered in one place, as Gavin discovers when he hosts a get-together for them. They can be overwhelming, but it’s not a complete book if they aren’t included. The fact they would drop everything and be on his doorstep if he asked, no matter the time of day or what any of them was doing at the time, is what’s so great about these people. They take care of their own, the law of the west ingrained in their blood to this day.

Then we get to Sierra and Boone West. A romance in the making, and when we find out how Boone feels about Sierra, the same time she does, what a wonderful but heartbreaking scene. Fans are going to clamor for this relationship to be featured in a future book, I know that for a fact. And I’m curious, now that these two have dug around and figured out why there’s bad blood between the McKays and the Wests, will that ease the tension and draw the family – the entire family – together? Another very interesting dynamic.

Gavin and Rielle’s smooth sailing is knocked off course late in the book, and I have to say I was a little worried for a bit. I mean, I knew Gavin wouldn’t cave to the demands made on him, but then you never know when it comes to your only child. But when it also comes to the love of your life you never expected? He has some difficult decisions to make, and thankfully cooler heads prevail for compromise for all involved. Which makes me very glad, because both of these characters deserve some love and happiness. In boatloads.

So now here I sit, waiting for the next book. You’d think I would have learned over all this time to slow down and savor these stories at much more leisurely pace. It’s just not possible when it comes to these McKay cowboys – and one hot tycoon. And anticipation is half the fun.

SandyMGrade: A+

Summary:

She’s a little bit country, and he’s…not.

Arizona businessman and long-lost McKay love child Gavin Daniels has been awarded sole custody of his teenage daughter Sierra for one year. In order to steer Sierra back on track after a brush with the law, he pulls up stakes and heads to Wyoming, looking for support from his ranching family…even if he isn’t sure where they fit in the McKay dynamic. He’s prepared for every contingency with the move: the less-than-enthusiastic response from his daughter, learning to run his corporation remotely, but he’s thrown for a loop when his new housemate, Rielle, is a whole lot sexier, funnier and sassier than he remembered.

Rielle Wetzler has finally overcome the stigma of having hippie parents and being a young single mother. In the two years since she sold her ailing B&B to Gavin Daniels, she’s become financially stable running the homespun businesses she loves. But now Gavin is in Sundance to claim the house that’s rightfully his. Although Rielle knew this day would come, she isn’t prepared to leave the home she built for herself and her now-grown daughter. And to further complicate matters, her long-dormant libido is definitely not ready to live with this newly buff Gavin—who isn’t a cowboy, but has the take-charge attitude to prove he’s all McKay.

Sharing a roof, their troubles and their triumphs is too much temptation, and before long, Gavin and Rielle are sharing a bed. But sharing their hearts and lives forever? That’s a whole ’nother ball of wax.

Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series:

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