Sandy M’s review of The Cowboy and His Baby (Wyoming Cowboys, Book 2) by Jessica Clare
Contemporary Romance published by Berkley 7 May 19
This is my first book by Jessica Clare. When I didn’t know what to read after I closed my last book, and because I love cowboys, this story seemed like it would hit the spot. I instantly fell in love with Dustin, definitely a cowboy after my own heart. Thus, I just don’t get Annie and her waffling when it comes to this man.
Annie is in Painted Barrel, Wyoming on a movie set. She’s the dog trainer for Spidey, her adopted terrier, for the stunts in the movie. She’s intermittently at odds with the director of the film, so when the crew heads to a local bar to unwind, she decides to go along, something she normally doesn’t do. Annie is much better with dogs than with most people.
He’s a man who doesn’t stay in one place long. Dustin is beginning to get antsy again and his dream of buying a boat and roaming the east coast is appealing more and more as the days go on. That is until he runs into a feisty redhead in a bar one night, all on behalf of a fellow ranch hand. That doesn’t go well, so he heads out just after she runs from his charm most women like. It’s outside the bar they meet up again and seeing the real person in each other, with no pretense or putting on an act.
Dustin is instantly smitten, and he tries his best to get to know Annie. She at first has other ideas, but eventually can’t resist his genuine interest. These two do make a cute couple. They tell themselves anything they decide to go for together will be short and sweet, because the movie will wrap soon and Annie will be heading back to L.A. I like the slow buildup to their one night together. They have fun and enjoy making out to their hearts’ content. But then Annie runs.
And that’s where she begins to get on my nerves a bit. She waits seven months before she is forced back to Wyoming for reshoots and to face Dustin. That decision should have been made as soon as the stick showed pink. She both dreads and is excited about seeing her cowboy again, and he’s thrilled to death she’s back and carrying his child. Dustin is one heck of a guy, taking care of her like any woman would enjoy in her eighth month of pregnancy. But Annie eventually begins to have doubts – she doesn’t want him to give up his dreams for her and the baby. She pushes him to follow those dreams and she’ll be waiting, whatever he decides.
My biggest nitpick is Annie listens to other people instead of her heart. Dustin’s love isn’t enough, so she heads back to L.A. For me, Annie just takes this dream stuff way too far. The only good part of everything she pushes him to do is his reunion with his parents. Those are some of the best scenes in the book, brief as they are. I would have preferred Annie going to Dustin in the end, instead of the other way around. I did enjoy Eli and Cass, the couple from the first book in the series. I will sit down with them as soon as I can.
Grade: B-
Summary:
Dustin is a ranch hand with a reputation around town as a ladies’ man. He loves flirting and the thrill of the chase. When he tilts his cowboy hat just so, no one can resist his charms. It’s all fun and games for Dustin until he meets a woman who sparks real feelings in him, and he’s blindsided by love.
Annie is an animal trainer working on set for a film. Other than her furry, canine coworkers, she hasn’t connected with the rest of the movie’s crew. It’s only when a certain cowboy catches her eye that Wyoming becomes interesting. She intends for their romance to be a fling, but by the time filming wraps up, she’s unexpectedly pregnant.
While Annie is prepared to walk away and raise her baby by herself, Dustin isn’t so ready to say good-bye. He has to prove to Annie that she has a future in Wyoming and capture her heart before it’s too late….
No excerpt available.
Other books in this series:
