Sandy M’s review of Tied Up, Tied Down (Rough Riders, Book 4) by Lorelei James
Contemporary Western Erotic Romance eBook released by Samhain 8 Jul 08

I know I received some flack – hell, it was a lot of flack! — on my review of Ms. James’ previous book in this series, Cowgirl Up and Ride, because I dared to look past the gritty, ugly, but important, parts of the book to get to the overall picture she paints for the McKay family in that story.  It was all necessary and very well done, as far as I’m concerned, and in this book she’s once again given Rough Rider fans a story to dig their teeth into and sigh, but this time it’s done with some lightheartedness and fun and only a tad of angst and hardship.

We met Skylar in the previous book when she thought she had a date with Kane McKay but ended up in bed with his twin brother Kade.  Kade is the charmer of the two, at least at that point in time.  Kane was still into drink, women, and song, so it’s a actually a good thing Sky doesn’t know she’s been duped, although she doesn’t feel that way when she finds out what Kade’s done.  She slashes him to bits and out of her life, so Kane heads out to the furthest north forty of the family’s property where he spends the next year overseeing an experimental project for the ranch.

When he gets home after some quality alone time, he finds out from his angry mother that he’s a father.  Eventually realizing it has to be Sky his mother is talking about, he can’t hightail it fast enough to her door to see his daughter.  And he’s smitten.  By both his girls.  But one isn’t falling for him anymore while the other wraps him around her little finger.

Kane takes to fatherhood like a duck to water.  It’s not surprising because in Cowgirl he’d been feeling discontent with his life at that time and when he met Skylar, he was hoping for more with her when his little ruse backfired on him.  Now the family he’s always wanted seems to be just as out of reach as ever before.  But this man is determined to be part of his daughter’s life and he’s hopeful that he’ll re-win Sky in the process.  So he helps himself and moves right in with them and begins to show Skylar what they could have together.

I really enjoyed Kade’s character.  Even though he’d lived as rowdy as his brother and his McKay cousins at one time, he’s the one that woke up earlier than the others to smell the coffee.  He’s turned out to be a charming, straightforward, honorable, and sensitive man.  The scenes with his baby girl are just delicious.

Skylar, in the meantime, is just as determined to keep her space separate and apart from Kade, which, she finds out quite quickly, is damned impossible — they’re sharing the same bed.  Kade is not willing to give in on any aspect of raising his child, so if she sleeps in mama’s room, so does he.  I had to grin at their resolution to keep their hands to themselves while sleeping next to one another, knowing all the while it would be Sky who would cave first.   She didn’t stand a chance once Kade set his mind to getting what he wanted, both in bed and out.

Sky has to learn to stop overthinking every nuance of her life, especially when it comes to Kade and her heart, and she almost looses everything when she learns that lesson a little too late.  Even though things got a trifle tense between these two once in a while, they had fun together, even when the McKay family overwhelms Sky at their get-togethers.  But it’s little Eliza who always saves the day and keeps her parents happy.

We get to see a lot of the McKays again in this book, catch up with what’s going on in their lives, see how they’re grieving due to the deaths that happened in Cowgirl.  I enjoy the family-ness of this series, brothers and cousins who are like brothers, the fierceness of protrecting each other no matter what and teasing each other as families are wont to do.

And I enjoy Ms. James’ writing.  She catches the “cowboy” attitude and way of talking perfectly.  She’s made me yen for my local rodeo again, but I have to wait until next April.  I’m in the mood for some Levi-wearin’, buck-broncin’, grinnin’ cowboys after reading this latest Rough Rider installment!

Grade: A

Summary:

Businesswoman Skylar Ellison is firmly in control of her life. So getting tangled up with a sexy Wyoming cowboy and conceiving a baby in the parking lot of a honky tonk wasn’t in her plan. Since it appears the daddy has taken off for greener pastures, the only thing to do is pull up her bootstraps and carry on alone.

Cattle rancher Kade McKay returns home after a year on the range, and is knocked for a loop when he learns he-s the father of a three-month-old baby girl. When Skylar refuses to marry him, Kade grits his teeth, moves in and plays house by her rules to prove he-s a man in for the long haul.

Despite Skylar’s insistence they are to remain strictly parenting partners, their old passions flare hot as a brush fire, spurring Kade to demand absolute sexual surrender from the headstrong woman. Skylar willingly submits her body to the hot-blooded cowboy, but she’s leery of handing Kade the reins to her heart.

Can Kade convince Skylar the wicked sex games aren’t a temporary distraction? Or will he have to bust out the ropes to show her he wants to be tied to her forever?

Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series: