Sandy M’s review of Tyler (The Secret Life of Cowboys, Book 1) by C.H. Admirand
Contemporary Western Romance published by Sourcebooks Casablanca 1 Mar 11
I’m a sucker for a good cowboy story. From the old west to present day, cowboys have this innate gentleness and kindness, thanks to their mamas, as well as being alpha to bring a lady to her knees. So when I had the chance to read a new author who’s writing contemporary westerns, I definitely jumped at it. While this is a good story, it does have some issues keeping it from moving up the scale to one of those “Wow!” stories.
What drew me out of this book more often than anything is the repetitiveness when describing certain things. I don’t know how many times Tyler is described in variations of a dark-eyed cowboy, then a dark-haired cowboy, then a tall, dark and handsome cowboy, then a broad-chested cowboy – over and over, each of those, again and again. Tyler and Emily grabbed each other on the backside every chance they got, which is fine in and of itself, but I wanted a different word, like ass or butt – anything else! – every now and again. It’s not until page 289 that glutes show up. Too late. Irritation at being pulled out of the story much too often had taken over by then. Emily’s cream skin, beautiful and bountiful breasts, as well as the chocolate smear between them in the beginning, and a few other descriptive phrases all get their fair share of being seen too much.
Another thing that didn’t quite work for me as an element in the story is the fact that Emily is as hot for Tyler as he is for her, she goes for it and has sex with him fairly quickly after they meet, but after all the sheet burnin’, she draws a line at having oral sex. She wants Tyler to wait, not sure she can do something more intimate so soon. Huh? I’d say they were pretty darned intimate at that point and, for me, refusing to go that next logical step further just doesn’t sit well. I realize it’s a trust issue for Emily, seeing how far Tyler is willing to go, willing to wait and all that. I just feel this isn’t the way to do it. Why not hold off on the whole kit and kaboodle all the way around instead of splitting hairs? Makes more sense to me anyway. There’s other ways to instill trust than using sex to do so.
The dialogue at times is also an issue for me. It’s stilted too much throughout the book, isn’t as fluid as it should be. There’s several times where it reads like an info dump instead of conversation between two people. However, the cowboy-speak is pretty good when it comes to Ty and his brothers. Not as good as, say, Lorelei James, who is a master at the cowboy, but good enough to get the charm and gentlemanliness across to the reader.
Something that does work for me is the concept of doing what you have to do to survive, and this hits Ty hard. But he swallows his pride, for both the job he takes on and the consequences that go with it, and does his best despite the fact he’d rather be anywhere but up on a stage baring a good part of himself for bored and horny women to ogle. Ms Admirand handles this idea very well. Tyler even goes so far as to keep his night job from his brothers, not wanting them to worry and also not wanting them to razz him about it. They’re brothers, they razz every chance they get, and being boldly touched and leered at is enough for Ty for the time being. I also like the brothers element in the book works well, though there are a few times their anger with each other goes a tad too far for me. I do like, however, that they react the opposite way Ty thinks they will when he finally gets the gumption to tell them the truth.
I do like Emily, but she had me on the fence a couple of times. Maybe it’s because I never got a sense why these two are attracted to each other, other than smoldering looks and wanting to run their hands all over the other’s body. Because we get more of Tyler due to his being on stage and he does stand by Emily when things go wrong, I feel more for him than I do Emily. While her no-oral-sex request bothers me, she doesn’t judge Ty when he tells her why he’s doing the stripping and she gets on my good side for that. I like also that she doesn’t cotton to her cousin’s, Jolene, attitude when it comes to the bar; she’s not as hard and unrelenting as Jolene. Saying that, though, I did have fun with Jolene and Jake’s relationship as a side story and wouldn’t mind seeing a book about them after Dylan and Jesse get their turn.
While I may not be that enamored of this first book in this series, I’m still looking forward to Dylan’s book. He and Jesse piqued my interest enough to give them and Ms. Admirand a second chance.
Grade: C-
Summary:
When Tyler Garahan said he’d do anything to save his family’s ranch, he never thought that would include taking a job as a stripper at a local ladies’ club. But the club’s fiery redheaded bookkeeper captures Tyler’s attention, and for her he’ll swallow his pride…
Emily Langley feels for the gorgeous cowboy. It’s obvious that he’s the real deal and wouldn’t be caught dead at a ladies’ revue if he wasn’t in big trouble. And when he looks at her like that, she’ll do anything to help.
Working days on the ranch and nights at the ladies’ club, Tyler would be plumb exhausted if he didn’t suddenly discover that the club is in the same boat as his ranch, and his beautiful boss needs him as much as he needs her…
Read an excerpt.
Other books in this series:
Dylan – Fall 2011
