Harts of the Rodeo... DUKE: Deputy Cowboy - Roz Denny Fox

DUKE: Deputy Cowboy - Roz Denny Fox
Harlequin American Romance
Harlequin UK, 2012
ISBN: 9780373754212












My rating

From the back cover:

"Deputy sheriff and aspiring rodeo star Dylan "Duke" Adams has his hands full with the recent string of burglaries in Roundup, Montana, especially when the thief strikes at his family's ranch. Duke is trying to focus on the case, but he can't stop thinking about a different thief—the petite blonde who just stole his heart.

Angie Barrington can't stand the rodeo. Though she's seen plenty of abused rodeo animals at her rescue ranch, for Angie it runs even deeper. No matter how kind and compassionate Duke is, at the end of the day he's still a cowboy. Right?
When Duke makes it to the national finals, he finally has a chance to bring prestige—and much-needed money—to Thunder Ranch. But if competing means losing the woman of his dreams, how can he ever win?"

The Harts of the Rodeo mini-series has been really enjoyable so far and I was really looking forward to reading this one.

It is a really well crafted story, with plenty of depth. Although I felt the beginning was a little info-dumpy, but it eventually settled down and ended up being really entertaining.  The author tells a nice story with a very natural love-story between the hero and heroine.

For me what makes this book stand out is the heroine. She has morals, and is an animal lover whom questions the ethics of the Rodeos and the treatment of animals. As a long term animal rights advocate this is something I myself have questioned and researched, so I really identified with this. The part of the story when the heroine finally has enough and walks away after seeing something she doesn't agree with made me want to start cheering!

There is something very sweet, almost innocent, about the hero’s wooing of the heroine and it flows really nicely and draws you in totally to the romance.

Overall, this is a nice instalment to the series which leaves us with a bit of a cliffhanger so you will want to read the next one!

An enjoyable read.

This book is available now from all the usual Harlequin Books stockists, as well as direct from Harlequin, for readers in USA and Canada.
UK & International readers can buy the ebook from the Mills & Boon UK website.

*N.B. ARC provided by Harlequin, with thanks, in exchange for review.

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