Launch Week Blitz Review & Giveaway: Hot Cowboy Nights by Carolyn Brown

Hot Cowboy Nights (Lucky Penny Ranch #2) by Carolyn Brown

Publication Date: May 31st 2016 by Forever $7.99 e-book & Mass Market Paperback

Purchase Links: 

Walmart Special Edition | Amazon | B&N | IndieBound | iBooks | GooglePlay | Kobo

About the book:

Let’s give ‘em something to talk about…

If gossip is the lifeblood of a small town, then Lizzy Logan has been its beating heart. After being dumped by her fiancé for another woman, she could have decided to crawl under a rock. But no, she'd rather really set tongues wagging by "moving on" with one of the hottest cowboys in Texas, who happens to live next door at the Lucky Penny Ranch. Those busybodies don't have to know it's actually all pretend. And just because Lizzy has no aim to tame her wild, blue-eyed neighbor doesn't mean she can't enjoy the ride of her life.

Toby Dawson never was and never will be the settling-down type. But what harm could there be in agreeing to be Lizzy's pretend boyfriend? They'll put on a show for a few weeks and be done. Yet the more he gets to know Lizzy-really know her-the harder it is for him to keep his hands off of her in private. Soon this rough-and-ready cowboy is hoping to heal Lizzy's bruised heart and turn their fake affair into a true romance…

My Thoughts:

Oh, man, I just loved this story! I wanted to lock myself away and just read! As it was, I started and finished Hot Cowboy Nights in one day. 

Lizzy Logan and Toby Dawson shared three weeks of lusty hot nights, sex only, and very much on the-down-low.  It started out as a rebound fling, and with a player like Toby, Lizzy knows it won’t amount to anything.  Lizzy knows she wants more than a booty call; she wants marriage and kids, and she doesn’t want to waste time with someone who won’t settle down, so Lizzy breaks off the affair.

Toby hasn’t ever had a relationship, just one-night stands and gets hives thinking of commitment, but the thought of Lizzy with someone else brings twinges of pain.  Two things happen that make their parting unattractive: Sharlene, a very determined Dry Creek single woman, sets her sights on Toby, and Mitch, Lizzy’s ex is set to come back to town with his new woman.  So they decide to embark on a fake dating relationship to keep Sharlene at bay and let Mitch know Lizzy has moved on with her life. 

I just loved this romance so hard!  Toby and Lizzy kind of did things backwards. They had a physical relationship first, ended it, and then started “dating” so it was a gradual, slow burn romance.  Toby never pictured craving a long-term relationship but the appeal slowly creeps up on him with each and every minute he spends with Lizzy.  They got to know each other deep down and gradually fell harder and harder into love.  I admired Lizzy for keeping a level head and for not compromising on her dreams. She got on my last nerve in the first book, Wild Cowboy Ways, when she was set to marry that preacher, Mitch.  Lizzy was so self-righteous but I found out she had completely changed her true nature to conform to Mitch’s wishes, so when he leaves her it’s a complete relief! I was thrilled to see her loosen up and be herself, even if it did take a painful breakup to wake her up.

Got to say that this might be my favorite Carolyn Brown to date! As usual with Ms. Brown’s books, there’s plenty of humor and sass in Hot Cowboy Nights! I laughed more than a few times at the absurd and prissy church group that felt the need to monitor and condemn Lizzy’s romance.  She gave as good as she got though, which was hilarious and part of Lizzy reclaiming her true self.  She also had support of her sister, Allie, and her mother, Katy. I relish seeing the strong bonds of family/female friendship!

I love me a sexy-cowboy-romance and Toby Dawson burned up the pages, whether in his sweaty shirts and cowboy hat after working on the ranch all day or all dressed up in a button down and shined boots to take his lady dancing at the local honky tonk! Ms. Brown definitely knows how to write smoking hot chemistry and drool-worthy cowboys!  Can’t wait for Fiona and Jeb’s story next, in Merry Cowboy Christmas.

5 Suns

Hot Cowboy Nights – Excerpt

Lizzy let herself into the house quietly and went straight to her room. She heard the rattle of glass as her mother unloaded the dishwasher, but Lizzy didn’t want to talk to or see anyone that night. Especially her mother. Mama would’ve immediately sniffed out the lie, and the house would have exploded if Lizzy had admitted that she’d been screwing around with Toby Dawson almost every day for three weeks.

It was nothing short of a miracle that they hadn’t gotten caught.

Already the rumors were hovering like buzzards waiting for roadkill. From day one the Lucky Penny couldn’t buy an ounce of good luck, and everything that happened on the ranch was fodder for the gossip mill. Half the folks in Dry Creek, Texas, were hoping that Blake and his family joined the long list of owners who failed at trying to make the Lucky Penny a profitable ranch. The other half was rooting for the three Dawsons—Blake, Toby, and their cousin, Jud, who would be joining them in the fall.

Lizzy pulled off her boots, kicked them somewhere close to the closet door, and changed into a faded nightshirt that she pulled from last week’s laundry still tossed in the rocking chair in the corner. Cleanliness was a virtue, according to the Good Book, but neatness was not mentioned. Unlike her sisters, Allie and Fiona, Lizzy must have been out chasing butterflies or playing with baby lambs when they passed out neatness be- cause she didn’t get a bit of it.

She fell back on the bed, legs dangling off the side and her head nowhere near a pillow. Staring at the ceiling with nothing but the small bedside lamp to light the room, she let the past run through her mind again for the hundredth time since Mitch had called to tell her he loved another woman. He and the preacher’s daughter had decided to become missionaries, and he would preach at the little church they’d gone to Mexico to build.

Her world had shattered. And then Toby had taken her in his arms at Blake and Allie’s wedding and she realized maybe all wasn’t over for her after all. He’d charmed her and made her feel alive again—like a woman to be desired. It hadn’t ended with the dance but they’d talked on the phone, exchanged text messages, and when he moved to town they were both primed and ready for a hot little affair. But that night when Allie told them she was having a girl, Lizzy knew it was time to end the secretive, wild nights.

Lizzy crawled under the covers and turned out the light.

So which was she? A sweet little preacher’s-wife type who would let her husband lead her around by his every whim, like she’d been with Mitch? Or a brazen hussy, like the loose women who’d founded Audrey’s Place, who took what she wanted from life and didn’t have any regrets?

She’d far rather be the latter if she had to choose. She’d come out of the Mitch experience a stronger woman than ever, and she’d been honest when she told Toby that it hadn’t made her shy away from guys in general. And it damn sure hadn’t made her feel sorry for herself. It had taught her to be brutally honest and not let anyone try to change her into something she wasn’t.

She picked up her phone to check for a sexy text message from Toby, but there was nothing. Nada. Nil. Zilch. Not a single missed message. Finally she wrote one to him: Changed my mind. See you tomorrow at six at Mama’s store.

                With one thumb on the delete button and the other on the send button, she sat there in the darkness, her body telling her to send the message and her heart telling her that she was in for misery if she didn’t press delete.

THE LUCKY PENNY RANCH SERIES

Wild Cowboy Ways, #1

Hot Cowboy Nights, #2

Merry Cowboy Christmas, #3 (September 2016)

Wicked Cowboy Charm, #4 (January 2017)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR 

New York Times and USA Today bestselling romance author and RITA® Finalist, Carolyn Brown, has published more than sixty books. Brown presently writes both women's fiction and cowboy romance. She has also written historical single title, historical series, contemporary single title and contemporary series. She lives in southern Oklahoma with her husband, a former English teacher, who is not allowed to read her books until they are published. They have three children and enough grandchildren to keep them young. For a complete listing of her books (series in order) check out her website at www.carolynlbrown.com

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