3.5 Stars, book 2 in the 79th Copper Mountain Rodeo, The Bull Rider's Return. I liked this one although there were some inconsistencies overall it was a good addition to the series and an enjoyable fun romance.

I love this book it is number two in “The 79th Copper Mountain Rodeo Series”. It can be read stand-alone or as part of the series.
Cody is Kelly and her son Ricky’s hero. The tip he left enabled her to be able to afford Ricky’s surgery. Which gave everyone a chance at a new beginning. Beginnings in the way of a healthy heart and a little boy who could experience life healthy, for Kelly it is a second chance at trust, a relationship and love, and for Cody it was the kick start he needed to believe in himself and for true love. Read on for there trials and tribulations on the way to forever bliss.

Cody has the reputation as the bad boy of the circuit - he doesn't mind because it means he can do what he wants and generally gets left to get on with it.

On a whim, he leaves his significant winnings as a tip to a waitress he has never met before, so she can pay for a heat operation for her young son. He expects this to end there.

Things get interesteing when she turns up at one of his rodeo competitions and they can't deny the attraction between them.

I love this series. It is filled with cowboys, rodeos and romance. I recommend reading the entire series to get a feel for the Copper Mountain Rodeo and all the captivating characters. Each book is a stand alone read with multiple authors contributing to the series.

This book was so captivating. The author kept me hooked from the beginning. I finished this book in one setting I'm eager to read more! The plot was interesting and had my emotions going haywire.. almost makes me wanna go find a cowboy for myself!! Lol can't wait to see what else the author has in store!!

It was a nice read, with great characters and I enjoyed it from beginning to end.
If you enjoy a book with a Cowboy and rodeos and a cute little guy that needs a daddy, this one should be for you, and as an added bonus an ending that won’t leave you disappointed .

The second book in The 79th Copper Mountain Rodeo series was a fun read and as my first Joan Kilby book, I was pleased to have found another new author. I did find a few contradictions in the story where the waitress was concerned. That said, the story was a quick read and provided an afternoon of escape, which is always welcome. Bring on book three!

The norm for me with series like this one is only to read the titles by authors that I am already familiar with but with this series I have decided to try and read them all. Partly because I am in a cowboy reading mood (which is kind of odd for me but there are worse cravings to have) and partly because I really liked the rodeo scenes in the first book and am curious about the other riders.

Joan Kilby is a new to me author and Iiked her writing enough to add her name to the list of authors I would like read again. I loved the premise of this book. The mere idea of a waitress getting a tip big enough for the life saving surgery her son needs turns me to goo. I did have some issues with the execution of the story. When said waitress takes her now healthy son with to the rodeo to thank her good Samaritan bull rider I can understand it. When she says that she strives for stability for him but then keeps moving him around, registering him for school and taking him back out, based on her own romantic inclinations I am less on board. It really made me likeKelly so much less. Cody was a decent hero, although his constant referring to himself as a loser got very repetitive. How can someone with so much self doubt be so successful in a career that requires self confidence and bravery as much as it requires skill? Still I loved seeing everyone around see him in a new light.

This is a fun series that is certainly satisfying my desire for all reads cowboy and I will certainly be reading other installments in the series and more from Kilby.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I thoroughly enjoyed this group of books that was an interesting series of romance novels written by multiple authors. I really enjoyed this one because of the female characters impromptu trip along the rodeo..

I found this a very sweet romance. The characters felt like real people. Cody Starr is used to disappointing the people who care about him. He has a bit of complex because his family doesn’t respect his decision to drop out of school and become a bull rider. They don’t seem to value how hard he works and the success he has had. So when he impulsively gives his earnings to a down-on-her-luck single mother whose son needs a heart operation, he doesn’t want anyone to know that he did such a good deed. He doesn’t want to be a hero. So he tells his family that he lost the money gambling.

But he is a good guy. And after the operation makes all the difference to her young son, Ricky, Kelly, decides to drive to Montana to thank Cody in person and let him see how healthy Ricky now is. At first, he’s embarrassed to be hailed as a hero and annoyed that she came, but he soon remembers why he found her so appealing in the first place and how much he liked Ricky.

The stoy is their journey to finding that there can be more between them. She has to help him overcome his sense of failure and inferiority and he has to convince her that he really loves her.

I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book that I received from Netgalley; however, the opinions are my own and I did not receive any compensation for my review.

Cody meets Kelly and her young son when he is a customer at the dinner where she works. He just won big at a rodeo. He finds out that she is a single mother who can’t afford a heart operation for her son. Impulsively, he gives her his earnings and leaves. She figures out who he is and tracks him down to express her gratitude following her son’s successful surgery. That is when their somewhat rocky love story begins.

Three and a half stars.

Cody Starr has a reputation on the rodeo circuit as a bad boy, tats, drinking, stupid stunts, love 'em and leave 'em. He's the youngest son in a family of businessmen and over-achievers, content to waste his rodeo winnings on booze and gambling.

Then one day he takes pity on a struggling waitress in a diner with a sick son and hands over his $65,000 winnings (prize money plus a lucky streak gambling) to help pay for her son's heart operation. When his family ask how he's going to invest his winnings he lies and says he blew it all gambling.

Single mom Kelly Reid can't believe the change that Cody's generosity has made to her life and the life of her son Ricky. The two of them have travelled to Marietta to the 79th Copper Mountain rodeo to say thank-you in person, but soon one gossipy old woman creates a media storm about Cody's generosity and suddenly he might not be the no-good, unreliable bad boy that everyone thought he was.

Cody's harshest critic is himself - can he see himself the way that Kelly and Ricky do? Can he take a chance on himself?

I liked this but I had conflicted feelings about Kelly and Cody. I get that Cody is the youngest son and has never really grown up, even though he has been supporting himself since he was 16 years old, but his constant need to run away got tired. Kelly on the other hand was the romantic stereotype of the perfect single mom, except she dragged her son backwards and forwards on a whim following/ leaving a man and putting him and out of different schools. I think, maybe, I would have liked this better if Cody had had his epiphany earlier because neither of them came out of the last few chapters well (in my opinion).

But overall I still enjoyed this, there was more of the rodeo which I appreciated, no point in a series set around a rodeo if there's no bull-riding!

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Cody’s story is touching on so many levels. The author has created a character whose many layers are complex, yet simple at the same time. The need for acceptance by his family is hidden beneath his life’s choices, which have not been well received and criticized at every turn...my heart broke for him as his insecurities are revealed. The emotions that run throughout the story are heightened negatively by those choices, but evolve into positive and heartwarming ones as Kelly’s influences in his life take root.

Within the other stories in the series, the snippets of mention of Cody have laid the foundation for the interest in uncovering what lays beyond the façade he has perfected. The goodness of the man is well hidden from the rodeo community and his family. ...which just enhanced his mystique...but is unveiled with his generosity towards Kelly and Ricky. Cody’s true nature was crafted with perfect precision, the way the author did so captured my interest from the onset and held it throughout the book.

This ARC book was complimentary, provided by the Publisher and NetGalley. I am voluntarily providing my honest review.

I loved hearing Cody's story in The Bull Rider's Return! I enjoyed the fact that Kelly was a single Mom. Ricky really added to the story. It really showed the caring side of Cowboys.