I have had this on be TBR pile to read for a little bit but once I got started I flew through it! Hunter is sheriff of Smalltown, USA (and of course a cowboy - hence the title!) but he meets his match when Samantha comes back to town.

I enjoyed this book and there was enough drama and romance to keep it interesting (although the drama was wrapped up very quickly and the end).

We are introduced to Samantha Ryder and Sheriff Hunter Steele in the small town America of Deerhaven, CA. Sam returns to Deerhaven to resolve her aunt’s estate, and to dig into the mystery of her aunt’s death and the other unexplained deaths occurring around town. Sam and Hunter become inseparable as the story develops, with many sexual escapades interspersed throughout the book. It was a difficult book to dig into as the protagonists continued to dance around their attraction more than their attempts to solve the crimes. The murders and mayhem of the town’s issues were seemingly resolved within 2 chapters of the book’s conclusion.

There was not much character development beyond the title protagonists, nor as much world building as previous books by Lora Leigh and Veronica Chadwick. We are introduced to numerous other characters without much understanding as to their roles in the book. The obvious villainy of certain characters was just as flat as their descriptions. Overall, One Tough Cowboy has potential but becomes lost and disjointed in its final resolution.

Thank you to NetGalley for letting me review this book.

One Tough Cowboy is a hot, steamy, sexy romance with a captivating mystery. To me, the mystery was the attraction. The plot was fast paced & action packed. I really enjoyed how it played out. Sam & Hunter are both skeptical of the deaths of her aunt, his uncle & a friend of theirs. It’s awfully coincidental that they all suffer “accidental” deaths. The coincidences & bear misses continue to add up. As Sam & Hunter start to investigate, their attraction is sparked & their lives are put in jeopardy. This is obviously more than they expected!

Samantha comes back home to northern California from her job with the Detroit police department because her aunt is found dead. They say it is a drug overdose, but Sam doesn't believe that. Neither does the sheriff who was her childhood hero and crush.

Hunter is already suspicious because Samantha's Aunt Dottie was the third person to die suspiciously in town. The mayor's wife, an excellent swimmer, was found drowned in a fish pond; Hunter's Uncle Zach died in a hunting accident except he never hunted; and now Dottie. All three were life-long friends.

After serving in the Special Forces and in Iraq, Hunter has come home to take over his uncle's job as sheriff. He doesn't trust the mayor or two of the deputies the mayor forced on him. He is sure something criminal is going on.

Hunter and Samantha's investigation leads them to a drug smuggling, human trafficking network that has branched out into moving terrorists around the country. But both Hunter and Samantha are almost totally distracted from their investigation by the overwhelming sexual attraction that they feel for each other and the need to stop at many inappropriate times to have sex. I skimmed over the many too-graphic-for-my-taste sex scenes and couldn't help but find them really unrealistic based on the other things that were going on.

I had a couple of other issues with the book. First of all, it is set in northern California and the characters have Southern accents. I didn't know, nor do I believe, that California was a Southern State. Besides the many sex scenes, many of the other parts of the book were "tell" not "show." Check the quote below which states that "little backwoods country towns were also well known for corruption." Really?

Fans of spicy romances and romantic suspense may enjoy this one.

If there is one thing I can always count on from Lora Leigh, it's the heat. Lordy can that woman write sexual tension like no other! Honestly, she can write anything and I'll read it just for that alone.

This wasn't exactly what I was expecting. We do have a few cowboys and Hunter does own a ranch, but this was more of a romantic suspense story instead of a cowboy story. Hunter is the sheriff and Sam is a cop from Detroit. She came home for her aunt's funeral and gets embroiled into a scary situation dealing with sex trafficking and terrorists.

Hunter and Sam's relationship was the kind where they know they should stay away from each other but their attraction won't let them. You get the impression they never would have gotten together if she hadn't come back home. It at least made sense since Hunter is about 10 years older and only knew her as a kid he protected when they were younger. I was glad to see she didn't continue to treat her as a kid once they saw each other again.

Overall, the heat was high and the suspense was intriguing. Bonus, there were some hot eye candy on the side. Maybe we will get a few more books.

Holy smokes! One smoking hot read! 3.5 Stars
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This book took me by surprise. I’ve read others by Lora Leigh and thought I knew what I was getting into. But this story has a lot of pluses, which are awesome, but also some minuses as well.

I enjoy a great romantic suspense and that’s what this book really was. Very little on the actual cowboy aspect so I’m not sure why the title included “cowboy”. I think it would’ve been fine with sheriff because that is what this hot piece of man candy is. And oh, Hunter is so, so mighty fine.

There are parts of this book that were a little confusing to me. It’s set in California in the northern region just outside of Oroville, which I’m picturing in my head is in the area of Paradise. While it is the country with plenty of farm lands and mountains, most people here in California don’t speak with a southern drawl. Except for me because I’m actually from Virginia.

So when he was sweetening up with Sam, he would go into a southern drawl which was odd unless the author was trying to be humorous. Which could be; it just didn’t set right.

Another thing I didn’t get was the Detroit connection. It seemed odd that her family moved to Detroit and yet there’s a connection of the illegal activity between Michigan and California but it didn’t include her or her family. So I’m not sure how that even happened. - Oh and loads of triggers in one major scene too...

But regardless of the small inconsistencies, most of the book was very good. A ton of heat and sex throughout the story. In fact, we were even having sex at some very inopportune times, which did read very oddly.

Overall I totally loved Sam and Hunter together. I love the fact that they just knew they belong together. It was instantaneous and had been since they were younger. That makes for a beautiful connection and plenty of hot sex, which the authors did write very well.

An attention grabbing plot, plenty of steam and action that flies off the pages, and a sexy ass sheriff made this a read to remember.

3.5 stars rolled to 4 stars

Okay... I admit: I love cowboys. So when this title came along, I just had to request it. However, the story isn't very cowboyish. We do have a hot sheriff, Hunter, (from a cowboy family, so that is the only link to cowboys.. duh) and the little girl with a crush on the older guy. However, Samantha grew up and went to Detroit and became a police officer. So, now she doesn't need her childhood hero to defend her any longer.
When Sam's aunt is found dead, she returns home to investigate her sudden death. As the town's sheriff, Hunter doesn't want Sam to interfere with his investigation. But little Pixie Pest is all grown up now and she has a mind of her own. Sparks are flying and Sam and Hunter have to decide to give in to the attraction or to fight their mutual sparks. When more deaths and near-deaths occur, Sam and Hunter go on a mission to find out what is happening in their hometown.
The story is well written and the suspense is building up nicely. The constant attraction (and even sex during a stake-out??) is a bit too much. Therefore only three out of five stars from me and a special thank you to Netgalley for providing the arc.

3.75stars
Samantha comes back in her hometown to a funeral of her aunt but doesn't believe in her cause of death. Lucky for her Sheriff is also suspicious and her teenage crush Hunter. They decide to solve the mystery of their hometown and in between burn some sheets with their hotness to the ground. The story is interesting with good characters. About the mystery and suspense, I got the feeling that it could be more it is not well written and resolved. There is a lot that could be worked on. But I did enjoy reading and both Hunter and Samantha have their HEA.
I volunteered to review an ARC of this book for Netgelly

I have a weak spot for romances with a sheriff in it so I was really interested in this one. And I liked both Hunter and Sam as a couple. However, there were too many sex scenes for my taste, especially at the most weird moments. Near the end there is a very traumatic scene for Samantha, but they have sex after. There was a plot somewhere but it was lost in the sex :-)

Not sure where to begin with this one...

I was a little curious about the co-authorship of this title from the onset. I’ve read other stories from Lora Leigh (Elite Ops, etc.) and wondered how/why this new series was being written this way. I was expecting a lot more, given past stories from this author.

Unfortunately, it reads like certain parts were written separately by each author, then edited together for a final conclusion. In the beginning, it’s a suspenseful mystery. In the middle, it becomes a highly descriptive string of sex scenes between the MCs (without much chemistry) with the end drawing conclusion to the mystery (which seemed to have been sidelined in the middle of the story).

There were also incongruences that detracted from the story such as the “southern” and “yankee” references, as if the story was be set in the Midwest rather than California. Californians do not refer to their northern or southern residents in this manner. A little too much “Sugar”, as well.

And Hunter as a cowboy? Maybe so but he was predominantly characterized as being the sheriff, with only a small percentage of the story actually depicting him as a cowboy.

Both Hunter and Samantha, as police officers, constantly used poor judgement in their public behavior - to the point of being unbelievable.

Overall just not what I expected.


Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book was a departure from what is typical of Lora Leigh. It left me wishing characters were more developed and the story was way too choppy. Not the best.

Hunter Steele grew up in a small, rural California mountain town. He returned after military service and is now the town’s sheriff. Three deaths called “accidental” by the town’s ME have Hunter’s instincts telling him that something is very wrong in this formally idyllic town. The most recent death involves the aunt of a girl who was his shadow when he was a teen and she was much younger. Hunter called Samantha the “pixie pest,” but now she is all grown up and in law enforcement as well.

Samantha returns home to bury her aunt and find out what she can about the suspicious circumstances. As they work together, Sam and Hunter realize their feelings for each other are very adult. Neither one can resist such a deep mutual attraction even while being immersed in a situation that has turned very ugly. To make the issues more complicated, Sam’s vile former boyfriend surfaces and seems to be caught up in the nefarious activities going on.

The most positive thing I can say is that both Hunter and Sam are likeable characters. This story has quite a bit of protracted steamy scenes so for those who prefer them it’s a win; however, they seem somewhat of an overdone distraction especially for this genre, Romantic Suspense. Culturally speaking, Hunter refers to the inhabitants as Southern which does not make a lot of sense for Californians albeit rural ones. He calls Sam a “Yankee” but I think of people from Michigan as Midwesterners. Those small inconsistences make the story a little disjointed. Despite the book description, Sam was not Hunter’s “sweetheart” because she moved away at age 11 while Hunter was a teen though they had a close relationship more of the “little sister” kind. And lastly, there is a truly jarring abuse scene that left me feeling less than pleased with this book.

I do not think that Lora Leigh wrote many parts of this book because sex is not steamy at all, it happened in the wrong moments and all together the book is boring and not enjoyable, but this is just my opinion. As far as the first volume in a series go, this is going to remain alone as far as I am concerned.

Non credo che Lora Leigh abbia scritto molte parti di questo libro, fondamentalmente perché le scene di sesso sono noiose e completamente fuori luogo, inoltre é proprio tutto il romanzo in sé che non decolla, ma questa é solo la mia opinione. Diciamo pure che per quanto mi riguarda, questa nuova serie si ferma qui.

THANKS NETGALLEY FOR THE PREVIEW!

This book is the first in the author’s new series titled Moving VIolations.
Samantha has taken a leave of absence from her job in Detroit as a policewoman, to attend the funeral of her aunt in California. Hunter Steele, the teenager and then man she always crushed on, is now the sheriff of the town . While in her youth Samantha was the Pesky girl, now she is all woman and a temptation to Hunter. The chemistry between them is alive and well.
Add to that the mystery of the death of not only her aunt but two of her aunt’s friends, one of them Hunter’s uncle, and you have a suspenseful romance that will keep you entertained.
Some of the cons are that though the story takes place in California, they spoke more like Southerners and even consider themselves Southerners. I found Hunter at times too alpha and oversexed and the last chapter and epilogue were one too harsh and the transition to the epilogue a tad choppy. Making it more of a 3.5 star.
Still it was entertaining,
I was entrusted a copy of this book by Netgalley and St Martin’s Publishing .The opinions expressed are solely my own.

Two blazing fast reads by the Ms. Leigh and Chadwick. Good plots and hot heros. Loved both stories. Enjoyed the romance.

I enjoyed reading this one even as it was predictable from the start. I liked the history that Hunter and Samantha had and liked that Hunter was there for Samantha in the aftermath of her aunt's death. The two of them had some crazy hot chemistry and it was fun to see them dance around things for a while, then fall.

The drama with the town and people dying was sadly about what you expect when people get greedy. I did like that both Hunter and Samantha had the skills to deal with things like this and that Hunter had good friends to call into help.

The ending made me laugh, it was very true to Hunter's character.

This book was not really interesting to me. From the very first chapter, it felt as if the authors were trying too hard to sell the southern cowboy thing except it's set in California. I didn't connect with the mystery or the love story either so unfortunately this was a DNF for me. Thanks for the ARC!

Who knew a little town like Deerhaven, CA could be such a hotbed of intrigue and trouble? One Tough Cowboy is one wild ride of a book – and I can’t tell you much about the story as I’m afraid I’d give you spoilers…and it’s so much more fun if you read all about it yourself. Seriously, right from the very beginning of the story, we find out about three deaths: the mayor’s wife, the former sheriff, and a longtime friend of theirs.

One Tough Cowboy is a story about Samantha Ryder (call her Sam or Sami Jo if you have a death wish) who returns to town when her aunt dies. She used to live in Deerhaven when she was young, where she grew up with the now sheriff, Hunter Steele. She and Hunter dance around their feelings for one another while trying to solve whatever mystery has taken over this town. Their dance is a sexy/smexy one. It is also an intricate story and I was biting my nails. I received a free, advance copy of this book from the publisher. This is my unbiased and voluntary review.

I liked book and it kept you entertained from the beginning. So we meet Hunter who is at a murder scene even though the coroner is saying that the person accidentally overdosed, he knew that that was a lie since his uncle was killed not long ago and another one of their friends. Samantha comes back to Deerhaven since her beloved aunt was murdered, she doesn't care that they said it was an overdose since her aunt barely took medication. Sam had always had a crush on Hunter but after the last time she saw him wanted to avoid him, what she didn't know was that Hunter was interested and also claimed her. Hunter and Sam team up to find out who did and are surprised by the lies and betrayals and the craziness that the town of Deerhaven is involved in..I wont tell you more so that you can grab a copy and Enjoy!

This is not a Lora Leigh book. It can't be. I have read almost every one of LL's logic-defying, alpha-defining, smutastic books and this comes nowhere near her trademark small town filled with lots of paranoid yet hot SEALs prowling around to protect their sassy virginal heroines with their alpha badassery and inexplicable sexual ESP. Also, trigger warning for a truly jarring sexual assault scene (see more below).

Nope, there's a weary divorced sheriff (I guess "One Tough Sheriff" wasn't a good title?) who apparently had maybe pants thoughts about the tomboy he used to protect when she suddenly grew into a lissome teenager. That teenager left town and returned as a tough Detroit police officer looking to solve the mystery of her aunt's death. While this sounds suspenseful, Hunter and Sam were frankly boring together. Once Sam returns to town, both she and Hunter certainly think to themselves a lot about the other, and there are pages spent with each internally reminiscing about how pesky Sam used to follow and idolize protective big ol' Hunter. But starting the story right after Sam's aunt's funeral meant pages of internalized flashbacks which made the story's pace crawl.

It doesn't help that the sexual chemistry isn't quite there. At least not by Lora Leigh's usual hallmarks. Sam and Hunter reunite politely, then catch up, then argue about how to proceed with investigating the mysterious deaths around town. And then they hook up. It was very nice and polite, nothing like the crazysauce sexual tangos in past LL books.

What isn't polite are the two scenes that had me thinking that maybe Lora Leigh did write this after all. First, Hunter is so caught up in passion that he forgot a condom. Any LL fan knows that is the true sign that a LL alpha is really in lurve because he never, ever, no sirree, forgets to wear one.

The other was the horrific scene where [CONTENT WARNING AND SPOILER!] Sam's abusive ex taunts Hunter by violently and sexually assaulting Sam in front of him. The guy gleefully vows to rape and kill Sam in front of Hunter and he isn't stopped until after inflicting certain physical acts to her. To add insult to injury, that was the end - the epilogue was up next with Hunter and Sam declaring themselves in love the very next day. WHAT?

Lora Leigh has had several heroines threatened with sexual harm in really perverse ways. But I have no idea how she imagines they can be a-ok the next day and contemplating marriage and forever ever after after a traumatic event. If this had not been the last chapter, I would have DNF'ed.

Note: I voluntarily read and reviewed this eARC generously provided by NetGalley and the publisher.