I requested this book ten years ago, and am no longer interested in reading. Thank you for the opportunity.

I had such high expectations for this book. You all know that I ADORE cowboy books and this one had such an interesting premise. I loved the thought of this feisty woman, riding against all the men in a rodeo and kicking their asses. I loved that she would fall in love with her biggest competitor. I didn’t know where the hell the baby fit in from title, but I fricking love baby tropes….. Unfortunately, the premise was much better than the reality.

Now, don’t get me wrong, this is nothing to do with the writing. The chemistry between the two characters was written well and I found myself laughing and smiling along with them as they fell into a relationship. I loved Trace’s sense of honour and the relationship he had with that little dog was uber cute. The problems I had were to do with the plot.

The pacing was a little slow. Maybe I’m on Cowboy overload, but I felt like I’d seen it all before and I found it hard to motivate myself to continue. The biggest issue I had was with the way the drug-rape issue was dealt with. At one point in the plot, Gemma is drugged whilst at a dance. It was assumed by all that this was to get her vulnerable and rape her. She was completely unfazed by the fact someone had dropped something in her drink. She was a bit pissed but that was really it; no outrage, no hysteria and NO POLICE REPORT. When she finds out who does it, she basically tells him that that was a very naughty thing to do. Again, NO POLICE REPORT. The reactions pissed me off but the lack of repercussions really annoyed me. He was basically given no reason not to do it again in the plot and it was a gaping hole in the plot for me.

Overall, I really wanted to like it but it hit a trigger. I haven’t read the rest of the series but I may give the early ones a go because the style of writing worked for me

There are many things I can count on from Carolyn Brown story. I’m assured of getting smart-talking women, hot sexy cowboys and witty dialogue between the sexes. Carolyn Brown’s latest in the Spikes and Spurs series, Just a Cowboy and His Baby, is no exception and is true to form for this author. I love this series! I love returning to Ringgold, Texas and getting another chance to visit with the O’Donnell family and their friends and neighbors nearby to see the latest in marriages, babies and relationships. Gemma, the baby of the O’Donnell family, gets her story in this book and it is a great one. You know her as a beautician but she puts that career on hold in order to ride saddle broncs in the PRCA circuit for a year. She wants to be the second woman to win the whole shebang in December at the Finals in Las Vegas. And does she make a run for it. What’s standing in her way is one hot cowboy named Trace Coleman.

Trace Coleman wants to win badly and doesn’t want anyone, especially Gemma, to get in his way of winning the title and the prize money that goes with it. He has plans to buy his uncle’s ranch in Goodnight, Texas and he can’t a little slip of a cowgirl take it all away. He tries to derail her in the beginning not realizing that paybacks happen and what goes around comes around. I don’t think either of them was counting on an attraction and neither wants to let hot, sizzling kisses get in the way of beating the other at each rodeo on the circuit. They make rules about their friendship on and off the circuit and hope they can keep their eye on the prize. All bets are off during the rodeo but a definite attraction and friendship develops outside when they are on the road.

Carolyn Brown is at her best when she gets her characters dancing and songs pop up and their lyrics are so relevant to the story. Josh Turner and George Strait songs, two of my favorite country singers, make frequent appearance, which to me are a standard for a Carolyn Brown story. Got to have tunes! I look forward to finding them and listening to them myself to set the mood for that point in the book.

Gemma is my kind of girl. I like strong women and when she goes into a male dominated sport she makes no bones about it that she is there to ride and win. She fights her own battles with other cowboys and goes toe to toe with some of them. I love it when she becomes a counselor for a week at Trace’s cousin’s ranch and is in charge of 10 city girls. She may not know anything about kids but she does know how to show them how to cooperate and compete and be a role model. She’s been waiting for her cowboy to show up and is counting on Liz, her sister-in-law and ex-carnival fortune teller, and the prediction that she would meet her cowboy and have a baby by Christmas. What she wasn’t counting on was someone else having the baby. I may have said too much right there but I figured from the title that the baby was HIS and not necessarily hers.

Everything works out for Gemma and Trace in the end and I’m not surprised by the predictable ending. I’m not going to tell you who won the title because you’ll have to read the book to find out.  I still get a big smile on my face when there is a HEA for a Carolyn Brown book. I know it is the sweet talking cowboy that sweeps his lady off her feet in a gesture that truly puts the smile there. What can I say? I’m a fan of her writing, love her books and her series and always look forward to the next addition. You can’t go wrong with a Carolyn Brown book and Just a Cowboy and His Baby is outstanding.