What a wonderful romance story. There was plenty action and secrets not being told. But it all cane out in the end to wrap up a great story. Definitely a very good book with outstanding writing.

I was excited for the next installment of this series since romantic suspense is my favorite genre and I liked book 2 in this series but this one was just boring . . . . I had to make myself keep reading and was very close to DNF a few times. Something about the story just felt off and even though this was set less than 100 miles from where I live, I just couldn't connect to the story or the place. Hope you have more luck!

Her Renegade Cowboy comes out next week on September 28, 2021, and you can purchase HERE. You can read my review of book 2 in this series HERE -- I liked that one a lot more!

"Fence leaners get put to work, so you'd better get moving or get down here and get dirty."

OMG What a hot story! I never want to put down books by Lora Leigh, and this was no exception. Lily falls for the new cowboy at her cousin's ranch, but he's not who he says he is. I don't know if the intrigue or the bedroom scenes were better, read it and you decide!

This review is based on an ARC from NetGalley, courtesy of the publisher. All opinions are my own.

Thanks go to the publisher and Net-Galley for the complimentary digital copy of Her Renegade Cowboy by Lora Leigh. I voluntarily agreed to read and review this novel prior to publication. My opinions are my own, and nothing has influenced my rating.

Her Renegade Cowboy has plenty to offer readers of this genre. However, it just didn’t resonate with me until near the end. The pacing is a little slow most of the story, but it gained a lot of speed in the last quarter of the book.

Lily Donovan is the female protagonist, and there are several aspects in her character I could identify with, but some of her reactions were beyond what I would expect, considering her back story. With as much trauma she suffered at the sadistic hands of her tormentor, I find it difficult she would be so willing to enter a physical relationship so quickly.

Levi Roberts is the hero, and he is appealing and no doubt sexy. He also has a strong protective side to his character, which I enjoyed. Under the circumstances, Levi shows a lot of patience with Lily, even though she is putting her safety in jeopardy on several occasions.

The romance between Lily and Levi was just so sexual from so early in the story. I never really felt any true love between them, even at the end of the story. I was much more interested in the suspenseful part of this tale, which didn’t take off until the last bit of the book. The romance deserves one star, but the action and suspense at the last, is stellar and kept me engaged.

If you enjoy highly erotic romances with plenty of heat, then this may appeal to you. Unfortunately, Her Renegade Cowboy didn’t for me. The climax of this story kept it from being a 2-star read for me. Happy reading!

Was I hooked by that book? Only at the end, after a very slow start. A schoolteacher and the undercover agent sent to protect her. Both are keeping potentially dangerous secrets.

Lily Donovan survived an extremely traumatic event that sent a monster to jail. She is living a contented life in the small town of Deer Haven with her family close by. Levi is new in town and just started working at the ranch owned by Lily's cousin, Jacob. Just as Lily and Levi start getting closer to each other, Lily receives a phone call that her attacker has escaped. She opts out of federal protection and decides to keep on living her life as is. Nobody, except for Sallie and Shay, knows the details of her past.

It's an intriguing premise and Levi and Lily's relationship develops well, although they weren't very convincing as a couple. The story starts off very slow. The focus is completely on Lily and Levi with vague mentions of the threat against her. This first part is more telling than showing. The pace picks up dramatically about two-thirds in and then we see the lies and secrets exposed and all the suspenseful action packed in towards the end.

This is book three in the Moving Violations series. It stands well on its own.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

3 1/2 Stars for this steamy romance!

I thought this was a good storyline and although I liked Lily well enough, I just didn't love her. I found her to be more of a mean girl than sassy and I didn't see what Levi loved about that. I know that Levi was undercover, but I didn't get why he just didn't tell her why he was there when he realized he was in love with her. Levi ... who wouldn't love a man who just wants to protect them ... even thought he was a little over the top. Then there's the steamy scenes ... they were VERY steamy.

Levi is sent undercover (working at Lily's cousin's ranch) to watch over Lily, as the man who assaulted her broke out of prison. Because Lily testified against him and was the one that got him put away, they had a strong suspicion that he would seek her out. But when Levi and Lily meet, the chemistry between them is undeniable. If Levi's heart gets involved, will he be able to stay professional and protect Lily?

I received an early copy courtesy of St. Martin's Press through NetGalley in exchange for a honest review.

This story absolutely sizzles with steam and intensity between Lily and Levi. They are awesome together, despite Lily fighting to remain independent in the face of lurking danger. She did make a few decisions that had me frustrated at times, but generally, I understood her reasoning.

Levi was one fierce, protective, and possessive cowboy/undercover US Marshal. I loved his dedication to Lily as well as his determination to make her his while protecting her.

This couple had one fiery relationship leading up to about the halfway point where the drama really kicked in full force. And when the storyline took an even grittier turn, things got intense. I loved watching them work through not only the danger but their issues. The secondary characters added so much more to this story as well as the promise of more to come.

I have not read the previous books in the series so have nothing to compare this book to.
The Renegade Cowboy is the third book in the Moving Violations series. It certainly gives you a lot of steamy romance.
A bit of suspense
A lot of romance
Overall, a well written Cowboy romance that will keep you engaged to the end.
Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and author for the opportunity to read this book for my honest opinion. All opinions expressed are my own.

Lily is trying to get on with her life after a bad relationship led to her testifying against her former lover and college professor in a trial. She retreats to a small town to be near her sister and meets ranch hand Levi. There is instant attraction, but Lily is reluctant to trust and get involved again. But all is not as it seems. Levi is actually a Federal Marshall who was sent to keep an eye on Lily after she refuses witness protection. It risks both of them to be involved, but they do it anyway. The ending was exciting, but you shake your head at how dumb Lily is to try to get away from Levi and walk right into danger. There are cameos from characters from other books. The love scenes were hot, but it seemed like the relationship moved too quickly from a kiss to jumping in bed.

Her Renegade Cowboy is the the third novel in Lora Leigh's Moving Violations series, and while it's somewhat of an improvement over the first two novels, both of which I gave 1-star reviews, I found that while it was a little less disjointed than the previous novels in the series, it was still a problematic read for several reasons, which I'll get to, and I am giving it a 2-star rating.

My first problem is the title. Levi, the hero, is a member of the U.S. Marshalls Service, not a cowboy, although his cover is working on the ranch belonging to Lily's uncle, nor is he a renegade--he's a lawman. He's been sent there undercover to protect Lily, the victim of a vicious, psychotic rapist and murderer, one she testified against in court, and whose testimony helped send him to prison. He has recently escaped from prison with his cellmate and one other prisoner, and the search is on.

After giving her testimony against her former mentor and professor in court, Lily refused to enter the Witness Protection Program, and she is now teaching third graders in the same small town in California where her uncle has his ranch. After hearing of the prison break, she again refuses any and all protection. She lives alone, but is close to the two heroines from first two novels, and it's on her uncle's ranch where she first sees tall, gorgeous hunk, Levi, who, in violation of his job's code of ethics, ends up in her bed without much effort on his part. Had I been the traumatized victim of a brutal rapist/murderer, the last thing I'd do is jump into a sexual relationship with a total stranger who just started working on my uncle's ranch--but once this couple gets into bed, that's pretty much all they do together. While the author is well known for her smoking hot, graphic sex scenes, the speed and frequency of them in this novel was way over the top, especially since Lily, who is an abuse victim, one who still has nightmares about her attack, is usually the aggressor.

My other issue was Lily herself. She's one of the most passive/aggressive heroines I've ever encountered, and I've been reading romantic suspense novels for over 30 years. She's sweet and flirty one minute and totally nasty the next. Levi refers to her as sassy, but I viewed her as bitchy. While I've always liked snarky heroines and strong female leads, Lily is the exception. She never really tells Levi the details of her abuse until near the end of the novel, so her over-the-top, nasty reaction to finding out that Levi lied to her about why he's there, and that he's really a U.S. Marshall sent to protect her rather than being the ranch hand that is his cover story, is beyond hypocritical.

Once Lily's attacker contacts her, does she then seek protection? Of course not. Instead she decides to go after him alone and unarmed, telling no one where she's going, and evades Levi, who is following her on the highway, which is something else which made little sense to me. Luckily, she finds a handgun under the driver's seat of the truck she's driving, but does she use it as soon as she confronts her attacker? Again, of course not--one of many stupid decisions she makes in this novel.

So, two people in lust/love at first sight, too much graphic sex and not enough time for the hero and heroine to really get to know one another, a heroine with zero common sense about her own safety and protection, and the only thing that saved this novel from a one-star review for this reader was the suspenseful ending. Yes, it's got an HEA ending, but it was too short, too abrupt and really needed an epilogue. Ms. Leigh has written some excellent novels over the years (not in this series), but this isn't one of them, and I cannot recommend it.

I voluntarily read an advance reader copy of this novel. The opinions stated are my own.

Book three in the Moving Violations series introduces readers to U.S. Marshal Levi Roberts, who's working undercover on Jacob Donovalns Ranch, so he can help apprehend an escaped convict that has ties to Jacob's cousin Lily, who Levi has taken a fancy too and is desperate to protect especially as she's refused to enter WITSEC and hasn't told any of her family about the danger she faces.

And with plenty of hot sex this is after all a Lora Leigh story 😉 threats, danger and some suspense Her Renegade Cowboy was an enjoyable read that I'd happily recommend to others.

3.5 stars

I will be honest here, but I was left with a “meh” feeling when I finished reading her Renegade Cowboy. Lora Leigh is a hit-or-miss author for me to read. Either I love her books, or I don’t. There is no middle ground. Well, there was no middle ground until I read Her Renegade Cowboy. I loved parts of the book, but I was not too fond of parts of the book also. I will explain, I promise. Just keep reading.

Her Renegade Cowboy is the 3rd book in the Moving Violations series. Readers can read this book as a stand-alone, which surprised me. In my experience, books that are part of a series need to be read together (even if they say they don’t have to). This one doesn’t. While the characters from the previous books are in Her Renegade Cowboy, they are kept in the background and do not overshadow Lily and Levi’s romance.

The plotline for Her Renegade Cowboy is fast-moving. This book takes place within a week of Lily’s attacker escaping from jail (which made the romance a little uggh for me). So, it had to have a fast storyline. There was lag in the middle of the book, but the author was able to get past it, and the storyline was able to keep up the blistering pace.

I wouldn’t say I liked Lily. Did I feel bad, and was I horrified by what happened to her? Absolutely. My heart broke for her. It also broke because instead of getting help, she went home and tried to bury it. But, she had a sucky attitude and was generally unpleasant. That is why I couldn’t stand her.

I liked Levi, but man, I questioned his professionalism a lot while reading Her Renegade Cowboy. His boss warned him numerous times to keep his relationship with Lily professional, but he ignored it. I also wondered why he was so attracted to her. She was nasty to him from day one, and he was like, “I need her now.” I kept thinking to myself, “Is this his kink? Does he like to be strung along and verbally abused?” I did applaud his patience with Lily, though. I know I would have noped out the first time she opened her mouth, and something nasty came out.

As much I was not too fond of Levi and Lily together, they did have sizzling chemistry. And when they had sex, it was one of the best sex scenes that I have read to date. And, the author was able to repeat that throughout the book.

There is Instalove and a hint of a love triangle in Her Renegade Cowboy. I am not a fan of Instalove and think that it takes away from the storyline. But in this case, it didn’t. With everything that was going on, the Instalove was a blip on the radar. Same with the almost love triangle. It was between Levi, Lily, and Justice (who I hope gets his own book). I did get pissed at Justice for what he set in motion towards the end of the book. If his jealous ass kept his mouth shut, people wouldn’t have gotten hurt.

The storyline with Lily and her attacker was one of the sadder ones that I have read. Lily was an influential person to testify against him. And she was even stronger not to run when the marshalls told her that he had escaped. And Lily was at her strongest when she met him (he had taken her sister hostage). I wish she were more likable because she rocked during those scenes.

The book ended very typically (HEA). I couldn’t figure out who would be the next couple. I am hoping Justice and maybe Lily’s sister? But who knows!!

I would recommend Her Renegade Cowboy to anyone over the age of 21. There is explicit sex, language, and violence.

Lily Donovan had a traumatic experience in the past, and when she finds out the cause of that trauma has escaped prison and may be looking for her, she decides she wants to deal with things on her own. Levi Roberts is a Federal Marshal who was sent undercover to keep an eye on Lily.

This almost seemed like two books - because after we learn that bit of plot, the next 75% or so was a lot of sexy times with a tiny bit of plot and a lot of main characters angst at keeping secrets from each other. The last had some good suspense and action. So, loving vs. liking this book may depend on the mood or preferences of the reader. I just don't like angst much, and I kept wanting to scream "just tell him / her already!" And for me, the sex scenes were just too much - but again, that is 100% reader preference/ mood.

Thanks to netgalley and the author and publisher for letting me read an advance copy of this book. I for sure think Lora Leigh is a talented writer!

Love Love Love!!!! I can’t put her books down! You feel like you are part of the story. Another great book by Lora Leigh

Lily is a 2nd grade teacher in her small hometown. She's close with her sister Shay, cousins Jacob and Tara, Cousin-in-law Sallie, and her Gran.

She was kidnapped and assaulted by her psychology professor within the last few years, but only Shay and Sallie know why she finished her final year and student teaching at home. She was a anonymous witness at the trial and the professor was convicted. He's broken out of jail and the U.S. Marshals want to put her in witness protection. When she refuses they send help anyway.

Levi is hired on at Jacob's ranch and there's an instant connection between he and Lily. He's undercover to protect Lily but doesn't anticipate the feelings and relationship that develops. It's all out to the test when the professor comes looking for her and Levis secret is revealed. Can they overcome the deception to forge ahead before the professor succeeds again?

A suspenseful and steamy story. Although part of a trilogy, I don't feel I missed anything from the other stories, in my opinion it can be read as a standalone book.

I received a free ARC eBook from Net Galley and the publisher in exchange for my honest opinions.

I struggled thru this book. It’s started out really promising, hot cowboy etc etc. But Lily towards the end, well, I just got impatient with her. Levi took too long to explain (lots of sex) so in the end he had to ride to her rescue.

Haven’t read this author in a looong time too so I thought it would nice to check up on her latest works. It’s ok though.

Thank you St Martin’s Publishing and NetGalley for this arc!

Keeping secrets from someone you love can lead to endless problems. This is the case for both main characters in this story.

Levi is the new employee on D Ranch. He is keeping secrets. He is on the Ranch for other reasons.

Lily is a school teacher. After her horrific ordeal in college, she is no longer the happy go lucky girl she used to be. She too is keeping secrets.

It's instant attraction for Levi and Lily. He doesn't do relationships and she no longer trusts men. He tries to get her attention, but she is having none of it. She is as stubborn as they come. He always goes after what he wants. It's hard work this time, and he is all for the challenge.

Despite Lily's hard exterior, she is running scared. Levi is determined to gain her trust. Even though she doesn't trust men much, she finds herself craving his company and they end up having a steamy relationship. They realise that there is more to it than hot sessions, and once all the secrets come out, there are misunderstandings. When these are cleared and the danger has passed, they find their happy ending.

I received an eARC from Netgalley and the views expressed are my personal opinion.

I've been waiting not so patiently for this 3rd book in the Moving Violations series. Thankfully I got an ARC from NetGalley and slaked my thirst early!

Lily Donovan used to be the life of the party. She worked as hard as she partied but something changed this hellion into the cynical, buttoned-up female she shows the world. She loves her family and doesn't want to admit to them that her bad choices left her in a world of hurt. She knows they'll circle the wagons around her and face off any foe but she is determined to face it all on her own.

Enter Levi Roberts, a new hire at her cousin's ranch. There is something about him that draws her to him. She knows she is safe with hm because her cousin does DEEP background checks on people he allows around family. She and Levi are drawn together but there are subtle hints that being a ranch hand is not all he's doing!

I loved the chemistry between Levi and Lily. he draws her out of her protective shell and back into the land of the living. Similarly Lily gives Levi something other than work to focus on. Should he have come clean at the start? Sure, but let's face it Lily would have chased him off and ended up in a world of more hurt. I really enjoyed the storyline and the unfurling of what happened to Lily.

As someone who has been through something similar, I wasn't triggered but others may be. I thought it was handled with tact and sympathy and it wasn't exaggerated or exploited to make the plot move on.

There are lots of great secondary characters that I'd love to see more of. Justice, though, man I could slap him! He doesn't understand tact, diplomacy, or handle-with-care! I can't wait to see who or what puts him through the wringer!

Lily has a secret that she hasn't shared with her family and friends. And it's about to come out. I loved all that Lily has overcome and how strong she is. Levi is the perfect hero. I loved him. The connection between Lily and Levi was strong! The suspense built well in the story and there was a very satisfying ending. I enjoyed the story. I received an advance copy from NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review.

Cowboys, romantic suspense… it had it all!

This author is so versatile, I’m sure her grocery lists are a good read lol. From shifters to cowboys, she understands the foibles and challenges of falling in love, as well as the wonder…

Lily was hiding in plain sight, surrounded by family, while keeping her fears and secrets close. She didn’t want to be seen as anything but a strong, independent woman, capable of handling her own mistakes and, in this case, it’s devastating aftermath. Levi was settling into small-town, country life just fine, picking up the reins as if he never left. Riding a horse, working the ranch, it was second nature to him, even if they weren’t the only skills he had and breaching Lily’s defenses was high on his list of skills to acquire…

Reading this story felt like a stroll in a whole host of micro-climates, as the scenery changed, so did the temperature. The back and forth between Lily and Levi included witty dialogue and a whole lot of snark. The steam and laughter were soon to follow…

Romantic suspense with a helping of cowboy should be how it’s always done!