Keep Me, Cowboy
Montana Born Rodeo 2015, Book 3
by Nicole Helm
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Pub Date Oct 02 2015 | Archive Date Oct 18 2015
Tule Publishing | Montana Born Books
Description
The Copper Mountain Rodeo has returned to Marietta and cowboy reputations aren’t the only thing at stake…
Rodeo cowboy Cole McArthur has spent the last ten years running from Marietta, Montana, from his father’s expectations, and from the only woman he’s ever loved. But now his past is at his front door, begging for his help.
Jess Clark doesn’t want to face the only man who’s ever claimed enough of her heart to break it, but her foster family needs their prodigal son home, and she owes them too much to not make that happen. Seeing Cole for the first time in a decade unlocks the kind of desire she’s only ever felt for him, and never acted on with anyone.
Back in Marietta facing family betrayal and family secrets, heat explodes between them, and feelings buried long ago rise to the surface. But can Jess convince this wandering cowboy that his home is with her?
A Note From the Publisher
Available Editions
EDITION | Ebook |
ISBN | 9781943963201 |
PRICE | $2.99 (USD) |
Links
Featured Reviews
Full of heartfelt emotion and self examination, Keep Me, Cowboy is an exquisite story. This is a book that leaves the reader pondering: what would I do in the same situation? Cole and Jess both showed courage in the decisions they made. Jess was willing to put her feelings aside to heal a rift between a family that needed each other. Cole broke his own heart in making the decision to remove himself from a desperate situation in the past. Keep Me, Cowboy is about finding the strength to stay despite the temptation to leave. I received an ARC of Keep Me Cowboy by Nicole Helm in exchange for an honest review.
I liked reading about how Cole and Jess found their way back to each other. I think I missed reading a book in the series because I felt like there was some background I did not have. Also, I would have liked it if more of the one sub-story had been resolved.
The Marietta novellas tend to be a special, self-contained brand of mini stories centred around its inhabitants finding their happy-ever-after. Astounded as I was to realise that "Keep Me, Cowboy" was only 80-ish pages long, Nicole Helm has managed a short story of love lost and found (and hopefully kept) in Cole and Jess, where that decade apart hasn't lessened the friction of their previous parting. Cole had run from his family's expectations while Jess had stayed for the acceptance and the sense of belonging it gave her, but both soon realise that these issues never really go away even years later. I felt for Jess strongly; I was indignant too, at Cole's apparent abandonment and sympathetic to her needing a place to belong; cheering, finally, when the decision was made to prioritise her happiness and needs.
Carried by Nicole Helm's buoyant and persuasive prose, the story manages to steer clear of a HEA falling too quickly into place after Cole's week-long stay, yet renders enough of an emotional connection that I didn't feel short-changed by its length.
This is an amazing read! Filled with emotion, it takes you on a journey of going home, facing past hurts, and deciding a new path for the future. Some of the characters you just have to loathe but Cole and Jess make you want to hug them and never let go. If any characters deserve a HEA it's these two. When Jess goes to Cole to get him to return home for his father, never would she have guessed how her world would change. This is a definite must read. I highly recommend it.
Another good read in the Montana Born Rodeo Series. Set around the characters of the McArthur family. Cole initially came across as bristly while Jess's character straight away was likeable. Novella length reading and still a story you can enjoy reading.
3 stars Review copy received from the Publisher
3 - ”All I ever remember is wanting you.”
The third book in the Montana Born Rodeo series, gives us the return of Cole McArthur to Marietta, Montana and the reconnection between him and his first love; Jess Clark after his departure ten years previously without even a ‘goodbye’.
This was a book of two halves for me, I was really enjoying the chemistry that was building between Jess and Cole, especially as you are given the reasons of his departure back when they were teenagers, what knocked the rating down a little for me was the McArthur family in general, as the author gave them some pretty unlikeable and irredeemable qualities.
It was however a very quick read, and everything was resolved before I had much of a chance to build up a head of steam behind my dislike, and it had a pretty sweet ending as well.
ARC generously provided via Netgalley, in exchange for the above honest review.
After a falling out with his family ten years ago, rodeo cowboy Cole McArthur left Marietta and never looked back. He lived his dream of being a rodeo cowboy. Cole's father needs him now and Jess Clark is willing swallow her pride and confront Cole to get him to come back home. Cole broke Jess's heart ten years ago, but she will do what she needs to do in order to reunite father and son again.
Jess grew up moving from one foster home to the next. She worked hard to become a nurse and make something of her life. The McArthurs gave her a sense of family and she would do anything for them.
Jess lied to get Cole back home. She told him The Copper Mountain Rodeo wasn't doing as well and If he made an appearance, he might be able to save it. Cole may not have returned if he knew the real reason Jess wanted him at home was because his father was diagnosed with MS and he was getting worse.
Jess only planned on Cole being home for a weekend. When he arrives a week early, Jess isn't prepared. She still has strong feelings for him and staying together for a week will be a real test for her. As they work through their differences, Cole and Jess eventually find themselves in each other's arms. Now that Jess and Cole have worked through their problems, will Cole be able make amends with his father before it's too late?
This was an emotional book. Jess and Cole were both very stubborn when it came to letting go of the past. Together, they discover how important love and family is, and sometimes it requires some extra effort to work through the differences.
Keep Me, Cowboy by Nicole Helm is the third novella in the multi-authored 2015 Montana Born Rodeo series and is a second chance romance between Cole McArthur, a rodeo cowboy, and Jess Clark, a nurse. They fell in love ten years ago but Cole's decision to leave Marietta led to a lot of hurt and unanswered questions on Jess's part. When the reason for his departure is brought to light, the first thought in my head was how much time these two people lost because of one person's manipulations, even though it's revealed that the maneuvering was done with the best of intentions. Their respective lives may have moved forward, but it's clear they were stuck as far as being with a potential love interest was concerned.
The McArthur family dynamic had me quite curious and I wonder if there's a potential spin-off series or possibly novellas in other series that will be about Lina McArthur and Carter McArthur and his wife Sierra Shuller, whose wedding was a side story in Nicole Helm's Bride by Mistake, the third novella in the Montana Born Brides, because of their unresolved issues. There's also Jess's search for her brother Dean which appears to have been going on for more than a decade. Even with the other things still left hanging, I did like how Cole and Jess's love story was wrapped up because it was about forgiveness and redemption and felt hopeful. Keep Me, Cowboy is a story of second chances in love and life and receives four stars. ♥
A broken family, emotionally unable to connect and communicate, with secrets and lies, betrayal and manipulation. All Jess ever wanted was to be part of a family, but everyone she has loved, has left her without warning or explanation. She let the McArthurs treat her as a servant, and made herself believe she was part of the family. One of those who left her is Cole, and now ten years later she is willing to manipulate and lie, to get Cole back into Marietta, so she could fix the broken McArthur family, in thanks for what they have done for her. Little does she know, it was Dr McArthur, who made Cole to leave, with her as the target of the extortion. There is so much pain from the past, and heartache of the present in this novella. Not just between Cole and Jess, but the whole dysfunctional family is crumbling. The communication skills between the family members are nearly non existent. And they don't seem to even care, or willing to try. I felt frustrated through the story, I just couldn't relate to them, or understand why they were so stubbornly hurting the people they are supposed to care about. Nothing is solved in the story when it comes to the family, and the issues they face. Jess and Cole found some kind of happy for now, let's try to work thing out, at the end. I felt this novella stirred a bee's nest called McArthur family, and left the angry bees to fly around. For a novella to start a family saga, this would have been a perfect story to get the interest, but for a third book in a series of the rodeo, I was left a bit confused and unsatisfied. Hopefully the next book in the series has lots of answers for us.
~ Three Spoons
Jess and Cole had been teenage lovers, okay maybe not true lovers but teenagers in love. Right up until the moment Cole left Marietta without a word, and without a backward glance. Left his home, his family and the girl who loved him and that he loved as well.
Ten years later, Jess is determined to get Cole back to Marietta. Back to the family that needs him, even if they are too proud and stubborn to admit that fact. And if she’s honest with herself, back to her as well. He’d destroyed her when he left. Everyone left her, so it shouldn’t have hurt so much but this was Cole. He was supposed to be hers. Until he proved that wrong as well.
Cole never intended to return home. Home is where the heart is was just a silly old saying, except that his heart really had stayed with Jess. Even when he couldn’t. The rodeo was his world, even though his father had forbade it. This was the only career he’d wanted. He also wanted Jess at his side, but his father also made that impossible too. He wasn’t a damned doctor and never would be, but you couldn’t tell the old man that.
Keep Me, Cowboy is an engaging story of how family can truly create havoc and chaos within its circle. People rarely change, but circumstances can bring about changes that no one ever expects. Jess needed answers. Cole needed to give them to her. While not a run off and get married story – this is the story of a hard fought for second chance to see what could be if two people who loved each other really committed to their future.
I enjoyed this story very much. I would recommend Keep Me, Cowboy for anyone who loves second chances, a complex family dynamics and a really good love story.
*I received an e-ARC of Keep Me, Cowboy from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. That does not change what I think of this novel.*
This is the third book in the Montana Born Rodeo 2015 series. Sorry for repeating myself but it still applies - Each book works well as a standalone, each is written by a different author but they do have some of the same characters in them and, of course, key events like the rodeo are also common to all the books. I am still so highly impressed by how these authors work so well together, I actually feel like I’m starting to know my way around Marietta through their descriptions!
This time ex foster child Jess Clark is going to see her teenage sweetheart, Cole McArthur, to try to get him to come home again after a decade away from his family, friends and home in Marietta. She’s actually going because his father has been diagnosed with MS and she feels the family needs to reconnect with each other, even though she isn’t really one of them. Cole is a rodeo cowboy who was given an ultimatum by his father; he’s never forgotten Jess and no one has ever come near to measuring up to her in his heart. When he finds her at his door their attraction is still explosive but with family secrets, shocking revelations, misunderstandings and so much more do they stand a chance of achieving their HEA? You’ll have to read it to find out!
This is another wonderful, sweet novella in this series - again, a delight to get lost in. The dreadfully poor communication between members of McArthur family causes so much trouble for them all. Reading as Jess develops from something of a doormat to a more forthright, feisty young woman is delightful. Similarly as Cole faces his own dilemmas and starts to understand his own reactions better all adds to the dynamics of their relationship and the story. An emotional journey that it is a roller coaster ride with plenty of twists, turns, ups and downs to keep the reader enthralled. A great story to get lost in, highly recommended!
Thanks to the author, publishers and NetGalley, too for provided an ARC for me to read in exchange for this, my honest review.
Keep Me Cowboy is the third in the 2015 Copper Mountain Rodeo series. Although it is part of a series, it stands alone nicely as the setting in gorgeous Marietta Montana and the timing of the book around the annual rodeo are the only real links between the books in this series.
This book tugged at my heartstrings a little. There was a lot of hurt to he healed but also a lot of love to be rediscovered, which was a far from easy process for those involved.
Jess Clark grew up in one foster home after another, finally coming to the Mc Arthur family in her teens. She's never felt as though she belonged anywhere nor has she ever felt loved or cherished so she's determined that this time this family will take her in and make her one of their own. Trouble is the McArthurs are not known for their shows of affection. The other problem Jess faces is Cole Mc Arthur. Cole is a year older than Jess, and became the love of her life when she was seventeen before leaving her, his family and Marietta with no goodbyes, no explanations and no backward glances.
Cole has never buckled down and done his father's bidding. He's made a successful career for himself on the rodeo circuit and he has no intention of ever returning to Marietta. He is shocked to the core when Jess turns up on his doorstep and even more shocked to find he still wants her just as fiercely ten years after leaving her as he did when he left.
I very much enjoyed this book. Despite the hurt, despite the harsh reality of proud people often not saying the things they needed to say, this family felt real to me, and I could understand all their various points of view. I was there on the sidelines wanting Cole and Jess to make up and oh so happy when they did. If you enjoy a bit of angst in your romance then this is the book for you.
Nothing moves me more than a story of lost opportunities and the chance to make things right in the long run.
Jess has suffered more than her share of heartache, but after rising above the cruelty of her youth, she is now determined to do what she can for others, even if they don’t necessarily deserve her support.
But when Jess embarks on a mission to bring home a wayward son to a family blinded by their own self-importance, she may be coveting more pain and misery than she bargained for at the hands of this emotionally hardened Rodeo Cowboy.
Jess is easy to love, with her selfless and caring nature, but the McArthur’s are steeped in mystery and definitely raise more questions than they answer.
Keep Me, Cowboy (Montana Born Rodeo 2015, Book 3) by Nicole Helm is only loosely connected to the other books in this series. Each has the rodeo coming to town as the backdrop but other than that they are self-contained. I have enjoyed each, including this one but I haven’t found any real need to read in order.
I have only read one other book by Ms. Helm. She is adept at letting you see into the characters’ mind. This gives her stories an extra emotional depth. Keep Me, Cowboy proves to be a fine example of that very thing. Cole and Jess both had challenging childhoods some of which interconnects so it is no surprise that they have a history. I did find their forgiveness to be extraordinarily surprising since I felt the father did not deserve it. The high road is certainly taken by Jess and Cole. It is worth the read just to see the grace that they exhibit. I couldn’t have been happier with the ending that these two found.
The publisher through Net Galley provided a copy.
Keep Me, Cowboy is a second chance love story between two people who had different priorities in life when they first met but has now come into a turning point in their lives after ten years. This was quite an emotional book, full of regrets, repressed feelings and lots and lots of misunderstanding. Cole has issues with his father that had spilled out unintentionally to his early relationship with Jess. But he hasn't really forgotten what she meant to him. Jess on the other hand has been fooling herself into believing that she doesn't deserve more than what she has and in fact is feeling grateful that Cole's family has decided to foster her as a young teen. When they finally meet again because of family circumstances they now had to confront what they were before and how to go beyond it. Cole as a character was very difficult to like, but you get a very good sense of how much remorse and regret he has for leaving Jess behind with no explanation. Now Jess had the most development in this book. From someone who barely acknowledges herself as an individual deserving of more, she in turn realizes that she needs to find out who she really is without this constant need of getting by and being taken for granted. Overall, Cole and Jess journey back into each other was dealt really well and is probably what makes this story worth reading.
For a short novella, this story packs an emotional punch as Cole returns to Marietta at the behest of a girl he once loved, a girl who went through one foster family after another looking for acceptance, which she thought she'd found with Cole's family. But when Cole abandoned her and his family, Jess learned to live with the loss of the young man she was coming to love. Only now Cole's father is sick, and Jess decides that once and for all, Cole should come home and face up to his past - and his future.
While there is definitely a romance in this story, a second chance at love, it's more about family dynamics than anything, and the difficulties Cole had with his father that led to his leaving, and eventual return. His two siblings and himself, as well as his parents, share an equal burden for having let their family fracture. Jess's hopes for reconciliation for all of them tie the story together. It's a pretty heavy story emotionally, but we get a happy for now ending for Cole and Jess as their strong feelings for each other finally make them both realize that they want to be together for the long haul. 3.5 stars.
This is the third book in the 2015 Copper Mountain Rodeo series. Although part of a series, these books are stand alone reads. I have read each in the series thus far and I must say...this one tugged on the ol' heartstrings a bit. Jess Clark's past was full of hurt and heartbreak and she longed to be part of a family. Jess grew up in the foster care system and she came to live with the McArthur family when she was in her teens. As the book went on and you learned more about this family...I have to say I couldn't stand the parents. They were cold and unloving...I could go on and on. Cole was the McArthur's son and he was a year older than Jess. She loved him with all of her heart when she was a teen and she was devastated when he left Marietta with no goodbye or explanation. Cole broke away from his family and became a successful rodeo rider. He had no intention of returning to Marietta. Jess turns up on his doorstep ten years later and asks him to return home. Cole is shocked to find that he still has strong feelings for her. I really enjoyed this book, it is emotional and well written. Parts are heartbreaking but the fact that Jess and Cole's love got a second chance made it very much worth the read.
This book is a punch to the gut. In a broken family, it's hard to be the extra. And that's exactly who Jess is - the adoptive daughter, forever trying to be good so she will be loved, can stay. It's even harder when you're in love with one of your stepbrothers. And she is, very much. But Cole has left her and Marietta. He has no intention of coming back. Unfortunately, it's Jess who has to persuade him to come home, deal with family, and deal with her.
There have been some pretty dysfunctional families in the Marietta lexicon, but I'm not sure any of them come close to the McArthurs. It all starts with Dad. He's autocratic, demanding, unbending, and generally acts unemotional. Unfortunately those traits have pervaded the family. He drove off his son Cole with an ultimatum that shattered Jess's heart. He doesn't treat any of his kids well and keeps secrets from his wife. But suddenly Dad is in trouble. So Jess steps in and tries to make it all better. And her actions finally crack and then demolish the facade. The whole family ends up reeling because of the secrets that come out.
Against this backdrop of family pain, upheaval, and betrayal, Cole and Jess must find out if their 10 year separation will forever tear them apart or if they can try and find a way back to each other. The crux of their issues now is communication and they both decide (independently) to get with it and start talking. Both are hurting, Cole because of his father and Jess because of Cole.
The craziness of the family story makes Jess and Cole's HEA that much sweeter. It's a harder road than most and it is a road that comes with some steep prices and deep fissures in other relationships (including one from a previous Marietta book). The naked pain of so many characters could have dragged this book into a maudlin or melodramatic farce and yet it never went over the top. It was just straight up and unapologetic. I'm curious now about some of the other characters and what is in store for them.
I received a copy of this book from Netgalley/Tule Publishing for an honest review. "Keep Me, Cowboy" by Nicole Helm is book three in the Montana Born Rodeo 2015 series but can be read as a standalone. This is Jess Clark and Cole McArthur's story.
This is a sweet and emotional romance. Cole left ten years ago without saying goodbye to Jess. He hasn't seen his family since he left. Jess doesn't want to face Cole but his family needs him. She talks Cole into coming back to Marietta and facing his family so he can be with them in this time of need. Coming back is really hard on Cole since he and his dad do not get along. The whole McArthur family have lots of issues and secrets.
Even though it's been ten years and they were teenagers when Cole left the attraction and chemistry between them has only intensified. Between the family issues and Cole leaving like he did will they give themselves a second chance at love?
The author did a great job of where the reader could feel the hurt, passion, sadness, frustration, and eventually happiness of the characters. A story of forgiveness and second chances. I really enjoyed this book!
So far all the books that I've read in the Montana Born Rodeo 2015 series can be read in any order and each is great as a standalone. https://booksnuggle.wordpress.com/
This one was darker than previous three out of this series. Jess Clark and Cole McArthur's second chance at love. It was heartbreaking story of acceptance and forgiveness. They were madly in love but Cole did not want to become a doctor like his father so Cole left his family in Marrieta to pursue career in rodeo and left Jess. She never knew why Cole left her without a word. After losing Cole, Jess desperately seeking for love,acceptance from McArthr's but she didn't really received it from them. She worked hard to become a nurse and trying her best and working under Dr. McArthur. He was very ridged man. He did call her by wrong name and not acknowledging her. When Jess finds out he has MS, she decided to bring Cole back to his family. McArthur may have social status and respects from everyone but his family was dysfunctional in so many ways. There were many secrets from each other and they really did not communicate with each other. Only one person who kept this family sane was Jess. Cole doesn't want to face his father but they had to eventually due to his illness. Jess wanted to hear why Cole left her and finally he answers that questions. the story had an ending but it wasn't really an ending I was hoping for. It had more questions about Cole's family But I was happy for Jess at the end. It was more emotional compare to the other ones.
4 stars
Keep Me Cowboy was a beautifully written second chance love story.
It was heartwarming and pulled at the heartstrings, I highly recommend this book.
Thank you Tule Publishing via NetGalley for the advance copy.
A great read it kept me riveted from the very start of the book to the very end i just loved everything about this book.
The characters are so well written and so easy too fall for.
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