Roz Denny Fox

I was drawn into this pretty quick, and really liked the character of Crystal. But, her all-out disdain for kids playing any kind of organized sport got on my nerves a little bit. She believes that kids should not play soccer, football or basketball because of the dangers of being injured and disabled for life. Exhibit 1 – Skip, a foster child in the hospital who was injured in a football game and may never walk again. Crystal plays with a jazz band on weekends, and also volunteers time at show more the children's ward of the local hospital, playing for the kids, and she has a soft spot for poor little Skip. Not only is he a foster child, but thanks to his need for a wheelchair, he may not be able to return to the foster family he lived with and his social worker, who happens to be Crystal's foster cousin, will have to locate a new placement for him. Coincidentally, (Exhibit 2) the several other boys in the same ward with Skip are all hospitalized due to sports related injuries. When Crystal got on her soapbox about how terrible these sports are, I wanted to shake her and say chill out, girl! Even though my daughter was injured in a soccer game and her ankle still occasionally bothers her several years later. But shit happens.

Caleb is also a patient in the hospital, with a sports related injury – he's a professional football player. And his injury may have ended his career, though he's having a very hard time facing that reality. Caleb took me a little longer to like. I'm not a fan of football, so his career certainly did not impress me. Actually I'm not a sports fan at all, though I loved watching my kid play soccer. But, you know, that's my kid and she was the best goalie around. Caleb is definitely a player, and I did think “gag me” right along with Crystal at the way he peppered his conversations with “darlin'” and “sweetheart”, etc. etc.

This is the third book in a series, “The Lyon Legacy”, and normally I’m very anal about reading series books in order, but with category romances I don't usually bother with that as much, especially when it's a multi author series, as this one is. But there are so many members of the Lyon family, working together at the broadcasting company they own, and many living together in the family mansion, that I was often confused about who was who, especially Andre and Alain, which is probably just because their names are similar. Yes, they are. Well, they both start with the letter A. And I'm old and get confused easily. The book has a family tree at the front, and I consulted it more than once. So I do think I would have benefited from reading the first two books before reading this one.

I warmed up to Caleb right along with Crystal, especially as we learned more about how he fought the state to keep his three younger sisters out of the foster care system after their parents died. The main storyline is about the Lyon broadcasting company wanting Caleb to come on board as their new sportscaster, and Crystal, who handles the company’s finances, finding herself being pushed into also handling this jock. And while she learns that he's certainly more than just an athlete in a sport she abhors, she doesn't ever really seem to change her opinion about sports in general. A little growth there would have been nice.

There is also a subplot about the family matriarch, Margaret, being missing, and money being mysteriously withdrawn from her bank account several times (which Crystal knows about as, again, she's in charge of the finances). A private detective is eventually brought in to try and track Margaret down, and I seriously had a hard time understanding why the family would not notify the police and file a missing person's report. It's not like they didn't care, they were all terribly worried about her, but hesitated to admit she might actually be a real missing person and not just off alone grieving for her recently deceased husband.

The Skip storyline was resolved nicely, even though one day Caleb was dead set against Crystal wanting to be his foster parent (and if that's a spoiler I apologize, but you should have seen it coming), and the next day he's suddenly on board with it. He had an epiphany apparently, but it was off page, and I would have liked it to have been explored more.

Overall I quite enjoyed the book. There's a lot of plot crammed into it's 299 pages and the action moved along nicely with the story never dragging. Plus, for some reason I just really like the cover picture, especially the girl laughing. But, I was disappointed when I turned the last page, and Margaret was still missing. Which means if I want to know what happened to her, I have to read the next book. show less

Real Cowboys is a gentle, feel-good romance about life, love and family. It takes place in a tiny rural community in the southwest corner of Idaho where its border meets Oregon and Nevada. It's kind of a place out of time where ranchers run cattle in the old-fashioned way while fighting legal battles to keep their government grazing land leases. Everybody knows everybody else, and the few children in the community attend a one-room schoolhouse that encompasses grades 1-8, and that's only show more when a teacher is available. It's a little like going back to the pioneer days which is an era I enjoy reading about. Half-Native American cowboy, Ben Trueblood, works hard on his ranch in between his bouts with government bureaucracy, but he's keeping a secret that no one except Lou “Bobbalou” Bobolink, his cook and the man who essentially raised him knows. Widow, Kate Steele, accepts the job as teacher at the little school to get away from in-laws who are trying to mold her son, Danny, into a carbon copy of his father, a rodeo cowboy who left Kate with a distrust of all cowboys. Kate battles with Danny over his passion to become a champion roper like his father, and Ben is raising a young daughter, Clover, that he adopted as an infant after her teenage parents abandoned her in his barn. There is a little medical drama when Cover is bitten by a poisonous spider for which there is no antivenin, and a bit more excitement when the kids do something dangerous after getting a wild notion in their heads. Overall though, Real Cowboys is just a laid-back, slice-of-life romance about two people trying to overcome their differences to create the family they've both always wanted and never really had.

I really liked both Ben and Kate as the hero and heroine. Kate is a great mom and teacher in spite of being in a wheelchair. She was in the same car accident that killed her husband, but mysteriously the doctors were never able to find any injury to explain her inability to walk afterward. She's also very wary of all cowboys after living with a husband who cheated on her and put his rodeo competitions ahead of her and Danny, so when she meets Ben there's an instant attraction that she tries hard to ignore. Ben is a buckaroo (slightly different than a cowboy) rancher who is nothing like Kate's first husband. He's not on the rodeo circuit, but instead is just a man who loves cattle and horses, trying to make a living off the land. He's a deeply committed father to Clover even though she isn't his biological child. I did figure out Ben's secret pretty easily, but was happy to see that when he finally came clean with Kate, she was very supportive. Ben was just an all-around great guy. He and Kate together took their time building a relationship that was very sweet and tender.

The kids, Danny and Clover, were positively adorable. They become fast friends, and get along famously right from the start. They can occasionally be a bit precocious, but all-in-all were rendered in a very age-appropriate way which I appreciated. Danny really wants to be a calf roper, but Kate's fears of him turning into his father cause her to be a bit hard on him. He's not too thrilled about moving to Idaho, and sometimes has moments where he becomes understandably sulky about that and his mom stifling his dreams, but he's never obnoxious. Clover is a really cute little girl who had spent her whole life around ranchers and has become a bit of a tomboy, but when the pretty new teacher comes along, it inspires her to want more girly things. She has some difficulties with her schoolwork, but is an amazingly good artist. She also has an incredible way with animals that almost touches on the paranormal, because it's as though she can psychically communicate with them. This part of the story fascinated me, and I wish there had been room to explore her talent more.

Anyone who is looking for a nice, easy, heartwarming read without any major conflicts or villains, or anyone who enjoys a good cowboy or Native American story should definitely check out Real Cowboys. There are only a handful of profanities, and the only love scene is very mild with virtually no details, so it would likely be acceptable for younger and more sensitive readers. Roz Denny Fox wrote a novella sequel to Real Cowboys titled Nate's Anatomy, featuring physician's assistant, Nate Ramsey, who is introduced in this book. Ben, Kate and Bobbalou all make appearances in his story which is currently available as a free online e-book at the e-Harlequin website. Real Cowboys is also part of the Harlequin multi-author series Home on the Ranch. As far as I know, there are no carry-over characters or storylines in this series, just the common Western theme of cowboys and ranchers. Roz Denny Fox is fast becoming an author I can count on for a good comfort read that leaves me with a warm, fuzzy feeling. I'm really looking forward to continuing my exploration of her extensive back-list. show less

Maybe I need to take a break reading harlequin because I can't seem to empathize with the h anymore, I actually feel bad for the H instead!!! Literally!

"Maybe it was an unreasonable expectation, but dammit, she wanted to be the top priority to the man she married. Crossing her arms on the table, she put down her head and wept for all that might have been."

That quote for the book made me want to slap her, like seriously, because you're insecure he should quit his job? Obviously going in you show more know they'll end up together so that takes a little of the angst out of it but legitimately if any of my friends came at me with this, I'd stop picking up their calls!

"That was probably why Mallory harbored resentments over him waltzing in now, stealing Liddy Bea’s affections with blithe promises of surprises."

I just couldn't put myself in her shoes enough to feel sorry for her... She made the choice to run away, her mother sent him away, hid his letters and lied to her but, he's the one with something to prove, yea right! show less

Cullen Archer is an insurance investigator working with Interpol to stop a Chinese smuggling ring involving the theft of Chinese antiquities. Mei Lu Ling, a lieutenant with Houston PD, is assigned to assist Cullen. Since Mei Lu is of Chinese descent, she can help Cullen with the language and help him understand Chinese culture. Cullen and Mei Lu are attracted to each other, but what will happen when Mei Lu finds out that her father, a dealer in Chinese antiques, may be considered a suspect show more in Cullen's case.

This was a really enjoyable story with likable lead characters. I especially liked Asian heroine Mei Lu. She was a strong and independent heroine who made her own way after walking away from her family's business. I enjoyed reading about her upbringing in her traditional Chinese family. Her dog Foo was cute, too. I also liked single-father Cullen and his eight-year-old twins. I found the case involving Chinese antiques interesting and it added suspense to this very entertaining story. show less