Real Cowboys

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 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 show more 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

In Fox’s romance novel, Kate Steele takes a teaching job in a remote corner of Idaho in hopes of preventing her in-laws from turning her son, Danny, into a no-count rodeo rider like his father. Out of the blue, she unexpectantly runs into a genuine rodeo rider and now questions her own actions. Ben Trueblood is a born rancher with plans to be a great father when he meets Kate. To his own surprise, he finds himself advising Danny that the rodeo isn’t all it’s cut out to be and that he, in fact, has plans on ending his own rodeo career in the near future.

A solid contribution to the Cowboy at Heart series.

rabck from aramena; this was not one of the author's better stories. Widowed Kate moves with her cowboy-enamored son to Idaho, thinking she's getting away from everything cowboy. Only her landlord, Ben Trueblood is a rancher. Kate has to make peace with her in-laws and son. Very contrived situations to make the happy ending