Coldwater's most-wanted cowboy is just her best friend --
until one sizzling summer kiss changes everything…
Rodeo rider Nico Laramie may not have a squeaky-clean
reputation with the women of Coldwater, but there are rules he doesn't break.
No bullies. No married women. And definitely not his best friend, Eden Joplin.
So what exactly is Nico thinking, kissing Eden in front of her jerk ex-husband?
With the proverbial bull out of the pen, Nico is about to get gored -- hard.
Eden has secretly been writing a sex-advice blog called
“Naughty Cowgirl,” but her divorce killed all her sexy inspiration. Then, when
her gorgeous best friend kisses her in a way that makes her toes curl, suddenly
Eden's mojo is back. And the heat isn't going away. Now something deep and
long-denied is happening between them. Something that could destroy their
friendship…or finally prove that this time it's the real deal.
Good friends to lovers romance. Nico is the youngest of
the four Laramie brothers. All four of them survived some horrendous
experiences in foster care, leaving them with varying degrees of scars and
baggage. They also had some good experiences. Nico recently lost one of the
foster mothers that he was close to and is still grieving the loss. In order to
be a better influence on his sixteen-year-old foster sister, Nico has sworn off
his one-night-stand, casual sex ways. It is suggested that he cultivate a more
stable relationship with a woman who has a good reputation, such as Eden
Joslin. Eden is one of Nico's best friends and is one of the "good
girls" of the town.
Eden is still reeling somewhat from her divorce. She was
married to her high school sweetheart until he left her for another woman. She
keeps her head high but is getting tired of the pity from the townspeople. What
none of them know is that besides working for the local lawyer, Eden also
writes a blog called Naughty Cowgirl, where she dispenses spicy sex advice.
Unfortunately, she has struggled with it since her divorce. But in one
unexpected encounter, everything changes.
I loved seeing Nico and Eden's friendship grow into love.
Because she and Damien had been a couple since they were teenagers, Nico had
kept Eden firmly in the friend zone. I liked the way that they could always go
to each other with their problems. So it wasn't unusual for Nico to help her
with her blog, or to go to her when he had trouble. Nico went to Eden with the
problem he had regarding his sister, and also to check on her because of a
public meltdown over her ex. He was there when Damien arrived, supposedly to
check on her. But when Damien started putting her down, including the statement
that "no other man wants her," Nico had enough. To prove Damien
wrong, Nico kissed her himself. Both of them were blindsided by the heat that
flared from that kiss, and neither was quite sure what to do about it. Can they
pursue it without ruining their friendship?
Doing something about the attraction proves to be complicated.
Both Eden and Nico's lives are filled with enough drama to fuel a soap opera.
Nico is dealing with grief over the loss of his former foster mother and trying
to help his foster sister, Piper, through her. At the same time, he has to
contend with Piper's current foster mother/aunt, a rigid, judgmental woman.
Rayelle's interference makes it difficult for Nico to spend time with Piper. Piper
has problems with more than just her grief, including the arrival of her
ex-boyfriend. Piper has secrets that are going to take both Eden and Nico to
help her handle.
I liked seeing Nico and Eden try to squeeze in time to be
together, and felt their frustration at the number of times they were
interrupted. There are some intense encounters, sometimes fueled by Eden's
blog, and some that are just plain sweet. One of the things I liked best was that
they were there for each other when the crap would hit the fan, ready to help;
however it was needed. The ending was terrific, with an inventive way of
confessing their love for each other.
The secondary characters were all well portrayed for
their parts in the story. Eden's ex, Damien, was totally oblivious to anything
that didn't affect him and made so many things all about himself. I honestly
couldn't understand what Eden had seen in him, especially as the book went on.
I loved seeing him finally get what was coming to him at the end. Rayelle was very
unlikeable at the beginning, but it didn't take long to see that there was more
to her than the uptight façade showed. The reasons were revealed in some
interesting twists. Piper was the center of much of the drama that occurred during
the book. I ached for her and her grief over Brenda's loss. It's complicated by
the other things she has going on in her life. Her relationship with her boyfriend
felt realistic, as did the drama that went along with it.
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