Kiss Me, Cowboy

Kiss Me, Cowboy by Melissa McClone

For Charlotte "Charlie" Randall, one kiss meant everything.  It was the beginning and the end.  It was the best and the worst.  It was the moment she fell in love with Zack Harris...and the moment she lost him forever.  Because no matter how are she tries to be "one of the guys", she cannot be anywhere near Zack if he can't see her as a woman he wants to be with.

Zack Harris knows the importance of family.  With his parents completely out of the picture and his army buddies scattered across the country, the only family he has left are the wranglers of the Bar V5.  That's why when he kissed Charlie Randall during a moment of weakness alarm bells sounded instead of wedding bells.  He could NOT let romantic feelings tear his family apart.  Yet now Charlie is leaving for Colorado and Zack has just a few days to convince her not to abandon the family they have all built together.  Except that might not be the only reason he wants her to stay.  Can he convince her to give the Bar V5 - and him - another chance?

I think that the Bar V5 could easily be at the top of my "Literary Places I Would Go If They Were Real" list.  I mean, who would jump at a chance to visit a ranch with hot cowboys that doubled as a spa?  This is the second visit Melissa McClone has brought us on, and I know that I hope and pray that there are MANY more.

Story-wise, this story is sweet and heartfelt.  Both main characters are on the same page with family history.  Yet their individual reactions to their similar upbringings could not be any more different.  Charlie knows that life is full of love and acceptance.  Zack is positive that he wouldn't know what to do with love, even if it were shown to him.  This spin is both old and new at the same time.  It is familiar, but with a twist.  I love how Melissa McClone has managed, as in many of her stories, to take a situation that many romance stories have utilized, and give is a fresh coat of paint for a refreshing take.

The main thing I love about this story is that the characters all genuinely care about each other.  They are close, and that closeness really breathes through.  The reader doesn't need to be told that the wranglers all love and respect Ty, because it is evident from the way the never question his authority yet treat him like a brother.  The same goes for the way the other wranglers feel about Charlie.  She is clearly respected as a senior member of the staff.

Overall, this is a perfect "comfort" book.  A book that you read when you want to know that there are places where everything is right with the world and things really do make sense.  The turmoil in the book is emotional, but there is no danger of being punched in the gut by it.  The world needs books like this.

Continuity/Flow – 5
Sex – 4 

Characters – 5

Storyline – 5

Overall – 5