Hello everyone!
Yes, that pun is absolutely intended.
Yes, it also probably means exactly what you think it means.
No, I'm not going to apologize for it.
That said, to be quite clear: the books I'll be reviewing this month when it comes to the holiday picks do feature various amounts of smutty scenes that readers may or may not want to read through.
Then again, if you pick up a book which explains exactly what you're getting into in the blurb, then I don't know what to tell you about your expectations.
This is a safe space, where we lust after hot daddy cowboys and leave all the other details in the dust, but equally we run a full gamut of emotions and really EARN that happily ever after.
That's all there is to it.
So without further ado - Chasing the Wild!
Chasing the Wild is the first in the Crimson Ridge series, and I stumbled onto it accidentally after picking up several other books of a similar theme (Christmas, ex-boyfriend, daddy anyone?), and I'm really glad I did.
Because Elliott Rose is a very good writer, and her books have - thus far - definitely not disappointed me in the slightest!
Layla, our heroine, is on her way to a student placement, but she has to drop of her ex's things before she can get there - and in the meet-cute of 'I somehow don't have enough money to pay for my own tank of gas', she meets Colt Wilder first.
Only, she doesn't know that's him. It's a handsome as sin cowboy at the gas station whom she later runs into while hunting down her ex, Kayce, who turns out to be Colt's son.
Oh yeah, we're in that type of book, bby.
She hightails it outta there before she can do anything stupid, but is back five months later because, surprise surprise, Kayce depleted her money and she's dead-ass broke, but needs said money for several reasons (the most important one: caring for her aunt, who suffers from dementia).
Ergo, back to Crimson Ridge she goes, and once again it's Colt who's dealing with her, since Kayce isn't even there.
To make matters more complicated, snow starts falling, thick and heavy, and basically cuts the ranch off from the rest of the world ... indefinitely.
If you're thinking this is the part where the tension starts ramping up, you're correct.
Layla and Colt are both obviously attracted to each other, and once he offers her a job which she can confidently put on her resume, well, all bets are off how long they'll last keeping their hands off each other.
And the yearning is TOP NOTCH, lemme tell you.
There's a few slipups here and there, particularly once two rather nasty pieces of work - the Piersons, they're called - start sniffing around Layla and forcing Colt to sit up all night with his shotgun armed and ready, until eventually something's gotta give.
So Layla and Colt are like, you know what? If we only have two or so weeks before the world comes knocking again?
Fuck it, let's.
Then the steam starts steaming and oh, the STEAM. But it's also the care, because Colt opens up to Layla and Layla to Colt and the two of them just reach each other in places no other person has ever reached them. He teaches her important things she'll need later on at work, and shows her around the ranch, including a remote cottage he built on the property away from the main house.
And all the while, the clock is ticking, even as they begin to realize this isn't just going to be a holiday fling.
Everything comes to a screeching halt when KAYCE, of all people, shows up at the ranch out of the blue, and has a pregnant woman with him. I think her name's Chy, but to be perfectly honest I'm still so mad at her that I refuse to remember it LOL, so let's roll with Chy, shall we?
Chy is a nasty piece of work and Layla and Colt have to be extra careful, though she throws around a lot of threats and whatnot because, well, unlike Kayce (or men in general, I should say), she isn't stupid and can see the sparks flying from a mile away.
There's a big to-do at a party later where the Piersons get arrested for spiking a girl's drink, and combined with all the rest of the stuff that the sheriff's been trying to pin on them, you can say they'll be gone for good. Colt, however, knows Layla has to follow her dreams, so he gives her the push she needs to go finish becoming a total badass vet.
Five or six months after that, she runs into Kayce again at a rodeo, where he apologizes, explains that his old man REALLY misses her (and that Kayce is totally cool with this whole thing, mind), and also that Chy was a piece of work herself.
See, the Piersons? They were somehow related to Chy, cousins or something; they're also related to Colt through his grandfather, who was the REAL Devil of Devil's Peak, where the ranch is located. Colt had tried giving them shares and everything, but they wanted the whole ranch, or nothing, so they kept vandalizing the place and being dangerous crackheads.
And oh, Chy's baby wasn't even Kayce's, so there's THAT.
Layla goes on to graduate after that news bomb, and lo and behold but who should appear with a bouquet and a Stetson hat but Colt himself. The pair of them agree that any future without the other in it is a future not worth living, and basically drive off happily, back towards the ranch, and to a life they'll be building together. From a latter epilogue, we know that they travel extensively for Layla's different placements, but that they're both very VERY happy!
And I mean, Colton Wilder has a mouth on him, and damn if that's not hot.
But more importantly, again, is how the MMC takes care of the FMC and treasures her, rather than taking her for granted.
That's what hooks me in these stories, more than just the smutty portions (those are fun too, though).
I also really enjoyed Ms Rose's writing style as a whlole and have fallen in love with Crimson Ridge so, will DEFINITELY be continuing this series. Absolutely recommend, especially this time of year when you need something cozy (and sexy) to get you through those long afternoons!
But more importantly, again, is how the MMC takes care of the FMC and treasures her, rather than taking her for granted.
That's what hooks me in these stories, more than just the smutty portions (those are fun too, though).
I also really enjoyed Ms Rose's writing style as a whlole and have fallen in love with Crimson Ridge so, will DEFINITELY be continuing this series. Absolutely recommend, especially this time of year when you need something cozy (and sexy) to get you through those long afternoons!
xx
*image not mine
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