That Cowboy of Mine

3.75stars--THAT COWBOY OF MINE by Donna Grant is a stand alone, contemporary, adult, romance story line focusing on ranch owner Dillon Young, and former bull rider Cal Bennett. Told from third person perspective THAT COWBOY OF MINE follows in the wake of Dillon Young finding a hung over and injured Cal Bennett in one of her fields. Unable to remember what happened or how he go there, former bull rider Cal Bennett offers to work as a ranch hand, someone of whom Dillon is desperate since the walk out of most of her help. Dillon Young inherited the Bar 4 Ranch from her late aunt Dolly but in the ensuing time the neighbor Hank Stephens has insisted Dillon sell the ranch. Refusing to bend to Hank’s demands, Dillon finds herself the victim of several attacks, and if not for our hero, Dillon’s life would have already been lost. What ensues is the slow building romance and relationship between Dillon and Cal, and the potential fall-out as issues of trust force Cal out of Dillon’s life, ensuring our heroine is an easy target for the people desperate to take control of the Bar 4 Ranch. Cal Bennett, like his father, has ridden the bulls for most of his life but his recent losses on the riding circuit found Cal wandering with no apparent aim in life. Unable to remember how he arrived at the Bar 4 Ranch, Cal begins an investigation of his own, believing the attacks against Dillon may be connected to his black out the night before. Dillon Young refuses to sell her aunt Polly’s ranch but someone is making life very difficult for our story line heroine. Unable to trust anyone including the man with whom she is falling in love, Dillon pushes everyone out of her life but leaves herself vulnerable to the people trying to take her down. The relationship between Dillon and Cal begins when Dillon finds Cal alone on her ranch. Cal offers to help with the ranch by way of apology but Dillon continues to struggle with issues of trust in the wake of everything that has been happening until the present. The slow building relationship falters in the face of mistrust, and Cal refuses to be the cause of any further harm to our story line heroine. The $ex scenes are limited but passionate. We are introduced to ranch hands Emmett Perkins, Dusty and Freddy Miller; neighbor Hank Stephens, attorney Isaac Gomez, Ranger Chet Thompson, and Sheriff Felps. THAT COWBOY OF MINE is a story of power, greed, betrayal and vengeance. The premise is entertaining-the suspense is limited as most of the people responsible are revealed early in the story; the characters are wounded but spirited; the romance is intimate but limited and slow to develop.

This was a fantastic cowboy romance. Had all the right stuff and plenty of suspense throughout to keep me intrigued the whole way through right to the happily ever after I crave. Dillon and Cal were leary of each other with good reason, there's a lot of holes and mystery to each one's background. Surprising twists in here I didn't see coming and I thought it was very well written indeed. A recommended read if you love romance, cowboys, mysteries, and/or suspense. I received an ARC thru NetGalley. All opinions are strictly my own.

That Cowboy of Mine was the perfect romantic suspense story that I didn't know I was looking for. This story certainly kept me on the edge of my seat from very early on! When Cal Bennett woke up to the sound of a shotgun being cocked and it being pointed at him, he knew he wasn't in a good place. The problem was he didn't remember how he got to the ranch he now found himself waking up on with the ranch owner staring down at him. Dillon Young is the ranch owner who found Cal hungover on her land and she's a bit out of sorts because strange and mysterious things have been happening on the ranch. She has a feeling it's likely her neighbor, Hank, who wants nothing more than to get his hands on her land. When Dillion tells Cal what is going on, she's not sure if she trusts him or if he's in on the odd things happening. They enter into a tentative truce as he helps her try to figure out what is going on and things take another turn when someone makes an attempt on Dillion's life. Is Cal as innocent as he says he is or does he just not remember? Will the feelings that start to develop between Cal and Dillion last or will the stress of the situation end things before they start? I was invested in this one from the start. I wanted to know what happened and it was well written and it unfolded at a good pace keeping the reader interested and invested in what the outcome would be. I enjoyed this one for sure!