The Last Real Cowboy
Cold River Ranch Book 3
by Caitlin Crews
USA Today bestselling author Caitlin Crews returns to the Cold River Ranch series with The Last Real Cowboy!
In Cold River, sometimes forbidden love is the sweetest of them all…
Perennial good girl Amanda Kittredge knows that her longtime crush on Brady Everett was never really supposed to go anywhere. But when Brady comes home during Amanda’s first attempt at independence, well, who better to teach her about rebellion than her older brother’s bad-boy best friend?
Brady’s plans did not include being forced to work the family homestead for a year—and yet, here he is. And, to make matters worse, his best friend’s innocent little sister is making a menace of herself in the most grown-up, tempting ways. When Amanda begs Brady to teach her about men, he knows he should refuse. But could Brady’s greatest temptation be his salvation?
Momma Says: 2 stars⭐⭐
I've read the first two books in this series, and I liked book one but wasn't thrilled with book two, so I was hoping for a tie-breaker in the positive with this third book. Sadly, that was not to be. For me, this one was just a hot mess all the way around despite the presence of some favorite romance tropes. I tend to be drawn to cowboys, but wow - if Brady is The Last Real Cowboy then cowboys are in a sad state. And it's not that I even minded him being a jerk, or I wouldn't have if he'd shown half the heart I would expect in a romance. And maybe that's a big part of the problem, I never really felt the romance here. This one is also an older man/younger woman romance, which is usually right up my alley, but again, this one didn't work for me. Honestly, ten years difference isn't that much when the characters are both adults, but for Amanda and Brady, it felt like much more. The fact that Brady thinks Amanda is still in high school is a big ick factor for me. Then he finally notices her when he gets a glimpse of some cleavage? Here's where I refer back to Brady being a jerk. Then again, I can't really say that I liked Amanda any better. If she wants people to treat her like an adult, maybe she should try acting like one. And I'm sorry, but having sex does not make one an adult as has been proven by teenagers for generations. Then we have Amanda's brothers, who were just caricatures of the protective older brother in my opinion. They're just too over the top to be believed. And that brings us to the brother's best friend trope, which really isn't one of my favorites, but it's the least of my problems with this book. In the end, this one was just much too long with a lot of page time taken up by everybody disagreeing with everybody else, and the couple did not work for me. It isn't one I'd recommend.
❃❃ARC courtesy of NetGalley and St. Martin's Press
I've read the first two books in this series, and I liked book one but wasn't thrilled with book two, so I was hoping for a tie-breaker in the positive with this third book. Sadly, that was not to be. For me, this one was just a hot mess all the way around despite the presence of some favorite romance tropes. I tend to be drawn to cowboys, but wow - if Brady is The Last Real Cowboy then cowboys are in a sad state. And it's not that I even minded him being a jerk, or I wouldn't have if he'd shown half the heart I would expect in a romance. And maybe that's a big part of the problem, I never really felt the romance here. This one is also an older man/younger woman romance, which is usually right up my alley, but again, this one didn't work for me. Honestly, ten years difference isn't that much when the characters are both adults, but for Amanda and Brady, it felt like much more. The fact that Brady thinks Amanda is still in high school is a big ick factor for me. Then he finally notices her when he gets a glimpse of some cleavage? Here's where I refer back to Brady being a jerk. Then again, I can't really say that I liked Amanda any better. If she wants people to treat her like an adult, maybe she should try acting like one. And I'm sorry, but having sex does not make one an adult as has been proven by teenagers for generations. Then we have Amanda's brothers, who were just caricatures of the protective older brother in my opinion. They're just too over the top to be believed. And that brings us to the brother's best friend trope, which really isn't one of my favorites, but it's the least of my problems with this book. In the end, this one was just much too long with a lot of page time taken up by everybody disagreeing with everybody else, and the couple did not work for me. It isn't one I'd recommend.
❃❃ARC courtesy of NetGalley and St. Martin's Press
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