FINALLY! I finally really like a book in this series. It's about time! This series gets a lot of love but I haven't really been able to get into it. But I loved this story. I only picked it up because I liked the glimpse I saw of these two characters in Raising Kane so I was more than curious to see where that went.

I can hardly contain my glee. The book started off at such an interesting place (holy crap!) and I was literally thinking "how are you going to recover from this in a way that is believable?". But it did. And I thought the formation of the plot and conflicts were genius.

I think it would have been very difficult to make these two characters work well together and fit properly. James refers to them as star-crossed lovers, I always think of Romeo and Juliet with that phrase and these two differ from R&J in that one doesn't see the other romantically for quite some time. So that was a huge issue and it is really interesting how James turns that all around.

This story was really really well crafted and it progressed in a way that felt so right. Nothing felt rushed or unbelievable (in the context of the series). I loved Jessie's troubles with her identity and I loved seeing her progress. Brandt was amazing. He's my new imaginary boyfriend.

One thing I didn't dig was at the end when Brandt's mother talks about herself and her history with his father. The parallels were too crisp and clean for me to believe. In addition, I think she is a shitty woman, I don't care about her circumstances. I thought when you had yourself a child your priorities change and you put that child ahead of yourself. Everyone makes excuses for this woman and there is this impression that's she's better than or too good for the father. But she allowed for her children to get emotionally abused by the father - I'm not down with that. She even admits that she allowed it to keep her husband. Emotional abuse is not an OK thing, it's really damaging to kids (and adults) and comprable to physical abuse. To stand by and allow it because you don't want your husband to leave you is wrong, and it makes you a bad person. I'm sorry but that's how I feel and I hope she isn't a big part of other books without at least some sort of true and honest repentance.

4.5 stars

As a reader of the Rough Riders series, I have been teased with the Jessie/Brandt story for quite a while. Through the other stories of the other McKays I really wasn’t sure what direction this story would take…I just knew I wanted to see both Brandt and Jessie get their HEA. The twist (which is not a spoiler since it’s in the blurb about this book) of Luke’s baby really wasn’t expected when reading the other stories, but it was perfect for this story. Ms. James can sometimes seem to be a genius.

This story made me uncomfortable because I’ve spent the previous 9 books getting bits and pieces about Brandt’s father, Casper, and not liking the man at all. Well, he is much more present in this story and let me tell you, he is as much of a you-know-what that I imagined him to be…plus some! But I can’t dislike Joan, Brandt’s mom. Hence, the uncomfortable feeling. A lot come to light regarding the Casper/Joan relationship and the relationship between Joan and the rest of her husband’s family. I don’t know if there’s a right or wrong side to take when it comes to Joan, but I do empathize with her even if I don’t agree with all of the decisions she’s made.

It was sweet to see the way the wives of Brandt’s cousins, as well as his cousins and brothers, were concerned about Jessie when they found out his plans. It shows that although Jessie never felt that she was wanted, there are plenty of people who love and care for her. She had to be in the right mind-space to see it and be open to it though. The fact that Brandt could not only understand why they were all giving him the side-eye, but even agreed that he was being selfish in his motives, actually just made me love him all the more.

You can see my full review at https://allingoodtimeblog.wordpress.com/2018/06/25/cowgirls-dont-cry-book-review/