Review: Two men, one woman, and a Legacy Project
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 07 24, 2011
Book 3 of the "Lusty, Texas" series. Preceded byLove Under Two Wildcatter, followed byLove Under Two Flyboys.Plot:When Grandma Kate decides to match-make, watch out! Penelope, Josh and Alex did not duck fast enough. Grandma Kate flavoured chaos ensues.Comments:- 4347 kindle locations, 61,388 words- Sex is m/f/m. Frequent, generous, loving.- Josh and Alex are Susan, Steven and Matthew's brothers. They appeared in "Love Under Two Wildcatters" when they sent Colt and Ryder to Susan's place to dig her well (and pull her out of her funk).- Picks up a month after Susan got engaged.- While characters from previous (and future) books appear and play integral roles in "Honchos", Covington is maintaining restraint. Having characters we know means she doesn't need to waste time explaining motivations and pasts of sub-characters; not putting in *everyone* we've met before means we aren't overwhelmed with names and relationships. "Honchos" is the third in the contemporary cowboy series, however it doesn't require reading of past books to make sense. Yes, knowing where everything is coming from would help, but it isn't necessary. This book would happily stand alone, or the series (so far) could be read out of order without any loss of enjoyment. There are no plots covering multiple books, just relationships.- They jump straight into bed - '"This is crazy! Insane! What the hell are we doing?"' - despite knowing better, being people who think things through, being asked by Grandma Kate to "look after" Penelope, being in their sister's bed... Bonk in haste, regret at leisure. Lusty, Texas, certainly lives up to it's name.- Josh and Alex are supposed to be "geeks", "nerds", mathematically inclined, relationship challenged, hunks. Penelope is their feminine match. Unfortunately, as other reviewers have stated, it doesn't work as well as it could. I guess we were aiming for a hunky Leonard from "Big Bang Theory"; doesn't quite get there but almost.... OTOH the humour Covington writes for them is lovely, particularly the morning-after double-entendres as Penelope shows them how to play. They are clever people and allowed to enjoy that fact.Opinion:I want to say "Honchos" is disappointing and a let down. But it isn't. It's A Good Book. Covington writes a nice story with interesting characters and plenty of lusty sex. The  thing is, after the extremely rewarding "Love Under Two Benedicts", and then quite satisfying "Love Under Two Wildcatters", "Love Under Two Honchos" falls short. But it's a perfectly Good Book. It is a good read, has a nice HEA and characters that need to dig deep to get a deep and loving relationship. What it doesn't have is the exciting someone-out-to-get-her, cowboy-riding-to-the-rescue story line we enjoyed in "Benedicts" and "Wildcatters" (and "Gunslingers" and "Lawmen" for that matter). Instead we see our characters learn to love, learn to accept and learn to respect each other and themselves. We have normal, intelligent characters. People who know what they want from life, have accepted where they are going. Penelope isn't angst ridden like Susan, the men don't have the baggage of Colt and Ryder. They also aren't Alpha males or Woman-with-a-past as with "Benedicts". They. Are. Normal. It's nice. Perfectly acceptable. A Good Book. And a nice addition to the Lusty series.Aside 1:So many characters to keep track of! The series so far, with main characters:(Lost)Love Under Two Gunslingers- Sarah, Joshua and Caleb Benedict(Lost)Love Under Two Lawmen- Amanda, Warren and Adam Jessop-Kendall(Lusty 1)Love Under Two Benedicts- Steven and Matthew Benedict + Kelsey Madison(Lusty 2)Love Under Two Wildcatters- Susan Benedict (sister to Steven and Matthew) + Colt Evans and Ryder Magee(Lusty 3)Love Under Two Honchos- Josh and Alex Benedict (brothers to Susan, Steven and Matthew) + Penelope Primrose(Lusty 4)Love Under Two Flyboys- Morgan and Henry Kendall (brothers to Adam, the Sheriff) + Tamara Jones(Lusty 5)Love Under Two Strong Men- Jordan Kendall (brother to Adam, Morgan, Henry), Tracy Jessop + Peter Alvarez-CR-