Review: A change of location for this Romance author
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 12 22, 2013
Katheryn Lane is well known for her chick lit novels about the Middle East - The Desert Sheikh, A bride for the Sheikh, The Sheikh's Beloved, The Royal Sheikh - as well as one with a Latin flavor (Her Latin Lover). Now she transports us to another desert like locale, yet this one is more familiar to her large American audience in that she places the action in Dallas, Texas. Lane has her character development down so well that jumping form the mysticism of a sheikh's world into that of a cowboy world that the transition is seamless. That is not to say THE TEXAS COWBOY is simply a copy of her other novels (unless you count all love stories as copies!) - far from it. Lane is able to take on the twangy language and the atmosphere of the massively large Texas landscape and find all the idiosyncrasies to her use. Lane lives in the Middle East but made an investigative journey to Texas to absorb the arena in which she had elected to play out her latest novel.Jack Cassidy is the hunky cowboy of the title - a man who has become reclusive since the failure of his relationship with his ex-wife, the gorgeous but untamable Carrie, a figure whose presence remains throughout the novel. Jack now spends is time with his horses and his ranch duties. Enter Victoria (Vicky) Baker, fresh from England to visit her cousin Laura Hanson in Dallas. Yes, Vicky and Jack encounter and while there is a chemistry between the two, their approach to the dangerous love dance is negative influenced by Laura (who sees life from another stance and believes the educated and elegant Vicky belongs in the arms of a wealthy Texan instead of a dusty cowboy) and by Carrie and her grating near sadistic ploys to reenter Jack's life. The relationship has its highs and lows (and Lane knows very well how to write about physical attraction), and in the end...well, reading the book will share that.Lane knows her writing recipe well and has a real gift for creating and resolving tension, both intellectually and physically This is a fine little adventure for a reader who loves romance novels. Grady Harp, December 13