Rough Creek by Kaki Warner – a Review

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Description:
After serving eighteen months in prison for a crime he didn’t commit, Dalton Cardwell is looking for a fresh start. What better place than Whitcomb Four Star Ranch? He doesn’t regret the decisions of his past–he’d choose the same roads again. But now all Dalton wants is to keep his head down and focus on the horses–and on Raney Whitcomb.

Raney is outraged when she learns her mother hired an ex-con. Raney has worked hard for the ranch, sacrificing her personal life for the dream of building on her family’s legacy. But as Dalton breaks down every misconception and even wins the good opinion of her sisters, Raney is forced to rethink her stance–and finally free herself to explore the heart-pounding tension that simmers between them.

Review:

Rough Creek by Kaki Warner is the first book in her new Brides of Rough Creek Texas series. We meet our hero, Dalton Cardwell, as he is released from prison, after spending a year and half for a crime he did not commit.  When he returns home to Rough Creek, he learns that his parents have sold their house and plan to move with their younger physically challenged son, Timothy.  Dalton begins to look for work, and decides to check out the Whitcomb Four Star Ranch, which he has experience handling breeding horses.

The family matriarch, Coralee Whitcomb, has 4 daughters, with Raney being the one who runs the ranch. The other three girls have moved away, though Joss will play a big role when she returns being pregnant and Len, who is married, decides to visit.  But the heroine in this story is Raney, who is smart, tough, independent and fully loyal to the ranch. Cora decides she wants to take a break and go on a long vacation, and when she meets and interviews Dalton, she hires him on the spot.  This angers Raney, who is unhappy that her mother was hiring someone behind her back, and one that is an ex con; but Cora is determined to give Dalton a chance, as she sees how good he is with the horses, not to mention he might be someone to stand up to Raney.  

Raney finally decides to give Dalton a chance, as she too can tell how good he is.  Raney does find him attractive, but she has had a bad experience previously and does not want to become involved with anyone. The romance between Raney and Dalton is slow built, as she fights off all of Dalton sweet disarming advances; and it was fun to watch him express his feelings to her, and her inability to ignore him.  Took a while, but it was fun, though I have to say she was stubborn.

What follows is a fun and interesting story, as Raney with Dalton build up Roscoe, their prize horse for future competitions that will enable them to put Whitcomb Four Star Ranch as being one of the best.  During the training sessions, we get to see Raney’s sisters who visit, with Joss having issues with her boyfriend, and who is the father of her baby.  The other sister will also return, with her own issues, though we do not get to meet the 4^th sister. It was nice to see the family together, and help each other. I got a kick out of Joss, Len and even Cora doing their best to push Raney towards Dalton.  

Rough Creek was a wonderful start to this series, which I look forward to learning more about the rest of the family. I did adore Dalton and Raney together, but at times early on I wanted to smack her, as Dalton was such a great guy, not to mention hot.  Warner created wonderful characters, as I loved them all. If you want a pure romance, great couple, wonderful characters and a background storyline of horses, training and competition, then you should be reading this book.  Rough Creek was very well written by Kaki Warner.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher