Rough Rider by Victoria Vane

Rough Rider is the second book in the Hot Cowboy Nights Series. I really liked book 1, Slow Hand, but I loved Rough Rider. This book was full of chemistry and didn't follow the norm of a romance. Janice doesn't take the path we as the reader want her to, and we have to sit back and wait.

We meet Dirk in Slow Hand, but Dirk's story starts years before we met him in Slow Hand. In Slow Hand, he's kinda a dick. He's angry, and when you sit to read Rough Rider, you learn about his life and the things he went through. He hasn't had an easy life as he's tried to discover who he is in the world.

He meets Janice in his early twenties after a bad relationship. She's always admired him from afar, but he never notices her until one night when he takes her virginity. However, there is another man who has his eyes set on Janice, and he's determined to win. Here is where the story changed from the normal romance. She never would've looked twice at the other guy, however Dirk wasn't ready to settle down, so the other man is able to swoop in and delay her and Dirk's love story. But even years later, Dirk still isn't ready to settle down and Janice has to decide if this angry man is really worth it.

There was a little twist at the end of the story, one that I enjoyed and had really wished the story had gone on and showed how the "three" dealt with this twist. Perhaps in another book we'll get a glimpse at that part of life.

Like I said last time, Victoria Vane is a wonderful writer. She wrote a story that sizzled and there weren't many intimate scenes, but I still felt the connection between the characters.

I can't wait to read the next one.

Lacey's Rating

About the Book:

Two wary hearts ...
Janice Combes has two loves, bucking bulls and Dirk Knowlton. But Dirk only has eyes for a dazzling rodeo queen. How can Janice ever compete while mired ankle-deep in manure? Exchanging playful banter with Dirk is all Janice can expect-until the stormy night he knocks on her door dripping wet and needing a place to crash.

Different Dreams...
Dirk Knowlton is living the cowboy dream. Life should be good-roping, branding, backing broncs, riding bulls, but there's a void he can't seem to fill. After getting hung up by a bull, he wonders if this is really the life he wants. Restless and rebellious, he bolts...but there's a certain cowgirl he can't forget.

When a battle-scarred Dirk returns to his Montana ranch he's determined to hang on at any cost. Janice has come back home to lick her own wounds. When old dreams turn to dust, can two wary hearts take another chance on love?