3.5 Stars

Anyone who reads a Lora Leigh novel and is surprised by gratuitous and smokin’ hot sex scenes, has obviously never read one of her books before. ONE TOUGH COWBOY might have been co-written by Veronica Chadwick, but this was a classic Lora Leigh novel.

The story follows Samantha, a Detroit police officer who has come back to her small California hometown after the death of her aunt, and Hunter Steele (best cowboy/sheriff name EVER), the man she has always had a crush on and the current town sheriff. There is corruption in their town and people are dying, so it is up to Sam and Hunter to figure it out.

While the corruption plot was interesting, this book was mostly about Sam and Hunter. Their immediate connection and sizzling chemistry leaped off the pages. I loved that Samantha was a police officer. I didn’t expect that and it added a nice element to the story. Some of Hunter’s one-liners made me roll my eyes, but for the most part, he was a sweet, if slightly domineering, alpha hero. There are some pretty brutal parts of this novel so I would caution people who are sensitive to tough subjects.

Were there too many sex scenes? Probably. But I didn’t really mind. They were all well written and HOT. What I didn’t enjoy was the abrupt ending. I felt like the authors just hit their word limit and needed the book to end right that second. There were a lot of dangling plotlines and I would have liked more of a lead into the next book. I also thought the plot bordered on the absurd at some points. I completely understand that this is fiction, but you might just have to suspend your disbelief while reading to really enjoy the story,

Overall, I thought this was a solid start to a new series. If you’re looking for a borderline erotic romantic suspense novel, this is the book for you. I think that Ms. Leigh and Ms. Chadwick make for a great writing duo and I can’t wait to read the next book in the series.

**I received an ARC of this book in order to provide an honest review**

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