Review: Spun Out (Blacktop Cowboys #10)

Spun Out (Blacktop Cowboys #10)

by Lorelei James

Blurb:

Years in the Army equipped Bailey Masterson for many things: target shooting, rappelling off cliffs, dodging grenades. She's lived through horrors that still give her nightmares. But nothing in Bailey's life-or-death training prepared her for caring for the tiny terror that is five-year-old Olivia Hale. Or how to control her raging attraction to Olivia's father, Streeter, the rugged, green-eyed cattle rancher who undermines her every move even when he stars in her dreams.

Streeter Hale has room for only two things in his life: his daughter and his job. He doesn't date. He doesn't get attached. Not anymore. So not only is Streeter stunned by Olivia's improved behavior after just a few days with Bailey, he's downright floored by his immediate attraction to the woman. But with secrets in her eyes and a body that doesn't quit, Streeter begins to worry that Bailey Masterson might just be the one woman to heal his fractured family and broken heart.

One thing's for sure--these two wrecked souls are spinning out of control as they desperately try not to fall in love...

Themes:  Contemporary, Cowboys

Rating: 4.5 stars

Heat Rating:  

Review:

 What an interesting twist on the old story of a single father falling in love with the nanny/babysitter… but I guess we shouldn’t have expected that Lorelei James would write too closely to the old tropes.  The Blacktop Cowboys series began many years ago and I have been following it from the very beginning, enjoying the shifts and different characters in this small group of friends and family, but I never imagined these two would find their way to one another.  Streeter is the brother of one of the first guys in the series, Tobin, and we have seen little glimpses of him along the way, while Bailey’s sister was also a major character in another story.  Bringing the two together is a stroke of genius and done so organically that you never one question it.  While the story certainly does carry a dark motif that underlies the love story, one that most people would be uncomfortable reading about in a romance, it is certainly a huge fact a life in this day and age and should not be hidden away from as if we are all ostriches with our heads in the sand.  Streeter is doing his best to raise his little girl, but Olivia has become a five-year-old tyrant for certain and he is at his wits end.  Bailey is on a little break from life as she tries to decide what is next for her, staying with her sister and helping out around the ranch and store leads her to be in just the wrong place –or right one—at the wrong time.  Years in the army never prepared her for her newest task as the leader of a kids camp and certainly never taught her how to deal with a damaged little girl that is slowly capturing her heart or her father that has capture her interest in so many ways.  Streeter never felt this type of connection with any woman and when Bailey offers a chance to explore the heat between them while she is in town he jumps at the chance to have this woman in his life and his bed.  Passionate exploration and sensual fun become so much more as they both have to fight to keep from losing their hearts, but it just might be a losing battle, but will the truth of their pasts and the tragic fears for their future keep them from fighting for one another or can they prove to one another that they are willing to put in the time and work to have it all once and for all. Streeter’s past is filled with drama and tragedy, but he is doing his very best to make sure that Olivia is cared for and happy now, even though he knows she has issues.  He is obviously determined to give his daughter everything he has, even to the detriment of his own life and happiness, but when he sees that sometimes being happy himself is the best thing for her as well he begins to loosen up a little.  I loved seeing him find his confidence and he definitely became a sexy beast in so many ways, where before he was a bit unsure of his steps with Bailey.  I wanted to slap him more than once for being short-sighted and unwilling to see through his pain, but thankfully his family and friends did it for me and kept him from making the biggest mistake of his life.  Bailey is at a crossroads and the poor woman is becoming more and more lost.  She has a lot of issues and dealing with them is something she has always done on her own and thought she had to do so.  Seeing her come to terms with her loses and dealing with her problems was painful, having seen someone living through something very similar in real life makes it even harder to read about, but seeing her finally reaching out to those she loves for assistance gave me hope and made me happy that she was sharing.  I loved seeing her in action at the kids’ camp and finding a bit of happiness with her family and friends, but the best times were the quiet times she spent with Streeter and even Olivia as they became a unit and learned their way into their future. I am looking forward to seeing where this series goes next and what lovers we see fall next because James has a way of making her cowboys so sexy and sweet that you wonder why you can’t find one of your very own.

*ebook provided by publisher (via NetGalley) for the purpose of an honest and unbiased review.  No compensation was provided.