Space Wrangler by Kate DonovanMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
I loved this book and I loved it hard. Space Wrangler
is a sci-fi romance that combines space travel with an Old West cowboy feel similar to Firefly. Unlike Captain Mal and his motley crew, Captain Gage is a crew of one (plus a sentient computer) and he’s a legitimate wrangler. Like Mal, Rick is a former soldier who has a strong sense of right and wrong and has no problem wading in to help someone out who is being wronged. This is how he comes to meet Alexia Montoya – the last surviving member of the Montoya family, the family responsible for the discovery of the sinkhole and harnessing its properties for travel. As she had Sea-Mont enforcers pointing guns at her, an unarmed woman whose family was largely responsible for the D-side platform they were all standing on, Rick had no choice but to wade in on her behalf. And thus began their adventure.Space Wrangler is the first book in a new series, so there is a lot of world building going on, especially as the book is over 350 pages. Yet I was never bored with the story. Donovan not only builds a fascinating world on Destry, but she infuses a lot of science in the story without getting overly technical to the point of losing the reader. The sinkhole, space travel, sentient computers, and Titans all combine wonderfully with the Old West style justice of Seaton, wranglers, and pirate outlaws, and it kept me glued to my Kindle the entire day. Not knowing which direction the author was going to take the romance didn’t hurt either. Because even though there was chemistry between Lexie and Rick, neither was looking for a relationship and they had entirely different agendas. I actually liked that they understood and respected one another’s plans. Their mutual respect made is easy for me to believe their decision to spend a night together and go their separate ways. And it’s why I wasn’t sure which direction the author was taking the romance, especially with TJ in the picture and Rick’s departure the following day.
Donovan does an excellent job of weaving multiple storylines together in the book. Between Rick’s wrangling, Lexie tireless search for her missing brother, the conflict between Lexie and David Seaton, the mystery about the Titans, the sinkhole, the sentient computers, and the romance, there is a lot going on, but like life, it takes place simultaneously. I was shocked by the turn the book took when David Seaton showed up, not because he showed up, but because he was so freaking evil and brought out the absolute worst in his son, TJ. I will admit that while realistic to the outlaw feel of D-side, it ticked me off every time one of the men called Lexie a slut. Yes, she admits that she slept with 3 or 4 men (my confusion and by no means slut-worthy) in an effort to get help on her quest to find her brother. But the men who were calling her a slut were usually men who regularly utilized the services of the bio-girls – women who, while sweet as could be, were basically company-provided prostitutes. Yes, the sexual double standard was alive and well on the D-side. Other than that personally annoying bit of name calling, I loved Space Wrangler. And the manner in which Douglas chose to end the book with the Epilogue left me with a serious hankering for the next book in the Space Rustlers series.
I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
Reviewed by Angela at Crystal's Many Reviewers!
Check out the Space Wrangler (Space Rustlers, #1) by Kate Donovan blog post on Crystal's Many Reviewers.
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a lighter read than I expected, but don’t despair because it's not without its own intensity.
just to refresh my memory. BIG MISTAKE! I didn’t skim it. I reread the whole book. Considering how much I enjoy the author’s writing, I’m not overly surprised that I found myself sucked back into Trent’s story. And while it didn’t help my review schedule at all, I enjoyed myself immensely on the second read. 
was the romance that developed between Skye and Scott. After some rather amusing misunderstandings and assumptions, watching them turn a bad situation into a friendship and the foundation for something more was enjoyable. It’s also what made Skye’s withdrawal from Scott so heartbreaking. Thankfully, Skye’s best friend had no problem stepping in and making sure Scott knew not to give up on Skye and sent him after her – a decision that ended up being even more advantageous than it looked like it would be at the time. I certainly give the author props for lulling me into a false sense of expectancy when it came to who was behind all of the attacks. And I am definitely looking forward to Cruel Serendipity because I have to know if KC lets Josh in or not. 
I’m pretty sure my low expectations for storyline and high expectations for sex had a lot to do with the fact that the title makes me think of the song You Can Leave Your Hat On, my preferred version being the one recorded by Tom Jones as heard in the movie The Full Monty. And while there was a rather steamy scene between Travis and Bo – and yes, the boots were left on – there’s far more story packed into this novella than I expected and I enjoyed it immensely. 
continues the story of Brady and Cam’s life together since reuniting with Lucy and resuming their military service, on Earth. While Brady had a possibility of advancement when in space, back on Earth he’s been relegated to janitorial work and as much as he hates it, he comforts himself with Cam and Lucy – the only things in his life worth fighting for. But when residual effects from Cam and Brady’s time with the Faceless begin to reappear, the men are left wondering WHO they will be fighting against.
. After finishing When the Dead Speak, I was expecting Matt and Rich to be the subject of All of the Voices. When Matt found his partner in book three, I assumed that Rich had been relegated to simply being support cast who wouldn't be back. Boy was I wrong. And so very glad of it. 
. At 19, Toby is the perfect combination of teenage angst and assured dominance. At 37, Laurie is a wonderful bundle of maturity, whose relationship insecurities get the better of him from time to time. When Laurie's insecurities emerge, he comes off a bit cold and much younger than his age, but not in the sense that the author lost track of who the character was. And once you learn more about his previous relationship and the reason behind its demise, Laurie’s insecurities make a world of sense. After all, he and Robert grew into adulthood and BDSM together and losing his anchor stunted Laurie in some ways. While at first glance, the characters of For Real shouldn’t work together, they do and do so beautifully.
. I was apprehensive when I began the book because a couple of my fellow readers weren’t enthusiastic about it when they finished it. They weren’t negative about it, but they weren’t glowing about it either. But me, I so totally connected with Rafi and his struggle to fit in, to do everything right, to juggle work, school & scholarship requirements, and to be the first person in his immediate family to go to college. That feeling of being a little fish in a big pond after having been the big fish in a little pond is so overwhelming and having been there myself, I felt it for Rafi. Cousins brought back all those feelings from almost two decades ago and made me experience them all over again, right alongside Rafi. Thank goodness I didn’t have to deal with the added pressure of sports practices and navigating my first relationship at the same time, but it made it that much easier to see where Rafi was coming from when he lost it. And lose it he does, more than once.
. I have yet to read one of Petrova’s books and not love it. What did surprise me was the fact that I really didn’t care for Skye. I have a problem with people – male or female – whose knee-jerk response/accusation is that their partner is cheating on them, especially when there is nothing to support it. There is a big difference between a flirt who has a smile and compliment for others and a lech who makes passes by touching, caressing, and engaging in suggestive language. Booker is a flirt and nothing that goes down in the present or their conversations and memories about the past indicate that he was a lech. So while I felt badly for the situation that Skye found herself in – and by no means do I absolve Booker on his failure to do what he should have – she created it with her mistrust and insecurities. I do give her props for her decision to track him down and even more when she decided to avail herself of his employers’ services. What red-blooded heterosexual female doesn’t want a hedonistic week with her very own cowboy…or two?
is a really sweet tale about a young man (Tristan) who realizes that despite being a bit of a player with the girls in his teens, he might be gay. Again, I had no idea that Borders was THE place to go to find a hook-up, so I found myself snickering at the interactions between Tristan and the guys that approached him, as well as Michael’s Mystery Science Theater 3000 style commentary via texts. Equally amusing was when Tristan finally realized that Michael was picking him up and freaked out over the idea of hooking up with Officer Helmet. Once Tristan got past his freak out and took Michael up on his offer, the sex was hot. Repeatedly hot. In the first part of the book, there is a LOT of sex, but as we’re dealing with a young man discovering his sexuality with someone who is taking his time with Tristan to insure that the sexual encounters are pleasurable and not painful, then it’s likely within realistic limits. But Maxfield does a good job of interspersing life between sex scenes and we got to see Tristan and Michael spend time together, build a friendship, and a relationship as their feelings began to grow – and this merely made the sex scenes that much hotter. But when Michael’s job puts him in grave danger and Tristan is forced to face the realities of Michael being a cop, the strain on their relationship and their eight year age difference becomes a huge hurdle that Tristan’s not sure he wants to make the jump for.
didn’t freak me out as badly as Bliss did, it still affected me because even in this day and age, members of the military are expected to follow orders without question and Tin Man shows just how dangerous that can be.
would be about. It turns out I was half right as Matt is our McKinton resident who finds love and spirits or love with the help of spirits this time around. I’m actually glad I was wrong about Rich being the love interest because not only would it have been too easy to bring Laine’s former partner to town, but Carlin proved to be a much more entertaining choice as the city slicker finds himself swooning over the country boy.
immensely, despite Danny’s parents’ best effort to ruin Danny’s life (and my reading experience). Thankfully we don’t meet Danny’s parents directly but that doesn’t keep them from meddling in his life even after they kicked him to the curb – and the revelation at the end of the book regarding his parents really shocked me considering how close-minded they were about Danny’s sexuality. What didn’t ruin my happy reading vibe was watching Danny and Phillip’s relationship develop even as they tiptoed around it in the beginning. The chemistry between them is hot and this made for some equally hot sexy fun times – with and without the spanking. But it was watching Phillip teach Danny what it meant to be a gay man, a man who enjoyed erotic spankings, and a man who might want to be in a full-fledged DD relationship that it made it a fun read too, despite the heavier themes. I loved the ending of Delivered to Love and am already looking forward to the next Corbin’s Bend book.
. It had been a couple of years since I had read any books in the Ugly Stick Saloon and I just happened upon the series again at the start of the McFarlan brothers being lovingly blackmailed by their mother to settle down and start a family – otherwise she was going to sell the ranch. After watching Angus reconnect with a woman from his past and fall in love, I was excited to read about the next brother, especially once I realized that it was the prodigal son’s story.
, but not before he nearly mucks it up so badly even I wasn’t sure he was going to be able to fix it. With only three weeks before their mother’s deadline, Colin finds himself reconnecting with the last woman he should – his brother’s ex-fiancée and the reason for their estrangement … Fancy Wilson. While both Colin and Fancy resolve to avoid one another so as not to repeat their past mistake, all it takes is them being alone in the same room together and all bets are off … as well as their clothes!
takes place a week after the events in Sophisticated for the Night, a lot has happened in that time. 
ended up (no pun intended) being a much sweeter read than I expected. As we’re dealing with two college freshmen, one of whom was new to sex, I was expecting the obligatory angst, a butt load of sex (still, no pun intended), and just a little bit of romance. Harris does angst well as Frankie sets out to help his roommate, Jeremy, navigate the perils of dating and sex. Fortunately, the author does not go over-the-top with the angst as Frankie finds himself getting far more attached to Jeremy than he expected. After all, how can a relationship ever work between two bottoms with no interest in topping?
and I have found yet another Bluewater Bay resident to love.
is Duke and Frankie’s story and both played significant roles in Jody’s story, there is a bit of overlap in the timeline with this book and Riding & Regrets, but don’t fret because the author doesn’t recycle scenes. This book gives us a look at what Frankie was dealing with immediately after he broke up with Jody and we finally find out about his “dates” post-Jody. We also get more of a look into the events surrounding Duke’s concussion, or more accurately, what happened afterwards. But rest assured, Bradford managed to rip my heart out and ground into the dirt as per usual in this installment in the Mossy Glenn Ranch series. Thankfully, she put it all back together again by the final page too.
I was on the fence about it. I love sci-fi romances and the book’s description really caught my attention. I was beyond intrigued, but the length was short enough that I wasn’t sure that the author could pull everything off without rushing the story. So as I pondered whether or not to take a chance on a new-to-me author I happened to notice a little tidbit of information in the author’s bio – J.C. Daniels is the alter ego of Shiloh Walker. SOLD!!! I love Walker’s contemporary romantic suspense novels and novellas. I was no longer worried about whether or not the story would be rushed and was anticipating Final Protocol finally making it to the top of my review schedule. So worth the wait.
deliver the romance, heat, and appropriate level of conflict I’ve come to appreciate from Bradford’s writing, but the author also served up a serial killer – an unknown, undetected, stalker of a serial killer. So not only was I treated to high levels of sexual tension, but there were also high levels of danger-related tension. And you know what happens when those two combine, don’t you? Oh yeah, my Kindle needed a cigarette a time or two while reading Laine and Sev’s bedroom action.