A Cowboy's Promise, by Romance Author, Marin Thomas

Harlequin American #1253
ISBN-10: 0373752571
ISBN-13: 978-0373752577
April, 2009
 Buy It!

A Cowboy's Promise

Her horse-boarding business may have gone belly-up, but Amy Olsen isn't a quitter. Even when handsome former rodeo rider Matt Cartwright shows up with three mares in tow, claiming he's owed a lot of money. Then he makes her an offer she can't refuse...

Matt has come to Amy's Idaho farm to collect a debt and be on his way. But his horse-breeding plans are taking a backseat to helping out the widow and her two young daughters. Matt's never been able to resist a woman in distress, especially one who's suddenly making him yearn for hearth and home.

All he came with was a promise and a dream. And when he starts falling for the trio of spirited females, darned if this roving cowboy doesn't plan to make good on both!


Dear Ms. Thomas: This is the second novel of yours I’ve read and I’m just as, if not more, impressed. Realistic setting, believable characters, conflict that is centered on the hero and heroine and, I can’t believe I’m saying this, two young children I adored. I think I need to go take my temperature after writing that last bit.

Amy Olson’s back is to the wall when Matt Cartwright drives into her life. Appearing out of the blue one morning, with a stock trailer behind his fancy fig, she can’t imagine why he’s at her ranch. Unless he’s another person her dead husband owed money to. But if so, why has he brought three mares with him?

No one has wanted to board horses with her since her husband’s last purchase, the cutting horse with the impressive pedigree, went loco and kicked Ben in the chest. With no income, no job, a mortgage on the ranch, two young daughters and still saddled with Ben’s remaining gambling debts, her only hope is to get some training in order to obtain a job. What she’s going to do with Son of Sunshine, she has no idea. And now here’s a good looking cowboy showing up for goodness knows why.

Matt Cartwright quickly adds up the clues which equal a woman in need. But though he sympathizes with the shocking news that her husband is dead, he’s not about to let her out of the debt Ben owes him. $30,000 or stud services for his three mares from the stallion still in her barn. But when Amy tells him that the stallion caused Ben’s death, Matt knows that the breeding isn’t going to be as quick, or easy, as he’d hoped.

With no way to pay the debt, Amy grudgingly allows Matt to stay and work with the horse, trying to determine if SOS is a killer or just got spooked. In the meantime, she’s not above a little push and shove to get Matt to help look after her girls while she takes classes.

Against all hope, Amy watches as Matt works with SOS, bringing the stallion around and getting him to the point where perhaps she can sell the horse and pay off most of her debts. He’s a hardworking man, unlike the gambler she married or the dreamer her mother fell for. And he’s willing to lie about liking her cooking.

To his surprise, Matt discovers he’s good with kids. Well, he more or less has to learn when he’s roped into being a baby-sitter while Amy attends classes. And it’s these scenes which delighted me. Nothing feels hokey or forced. Matt still has moments when Lily and Rose ’spin his end around.’ Times when he’s not quite sure how to deal with these two pint sized females but the trip watching him do it is funny and touching. And no kiddie lisping! Oh, thank you for that.

So, mark this day down as one for the ages. Jayne adores two toddlers in a romance novel. Maybe I’m being sucked into Harlequin’s baby centered world at long last? Hmmmm. Nah, I think it’s just Rose and Lily who charmed me in this charming story.
      ~ Jayne www.dearauthor.com

Marin comes up with some really great twists in this book to liven things up and keep you on your reading toes. It’s not a comedy, but I still had a good laugh when Matt punches. . . well, I’ll leave that for you to find out.

Marin’s way with words is surpassed only by her imagination. She can think of amazing things to make happen in a story, and her use of the language makes them all very believable, and fit right in to the story.
      ~ Donna B http://www.pinkheartsocietyreviews.blogspot.com/

Matt is a dream. Handsome, sweet, thoughtful... he's got a bit of pride that puts a few glitches in his plans now and then, but overall he's one hundred percent hero material. Amy, despite all her intentions otherwise, can't help but be charmed by the man. This reader couldn't help it either.

In fact, this book had some of the best created and three-dimensional characters I've read in quite some time. I thoroughly enjoyed the interactions between all the cast of this book, including the quirky secondary folk who trotted through now and then. Ms. Thomas is one of my favorite authors to read because she has unusual but believable characters in her stories and this book was no exception.
      ~ Poppy http://www.longandshortreviews.com/

A Cowboy guarding his heart and a single mother who has seen hard times comes together in Marin Thomas' sweetly romantic story. Thomas' characters are real, Amy's daughters are charming and the story is neatly plotted.
      ~ 4 Stars RT BookReviews







   


ISBN-10: 0373752571
ISBN-13: 978-0373752577
By: Marin Thomas
Imprint and Series: Harlequin American
Copyright ©: 2009
® and ™ are trademarks of the publisher.
The edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
For more romance information surf to http://www.eHarlequin.com