Manga Maniac Cafe

3 stars

Debbi Rawlins is a new author for me. She usually writes under the Harlequin Blaze imprint, one of my least favorite lines, so I haven’t picked up one of her books before. Since Harlequin Western Romance is my favorite line, and this title appeared at the library, I just grabbed it and dove right in. Not everything worked for me, but I would read another title by her in the future.


After discovering that her boyfriend was cheating on her, Kylie decides to start over the small town of Blackfoot Falls. She vows to never let herself be humiliated again, and puts all of her efforts in her bakery. She’s made friends and set down roots when Landon Kincaid, a friend of her ex, shows up in town.

Landon has waited one year to track Kylie down. He has always been attracted to her, but since she was his buddy’s girl, she was off limits. Recovering from a rodeo accident, he plans to hang out in Blackfoot Falls for a few weeks and try to ignite a relationship with Kylie. He knows that she feels something for him, too, and he is willing to put his pride on the line to see if they can make a life together.

I would have enjoyed this more if it wasn’t for the furniture making sub-plot. I just didn’t find it interesting, and it didn’t make any sense that Landon would be sneaking around behind Kylie’s back. There were so many ways his plan to help her out could have gone wrong, and they did, so it just didn’t seem worth the risk.

A lack of communication also tripped this romance up for me. From the beginning, Landon isn’t upfront with Kylie. About anything. Knowing that her last relationship ended because of a lying cheat, Landon should have had the common sense to realize that his secrecy was just a dumb idea. Dumb, dumb, dumb.

Despite these quibbles, I enjoyed the trip to see Landon’s family. While the weekend getaway stirred up confusion and was a missed opportunity for both Kylie and Landon to set the record with each other, it was fun meeting his family. While, in the end, I liked both protagonists enough to read to the end, I found their lack of communication frustrating.