Manga Maniac Cafe

4.25 stars

Kelly Hunter is one of my favorite short form contemporary romance authors, so when I saw Casey at Netgalley, I let out a little squeal of delight. I loved the colorful cover, too, and hey, it’s about bull riders, so, yes, please!

Casey is back on the bull riding tour after his father’s death derailed his chances of winning the championship and a million dollar check. His brothers refused to wait the weekend for him to compete, so Casey quietly left the tour right before the Vegas championship. While I appreciated that family came first, I still don’t understand why he didn’t let the tour organizers know what was going on. Instead, they believe he’s a flake and he’s not dedicated to the sport after his no-show. His sponsors dropped him, and the fans haven’t forgiven him, either. I don’t think it would have been so bad to have the PR department release a brief statement that he had to leave the tour because of a death in the family, but nope.

Rowan and her father own a bull breeding business, and they are stock contractors for the bull riding circuit. Rowan has had to fight for her place in a traditionally male world. She also has to fight for her father’s respect and affection. After the death of her mother, father and daughter hit the road, hauling cattle from one end of the country to the other. Rowan and her father have a difficult relationship, and a strange one, too. They live in separate areas of the ranch house, and have for years. Her father doesn’t give her much affection, and he is very demanding. When he agrees to take on the son of another contractor to show him the ropes, Rowan is jealous. Here is the son that her father always wanted, now her presence is even less tolerated.

Casey has had his eye on Rowan for a while, and when he bets that he can ride her bull for the full 8 seconds, she reluctantly takes him up on it. A steak dinner is on the line. Rowan gives him some riding tips for Eggs, and watches as he crashes and burns. That just makes Casey more determined to stick Eggs and win the girl. What follows is a slow, hesitant courtship, where neither participant really knows what they want from each other.

I really enjoyed this book. There’s a lot of rodeo, but there’s also a lot of family. Both Casey and Rowan have an uneasy relationship with their families. Casey is at odds with his older brothers, and Rowan is ever longing for some kind of emotional connection with her father. If it wasn’t for the bulls, they would have nothing to hold them together, but even that is threatened when her father offers to buy out her share of the business. When Mab is added to their dysfunctional family, Rowan finds it hard to dislike him, even when she feels threatened by his presence. I liked Mab; besides Casey, he was the only male in Rowan’s life who set her needs first and tried to take care of her.

If you’re planning any beach time, Casey is a good book to lounge in the sun with. It’s a fast, satisfying read, with a convincing HEA.