Category Archives: Kari Lynn Dell

Review: Tangled in Texas by Kari Lynn Dell

Title: Tangled in Texas by Kari Lynn Dell
Texas Rodeo Series Book Two
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Genre: Contemporary, Romance
Length: 416 pages
Book Rating: B+

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through NetGalley

Summary:

It took 32 seconds to end his career.
But it only took 1 to change his life.

Thirty-two seconds. That’s how long it took for Delon Sanchez’s life to end. One minute he was the best bronc rider in the Panhandle and the next he was nothing. Knee shattered, future in question, all he can do is pull together the pieces…and wonder what cruel trick of fate has thrown him into the path of his ex, the oh-so-perfect Tori Patterson.

Tori’s come home after her husband’s death, intent on escaping the public eye. It’s just her luck that Delon limps into her physical therapy office, desperate for help. All hard-packed muscle and dark-eyed temptation, he’s never been anything but a bad idea. And yet, seeing him again, Tori can’t remember what made her choose foolish pride over love…or why, with this second, final chance to right old wrongs, the smartest choice would be to run from this gorgeous rodeo boy as fast as her boots can take her.

Review:

Tangled in Texas by Kari Lynn Dell is a delightfully charming second chance at love romance between an injured bronc rider and a physical therapist. Although this latest release is the second installment in the Texas Rodeo series, it can be read as a standalone, but I HIGHLY recommend the previous novel as well.

With his rodeo career hanging in the balance, Delon Sanchez is determined to do whatever it takes to regain mobility in his injured kneee.  Stunned to discover that his new physical therapist is Tori Patterson, the woman he had a fling with seven years earlier, he tries to put aside his reservations in order to achieve his goals.  At the same time he is trying to rehabilitate his knee, Delon is trying to come to terms with the fact that Violet Jacobs, the mother of his son, Beni, is involved in a serious relationship with bullfighter Joe Cassidy.  Watching his dream of the three of them eventually becoming a family disappear, Delon is already angry and bitter as he tries to understand where he fits in his family-owned trucking business.  With so many difficult changes occuring his life, is Delon in any position to act on his still simmering attraction to Tori?

The daughter of a well-liked Texas Senator, Tori managed to escape the limelight when she married Wyoming roper, Willy Hancock.  A year and a half after Willy’s death, she moves back to the TX Panhandle in order to live a quiet life out of the public eye while she still continues grieving his loss.  In her years away from Texas, Tori has really come into her own and she is now a little outspoken and a whole lot more confident.  Still a little numb from the sudden death of her beloved husband, she is shocked out of her comfortable and rather sterile life when she becomes reacquainted with Delon. Tori is no longer content to sit back and quietly accept whatever he is willing to give but is Delon ready to stop playing it safe and risk his heart?

Although both Delon and Tori have moved on since their relationship abruptly ended years earlier, they are both quite stunned to discover their burning hot desire has not waned.  However, when they first meet again, neither of them is ready to do act on their passion. Tori is still picking up the pieces of her life, but emotionally, she is in a much better than Delon is at this point. He is not much for introspection so Delon ignores his feelings about the things that are bothering him.  However, with so many changes in his life out of his control, his anger is eating away at him.  Unwilling to concede that his expectation of becoming a “real” family with Violet and Beni has always been unreasonable, Delon is feeling displaced and out of sorts as Violet’s relationship with Joe continues.

Meanwhile, an unexpected situation with Tori’s family thrusts her back into the public eye just as she and Delon begin dating.  As they find themselves falling back into a familiar pattern, Tori continues to coast along without making too many changes to her life.  She is much more outspoken about what she wants but her inertia is doing just as much harm to their fledgling romance as Delon’s unconscious decision to play it safe is.  Their unresolved issues, individual insecurities and an unwillingness to honestly and openly discuss their needs and desires eventually becomes a huge obstacle.  Will Tori and Delon be able to repair the damage to their relationship before it is too late?  Or will their emotional baggage prevent them from making the changes they need to live happily ever after?

Tangled in Texas is another well-written and charming addition to the Texas Rodeo series.  Once again, Kari Lynn Dell pairs up  two emotionally wounded and somewhat vulnerable characters with realistic problems to overcome. Flawed yet immensely appealing, Delon and Tori are endearing protagonists that are easy to like and root for. Old and news fans are going to absolutely love this sweet yet very sensual contemporary Western romance.

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Filed under Contemporary, Kari Lynn Dell, Rated B+, Review, Romance, Sourcebooks Casablanca, Tangled in Texas, Texas Rodeo Series

Review: Reckless in Texas by Kari Lynn Dell

Title: Reckless in Texas by Kari Lynn Dell
Texas Rodeo Series Book One
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Genre: Contemporary, Romance
Length: 416 pages
Book Rating: B+

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through NetGalley

Summary:

Texas Homecoming

Violet Jacobs is fearless. At least, that’s what the cowboys she snatches from under the hooves of bucking horses think. Outside the ring, she’s got plenty of worries rattling her bones: her young son, her mess of a love life, and lately, her family’s struggling rodeo. When she takes business into her own hands and hires on a hotshot bullfighter, she expects to start a ruckus. She never expected Joe Cassidy. Rough and tumble, cocky and charming, Joe’s everything a superstar should be-and it doesn’t take a genius to figure out he’s way out of Violet’s league.

Joe came to Texas to escape a life spiraling out of control. He never planned on sticking around, and he certainly never expected to call this dry and dusty backwater home. But Violet is everything he never knew he was missing, and the deeper he’s pulled into her beautiful mess of a family, the more he realizes this fierce rodeo girl may be offering him the one thing he never could find on his own.

Review:

The first installment in Kari Lynn Dell’s Texas Rodeo series, Reckless in Texas is a sparkling romance between a rodeo contractor and a bullfighter.

Single mom, business manager and pick up man (er, lady), Violet Jacobs yearns to take her family’s rodeo business beyond the borders of her home state of Texas.  Hoping her decision to hire a replacement bullfighter from out of state will be the first step in expanding their horizons, Violet is stunned when the bullfighter who arrives is not the bullfighter she actually hired. 

Joe Cassidy is a superstar bullfighter whose latest clash with his long time boss Dick Browning puts a premature end to his rodeo season.  His partner and best friend Wyatt Darrington has been trying to convince Joe to end ties with Browning and he hopes working with another contractor will give Joe some much needed perspective.  Joe reluctantly goes along with Wyatt’s scheme but will his time with Violet make any difference in his plans to return to Browning’s ranch after his contract with the Jacobs’ family has ended?

Violet is a cowgirl through and through and although she loves working with her family, she dreams of making a bigger splash in the rodeo world. With a long track record of making ill-fated relationship decisions, the last thing she needs is an unwanted attraction to her temporary bullfighter.  Immediately rubbed the wrong way by his cocky attitude and disparaging comments, Violet is dismayed by her sizzling attraction to Joe and she tries to keep her distance from him as much as possible.  Once he loses the attitude and she sees the genuinely good-hearted man he keeps hidden, Violet finds him darn near impossible to resist.  But fearing yet another public scandal, she is already reconsidering her decision to enter into a relationship with Joe when misunderstandings and miscommunications threaten to derail their budding romance.

Joe is a gifted bullfighter but he has big dreams of eventually becoming a partner in Browning’s ranch.  His relationship with the stock contractor is rocky and although they have gone through many ups and downs over the years, this latest altercation is, by far, the worst they have endured.  Working with the Jacobs family is much more fulfilling on both a personal and professional level, but he finds it impossible to give up the goal he has worked toward for over half his life.  Trying to live in the here and now, Joe would like nothing more than to explore his simmering desire for Violet, but he has no idea how to woo the single mom.  Even worse, he fears losing the respect of her family if things go wrong between them and completely out of his depth, he makes a few missteps and mistakes that play into Violet’s fears.  When Browning gives him the opportunity to return to his Oregon ranch, Joe never hesitates to go back to the place he calls home, but will he find what he is looking for with the irascible rancher?

There is plenty of sexual tension between Joe and Violet and they come extremely close to giving in to their desire on several occasions.  Underlying all of their interactions is a simmering attraction that deepens over time but it takes a good part of the novel for Joe and Violet to actually consummate their relationship.  With both of them carrying around so much unresolved baggage, once their romance hits a major roadblock, neither of them knows how or is willing to break their impasse.  Completely miserable apart, will either Joe or Violet work up the courage to resolve their differences?

With an absolutely charming cast of wonderfully unique characters and a sighworthy romance, Reckless in Texas by Kari Lynn Dell is a heartfelt novel that is quite captivating. Set against the backdrop of the rodeo world, readers will be delighted with the behind the scenes look into stock contractors, bullfighters and rodeo production. This engaging, fast-paced love story will leave fans waiting impatiently awaiting the next installment in the Texas Rodeo series.

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Filed under Contemporary, Kari Lynn Dell, Rated B+, Reckless in Texas, Review, Romance, Sourcebooks Casablanca, Texas Rodeo Series