I received this book for free from the library in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Source: the library
Corralled
by
Lorelei James
erotic romance in Paperback edition that was published by Signet Eclipse on August 3, 2010 and has 339 pages.
Explore it on Goodreads or Amazon
Other books by this author which I have reviewed include Saddled and Spurred, Rode Hard, Put Up Wet, Wrangled and Tangled, Long Hard Ride, Cowgirl Up and Ride, Rough, Raw and Ready, Tied Up, Tied Down, Wild Ride, Branded as Trouble, Shoulda Been a Cowboy, All Jacked Up, Raising Kane, Cowgirls Don't Cry, Chasin' Eight, One Night Rodeo, Casanova Cowboy, Kissin' Tell, Gone Country, Mistress Christmas, Miss Firecracker, Bound, Redneck Romeo, Unwound, Turn and Burn, Hillbilly Rockstar, "Schooled", Wrapped and Strapped, Unraveled, What You Need, Just What I Needed, Racked and Stacked, Hang Tough, Spun Out, All You Need, I Want You Back, Want You to Want Me
First in the Blacktop Cowboy erotic western series. Corralled revolves between a ranch in Wyoming and traveling around to various rodeos.
My Take
This was good! James steers a tricky course between the two cowboys. Each is determined to influence her into choosing him just as each is determined to play it as fair as possible, leaving Lainie as the bouncing ball trying to be fair with the boys. An incredible amount of emotional drama and growing up with an inside look at riding the circuit.
Corralled actually makes a pretty good play-by-play for any man interested in finding out how to appeal to a woman.
The Story
Despite her best intentions, Lainie has succumbed to the blandishments of two cowboys: a bullfighter and a bull rider. Fortunately they’re each on a different circuit so neither knows about the other. Until that night in Bucky’s Tavern. When they not only find out about each other, Lainie finds out about them.
Lainie decides to take the boys up on their proposition: spending the three weeks of Cowboy Christmas with the two of them. In bed. At the same time.
The Characters
Lainie, a.k.a., , Mel, a.k.a., Melanie Capshaw, is the daughter of a famous bullrider killed during a ride at Frontier Days in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Estranged from her mother, Lainie works as a medtech on two different rodeo circuits helping injured riders.
Hank Lawson is a bullfighter, one of those guys who helps draw the bull away from a thrown rider. Between rodeos, he helps out on the family ranch where his brother, Abe, handles the day-to-day chores. Celia Lawson, a.k.a., CeCe Murray, is Hank and Abe’s sister who takes care of the paperwork — and she’s been secretly participating in barrel riding events. Secret because her brothers made her promise to give up participating after she broke her leg in an event. Mickey is a great horse for barrel racing.
Kyle Gilchrist is a bullrider coming back after a year off due to a serious injury.
The Cover and Title
Oh yeah, one of the few books whose cover could influence me into buying it! And it sure did live up to the promise. To “corral” is to put up a defensive enclosure, and there sure was a lot of corralling going on in Corralled. Lainie was defensive about people’s responses to her dad’s death, her mother’s influence, and the shocking idea of being the filling in a cowboy sandwich. And Hank and Kyle are both very intent on defending their right to win Lainie as their own.
