Customer Reviews

Once A Cowboy (Harlequin American Romance)

5 star:		(40)
4 star:		(30)
3 star:		(27)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

ONCE A COWBOY by Linda Warren
February 11, 2007

Rating 3.5 Stars

ONCE A COWBOY is an engaging story of a man who finds out that he's not who he thinks he is. Alexandra Donovan works with her father as a private investigator, but on occasion, she picks up missing persons cases such as this one. A woman, Helen Braxton, approaches her, asking to help verify the identity of a cowboy she thinks is her missing son, Travis. The resemblance of this man to her husband is uncanny. Alexandra knows that these cases usually do not pan out, and the odds of Brodie Hayes being the woman's missing child was near zero. Despite the odds, Alex agrees to take on the case.

Alex decides that she needs to find a way to get a sample of his DNA without him knowing she's investigating him, not wanting to upset him in case he is not Helen's son. She manages to get into his house by pretending to need to use his phone while wandering lost in his neighborhood, and voila - she is able to find a comb with a few of his hairs in his bathroom. When the test results come back positive, that Brodie is indeed the son of George and Helen Braxton, Alex is afraid of the reaction she will get from Brodie, especially when he discovers that she's violated his privacy by stealing his comb to do the DNA testing. She is also worried about tearing apart a family despite the fact that Brodie is really someone else's son.

ONCE A COWBOY deals with Brodie and his need to find himself and his true identity. He also has to deal with a mother, who is not in the best of health, who had lied to him and his now deceased father about the fact that she had taken a baby from another woman. He grapples with this moral dilemma, because despite the fact that all his life he felt he didn't quite fit in with the family, always trying to please them but failing because he had his own life to lead, he still loved the woman that raised him.

Alex has her own issues to deal with. She has never gotten along with her father, who raised her by himself. She never knew what it was like to have a mother, and wishes she and her father were close. At the very least, she would have liked to be able to get along with him. And while her father disapproves of Alex's methods when it comes to her missing persons cases (she gets too emotionally involved), she goes against his advice once again and falls for Brodie.

This reviewer enjoyed the story about a stolen baby who was raised by parents who were not biologically related to him, and the repercussions it held for all involved once the secret was out. However, the chemistry that supposedly was felt between the two main characters didn't seem to exist for this reviewer. However, the characters by themselves were interesting and intriguing enough for the reader to want to finish the book. The story line was in a way complex, in that it dealt with both sets of families that were affected, and it made for one interesting book. However, the romance between Alex and Brodie didn't quite ring true, and it seemed that these two really had no business getting together, nor did it make sense that Brodie would even want to be with a woman who gave him such bad news. ONCE A COWBOY had a great story line about a man's identity, but the romance was not as credible as this reviewer would have liked it to be. - Courtesy of Love romances and More - M. Lofton

simple. It's a quick read with enjoyable characters...love Naddy, she rocks! I liked the ending, but I knew how it would end from the first chapter. Not bad for a free book. If you're looking for some easy fluff, this is it. This is one of those books you read after you've just read something really heavy and thought provoking, which this book isn't.

This was a pretty good read, especially since it was free. I live in the Dallas area so it was nice knowing where the towns were in the story. I stopped reading romance books about 5 yrs. ago but since this one was at a very good price (free) I decided I needed a break from my usual serial killer/murder mystery books .
Of course you know they are going to fall in love and live happily ever after, but they do have some emotional obstacles to over come before that happens.

As a guy who reads primarily Stephen King,this is not the kind of book I would normally pick up. But thanks to the vast amount of material for the Kindle I'm reading tons of various stuff between King's books.

Which is how I ended up reading this little gem one afternoon. 'Once A Cowboy' is a fast, easy read. The story never dragged but more importantly the characters were likeable from the get go. I really enjoyed Ms Warren's writing style.

I'm unsure what was going on with the people who complained that some situations in the book were unbelieveable. Really? Did they miss the fact that they were reading fiction?

If you're reading for enjoyment this fits the bill.

I am usually not so much interested in books about cowboys, but this one was so interesting and an amazing love story. Loved it!

I haven't read a Harlequin book in years and years. Linda Warren's Once a Cowboy was a great story and really surpassed all of my expectations (which to be honest were pretty low). This story isn't just about a cowboy (despite the title), or about family/personal identity, or about the love between a cowboy and a city girl - the story is about all of it. For such a short story, it's really thorough and keeps the reader interested. The ending was definitely a surprise, but a completely appropriate plot twist. Reading the descriptions of Warren's other books, I'm guessing this was one of her better-written stories (despite the sometimes robotic dialogue). I'm interested in reading Tripp and Colter's stories, but sadly those aren't available as Kindle editions... too bad. And I agree with all the other reviewers about Naddy - by far, she was the funniest character I've read in a long time!

The good: So there's this romance story, and it involves a cowboy, a PI, and a whole lot of convoluted history that I'm sure the other reviewers will be more than happy to tell you about. The side characters are a hoot and a half (particularly the two old ladies that get into trouble in Vegas), the pacing is decent, and the focus is on people and relationships. The main characters' feelings about the situation they're in are easy to empathize with, and I enjoyed the story.

The bad: In some ways, the book takes a little bit of a detour in the last couple of chapters, particularly the epilogue. Perhaps I'm a little bit of a cynic, but the happily ever after is a little -too- sunny.

The neutral: Just a heads up to those who are wary - there are somewhat explicit sex scenes in the book. I skipped 'em, and if you're leery of such things, you might want to skip this book.

I downloaded this book because it was free and it seemed to have good reviews from other readers. I don't know what those people read but it could not have been the same book. This book was really bad, even by cheesy romance standards (and I do love a good romance novel). The main characters had absolutely NO CHEMISTRY. I mean none - and their "love story", if you can even call it that, was almost non-existant.

I don't typically condone spoilers in a review, but since this book was so bad that I wouldn't want anyone else to waste their time, I'll go ahead and give you a heads-up for the worst part. The major dilemma with the hero is that he finds out that his parents are not really his parents and that he was stolen from a hospital as a baby and raised by another couple. Ok, not too bad. But then, I guess because the author felt like the lovers needed something else in common, you find out toward the end of the book that the heroine's mother was not really her mother. She then starts to go on and on about how she now understands what he must have gone through and if he can survive it so can she. LAME. Really, really lame. The dialogue is what I would expect from a YA book at best.

I read a lot of books, about 5 a week, and this has to be the worst one I have read in a long time. If I could give this book zero stars I would.

This was predictable but still enjoyable. I wouldn't mind reading about the "Cowboys" but I doubt I would purchase the sequels.

For a free download, this was a good short story. I would probably not pay for this author as the writing was less refined that I like, but the story was okay.