Review: Cook County Cowboys: Lucky and Chance – Crystal-Rain Love

Posted March 29, 2015 by Elizabeth in Elizabeth B, Reviews / 0 Comments

Review:  Cook County Cowboys: Lucky and Chance – Crystal-Rain LoveCook County Cowboys: Lucky and Chance by Crystal-Rain Love
Genres: Contemporary, Western
Published by Wild Rose Press Publication Date: October 31st 2014
Pages: 209
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Find on: Goodreads
three-stars

Cook County: Second Chance Cowboy

Chance Masters was her hero…

He held her the night her mother died, taught her how to defend herself, and saved her from a raging bull. But when Kenzie Calhoun confessed her love for Chance just after her eighteenth birthday, he broke her heart and fled.

Now ten years later Chance is back… He ran away to spare Kenzie a mistake she would always regret, but he never forgot the pain in her eyes. When he learns her ranch is in trouble, his guilty conscience prompts him to help. But now the girl is a woman…and Chance can't forget he’s just a washed up bull-rider from the wrong side of town.

Can Kenzie convince him that every cowboy deserves a second chance?

Cook County: Lucky in Love

Haunted by the suicide of a one-night-stand and the recent death of his troubled mother, Lucky Masters has sworn off women. He's just no good for them. But when sweet little Cammie May makes an aggressive move he never saw coming, his willpower takes a fatal hit.

Afraid time is running out, Cammie is determined to show Lucky he's worthy of love. In return, she wants only his love and support--but the reason she needs him could scare the relationship-shy cowboy away for good.

When her secret comes out, Lucky will realize the price of falling too deep. Will he run away? Or stand up and be the hero she needs?

Elizabeth’s Thoughts

This is a set of two shorter novels about the Masters brothers, Chance and Lucky, who had a horrible childhood and work to overcome those issues to be with the women they love.

Second Chance Cowboy is the story of Chance and Kenzie. They have known each other since she was a little girl and he was a teenager/early 20 something bull rider/hand on her father’s ranch. She has been in love with him since high school and he’s been fighting his attraction to her just as long. After not seeing each other for 10 years, he’s back and they discover that their feelings haven’t really changed.

I really wish this story had been a little longer. The author does an excellent job of letting us catch glimpses of the history between these two and letting us know why Chance feels the way he does, but there were several places that felt rushed. We also went from Chance staking his claim and explaining his childhood to Kenzie to them instantly being engaged. It seemed that we missed out on several key relationship steps that would have really added to the story.

Lucky in Love is a companion to Second Chance Cowboy and really wouldn’t work as a stand-alone. It is the story of Chance’s younger brother, Lucky, and Kenzie’s best friend, Cammie. Again, we have a younger woman who has loved β€œher” Masters brother since high school, but he really didn’t pay too much attention to her.

Where Second Chance Cowboy was too short, Lucky in Love was just right in length. Neither Lucky nor Cammie really struck me as characters that I could spend a lot of time with and not want to crack their heads together. I enjoyed Lucky’s story, but it could have become repetitive if it had continued too much longer.

Overall, Cook County Cowboys was a sweet anthology and I wouldn’t mind coming back to meet some of the neighbors.

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I am a full time mom who works part time. I squeeze reading in wherever I can between work, volunteer stuff, and kid activities. I read a little bit of everything, but really enjoy indie authors and Happy- Ever-Afters. I've been reviewing for Cocktails and Books since January 2015.