Krystle ~A Booknatic~'s Reviews > Lone Star Woman

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and all of its characters. Ms. Jeffrey does a great job with the description of the settings and also the emotions that they are projecting.

You've got Jude Strayhorn in her late 20's, living on a cattle ranch with her father and grandfather – whom also have raised her – she's got a soft exterior, but inside she's actually pretty tough. She's been engaged twice, both by the completely wrong man. Her “parents” so to speak, are just trying to do what's right by her and see her married to a man of wealth and start having babies. What they're not seeing though is the bigger picture. What Jude wants. Basically treating her as if she were just a part of the livestock herself, poor Jude.

She's got plans of her own though, to buy a derelict ranch down the road and breed cattle on her own, since she's into the genetics of crossbreeding and doesn't have the freedom to do as she wants on her family's ranch. That plan falls thru when she drives by said ranch and spots a strange truck parked in the driveway. I laughed when she confronted the stranger at the ranch and thought that she's a little firecracker!

So then walks Brady Fallon into her life, an old childhood friend that moved away many years ago to come back and take claim to the 6-0 ranch his aunt left him. The ranch is in terrible shape and will take a lot of back breaking work (and money) to fix up. Seeing that he just moved back into town and needs a job, where else to go but to the Strayhorn Circle-C ranch. Right before he starts working at the ranch though he and Jude spend some time together when she offers to ride out of town (in secret from her family) and help him move his things to his new home. Things between them heat up to N-U-C-L-E-A-R while on this trip!

Now, with Jude knowing good and well not to get mixed up with the hands working the ranch, this is a huge problem.

I love how Jude is an extremely smart woman, but also doesn't know when to put a sock in her mouth, ha! I related to her in that way, lol! Knowing all sorts of sometimes useless knowledge, and then rambling on and on about things to whoever you're trying to impress, all the while after a few minutes you look at them and they're just sitting there staring at you with a deer-in-the-headlights sort of look! Too funny. I would hate growing up like she did, not the way of living or anything, but how she had to go by who her father and grandfather would want her to date. Just because Brady didn't come from money and worked for her father, automatically put him in the do-not-date pile, even though he's everything Jude wants and is perfect for her. I kept waiting for Jude to tell her father exactly what was wrong with the other two men he picked out for her to shut him up!

Like I said I really loved this book and there were a lot of parts where I either cracked up, or threw my hand over my eyes because I was embarrassed for Jude! There are two scenes in particular that I'm talking about; where she was cleaning up the garbage outside that Ginger left and she noticed Brady's pictures.............Hot...and then when started to pack up his things in the bedroom and found a certain box with certain things of an XL size. LOL