Tuesday, July 12, 2016

4 stars-- Loving a Lawman (Cattle Creek #1) by Amy Lillard

It's always exciting to take a risk on a new-to-you author and have it really pay off. And pay off it did. Loving a Lawman was sweet, touching, and has me hooked.

The quick of it is that the local sheriff has a thing for the local wild child. The local wild child that happens to have an on again off again thing going with his brother--who happens to have a thing for buckle bunnies. Yeah. Toss in a falling out with one brother, an unexpected kiss with the other, one opinionated small town, some heartache and some sweet romance and, whew, it's one messy, bumpy road to a happily ever...but so worth it.

I absolutely loved the hero. Seth is an amazingly sweet man who may not have a way with words but puts everything he is into showing the people around him he cares. He's just a good man and left me sighing more than once. And Jessie is his opposite. He's grounded and steady...she's wild and a bit impetuous. And where he's had a solid family supporting him, Jessie has had a lot of family strife and is pretty much on her own. And she broke my heart with it. She has a lot of insecurities and doubts her worth and it was hard seeing her battle that and not fully believe she was good enough for him or that he could ever really love her. She's stubborn and head strong and while that's not always a good thing with Jessie it was part of why I adored her. She's not had it easy but she keeps fighting (even if she's not always fighting quite the right thing).
"Jessie. I'd like for you to meet Sadie. Sadie, Jessie."

"Pleasure," Jessie said, only briefly remembering that she was addressing a pooch. A four-pound pooch judging from the size of her.

It was the tiniest dog she had ever seen. Or maybe it only looked that small because of the way Seth cradled it in his big hands. "Is that a..."

He nodded, looking only mildly embarrassed. "Yorkie, yes."
Jessie nodded. "And how is it that I'm just now seeing her?"

He shrugged and placed the dog on the floor between them. "No reason."

"Dogs like Sadie have to be groomed, you know." Evidently he did. Sadie had a tiny pink bow tied between her ears. Surely he didn't...

"Yeah," he admitted. He propped his hands on his hips, clearly a defensive gesture if she had ever seen one.

She mimicked his pose and continued. "I've never seen you take her into Wag the Dog." ---He would have had to be sneaking the dog in for her not to have seen him carry Sadie to the groomer's. Unless...

A slow grin worked its way across her face. "So that's how Wanda keeps getting out of those parking tickets."

"Lets just say that Wanda and I have come to an agreement."

Jessie cocked her head to one side. "Huh," she said. "I would have never guessed that you would compromise your police integrity in order to get your sissy dog groomed."

"Hey," he protested. "Sadie and I find that comment unnecessary and offensive."

"But true." She laughed.
Jessie and Seth were a couple I just wanted to root for so hard! They didn't have an easy romance and their journey together was far from the expected but it was so damn touching watching them try to figure it all out. Their romance was funny, sweet, heartbreaking and could be silly too. From locking her up in his jail--maybe multiple times ::snort::-- to picnics, courting, and dealing with loss and healing. They went through so many things and at times I just didn't see how they'd survive. It was an emotional journey for sure. Not to make it sound all doom and gloom, though. There was plenty of humor and sweetness for them as well.

All in all, Lillard put together an unconventional romance that touched the heart and left me sighing. I'm a spot miffed at some of the town for how they treated these two but hopefully they'll win me over in later reads. I do tend to hold a grudge against those who are mean to characters I love so we shall see. We shall see. Regardless...I can't wait to see what will happen in book two. I've already got a thing for the upcoming hero ;)



*covers link to Amazon

Challenges: Pick Your Genre (contemporary) | New to You (author) | Pervy Girl | Goodreads

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