Tough To Tame

Author: Diane Palmer
Series Connection: Long Tall Texans
ISBN: 978-0373176496
Genre: Cowboy/ Western Romance
Publisher: Harlequin

Purchase this book at the link below.
Tough to Tame (Harlequin Romance)

Diana Palmer has been one of my longtime favorite authors. Her Long Tall Texans series has become quite a franchise over the years with over 30 books to it's credit. Reading reviews of Diana Palmer's books shows that readers either love or hate her but rarely in between. In her Long Tall Texans series she has a formula on how the book are written.

Her heros are often rugged, and not always handsome in looks, but sexy in body. These men have lived hard lives, either with bad childhoods, lived their lives as mercenaries or have had bad relationships with women or their mother causing them to become women haters.

The heroines are often at least 10 to 15 years younger than their male counterparts and often are young enough to still be virgins. They are either shy and easily intimidated, except for with the hero, or they are tomboy characters who push the envelop.

The Long Tall Texans series takes place in a small fictional town in South Texas, called Jacobsville, where there are a lot of ranches, cowboys, cops and drug dealers. The dialog is often country hick, but not ignorant, just not worldly. The characters often offer long explanations on everything from professions to far away places to current events. Sexual situations are generally light to moderate and usually take place after the hero and heroine get married.

In Tough To Tame, brings back local veterinarian Bentley (not Ben) Rydel who has not been in a good mood at work lately. Ever since new veterinarian assistant Cappie (short for Capella) Drake (interesting character names in this book) started working at his clinic Rydel has been an ogre to her. She  doesn't have any idea why he doesn't like her. All she knows is that if he looks at her he is generally yelling at her. At first Bentley really doesn't know anything about Cappie, but when he gets to know her, he begins to like what he sees.

Cappie and her brother Kell have recently moved to the town next door to Jacobsville from San Antonio. Kell thought it would be a good idea to get Cappie out of town after she has a bad relationship with a man she has put away for assult. Kell has problems of his own. He was recently shot and has a bullet lodged in his spin and he is paralyzed. The Drakes are a bit down on their luck now relying only on Cappie's salary to get by. A lot of the story is spent talking about Cappie and Kell and their bad luck, with the rest exploring the relationship between Cappie and Bentley.

Generally this story is right on formula. This particular story is kind of a little more down than others, dealing with hard issues, similar to Regan's Pride. I liked Cappie and the way to handles Bentley's temper. A future story featuring Kell's character would be interesting.

The other part of this story was giving readers more of a look at Kilraven the local police officer or actually FBI Agent, who will be explored further later this year in Dangerous where they will tell the story of Kilraven and Winnie Sinclair.   

Description:
A spellbinding new installment in the Long, Tall Texans series!

New York Times bestselling author Diana Palmer welcomes you back to Jacobsville to become reacquainted with Bentley Rydel. He lives hard and loves fiercely—but sometimes it takes the right woman to make a man a hero. This rugged Texan is going to be Tough to Tame!