Title: Last Of The Red-Hot Cowboys (Hell's Outlaws #1)
Author: Tina Leonard
Release date: June 24th
About Last Of The Red-Hot Cowboys:
A sexy
cowgirl gives a rugged Texas loner the ride of his life in USA Today
bestselling author Tina Leonard’s seductive new series.
Ava Buchanan dreams
of a career on the rodeo circuit. Winning a spot on a one-of-a-kind team would
be her ticket to the life she’s always wanted. Ava won’t let anyone stand in
her way—not even a stubborn cowboy whose slow-molasses smile and red-hot swagger
set her senses aflame . . . and whose talents as a trainer could make her a
star. Rodeo might be a man’s game, but Ava knows the right woman’s touch can
tame the wildest heart.
Trace Carter believes
his mayor’s plan to raise the town’s profile has disaster written all over it,
and he won’t allow the Hell’s Outlaws Training Center to be dragged into the
fiasco. Yet watching Ava’s delectable body on horseback proves too much of a
temptation, and his fantasies stray to her riding skills outside the arena.
Soon Trace is fighting like hell to rein in his unbridled desire for the petite
brunette before it becomes a passion hotter than the Texas sun.
Excerpt:
Mayor Judy pulled over, and Trace’s black truck pulled alongside.
“Judy,” Trace said when she’d rolled down her window, “send Ava to
my truck. I want to talk to her.”
“No way.” Judy shook her head. “If you think I’m letting one of my
chickens go off with a bona fide wolf, you’re not thinking straight, Trace
Carter.”
“Send her over, Judy. Ava, time’s wasting and the sun’s going
down. Move along.”
“Arrogant ass,” Ava said under her breath. “I’ll go see what he
wants.”
“Are you sure?” Judy asked. “I don’t like the look in his eyes.”
They studied the cowboy glaring out his window at them. He wore a
black hat and a dark scowl, and Ava favored him with a frown to match his.
“It’s okay,” Ava said. “I’m not worried about the look in his eye.
Or anything else.”
She got out of Judy’s truck and jumped in the passenger side of
Trace’s. “Do you always boss people around?”
He waved at Judy and headed down the road. “Pretty much. Will that
be a problem for our partnership?”
“Partnership?” She wished he wasn’t the type of scoundrel who made
her body take notice. Not just take notice, but admire and desire. “As I
recall, we have nothing near a partnership.”
“Do you have one with the Horsemen?” he asked, his tone soft and
somehow dangerous.
She looked at Trace with disgust. “Really? You couldn’t just ask
Judy what you wanted to know? You had to use me as your pigeon?”
He laughed. “And a cute pigeon, too.”
“Why do you care, anyway? You turned us down.”
“That’s true. And I haven’t changed my mind. I just think you and
I can come to a different set of terms.”
“I doubt it very seriously.” Something inside her hoped they
could. “You’re just trying to thwart Judy.”
“Judy needs to be thwarted. At times Judy is Judy’s own worst
enemy.” He turned down a lane shrouded by big, leafy pecan trees.
“Where are we going, anyway?” Wherever it was, it looked
peaceful—and too secluded.
“We’re going to the pond. I do my best thinking at the pond,”
Trace said cheerfully.
“I didn’t know you did any good thinking at all.”
Trace shook his head, his grin huge. “Can I give you a little
advice?”
“None that I’ll welcome.”
“Don’t listen to everything our darling little mayor says. Judy is
the most wonderful woman in the world, and she’s a master of a thousand faces.
She has all kinds of tricks up her sleeves. Men lose their cool around Judy,
and she darn well knows it.”
“But not you.”
“That’s right. Not me.” Trace grinned hugely and parked his truck
near the lake. “Now, hop out and grab those two fishing rods. And if you’re in
as good a shape as you claim, grab the bucket of worms, too.”
She didn’t get out of the truck. “I’m not going fishing.”
He opened her truck door, pulled her out of the truck. Appeared to
give her weight consideration as he held her in his big, strong arms. Arms that
felt amazingly and alarmingly wonderful.
“Put me down.”
“I like a woman with curves, just for the record.”
“Put me down.”
He set her gently on the ground. “Shall I get the worms, then?”
“I’ll walk back to town if you don’t get to the point
immediately.”
“Sassy. I do love a lady with spice. Okay, no worms. We’ll use
corn.” He grabbed the fishing poles and a plastic bucket and headed down a path
to the blue-green pond she could see just at the edge of a few oversized
willows.
Ava looked around, annoyed. She could follow him, find out what
was on his mind. That would be what Judy would advise. Clearly he had something
on his mind or he wouldn’t have gone to the trouble and ruse of dragging her
out here to be his fishing buddy.
She doubted very seriously Trace had fishing on his mind.
She could hear him whistling at the water’s edge, setting up a
couple of camping chairs he’d pulled from under a tree. “You ass,” she
muttered. “You really think the world turns because you say it does.”
Her gaze fell on the shiny set of keys hanging from a Billy Bob’s
key chain, dangling from the ignition. Where she came from, a man’s truck was
his castle.
A castle with keys in it was just too hard to resist.
She got in the truck, turned the engine on, and drove away,
Trace’s yells following her for a good hundred yards.
My Review: 5 stars
This was such a good book! Tina definitely set the background for the series in this book. I loved how hard headed Trace was. Ava is sweet, smart and a firecracker. She's come to Hell for one reason, and no one's keeping their word about that reason. Ave is also determined to get what she came for, no matter how good looking Trace is or how much she wants him. There's a lot more going on that just Trace and Ava's story, but it's all complicated. Just like small town life really is. I also loved that Trace realized that he had to let Ava go pursue her dream, and hope that she would come back to him. I loved all of Tina's characters, they definitely had a purpose and a reason for being the way they were. Definitely a great read, congrats to Tina for such an outstanding first book for her series! I can't wait for more to find out what's next for the citizens of Hell, Texas.
About Tina Leonard:
USA Today Bestselling and award-winning author Tina Leonard has sold over 3 million copies of her titles. She has made the USA Today Bestseller, Waldenbooks, Bookscan, and Ingrambook lists, and has written and contracted seventy-one books and special projects. Her work has been published by Harlequin, Samhain Publishing, Robinson Scarlet, and most recently Random House Loveswept contracted for a single title trilogy project, Hell’s Outlaws. Leonard was chosen to be among the first authors published for Robinson’s Scarlet line, writing four single title novels for that imprint. Not long after, she sold on proposal to Harlequin American, where she has since written several popular series, most notably the Cowboys By The Dozen, Morgan Men, and Callahan Cowboys series. Her latest single title project, Last of the Red Hot Cowboys, will be published in June 2014, and is the beginning of her new three book series for Random House Loveswept. Leonard is known for her fun sense of humor, endearing communities, snappy dialogue, and memorable characters.
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