This was another disappointment for me, which makes two in a row (I did not like All Jacked Up). In essence, I found the whole book to be tame. I was not excited about Kane and Ginger. Though there was a bit of a spark between them, the sex scenes were bland, IMO. I think Ms. James can write some scorching scenes, but I felt it was lacking this time around. I also thought this book was too predictable and the storylines are starting to seem the same; the cowboys are all dominant in the bedroom and the heroines seemed scared/unsure and dont want to admit that they like it. There was no true conflict between them; they just didnt talk to each other. There was a lot of internal dialogue going on and not enough face to face conversations. Kane didnt think he was good enough for her since Ginger was a lawyer. Ginger was a bit weary of Kane because of his former playboy ways. I really hope the next one is better. If not, I might be done with this series unfortunately.

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this is the 9th book in the series, but takes place on an earlier timeline (between book 7 and 8, I believe). it's not really noticeable. the book is smokin' hot, as are all in the series. the storyline was a bit more "traditional" in my mind than the others, but the sex is not vanilla. it's a good story.

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The author indicates in her preface that the timeline for this book falls between seven and eight, and it really isn't that noticeable, other than a short appearance by Keely where she calls Jessie to meet her at a bar and it's a bit obvious from that conversation that she hasn't hooked up with Jack yet. While the sex is definitely hot and NOT vanilla, the book really comes across as a more traditional romance once you are outside the sex. I was really prepared to hate Kane after Kade's book and everything that went on with Skylar, but I really felt that he redeemed himself admirably in this book and really found myself liking him and his turn around from a womanizing playboy. I thoroughly enjoyed this story and thought it was well worth the money.

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Update: After finishing the story last night I am coming back to update my review and increase my rating.

Did I enjoy reading this story? For the most part, yes. Two sections, both somewhat near the middle, bugged me because they just read like pure filler and didn't do anything for the story. One was a detailed poker game introduction of all these other McKay cousins. They were discussing women in very unflattering terms. I'm sure men, some men, do talk like that, but it seemed excessive and unnecessary and rather crude. I wanted the book to focus more on the core couple and not on all of these extraneous McKays.

Secondly, two weeks of sex was summarized in each of the main character's viewpoints. We got to hear some summary details of their sexual acrobatics but it didn't mean anything. It didn't advance their relationship. Why include an unnecessary sex scene? I read somewhere that if you could take out a scene and the story still makes sense, then that scene isn't necessary. This applies to both sex and non-sex scenes. When there's no character growth or major change to the plot, it just becomes really easy to skim and that's what I did, for the first time in a James Rough Riders story.

Lastly, we also had two scenes from the viewpoint of a future couple. I know these were meant to get us interested in those characters and wanting to buy their book as well, but it didn't work, IMO.

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I'm 2/3s thru this one now & might update my rating/review when I finish if it changes but for now, I'm disappointed.

The book started off well, reformed Kane, who we'd met in earlier stories, finally making his move on Ginger, the single-mom. What started off fine has really gone downhill. Waaaay too many dirty words just throw out there that don't contribute to the sexiness or hot factor of the story. And now that we've run out of primary McKays and are "meeting" the cousins (so James can continue her hugely successful series), no one is standing out as having any real personality.

IOW, all the new & younger McKays just seem like rehash of the last 5 or 6 we've read. I'm disappointed. While I didn't love all the earlier books, I really liked several of them. Big sigh. Authors need to learn when to quit or try something new for a while. After 8 or so books, seems like series often go stale.

Gonna give the rest of this one a whirl & see if it improves. I may have to cancel all my WishList requests for her newer stuff...

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