Book Review: The Trouble With Cowboys by Denise Hunter

From the Publisher: 

Only one pair of boots—and the cowboy wearing them—can get Annie out of the mess she’s in.

Annie Wilkerson is Moose Creek’s premiere horse trainer and equine columnist for Montana Living. Money is tight as she tries to put her kid-sister through college and provide for her young nephew.

When Annie’s column is cancelled, she’s given first shot at a new lovelorn column—and she can’t afford to turn it down. Only problem is . . . Annie’s never been in love.

Always resourceful, she reluctantly strikes a deal with the town’s smooth-talking ladies’ man Dylan Taylor: She’ll work with his ailing horse, Braveheart, if he’ll help her answer the reader letters.

Working closely with Dylan is harder than Annie imagined, and she quickly realizes she may have misjudged him. But her unwavering conviction that cowboys are nothing but trouble has kept her heart safe for years. And she can’t risk getting hurt now.

The more Annie tries to control things, the more they fall apart. Her feelings are spinning out of control, and her sister’s antics are making life increasingly more difficult. Annie knows she needs to turn the reins over to God, but surrender has never come easily.

When Dylan reveals his feelings for her, Annie doesn’t know what to trust—her head or her heart.

The trouble with this cowboy is that he might just be exactly what she needs.

My Thoughts: The third and final installment of the Big Sky Romance series by Denise Hunter did not disappoint.  I enjoyed re-visiting some old friends from They Cowboy's Touch and The Accidental Bride.  While it definitely wasn't necessary to read the first two in the series prior to reading The Trouble With Cowboys, I wish I had re-read those other two first to refresh how certain characters were originally introduced (Abigail and Wade, Shay and Travis, Miss Lucy).

Pride and Prejudice is one of my favorite books, and I LOVED how this book paralleled that one in respect to Annie from this book and Elizabeth Bennett from the first.  I always think it's important that an author create characters that the reader can connect with.  Connecting with a character allows the reader to invest, and often to discover things about themselves they never knew.  

In a Christian fiction novel I often think that the author has an amazing ability to often be a messenger.  A messenger who puts onto paper the words from God that for some are hard to hear.  The gentle reminder that says I am here...  The push that says you can do XYZ... The embrace that says you are not alone...

Would I Recommend This Book?  In a word, yes.  I really enjoyed Annie and Dylan's relationship.  I liked how his flirting and how their sparring was written.  The only trouble with The Trouble With Cowboys is that it may make you want to pick up and move to a small town... I know that I sure do!

I give the book 3.5/5 stars.

(I was given a complimentary copy of this book for review purposes and am under no obligation to provide a certain review.  All opinions in this review are my own.)