The most important two words for this Wrangler’s Creek rodeo cowboy? I do…Lucian Granger isn’t winning any Mr. Cowboy Congeniality awards. Known in his small Texas town as “Lucifer” thanks to his surly nature and knack for scaring people away from getting too close, the handsome rancher has no trouble ignoring the gossip. But when he’s in danger of losing the land he’s put his blood, sweat and … danger of losing the land he’s put his blood, sweat and tears into maintaining, Lucian sets out to prove he’s a changed man—by claiming he’s about to settle down with his invaluable assistant, Karlee O’Malley.
Their pending nuptials may be just for show, but from the moment they kiss, the proverbial fireworks start going off in his head—and in his heart. Before long, the man who’s usually as emotional as a brick wall is tired of pretending and wants to share a real future with Karlee. With his world suddenly turned upside down, Lucian will risk losing the business and the ranch if it means holding on to the one woman worth becoming a better man for.
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A well written perfectly paced story pulling you in from the start. A tale where Jerry doesn’t have the business sense to run the family business and he gets involved in some bad decisions. Lucian being the oldest has finally built it back up only for Jerry to come and destroy it. Lucian finally finds out Karlee’s true feeling for him, and they begin an adventure together.
The story line was great and enjoyed reading this book.
Strong characters and entertaining.
Love her stories!
Really enjoyed this book. It was different……., in a good way.
Lucian was an interesting character. Strong willed and indifferent to others opinions. I did find him funny and somewhat damaged. He does over come his issues and has a happy ever after ending.
Hallelujah! Lucian Granger FINALLY sees what the whole town of Wrangler’s Creek has seen for years! His assistant, Karlee O’Malley, does indeed light up in his presence. Delores Fossen did NOT disappoint in this long awaited story of Lucian and Karlee. Strong, stubborn, and all hot cowboy, Lucian has to change his image once and for all to save the family ranch and Granger Enterprises from his waste of a father. Not only does he need to change his image, he has to battle the town’s key leaders over some damn plant named Hairy Corn Salad.
Independent, smart, loyal, and beautiful, Karlee has stood by Lucian’s side for the past 10 years. Karlee has loved Lucian her whole life but she would never risk their friendship or her job for a ridiculous month long affair, that’s all Lucian ever has with his “sweet things”. To help Lucian and the family she’s adopted as her own, she accepts the proposal on the table that might help save everything he loves.
Emotional, powerful, and nothing short of amazing, Delores Fossen gave us the perfect cowboy happily ever after in ‘The Last Rodeo’. ENJOY!
With vivid images, quirky characters with their splendid uniqueness, playing with the words in a way that only a few do as well as Delores Fossen, words packed humor and endearment, the story of family drama, business troubles, and unrequited love unravels.
It is always a pleasure to visit Wrangle’s Creek. The Granger family with their ongoing drama has been an entertaining saga to follow, filled with life with its messes, turbulent emotions, and more than their share of disorder and strain in the families.
Lucian has been the unknown factor in the family, the one in charge of the family company, yet avoiding all kinds of personal relationships, except with his longtime assistant, Karlee O’Malley, who seems to be the only one to understand him and cheering for him.
I knew there was more to Lucian, aka Lucifer, than the family let us know while following the series. He has been the fixer and caretaker of the family ever since his father walked away from his family. He has a tough responsibility on his shoulders, but he loves what he does, and it keeps him busy, his life and mind occupied, keeping his heart from more heartache and disappointments, making it easy to hide the stiff exterior of ‘Lucifer’.
Karlee has had a similar role as a fixer in her own family. The mess that Karlee’s mom and Lucian’s father left behind was not easy to prepare, but Karlee and Lucien have always done everything they could to help their families while keeping feeling at the bay, to protect their hearts.
There are more twists in the tale that I could count, keeping the family, and the reader, on their toes, inhaling the tale to find out what will happen next. Each scene of the story is packed with intense feels, interruptions, drama, trouble, and instant reactions. It is a non-stop roll-a-coaster of emotions, shady business dealings, relationship messes, from farce and melodrama from the parental units to joy and passion, confusion and hard choices in Lucien and Karlee’s lives.
Lucien and Karlee have an unrivaled connection, they get each other in a way few does because of the years working together, learning to anticipate the next move the other will make. Add that the attraction, the growing need for each other, and the confusion Lucien’s ex with her demands of attention creates, and the emotions are gurning all over the place.
The Wrangler’s Creek series is made of intriguing and entertaining stories, filled with high emotions, townfolks whom will take part of each and every twist of the tale, families that hold tight together despite the differences, drama, and constant trouble they create for each other.
Life is rarely smooth going or problem free, the Granger family having more than its share of the hitches of life, but they wither the storms together, coming through even strong than before.
An amazing, breathtaking, vastly entertaining family saga, filled with twists and unexpected turns, cowboy fiction at its best
~ Five Spoons
As a new Fossen reader, I have no idea what her particular style is but I feel like I should give a few warnings for other newbies. There isn’t a TON of romance here, so if that’s your main focus you may be disappointed (I’ve seen a few of those on Goodreads). Instead, Fossen delivers an interesting mix of a couple coming to terms with their feelings, a oh-so-dysfunctional family, and some business shenanigans. It melded together really well for me, but may not work for others.
Lucian is the one that stepped in when his dad stepped out and he’s done amazing things to make the family business a success. Unfortunately, his dad is now back in the picture and threatening everything that Lucian has worked so hard for. The big question is why and that plays out through a decent part of the book. It also leads Lucian to making a few realizations – about himself, his life, and his heart.
Karlee has been there by Lucian’s side for years, loving him silently, but she’s finally reached the point where her heart can’t take any more. She’s starting to move on when the bad dad drama hits and her feelings means that she can’t abandon Lucian or his family. But being in a fake relationship with him means that some things come to light that she hadn’t planned on.
Fossen has a fun, quirky style – filling her story with humor, hijinxs, and hilarious secondary characters. And because she writes with dual POV, we are there with Lucian while his blinders are taken away and he has to face not only Karlee’s feelings but his own. We also get to see the toll that everything has on her. And my heart went out to her all the way to the end.
While I found the love story to be satisfying, it also doesn’t play center stage. Those looking for a pure romance may be a little thrown by the family and business drama. It’s important for the characters and does help lead to the HEA, leading to growth and helping to put some old ghosts to bed, but it does make up a decent part of the plot causing the relationship portion to be downplayed a little. Not a bad thing, in my opinion as I enjoyed seeing how everything worked out, but also not everyone’s cup of tea 🙂
**Review given honestly and freely after receipt of a reader copy. This opinion is completely my own and was not influenced in any way.**
Favorite Quotes:
Witchcraft might have been involved. He was having a hard time believing that mere motherhood and social connections could allow Regina to completely dismantle and rearrange his life in two weeks…
Alice May wasn’t a smiler. In fact, Lucian always thought her face looked like an apricot right before it went bad. Wrinkled but still round.
Her eyes narrowed some when she turned back to Lucian. “There’d be a lot of folks plenty upset if you hurt her. Just remember that.” It seemed like a threat, and coming from a longtime garden guild member, it seemed like a threat with some teeth. The woman knew how to use a hoe and shovel.
FYI, if you need to take a leak in the powder room off the foyer, then you’ll have to stand in the corner and aim because Regina’s marked off the area by the john as belonging to Dylan and her.
Technology paled when it came to the speed of communications by folks hell-bent on gossip.
Candy was wearing super -skinny jeans and a red top with enough sparkles and sequins to trigger a seizure. Her five-inch heels had “sprained ankle” and “I don’t belong here” written all over them.
My Review:
Delores Fossen’s sly humor and clever wit kept me smirking throughout this highly amusing and engaging tale. I nearly bounced in my chair with gleeful anticipation whenever a new character or visitor was introduced as Ms. Fossen’s colorful descriptions of their appearance and unique personality traits never failed to bring a sharp and humorous visual. The eldest son Lucian, AKA Lucifer, was the focus of this installment, and both of his hands were full of troubles financial, personal, and familial when his ne’er-do-well and often-married father returned with news he was taking over the family enterprise. The Granger family was definitely not short on quirky characters, which fit just as well with the eccentric and petty inhabitants of the small community of Wrangler’s Creek. I always enjoy spending time there, although as Regina had contentiously marked off ownership boundaries within each room with masking tape, it would have been a bit of a challenge to visit their ranch.