Chasing Trouble in Texas

Good second chance love story, with lots of love, laughter, and family drama. McCall is one of a set of triplets who spent from the age of three to fifteen as one of the stars of a reality show. It all ended when her sister Hadley got in trouble for joy-riding, and the show was canceled. All three sisters, Sunny (Tangled Up in Texas), McCall, and Hadley, as well as their brother, Hayden, were happy to see the end of it. Their parents – not so much, and ended up creating all kinds of trouble for years. McCall, who was known as the good sister, went on to get a degree in counseling and recently started a charitable foundation with her boyfriend.

Though the relationship with Cody ended, they pretended it was still on to protect their latest fundraiser. That comes to a screeching and humiliating end when McCall catches Cody knocking boots with Miss Watermelon during the fundraiser. After making her displeasure known, McCall heads home to Lone Star Ridge to regroup and avoid the media. Not wanting to worry her grandmother, McCall stops at her old friend Austin’s ranch for help in calming down before seeing Granny Em.

Austin is the widowed father of three-year-old twins Gracie and Avery. He still struggles with grief over his wife’s death two years earlier. His girls are the center of his world. They and his horse ranch keep him hopping, but he wouldn’t have it any other way. His biggest problem is his nosy, manipulative mother-in-law, Edith, who regularly threatens to sue for custody of the girls.

The first chapter was a hilarious start to the book. Austin opens his front door (in a pink tutu and tiara) to find a strange man (Cody) demanding to see McCall, who isn’t there – yet. Cody’s demands and whining steadily increase until McCall makes an appearance. McCall isn’t happy to see him and threatens a particularly sensitive portion of his anatomy with her pointy-toed shoes. Matters become more complicated with the arrival of reporters and a cop determined to arrest Cody, bringing Sheriff Leyton Jameson, Austin’s brother, into the mix. The icing on the cake is Edith’s arrival and blatant disapproval of the whole ruckus.

I enjoyed the development of the relationship between Austin and McCall. They have a history together. Austin was an extra on the tv show, brought in to play a teenage McCall’s crush. That wasn’t too hard, as each was unknowingly crushing on the other. McCall’s crush continued into high school, where she competed with her friend Zoey for Austin’s attention. Dice may have been involved , and Zoey came out the winner and ultimately married him. Years later, proximity brings back the old feelings with added intensity.

Austin quickly realizes he wants to spend more time with McCall. She the first woman to break through his grief, and he likes how he feels around her. McCall feels the same way, but she has some secrets that could make things more difficult for him. There are some wonderful scenes between them as their feelings strengthen, and Austin does his best to convince her to take a chance. There are some sweet scenes with Avery, Gracie, and their “fairy lady” as McCall falls just as hard for the girls as she does for their father.

Meanwhile, McCall’s secrets do come out, causing a series of twists and turns and hilarious and emotional situations. I loved Austin’s support as McCall faces varying levels of repercussions. It all comes to a head when Edith makes good on her threat, and McCall has to decide whether to run or fight. The ending was great as love finds a way.

The secondary characters were wonderful. Avery and Gracie top the list out of sheer adorableness. I loved their enthusiasm for just about everything they encounter. It was fun to see them playing “cops and bobbers” with their aunt Cait (a deputy) and “nukle” Leyton, and “fairy tale rules” with McCall. I ached for them at the end when “cussody” became an issue. Edith was a piece of work. Her judgmental attitude was uncalled for because Austin was a wonderful dad. McCall’s assistant Mo was great. I loved her background, her support for McCall, and her snarky sense of humor. Granny Em was a hoot, and I loved her reverse strip poker games with Mo. Hadley made a brief appearance, and I can’t wait to get to her book.

If there’s one thing we can all use during a crazy pandemic that has us at our wits’ end, it would have to be laughter. I know it’s at the top of my list of things we need more of these days, and Chasing Trouble in Texas goes a long way toward taking care of that problem. This is the second in the series, but as far as I could tell, it works as a standalone. At least I didn’t feel like I was missing anything. The story is pretty funny at times, and it also has its emotional moments, so I’d say it’s a pretty good mix of the two. To be honest, Delores Fossen is a hit or miss with me, but this one turned out to be just what I needed. The romantic couple is likable and they have good chemistry. Of course, Austin isn’t hard to like. I mean, seriously, what’s not to like about a sexy cowboy? Then we get a double whammy since he’s a single dad. It’s a swoon-worthy combination all the way around.

Chasing Trouble in Texas is the second novel in Delores Fossen’s Lone Star Ridge series, but, as usual, I’m reading this series out of order, but it certainly didn’t hamper my enjoyment of this novel, which has the funniest, laugh out loud, comedy of errors first chapter I’ve ever read. I was laughing so hard I had tears streaming down my face and my sides ached. Since I don’t normally read romantic comedy, this was all the more impressive and it gets 4.5 stars from this reader.

At its heart, Chasing Trouble in Texas is a second chance at love novel. Austin Jameson lost the love of his life, Zoey, who was the mother of his twin 3-year-old girls, to cancer two years ago, and is now raising his girls alone (with lots of help from his family), as well as sharing them with his late wife’s parents. The children’s grandmother, Edith, is cold, judgmental and wants custody, but so far, Austin is doing a fine job of raising them. While I’m not a fan of children in romance novels, Austin’s twin 3-year-old daughters, Gracie and Avery, were so funny, cute and charming, that I fell in love with them, their dress-up outfits, and their hilarious games, like fairy tale rules and cops and bobbers, almost immediately.

As the novel opens, we meet McCall Dalton, who shows up at Austin’s after her fiance, Cody Joe Lozano, a famous rodeo bull rider, cheats on her during the Miss Watermelon contest fundraiser for Saddle Up for Tots, a charity McCall Dalton started, and one which both Cody Joe and his wealthy mother help support financially. The engagement is off, and McCall Dalton, still in pageant costume, heads for her grandmother Em’s house in Lone Star Ridge, but considering the cadre of trouble close on her heels, drives to Austin’s ranch instead, with Cody Joe, Miss Watermelon, and her friend and assistant, Boo, as well as the media, close behind. When Austin steps outside to see what’s happening in his front yard, he’s wearing a tiara and a pink tutu, because he was playing with his daughters. If that image and the slapstick mess that follows doesn’t have you in hysterics, I don’t know what will.

McCall Dalton has a crush on Austin back in high school and she and her friend, Zoey, rolled the dice back them to see who would pursue him–Zoey won, and was happily married to Austin before she died. Once McCall sets her eyes (and lips) upon Austin, she’s still as attracted to him as she was in high school, and the attraction is mutual, but there are plenty of stumbling blocks ahead for both of them. McCall and her sisters starred in a television series from the time they were 3 until one of her sisters got into trouble at age 15, and the series was cancelled. Her mother stole all her earnings, and so twelve years earlier, to pay for her college education, McCall worked part-time as a waitress in a strip club, and when its owner died, she left the Peekaboo Club to McCall with conditions–she cannot sell it or give it away. It’s been a well kept secret, and a thorn in her side, but as we soon discover, not much stays a secret in Lone Star Ridge. Nor does it help when Austin’s former mother-in-law, the snooty and manipulative, Edith, decides to fight him for custody of her grandchildren, and McCall hardly meets her high standards. McCall doesn’t know whether to pursue the relationship or not. She and Austin generate a lot of heat, but she doesn’t want to be the reason he loses custody of his twins.

There are a lot more twists and turns, and ups and downs in this story than I can share without spoiling it for you, but except for the far too abrupt HEA ending and lack of an epilogue (and yes, I know all about Harlequin Desire page/word counts), this novel had me laughing, crying, and totally absorbed in these characters and thoroughly entertained throughout. If you’re looking for a fast-paced, fun read, look no further–I highly recommend this one.

I voluntarily read an advance reader copy of this novel. The opinions expressed are my own.