Childhood sweethearts get a second chance for love in this heartwarming USA Today bestseller from the queen of cowboy romance. After spending years traveling the world with the military, Rose O’Malley is ready for a change. Heading back to Texas to hold down the fort at her aunt’s bed-and-breakfast will give Rose just the break she needs. But while she may speak seven languages, she can’t … needs. But while she may speak seven languages, she can’t repair a leaky sink to save her life. When Hudson Baker strides in like a hero and effortlessly figures out the fix, Rose can’t help wondering if the boy she once crushed on as a kid could now be her saving grace.
Hud has always been rock-solid and dependable — a quintessential cowboy to his core. But the moment Rose steps back into his life, his world is turned upside down by meddling family, a rescued baby, and one highly mischievous cat. Now he’ll have to decide if it’s time to throw caution to the wind and do whatever it takes to convince Rose that by her side is exactly where he wants to stay.
Includes the bonus novella Wildflower Ranch, a continuation of Daisies in the Canyon.
Cowboy Courage is the sixth in the Longhorn Canyon series but can also be read as a stand alone. This is a sweet second chance with a first love never forgotten. Rose and Hud met in junior high school and had an instant spark but never got the chance to explore their relationship because Rose’s family moved away. Now she is back visiting and taking care of her aunt’s B&B/gift shop while her aunt is away. Hud comes in to buy a birthday gift for his sister and so begins the second chance. Although their budding relationship seems doomed from all the mishaps along the way, they overcome all. To add to the adventure is Rose’s eccentric Aunt Luna who adds a spark of comedy and mischief to the story.
This is book six in the Longhorn Canyon series and it features Hud and Rose. I really liked Rose. She’s a little quirky, like her family and she doesn’t make hasty decisions. Everything is seriously thought out. Hud is a big sexy cowboy that has loved Rose since they met in junior high at the age of 14 but there was no time for them then. Her father moved them away and now she’s back, 14 years later and the sparks are still flying.
Rose’s Aunt Luna is hilarious! I think everyone should have one!
This is an easy, laid-back romance where nobody is in a hurry. The story line is smooth and the characters are fantastic.
I voluntarily offered to review this book with no obligations and my opinions are honest!
This was a great book !
Rose was ready for a change.
Her aunt’s bed and breakfast seems like the answer.
Hud was not prepared for Rose’s return.
Read the book for the wild ride!
Loved the characters + the storytelling !
It has all the ingredients that you need for a great book!
I can’t wait for the next book in this series.
GOOD FUN READ
This is a sweet second chance romance between a couple who experience “love at first sight” at the tender age of 14, but were separated before even a year could pass. I read this as a stand alone, even though it is the 6th book in the series.
Except for the one year that she was allowed to go to school, Cactus Rose O’Malley was raised in a commune, where her authoritarian father ruled. As soon as she was 18, she enlisted in the Army and had been around the world as a translator. After 10 years, she is in the position of having to decide to re-enlist or find a life outside of the military and comes to visit her aunt- who lives near the ranch that Hud Baker and his twin had bought. Funny things get in their way as they try to renew their acquaintance. Is fate trying to keep them apart or push them together. Amusing story with endearing characters, especially Aunt Luna , who is a “hoot” and funny situations.
I read a ARC supplied by NetGalley.com. There was one scene in there about a false arrest, which was superfluous and should be left out of the final edition. This is my unbiased and voluntary review.sweet second chance romance
Cowboy Courage is the 6th book of Longhorn Canyon series by Carolyn Brown. It is a romantic story about Hudson Baker. He’s rock-solid and dependable—a quintessential cowboy to his core. His world is turned upside by meddling family, a rescued baby, and one highly mischievous cat. He meets Rose O’Malley, the girl had never forgotten back in high school at her aunt’s bed and breakfast. Will the second time be the charm for a small-town cowboy to catch the girl who got away? Cactus Rose O’Malley speaks eight languages and travels the world, but she can’t fix a leaky sink to save her life. Then Hud strides in like a hero does whatever it takes to convince Rose to stay—with the help of Aunt Luna, Rose’s 80-year-old retired carny.
Carolyn Brown always tells a good story with loveable characters like Aunt Luna with her risqué humor and reacquaint readers with her characters from her previous books in the series. Miz Brown has a knack for matching the perfect couple like Hud and Rose. Cowboy Courage sizzles with romance, warm humor, and small-town feel. Don’t forget her bonus story Wildflower Ranch, a delightful novella about the attraction between Waylon Stephens and Shiloh Malloy. It begins with Waylon’s accident, and he needs someone to stay with him for a week while he recuperates. Shiloh offers to stay to make sure he follows doctor’s orders. Writing a short story is tricky, but Carolyn Brown does a fantastic job in creating a love-at-first-sight romance, the development of her characters, their electrifying attraction, and surprising conclusion of this wonderful story.
A good clean romance about first love and second chances.
I enjoyed reading this book.
Wonderful just as all of Carolyn Brown’s books are.
Heartwarming, sexy, fun and emotionally thrilling romantic journey filled with interesting charters, witty dialog, heart racing twists and undeniable passion. This was a great read from beginning to end. Really enjoyed reading this action packed adventure.
I enjoyed the sweet romance between Rose and Hud, but Aunt Luna was my favorite character. She was hilarious & I loved her spunk!
I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advance Reader Copy from NetGalley.
Hudson Baker is a rancher and a voluntary fire fighter. At the young age of 14 he met Cactus Rose O’Malley in school. From the moment they met, each felt it down to their souls. Hudson stayed in Texas and Rose moved with her parents to Kentucky. to live on a commune. Rose decided to hit the road. She joined the Army to see the world. Now she is back in Texas to look after Aunt Molly’s place while she is traveling. Hud walks into the shop and all those feelings are still there. Also Aunt Luna shows up. You will love her. She had me laughing. Aunt Luna was a carnival person and read Rose’s tarot cards. The question is whether Rose will re-enlist or move to another part of Texas to be an interpreter. Mother nature takes control and decision are made. You are just going to love the ending of this book!
Cowboy Courage is another wonderful book. Rose comes back to town to run her aunts b-n-b for her. She runs into Hud and they are still attracted to each other. It takes them a while to share their feelings for each other but, it was worth the wait. This is a wonderful story with endearing characters. I especially loved Aunt Luna. I look forward to reading the next book.
Cowboy Courage was a beautiful love story full of laughter, romance and love. Hud Baker is a dreamy cowboy who not only tries to win Rose’s heart but he captures the reader’s heart too. I really liked how they first met in junior high and were reacquainted when Rose helped her aunt out at her gift shop and B & B. The scene in the gift shop was so funny and priceless. I also enjoyed all the references and lines from country songs.
I liked Rose, who is such a strong, opinionated woman with a backbone. It was interesting to see where she grew up and how she turned out. Aunt Luna was a riot no matter where she went and she made the story very interesting.
I liked the small town of Bowie where everyone looked our for each other and help was just a phone call away. I received an advance copy of this book and I willingly chose to write an honest review.
ARC for honest review with no compensation received from NetGalley
Cowboy Courage is book 6 in the Longhorn Canyon series by Carolyn Brown while a standalone reading the other books in this series has you filling in the gaps.
“Cactus” Rose O’Malley and Hudson “Hud” Baker met when they were in junior high but one year later she was gone…now years later Rose is on leave from the military and trying to decide what to do with the rest of her life while helping at her aunt’s bed and breakfast and gift shop. When in walks a blast from the past…Hudson who now goes by Hud….
Lots of humor, mishaps, disasters, strong family ties and a second chance at first love…
Rose and Hud had such a fun time trying to stay out of trouble – but it just kept pestering them until they finally fall into their HEA – I love reading Mz Carolyn’s books – always a great time for all the characters and you can hear them talking to you, twang, slang and all!
Fun, witty, light romance. I enjoyed this friends-to-lovers’esque, second chance romance from Carolyn Brown, my first story by her. I thought the western, cowboy aspect was fitting to the story she’s telling through Rose and Hud and who they are which are really likable characters with many redeeming qualities. Both strong and passionate, compassionate and smart. Briefly sweethearts in high school, separated by circumstances out of their control and then reconnected later only to find the spark still aflame. The chemistry was evident. This was a relationship built on fondness which really worked for these two characters. Through the middle I did feel like it started to drag. I don’t know what it is with me with more light-hearted romance that even though there’s words on the page the lack of depth in the story starts to wear on me. And some of the outlying events surrounding their new again connection didn’t quite work for me. But Brown does a great job of making you fall for her characters, secondary ones included, that you need to see it through. It’s love, laughter, and friendship in Cowboy Courage.
First book that I have read from this author. Book 6 of the series but can be read as a standalone. Didn’t hold my interest as much as I would have liked. I found myself putting this book down and reading a few others before I finished this. It was an ok read with some funny parts but just wasn’t for me.
I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and I am voluntarily leaving an honest review.
Cowboy Courage is the sixth book in Carolyn Brown’s Longhorn Canyon series, a series I’ve been following since its inception, and since I’m a fan of second-chance and first-love romances, I expected to absolutely love this novel, but I’m sorry to say that so far, and for a variety of reasons, this is my least favorite novel in the series. It barely gets a 3-star rating from this reader.
“Cactus” Rose was born and raised in a commune, one in which her father was the head honcho (dictator), both dominating and demanding, and Rose’s mother, Echo, rarely challenged his authority. As were all the children at the commune, Rose was home schooled, but because the community was so insular, her mom finally got her father to agree to let 14-year-old Rose attend junior high school for one year. It was there she met and crushed on Hudson (Hud) Baker, who was equally taken with Rose as soon as they met, but except for sharing some classes together and riding on the school bus, they didn’t date, they didn’t kiss, and the following year Rose was gone. Neither teenager ever completely forgot the other, but with the no phone rule at the commune, and no way to communicate, it stayed a first crush for both characters.
Rose went on to serve in the military, and now, 14 years later, she is on leave while trying to decide whether or not to re-enlist, while also helping her aunt, Molly, run her gift shop and bed & breakfast inn while her aunt is off on a 6-week European vacation with the Fab Five, five senior citizens who met in an old age home (and whom we met in previous novels). The Fab Five, as they called themselves, eventually left the home, bought a house together, and are quite the go-getters.
No one could be more surprised than Rose, when one day Hud, her first crush, shows up at the gift shop to buy a gift for his sister. Their meeting was laced with the kind of humor I’ve come to expect in a Carolyn Brown novel, and apparently both characters feel as attracted to one another as they did in junior high school. But from that point on, aside from moving from one disaster or complication to the next with regularity, this has to be the slowest moving romance I’ve read in years. I was at an advantage by having read the previous novels in this series, which, I suppose, could work as a standalone, but there are many interconnected characters and it might be difficult to understand the nuances of their inter-relationships if you’re new to this series.
Hud is as much of a Texas cowboy as you could find in this entire genre–he works hard, is a heroic volunteer firefighter, and an all-around nice, kind and polite guy, but even though he’s still incredibly attracted to Rose, and although he’s sweet, handsome and charming, his titular courage is quite lacking in the romance department, and even when he finally starts to acknowledge his feelings for Rose, he’s tentative at best, and Rose, who is at least somewhat flirtatious with him, is also so hesitant to let him know her feelings for him. You’d think these two characters had attained zero maturity in the 14 years they’d spent apart. Since both main characters are 28 years old and adults, who both admit to having had one-night stands and other brief relationships in the past, I found their behavior toward one another rather juvenile, and hard to believe, and when they finally do get together late in the novel, although we’re repeatedly told about the sparks these two set off in each other, I certainly wasn’t feeling them at all.
The saving grace in this novel is the arrival of Aunt Luna, a zany 80-year-old retired carny, who is a hoot and a half, and her lack of a verbal filter, her in-your-face, risque humor, and her drinking, were, in this reader’s opinion, the best part of this novel. Aunt Luna left the man she’d been with for the past 60 years because he was flirting with a grocery store clerk who was at least 30 years his junior. Luna is waiting for him to call, apologize and beg her to return, and while she’s waiting, she’s in everybody’s business, gets drunk, and tries to help out with the cooking at the B&B since Rose never learned to cook. As a reader, I couldn’t wait to see what she’d do or say next.
I think the courage mentioned in the title had more to do with Hud’s willingness to run into a blazing building to rescue its occupants than it did his courage in finally admitting to his feelings for Rose and his willingness to put those feelings on the line, and admit them to himself and to Rose, and while I knew this novel would have an HEA ending, it seemed to take forever to get there, and even that was somewhat of a letdown for it’s lack of depth. I didn’t connect with these characters and their reticence at all, but if you’re looking for a relatively tame, clean and uncomplicated romance novel, you might enjoy this one more than I did.
I voluntarily read an advance reader copy of this novel. The opinions expressed are my own.
Longhorn Canyon #6, Yay! It’s Hud finally. A second chance romance. Rose, Hud’s middle school crush, shows up in town to help her great aunt run her B&B and gift shop while she’s on vacation with the Fab 5. Rose is at a crossroads in her life right now she can either re-up in the Army or do something else with her life as long as it’s not going back to her family in the commune. One thing she knows for sure she’s not going to make a decision based solely on a guy, not even a guy she’s never stopped thinking about since she left without saying goodbye. Hud knows it’s her choice whether to stay or not and seeing how there is not a opportunities for a multilingual language specialist he’s worried he’s going to lose her before they even get the chance.
In a funny Murphy’s Law sort of way Rose and Hud are pushed to their limits. Both Rose and Hud have to face some truths before they can finally admit their feelings but when they do nothing will keep them apart not even a tornado in January. I really enjoyed this book. I loved Hud and Rose. I would love to see more of Great Aunt Luna she’s my kind gal. Overall, this is a fun read Hud is a real sweetheart and Rose is a bright head strong woman who picks her battles wisely. I am really looking forward to Pax’s story next.
Rose O’Malley is taking care of her aunt’s B&B while her aunt is out of town. She has spent ten years in the military, speaks seven languages, but only has several weeks to decide to whether to continue her military career. Hud Baker knows that Rose, his first love, is back in town. Will she be staying and if so, does he dare try to convince her that they belong together? Rose is having some serious thoughts about Hud as well and when he steps in to help her at the B&B and rescues a woman and her baby from a fire, she knows he is the one for her happy ever after. A pleasant western romance by an author who knows how to write a “feel good” love story. I received an advance review copy at no cost and without obligation for an honest review. (by paytonpuppy)