Wrangler’s Creek’s most eligible bad boy has just become its most eligible single dad Dylan Granger could always count on his rebellious-cowboy charm to get his way–until the day his wife, Jordan, left him and joined the military. The realization that during a wild night he got her cousin pregnant is shocking enough. But the news that Jordan has come home to Texas to help raise the baby is the … baby is the last thing he expects.
Raising a baby with Dylan in Wrangler’s Creek is a life Jordan might’ve had years ago, but she doesn’t want regrets. She wants what’s best for the child–and to find out if there’s something deeper between her and her ex than blazing-hot chemistry. Getting closer means letting down her guard to Dylan again, but will he be able to accept the emotional scars on her heart?
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Dylan Granger’s bad boy rap was fitting. The ladies of Wrangler’s Creek proved that with sex bingo cards created in his honor. Not really an honor if you asked Dylan. Especially when he finds out he has a child he didn’t know about. Lo and behold, his ex-wife, Air Force Major Jordan Rivera, is on her way back into his life to help raise his child. Ideal? Hardly.
Delores Fossen’s ‘Lone Star Blues’ was an emotional roller-coaster and her sense of humor was ever present. Every chapter had a new twist or turn giving me something I didn’t see coming! The Granger men of Wrangler’s Creek are hot, stubborn, passionate, and loyal to the family. As an Air Force veteran myself, I found Jordan relatable in her emotional strength after returning home from combat and then to her hometown she ran from. Once Dylan and Jordan put everything aside for the child they both so loved, they had me tailing their every move until the very “hippy” ever after! ENJOY!
Great reading. Realistic, fin, witty!
Wrangler’s Creek is one of my favorite series, it is a series that I have tried to get in paperback as well as in ebook form as I love it so much. While Lone Star Blues might not be my favorite book in the series so far, but it does not take away how much I have enjoyed the series and it doesn’t stop me from continuing to read the series, that’s for sure.
I just don’t think Lone Star Blues was a romance story. Yes, Dylan Granger and Jordan have sex, they even have a bit physical chemistry between them, after all, they were married 14 years ago, so there have been some deep feelings in between them a long time ago. But I didn’t get that the feelings were deep now, or were romantic in any sort of way. The story itself has absolutely no romance, not even as they declare their feelings for each other, a scene that somehow didn’t fit the rest of the tale.
Basically, this is a tragic story of a custody battle of a child, who is the results of people sleeping around. The chaos and turbulence that is always part of the Wrangler’s Greek life come from the fact that there are several possibilities who the father of the child is, and the drama unfolds in front of the whole town.
I am not a fan of the male-slut type heroes, or third person drama in relationships even in romance books. The whole story is basically based on that theme, and I felt sorry for that little boy who was in the eye of the storm throughout it all. The bingo with Dylan’s sexual experiences was awkward and made me laugh several times.
The book is well written, the plot has plenty of twists and unexpected turns. The whole extended family gets involved in the paternity case, and we get to meet many of the characters from the previous books in the series. The story does give new insights to the family, and thus builds up the series, or takes it deeper. I am just a bit confused with the sudden ending of the tale, that didn’t give much of a conclusion or a solid solution to most of the issues talked about in the story, so I claim this book in my mind another chapter in the wild and lively life of the Granger family at the Wrangler’s Creek, with hopefully, more insights to come in the future.
~ Three Spoons with a teaspoon on the side
Lone Star Blues by Delores Fossen
Wrangler’s Creek Series
Dylan Granger and Jordan Rivera were once husband and wife but it seems it was a short marriage nobody thought would work, and they were right. Jordan headed to the military and Dylan, with a broken heart, worked on the family ranch while dallying with many women. The premise for this book is that a child may bring the couple together again after fourteen years apart.
Dylan, thrust into fatherhood suddenly, takes on the challenge and is more mature and responsible than expected. Jordan, just returned from overseas, is dealing with PTSD that is not addressed as much as in other veteran novels that showcase this problem. Dylan and Jordan had chemistry before and it is still there when they meet again.
The main question, beyond whether or not there will be a HEA for Jordan and Dylan, is who the baby daddy REALLY is. Is it Dylan or could it be Theo – the man that Jordan has dated or then again…could it be someone else entirely?
There were parts of the book I really enjoyed and some where people from previous books I have not read made an appearance that were not essential to me but probably nice for those following the series. There is a set-up for a future book in the series and the HEA/HFN that Jordan and Dylan get at the end.
This was an easy pleasant sometimes silly read with an unusual bingo game, small town antics, a wedding and more. And…there was a nice friends to lovers Wrangler’s Creek short story at the end to enjoy, too.
I would like to thank NetGalley and Harlequin Books for the ARC – This is my honest review.
3-4 Stars
Favorite Quotes:
Tiffany Kelly, a cocktail waitress at the Longhorn Bar, had indeed started a bingo game that involved sex categories— specifically sex categories with Dylan— and she had distributed variations of the cards to women around town… Apparently, once a woman had her card filled, Tiffany would give them a drink on the house. So far, there’d been four winners. Okay, there were five, but one of them had cheated.
Walter Ray probably didn’t know that most folks called him dick-nose, and it was a well-earned moniker. It was one of those noses that made you stare and wonder why the heck he hadn’t run to a plastic surgeon.
Had this been any other person, Jordan could have argued that sex didn’t just happen, but this was a woman who’d stolen flip-flops and Twizzlers. Adele’s life had seemingly been a string of things that’d “just happened” or else really stupid things that she’d planned.
Her arrest record reads like stuff a stand-up comic would use. Did you know she once got arrested for peeing on a CEO’s car? She was protesting the way he treated his employees.
He peed in the gas tank of Mildred Wheeler’s Toyota after she fussed at him for being drunk in public. Then, he peed on those feral chickens that are out by Police Chief McKinnon’s house when somebody bet him that he couldn’t do it. One of the chickens got mad, jumped on his wiener and spurred him. He needed stitches.
My Review:
I smirked my way through this delightfully amusing and skillfully crafted tale. I adore Delores Fossen’s wickedly observant and clever wit. Her books are highly engaging and provide delectable entertainment. I could read her work every day and never tire of her enticing yet uniquely flawed and endearing characters. I enjoy and greatly anticipate her easy to follow and breezy writing style with comedic descriptions and strong visuals that succinctly and simultaneously define her quirky characters’ appearance and behavior with her own brand of vividly colorful and entertaining flair. Reading her books feels like a fun and indulgent vacation and I always feel a bit rueful at having to return to the real world once I’ve finished.
There’s one thing for certain, none of the gals in Wrangler’s Creek would disagree, Dylan Granger’s thousand-watt smile sure made all the ladies swoon. Not that most of the eligible young ladies in town hadn’t had their own personal at-bat with Dylan Granger so could testify. Dylan Granger is quite the ladies man, so much so that a cocktail waitress at the Longhorn Bar got the bright idea to start up the Dylan Granger Sex Bingo Game. A very popular game being played around the county. There were a few full-card bingos too until the night of Dylan’s brother, Lawson’s bachelor party. Dylan made a pledge to stay celibate for a month. It was videod and sent to his mother who would certainly work to make sure Dylan stuck to his pledge. That was all well and good until the San Antonio police officer and a social worker show up at the Granger’s ranch with 2 1/2 year old Corbin Dylan Rivera. It seems Corbin’s mother, Adele Rivera, was arrested and signed paperwork for temporary custody of the child to go to his father, one Dylan Granger.
At the same time Adele Rivera’s cousin, Jordan Rivera, was flying to San Antonio to start her latest Air Force assignment there after her helicopter crash and her being taken captive and subsequently rescued. As it happens Jordan is Dylan’s ex-wife. She is going to find out soon that the attraction between herself and Dylan is still sizzlin’ hot. After all according to Jordan the taste of Dylan’s kisses is a version of cowboy sin. Fireworks of all kinds are about to be shooting off in Wrangler’s Creek soon.
Delores Fossen is one of my favorite authors. Her writing style is smooth, humorous and easy to read. In this book, Lone Star Blues, the latest in Delores Fossen’s Wrangler Creek series, the author once again tells a fun tale with lots of action and witty dialogue. A number of characters her readers learned to love in past books in the series reappear here and again entertain the reader.
There’s lots happening in this story so buckle up for a wild ride!