— A USA TODAY Bestseller –Fiercely independent single mom Quinn Christiansen likes already being known in town for having a heart too hard for any man to break, courtesy of her deadbeat ex who left her with a mountain of his gambling debts to pay off, on top of the pediatric hospital bills her son had required from birth. So when she finally meets the lone man in Cactus Creek inexplicably … inexplicably undaunted by her ball-busting tendencies, Quinn has absolutely no idea what to do with him. Not only is he ridiculously handsome, and surprisingly sweet under his gruff and gritty exterior, he’s also clearly determined to invade her life.
Rylan Grey isn’t used to getting a woman so worked up. Well, not in a bad way, at least. And yet somehow, his mere existence seems to annoy the guarded and gorgeous Quinn to no end. Sure, he’s made some gambles to get to where he’s at, but they were all of the life variety, with risks as important as the rewards, fate betting as the house, and most importantly, not a single dollar in play. Though Rylan has never wagered anything he’s not willing to lose–namely his heart–once he sees past Quinn’s icy defenses, he’s more than ready to ante up…for what’s bound to be his riskiest gamble yet.
“Violet’s writing simply jumps off the page and grabs you from the first sentence. If you love strong heroes, you’ll love her books.” — New York Times Bestselling Author Bella Andre
THE CACTUS CREEK SERIES
Love, Chocolate, and Beer [Luke & Dani]
Love, Diamonds, and Spades [Rylan & Quinn]
Love, Tussles, and Takedowns [Hudson & Lia]
Love, Exes, and Ohs [Isaac & Xoey]
All the Cactus Creek books are standalone novels with feel-good HEAs. 🙂 Enjoy!
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This is book two in the Cactus Creek series. Quinn wants nothing to do with any man, not after getting her heart broken. When she finds herself drawn to Rylan, she steels her resolve. She believes Rylan is the typical musician and feels that is a detriment. Rylan is a down to earth guy, and does the music as a hobby while he runs a landscaping …
Sweet but cliche
There was no real struggle.
Rylan was the perfect man and although funny I felt like he was more female. Quinn was described as prickly but to me was just a concerned slightly jaded mom. Still I didn’t like either one and the concept that a male friends can be affectionate to a female friend no way. It’s okay if it were a hug …
I enjoyed the book and characters a lot and couldn’t t put it down. The ending was kind of weird.
Highly recommend for light reading!
I didn’t like the book at all, it was dull to me and hard to follow and just umentertainng to me
This series just made me happy!
I have been a big fan of Violet Dukes work for quite some time. This book and the series it is part of are some of my favorite of her books
The author wrote very strong characters, which made the book believable. Very good read. Looking forward to the next book in the series
A slow burn romance filled with the quirky residents of Cactus Creek. Funny, romantic, sexy… this one has it all.
Too much missing time between scenes. Why did Rylan like Quinn? I couldn’t figure it out. She was always ‘staring’, and not in a nice way.
Strange, did not make a lot of sense to me.
It was nice to read a book where the man wasn’t a billionaire. ..just a regular working type guy.
Easy read. Having a son, the book stayed wholsome. The bantering was mild, emotions surfaced, happy and sweet ending.
I liked it, however, they kept referring to other characters in previous books in the series, so I got lost at times.
I think all of Violet Dukes books are great!! This was funny and sweet, along with some tear jerking moments.
I couldn’t get into it
Loved this book. All of this series of books are five star!
Quick read
The plot was somewhat predictable, but the characters were great and it was generally entertaining.
This is the second book of the Cactus Creek series by Violet Duke. Technically, it shares the number two spot with Love, Tussles, and Takedowns. Love, Diamonds, and Spades wasn’t really on the docket for the Cactus Creek series, but because Violet Duke listens, intently, to her fans Love, Diamonds, and Spades was placed between Love, Tussles, and …