A Texan in Her Bed - Sara Orwig (HD #2323 - Sept 2014)

Series: Lone Star Legends (Book 2)

All Wyatt Milan wants is a quiet life. That's why the billionaire rancher became sheriff of the sleepy town of Verity, Texas. But Wyatt's tranquility is disrupted when charismatic TV host Destiny Jones blows into town, determined to solve a murder mystery tied to a long-standing family feud.

Destiny's questions threaten to stir up the old Milan-Calhoun dispute -- along with the hottest desire Wyatt has ever felt. This woman has turned his town, and his life, upside down. Suddenly Wyatt's got a brand-new feud on his hands -- one a lot closer to his heart!

I liked the premise of the story - hot shot tv personality comes to town, determined to solve the century old murder mystery and falls for one of the descendants of the victims who isn't so thrilled about having the feud stirred up. There was the potential for some good conflict to go along with the passion but it never happened.

Wyatt likes the peace and quiet of his town. He answered the call when the people of Verity asked him to be sheriff, because they trust him to know what is right to do whenever trouble happens. When Verity comes to town, he's not at all happy to have someone stirring up memories of the feud now that things are starting to calm down. He gets his first inkling of trouble when he finds her limo illegally parked, and then hears about the chaos that's already beginning. He gives some orders regarding the limo, has his mind set on making sure Verity knows there's no story to pursue, and then goes totally brain dead as soon as he sees her. All he can see is how beautiful she is and that he's attracted to her. Instead of really trying to convince her to give up, he asks her to dinner instead, and from there it's just a short hop into bed.

Destiny is beautiful and determined to find out more about the feud and what happened. She is accustomed to getting what she wants and has no trouble using her beauty and charm to do it. While I like a determined heroine, this seemed more like manipulation. She's also got a personal stake in the story because her grandmother is a Calhoun. She listens to Wyatt's arguments, all the while thinking about how hot he is, and that maybe she can seduce him into changing his opinion. By the time dinner and "afters" are through, she knows that won't happen, but the sex has been great.

Destiny continues her efforts, pretty much ignoring everything Wyatt asks about not stirring things up. He has real fears about what could happen during her interviews with various members of the families. Thankfully his brother Tony does as Wyatt asked and kept calm when his nemesis Lindsay Calhoun was being interviewed, preventing some of the trouble that could have happened. What bothered me most about Wyatt was that he seemed to have absolutely no backbone when it came to dealing with Destiny. He would make a request, she'd ignore it and he'd just shake his head and laugh. 

As far as their relationship went, both had issues to deal with. Destiny has never been in love and is determined that she won't fall for Wyatt. After all, she's big city and he's small town. She lives all the way in Chicago, and he prefers Verity. But all that hot sex is great, and she doesn't really want to leave. She thinks maybe she might really be falling in love with him, but he guards his emotions and she doesn't want to love someone who won't love her back. Wyatt had been in love years ago and devastated when his fiancee broke things off. He doesn't want to risk feeling like that again, so he doesn't allow his emotions to get involved with any woman. He has to admit that Destiny has gotten to him far more than anyone else, but he refuses to believe that he's in love with her. After she leaves to return to Chicago, he finally realizes what she means to him.

I had a hard time buying that they had fallen in love with each other at this point. Whenever they were together, they were in bed. There was little talking done and I really didn't get the feeling that they had gotten to know much about each other. The most talking they did was after they had parted and talked on the phone every night. It wasn't until that point that I felt a real connection between them. Even then, Wyatt is still sure that there's no way for them to be together. Destiny is the one who takes the first steps.

I did enjoy the resolution of the mystery. I thought it was very neatly done. I liked seeing the families get together and how the younger generation is settling things.

The Texan's Forbidden Fiancee - Sara Orwig (HD #2308 - June 2014)

Series: Lone Star Legends (Book 1)

One taboo Texan

After a century-long family feud, Madison Milan doesn't trust any Calhoun -- especially Jake, the man who ditched her on the night of their elopement. But when he shows up claiming an heirloom map leads to gold on her ranch, she's swamped by steamy memories. She may not trust Jake, but she just might want him….

Jake will do anything to get what he wants -- Madison's ranch. Consider it payback to the Milans. And Madison? She's collateral damage in their family feud. The confident cowboy has nothing to worry about…except falling for the forbidden beauty all over again….

Jake and Madison had been in love as teenagers, in spite of their families' long-standing feud. They didn't care and just wanted to be together. They made plans to elope, but Jake never showed up, breaking Madison's heart. She hasn't spoken to him since then. When he contacts her to tell her he has a family map that shows where gold has been buried on her ranch, along with the bodies of several of their ancestors, she is intrigued enough to allow him to hunt for it. She also doesn't trust him, so she's determined to keep an eye on him.

Keeping watch over Jake means spending a lot of time with him. It quickly becomes obvious to them both that the old passion is still there and stronger than ever. But their hurt and anger over what had happened years ago is still there, and they can't move forward until the past is dealt with. When the truth comes out, Madison is shocked, and both realize that their anger has been misplaced. Now they have to decide if they want to move forward together, or part ways if and when the treasure is found.

To complicate matters, Jake hasn't been entirely up front about what all is involved in his search. He's told Madison about the gold, and made a good case for finding their ancestors' bodies and giving them a proper burial. But there's something else that's supposedly with the treasure that will give him the revenge he's been looking for against the Milans. Unfortunately, that revenge could ruin what is growing between them. 

I enjoyed the heat between Jake and Madison, and the way that it ended up opening their lines of communication. In spite of their initial antagonism, they were still able to work together. Once they resolved their past issues it was great to see the way that they started to get to know each other again. Madison started to trust Jake and Jake started wondering what was going to happen to those feelings if they found the treasure. Things got really interesting at the end, and I loved seeing the way Jake made it work.

The whole feud idea was very interesting, but we really didn't get very much information about it. I expect that there will be more revealed in later books. The various siblings on both sides all seem ready for their own stories, but I am really looking forward to Tony and Lindsay. I suspect that, with the amount of fireworks between them, they are going to end up together and in a spectacular way.