I try reading a lot of free ebooks since currently that's what I can afford. There's good stuff to find in any price category, and this novel's a prime example of a gem among rocks, though I couldn't tell until I got to the fifth chapter, when I knew I'd have to finish reading it.

It is all told from Luke's point of view, and he is the quintessential cantankerous cowboy. I grew up among those. The worse they're hurt, the harder they'll turtle up. The ways the author uses to crack his shell are gorgeous. I can't think of a better word for it. There's not just one, they come from different directions, and it still takes time and danger, and then it's still not simple. The last few chapters had me in tears several times.

Yeah. Read this one. ( )

Luke Tanner has been in self-exile ever since Keith Mallory died. Luke met Keith on the set of a movie and before he knew what was happening he was working as Keith's stunt double. After an accident while shooting a movie Luke hides himself away from the spotlight. This story has a lot of great supporting characters that I loved learning about. Luke gets his happily ever after but what he goes through to get there is well worth reading I enjoyed this book very much and highly recommend it. ( )

Romance novels are ... well ... let's face it. Fluff. We read them because we want a formula of boy-meets-girl, not-too-insurmountable difficulties, and then a happy ending where the girl gets the boy. On the way, hopefully the author will teach us something and make us fall in love along with the characters. This was one of the ones that met those goals.

Luke Tanner is poignant as the cowboy-turned-stunt double-turned-cowboy who retreats back into his original trade after the tragic death of his best friend after the friend died after insisting on doing his own stunt. Not only mourning his friends death, but also to escape unresolved feelings for his deceased best friends grieving fiance, Luke turns back to the hard, solitary life of a cowboy to find peace. When his best friends fiance suddenly shows up two years later to interview him for a memoir about their mutual movie actor/friend, old wounds are suddenly reopened.

Unlike most romance novels, this one was written entirely from the viewpoint of the hero. We get to inhabit Luke's head as he keeps pushing Jillian away despite his resurging feelings for her and realize he isn't doing so simply to be a jerk. His guilt over not talking his friend over doing the stunt the day he died and the fact he had always possessed feelings for the woman now at his doorstep feel palpable and genuine, not contrived.

Especially realistic was the authors descriptions of the daily duties of a cowboy. No glamor here. Just lots of hard, repetitive, lonely, dangerous work. I know little about the real life of a cowboy, but the job description felt gritty and real, not some watered-down romantic version of what it meant to be a cowboy. I learned something.

Keeping in mind a 5-star rating for a formula romance novel isn't the same thing as, say, 5-stars for Charles Dickens, I would say put this one on your reading list. You'll feel good at the end. ( )