Review of One Night Rodeo (Blacktop Cowboys #4) by Lorelei James

One Night Rodeo is the fourth book in the Blacktop Cowboys series.

Celia Lawson has known Kyle Gilchrist since childhood through his friendship with her older brothers. A man who should have been off limits turned a night of celebration into something quite different.

After a tequila-fueled night on the town in Las Vegas, Celia wakes up to find she's gotten herself hitched... to Kyle. On the heels of that news, Kyle find out that the father he never knew has left him his dream—a cattle ranch of his own. Celia knows cattle inside and out after being raised on a ranch, so he could use her help.

Kyle proposes six months of marriage while she helps him on his feet as a rancher, then they can call it quits. She agrees, and Kyle has six months to prove the chemistry between them can last a lifetime.

I really enjoyed this book. Two people floundering in unfamiliar territory and clinging to the other person involved to the benefit of both.

Kyle was one of the stars of the first book, Corralled, where he shared Lanie with Hank for a few weeks during Cowboy Christmas. Lanie eventually married Hank, leaving Kyle in the dust. Now it's time for Kyle to find his happily ever after. Celia is Hank's younger sister, so you can imagine the Lawson brothers don't react well to the news, and the push and pull between Kyle and the Lawsons was heartwarming.

As I read this, I remembered Kyle's sweetness and his raunchiness from Corralled. I liked him then, better than Hank, and I liked him even more in this book. I thought he was fleshed out well and had layers to him, the same as Celia. She entered the series in the first book as well where she became friends with Lainie and started her barrel racing career. I liked Celia all through the series with her drive and gusto about her career and friendships. It was nice to see her get her happily ever after as well.

As per usual for this author, the settings were well developed. I had a good picture of the ranch and house as well as the ranch work itself. Since I have no context for ranch work, that aspect was crucial so I could immerse myself in the story. Without that, the book would have been hollow. All the descriptions were fantastic and let me see where I was and what people were doing.

The dialog was great, and the bit of cheese factor that snuck in at times wasn't enough to make my eyes roll. The goal with the cheese is to make it sweet and fitting for the couple, not worthy of a groan. I love Ms. James's dialog as it lets me hear the accent and the way people speak rather than just what they're saying. I can really hear the way they talk, which helps with the immersion even more.

All-in-all a great addition to a lovely series.

Photo Credit Katherine Elizabeth

Stars Image Credit lovethenerddesigns