ARC Review: One Tough Cowboy by Lora Leigh and Veronica Chadwick

One Tough Cowboy
Author: Lora Leigh & Veronica Chadwick
Series: Moving Violations (Book 1)
Publication: St. Martin's Paperbacks (January 29, 2019)

Description: First in a brand-new series from #1 New York Times bestselling author Lora Leigh and Veronica Chadwick about one man’s pursuit of justice―and unbridled desire.

LAW AND ORDER.
For as long as Samantha can remember, Hunter―a man as strong as steel, with a heart of gold―has been her hero. It came as no surprise to Samantha when she found out that the ranch-hardened cowboy who always protected her from bullies went on to become the town’s sheriff. What does surprise her is how incredibly hot he still is. And how much she still wants him…

PRIDE AND PASSION
And, lo and behold, Hunter still has feelings for Samantha. The long-smoldering heat of their innocent flirtation has grown into a full-raging fire. But when tragedy strikes, and their small-town community is shattered, Hunter vows to do everything he can to keep his childhood sweetheart safe. But can Samantha trust that Hunter has her best interests at heart…and that, after all these years, his love is true?

My Thoughts: Samantha comes back home to northern California from her job with the Detroit police department because her aunt is found dead. They say it is a drug overdose, but Sam doesn't believe that. Neither does the sheriff who was her childhood hero and crush.

Hunter is already suspicious because Samantha's Aunt Dottie was the third person to die suspiciously in town. The mayor's wife, an excellent swimmer, was found drowned in a fish pond; Hunter's Uncle Zach died in a hunting accident except he never hunted; and now Dottie. All three were life-long friends.

After serving in the Special Forces and in Iraq, Hunter has come home to take over his uncle's job as sheriff. He doesn't trust the mayor or two of the deputies the mayor forced on him. He is sure something criminal is going on.

Hunter and Samantha's investigation leads them to a drug smuggling, human trafficking network that has branched out into moving terrorists around the country. But both Hunter and Samantha are almost totally distracted from their investigation by the overwhelming sexual attraction that they feel for each other and the need to stop at many inappropriate times to have sex. I skimmed over the many too-graphic-for-my-taste sex scenes and couldn't help but find them really unrealistic based on the other things that were going on.

I had a couple of other issues with the book. First of all, it is set in northern California and the characters have Southern accents. I didn't know, nor do I believe, that California was a Southern State. Besides the many sex scenes, many of the other parts of the book were "tell" not "show." Check the quote below which states that "little backwoods country towns were also well known for corruption." Really?

Fans of spicy romances and romantic suspense may enjoy this one.

Favorite Quote:

Cute and quaint, her hometown was just as innocent in appearance as they come. People lifted a hand in greeting or nodded with a smile at passersby. Even so, little backwoods country towns were also known for corruption. Deerhaven was no different. It was all just a lovely cover while underneath the surface was a fetid, decaying mass of excrement.

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.