Reviewed by Sarina
TITLE: Cowboy in the Crosshairs
SERIES: Turquoise, New Mexico #1, Dreamspun Desires #53
AUTHOR: B.A. Tortuga
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 180 pages
RELEASE DATE: March 6, 2018
BLURB:
A Turquoise, New Mexico, Story
Once upon a time, a prince lived in a magical kingdom called Turquoise, New Mexico.
Well, really, TJ is a small-town police chief. Every Friday he holds court in the diner with the local holy roller, the art colonists, and the horsey people. But the Benes, who own the rodeo company, keep to themselves. TJ knows, because he was once hot and heavy with the oldest Bene son.
When Wacey Bene gets trampled by a remuda and comes home to heal, he’s none too happy to run into TJ, or his two little boys and their momma. The story might end there—if it wasn’t for some pesky bastard trying to kill Wacey.
The law steps in, and the townsfolk are cross about somebody messing with one of their own.
But once the bad guy is put away, can TJ and Wacey make their place in this wild and eccentric town a permanent one?
REVIEW:
Its always a great day when I can dive right into a new series and a series featuring cowboys is even better! Back when they were much younger, TJ and Wacey were practically glued together at the hip and Wacey thought he’d found the man he’d spend the rest of his life with. Then TJ blindsided him by saying he wanted a family and kids…something ‘real’. Heartbroken and angry, Wacey left TJ and his hometown behind, going off to work at the rodeo for the next ten years. When Wacey is injured in an accident, he comes home to rest and recuperate as quickly as possible so he can get back to his regularly scheduled life; running into TJ and his perfect family certainly wasn’t included in his plans. When a set of strange occurrences turn out to be attempts on Wacey’s life, he and TJ are thrown together and Wacey can’t help but wish for more from his ex but he also can’t forget that he wasn’t enough to keep TJ from leaving the last time they saw one another.
TJ has done a lot of growing up in the years he and Wacey have been apart and when the cowboy comes back into his life, he finds himself determined to do what he can to keep him there. TJ has never forgotten Wacey and has always regretted the way he pushed the other man away. When someone starts targeting Wacey for no discernible reason, TJ vows to do whatever necessary to protect the man he never stopped loving and maybe, somewhere along the way, he’ll figure out how to keep Wacey with him and they can both get their happy ending.
I really liked this one; there was a great cast of characters and I enjoyed the secondary ones just as much as TJ and Wacey. (I’m currently hoping I’ll see a lot of this same cast in the next book.) The undercurrent between him and TJ was great, too, and added to my enjoyment of the story; they have quite a bit of history and while some of it was painful, it was obvious that both men deeply regretted what happened between them in the past. I really liked how TJ wasn’t afraid to show how he’d changed while at the same time showing Wacey that his feelings for him were just as strong as ever. There wasn’t a lot of physical intimacy over the course of the story due in part to Wacey’s injuries but I really didn’t need it; the plot was good enough without it and, like I said before, there was a great cast of characters to go with it.
The story itself was really enjoyable and I had a blast trying to figure out who was gunning for Wacey and why. I did catch the clue bus before the end of the book but I’m kind of ashamed it took me that long, lol. Overall I was really happy with this book and I got so into it I didn’t want to put it down! If you enjoy your books with cowboys, a touch of mystery and a second chance love story I’d really recommend you give this one a look.
RATING: 
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