Reviewed by Donna
TITLE: Heart of a Redneck
AUTHOR: Jodi Payne & BA Tortuga
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 246 Pages
RELEASE DATE: November 13, 2018
BLURB:
Colby McBride is a blue-collar cowboy trying to make ends meet laying tile in Colorado. A loner by choice, Colby works hard with his hands and finds his peace camping in the mountains outside Boulder. Gordon James is a white-collar restaurateur who owns not one, but two successful establishments in downtown Boulder. He’s a sophisticated urbanite who is devoted to his work and is accustomed to getting what he wants.
The men are friends, but sparks fly when Colby falls in love and decides to show Gordon how much fun a good old boy can be. They’re just beginning to explore their relationship when Gordon’s sister’s suicide leaves him with custody of his five-year-old niece.
Colby comes from a huge family and is eager to help with the girl and to prove his worth to Gordon. But neither of them is ready for the tremendous changes to their already busy lives, or for how this new relationship with Olivia challenges them, complicating the way they interact with each other.
They say opposites attract, but can these two very different men work together to join their disparate lives and form a strong, if highly unlikely, family?
REVIEW:
This is the first book that I’ve read by Jodi Payne, but I was already a fan of BA Tortuga. In my opinion, nobody can write cowboys like BA Tortuga writes cowboys, and though Colby actually lays tiles by trade rather than rides a horse, he’s still got that “I live to be outdoors” vibe going on.
This book is set in Boulder, Colorado and though I assume Boulder is a decent sized city, judging by how busy Gordon’s restaurant is, the story still has a small town vibe to it. I love the warm fuzzy feeling that close-knit towns provide to books, and I think this one had that vibe because there was a strong sense of family among the main characters and most of the secondary characters.
Speaking of secondary characters, they made this book for me. I have a love/hate relationship with kids in books, but Olivia was great. I didn’t want to slap her even once! I especially loved the interaction between Colby and Olivia. Colby’s family, and Gordon’s employees were also interesting additions.
My main issue with this book was that I constantly felt confused. I seemed to miss the fact that time was passing and suddenly Colby and Gordon had been together for almost a year? I think. I was never entirely sure. And as for Colby and Gordon’s relationship, I just never felt that they had any depth to their feelings. Gordon seemed to have a secret obsession with his restaurant manager, even after he decided he was in love with Colby, and Colby was referring to Gordon as “his man” at the beginning of the story but then appeared uncertain if he wanted a serious relationship.
While I didn’t love this story, I also wouldn’t caution anyone against it. It was just average from my perspective. But having said that, I’ve seen that most other readers are leaving more enthused reviews for this book. If you like the sound of the blurb then maybe check out what everyone else is saying about it.
RATING: 
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