Reviewed by Kat

TITLE: Roped In

SERIES: Lone Star Series (Book 2)

AUTHOR: Jodi Payne & BA Tortuga

PUBLISHER: Tygerseye Publishing

LENGTH: 308 pages

RELEASE DATE: May 10, 2022

BLURB:

They say absence makes the heart grow fonder, but sometimes distance makes people drift apart.

Rope Canutt has announced his retirement from bull riding and is making the most of his final year on the circuit, riding the big shows and resting in between so he can finish the season on a high note. He isn’t sure what’s next for him. He has no plan yet and nowhere to go, especially since his family sold their ranch a few years back.

Jude Sharpe remembers Rope fondly from their younger days in Austin. Mostly he remembers how hot the rodeo cowboy was and how much fun they had hooking up every time their paths crossed. That was a long time ago, and Jude’s been married and lost his husband to cancer in the years since they’ve seen each other. Now he’s raising a son alone.

When bull riding comes to New York City, Jude’s consulting firm uses their private box to entertain clients from Houston, and Jude brings his son Silas along to see the show. Rope is riding and Jude hopes to introduce Silas to a real bull rider. They’ve each lived a whole lifetime apart, and Jude and Rope aren’t sure how much they have in common anymore. So will they be drawn to each other when their paths cross again?

The books in this series are standalones and can be read in any order.

REVIEW:

I love these two author’s books and this might just be the best one yet!

Jude Sharpe has had a rough couple years. With his husband Nigel dying of a really aggressive brain tumor, learning to be a single dad to their 7 year-old son Silas, and juggling being a executive consultant at busy New Your consulting firm, he’s had his hands and life full. When his firm hosts a suite at the bull riding event at Madison Square Garden for their Houston investment firm clients and their families he knows he can’t skip out. Even though his ex, champion bull rider Rope Canutt, is bound to be there. When Rope is sweet to his son he decides that he needs to go talk out what happened when they just dropped off when they were younger. It doesn’t hurt that Rope is even finer that he was as a young man. When one night isn’t enough Jude invites Rope to stay at their place so he can show him the sights of New York and get to know his Cowboy all over again. And Silas is over the moon about it. But, when Angel, Nigel’s buddy that helps watch Silas, is in a freak accident, Rope knows he needs to step up and help out. But can a retiring bull rider from Texas and a city boy single dad make a go of it???

I love that Jude took a chance on Rope. It was obvious that there was still fire between those two but young life and career commitments had got in their way and it just fizzled out. No big fight so that wasn’t a problem and they just “fit together” something fine. And how Silas idolized Rope was sweet. That little boy took to him like glue. So when Jude took the leap for the first time since he lost Nigel it was perfect that he reconnected with Rope. And boy did that fire re-ignite hot and strong!

I loved that this was a straight up fun book without a lot of angst or self questioning. Both men knew that Silas was number one first. Rope was great with him and that just warmed my heart. And, even though it was hard and sometimes confusing for Jude, he knew what was right in front of him was the real deal. He just had to figure out how to make it all work.

As I stated, I’m a big fan of both of these author’s work and this book was icing on the cake. Two long lost lovers that forge a relationship that puts a little boy first is a great story. I look forward to more in this series.

RATING:

BUY LINK:

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