Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Riding Shotgun
SERIES: Princeton Royals
AUTHOR: Amy Lane
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 235 pages
RELEASE DATE: October 22, 2024
BLURB:
Val Royal’s tight family has always had his back, but they love to interfere in his life. That interference almost sends him over the edge when they arrange for Rory McCauley, security specialist, marksman, and hound-dog smartass, to ride shotgun as security on his latest run.
Hot, bossy, and sharp as a tack, Val ticks all Rory’s boxes, but Val’s looking for something real, and Rory’s allergic to intimacy. Besides, their gig running refrigerated bull semen from Bakersfield to Austin could make or break Val’s buddy’s ranch, so Val’s understandably pretty focused on the job. Rory still wishes Val would let him help Val, uh, ***relax. ***
As Val and Rory work to keep their payload safe from a couple of determined saboteurs and they get to know each other as smart, competent, fearless professionals, sparks fly, and Val starts to fall for Rory’s roguish charm. But can he convince Rory their romance would be worth more than a straight shot to Austin—that it would be a love worth coming home to?
REVIEW:
I really enjoyed this kickoff to a new series. The premise of how Rory and Val get together is certainly unique 😉 There is quite a lot of action in the first half of the book. While on a crazy road trip to deliver the frozen bull semen Rory and Val certainly run into more than their share of trouble. Val’s commitment to his friend Vinnie is admirable. His younger brother Dean, and FBI agent is a huge help too 🙂 But it’s Rory and Val’s relationship that builds during the trip. The fact that in the end, both realize they’ve been set up by Val’s family is really kinda cute 🙂
Rory just has lived his life a certain way and he didn’t really see a happy settled life with a partner. After his divorce and beating himself up about hurting his ex-wife when he came out and then trying to be the best dad he could be, he just had been putting himself last. He’s left the FBI after an injury, he’s thinking about the future, but he’s not really able to picture a future with someone special and well, permanent.
Val has built his own business, supported his family, helped his parents and his siblings and their kids and he’s done this one thing for his best friend from high school. When things end up a lot more dangerous then he thought they might be, he’s more than happy to have a retired FBI guy riding shotgun. Turns out that besides Rory’s skills with driving and with a gun, there is a lot more under the covers with this guy 😉 But Val’s not looking for hookups anymore. He wants to settle down. He’s not sure at first that Rory is even remotely a candidate for that job.
The more time Rory and Val spend together, the closer they get. Rory clearly guards his heart quite a bit. He’s more of a good time than a long time guy and Val is definitely not interested in that – even though he’s very attracted. The more Rory hears about Val’s family (and he already had a lot of respect for Dean, the younger brother), the more he is intrigued by this man. When Val is hurt, Rory is there for him to make sure he takes care of himself. He’s also up to the job for caring for Val too 😉
When the chase and drama is over and they return to California, well how will things go? Rory doesn’t want to walk way. Val is looking for forever. Can they make it work? They are in their 40s. They have lives. They have businesses. They have families. Is it possible that something Rory never envisioned is what he truly wants? You’ll have to read it to find out. Same with Val’s real name 🙂
This is was sooo good. Funny. Sincere. Sweet. Actiony without being OTT. I adored Val! What a great guy and brother. A little bit grumpy but for the right reasons – and also a bit of a cover 😉 Rory was a guy who needed to find his one. He really didn’t think it would be some oldest of 8 trucker who did it for him. The whole Royal family was a delight! I cannot wait for this series to continue. This is a pretty low angst story on the Amy Lane scale 😉 There’s a great dose of humor and fun as well as plenty of spice! Rory and Val definitely had chemistry and then some. It’s lovely to see mature characters get their HEA. Highly recommended.
RATING: 
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