A Cowboy's Temptation - Barbara Dunlop (HD #2261 - Oct 2013)

Series: Colorado Cattle Barons (Book 5)

Mayor Seth Jacobs has plans, and he won't let do-gooder Darby Carroll ruin them. Her need for peace and quiet is standing in the way of a crucial railroad project. Now he must put his cowboy charms to good use and persuade Darby to see things his way. But seduction is a two-way street, and Seth soon realizes he underestimated his opponent. Now that he's caught in his own trap, his desire for this woman could be his downfall….

I really enjoyed this one.  Seth is trying to get a railroad built through his town.  It would help the ranchers, create jobs for the people and eventually bring more business in.  Darby is running a retreat for women in stressful jobs, such as military and law enforcement.  She needs the atmosphere to be peaceful and not broken by loud noises such as train whistles.  As the two of them face off in a fight to win their issues, on a personal side fighting is the last thing on their minds.

I really liked Darby.  After several years as a military psychologist she left to start a project where she felt she could make a bigger impact.  After inheriting a nice piece of land in Colorado she has started the Sierra Hotel, a place where women can come to relax, away from their stressful occupations.  She gets a lot of military and law enforcement women and other government types who treasure the peace and quiet she has to offer.  Because of the identities of some of her guests, Darby doesn't advertise just who the hotel caters to, just calls it a women's retreat.  When Seth, as mayor, brings the railway project to the town, Darby knows she has to fight it.  If she can't provide what is needed her business will have to close and the women will lose out.  Darby and her coworker do everything they can to get the railroad project up for a vote, including fudging a petition drive just a little bit.  When Seth confronts her about that they discover a simmering attraction between them.  Darby fights the attraction for awhile, knowing that starting a relationship while they are on two sides of a contentious issue is not a good idea.  I loved Darby's project and how determined she was to make it work.  She had the intelligence to run a great campaign against the railroad and it was making a difference.  Unfortunately it was a volatile enough issue that both sides got pretty heated and started going too far.  I loved Darby's speech to one of the teens who participated in the noise attack on her hotel.  Her psychology degree really showed in that.  With Seth, neither of them was able to resist their attraction for long.  Darby also realized that, outside of the railroad project, she and Seth have a lot in common and her feelings for him start to change.  When the end came and she was feeling betrayed by him, I loved her display of pride - she wasn't going to let him see her crumble.  The end was pretty emotional.

Seth was a guy who really wanted to do what was best for his town.  He was convinced that the railway project was crucial to its economic health.  He wasn't going to let Darby and her ladies' hotel stand in his way.  He knows he has the ability to charm her into seeing things his way.  He didn't expect to feel a real attraction to her.  He also discovered that she had just as much of a chance of distracting him.  I loved seeing them try to convince each other of the rightness of their own positions and how they would get sidetracked.  Seth worried about her as the issue got heated between the two sides and people resorted to physical acts of violence.  He tried to keep their relationship separate from their conflict but there were things he did that seemed pretty underhanded.  The final battle put an end to the issue but left Seth feeling that he had really screwed up, especially when he learned just what kind of hotel Darby was running.  When he discovered what Darby's plans for the future were he knew that he couldn't let her go.  I really liked his final solution and the way he went about showing her.  

Millionaire in a Stetson - Barbara Dunlop (HD #2224 - Apr 2013)

Series: Colorado Cattle Barons (Book 4)

Keep your secrets under lock and key

One woman has the power to destroy his family and Sawyer Layton is out to stop her. Even if it means the millionaire must don a Stetson and track Niki Gerard all the way to Colorado.

But he didn't count on the gorgeous Niki having trouble of her own. She's hiding out on her family's ranch, desperate to find her mother's scandalous diary-the same diary Sawyer's after. Worse still, she's quicker to the truth. Cover blown, there's only one option left: work with Niki-and try to keep his hands to himself. 

Good book.  Niki has recently lost her mother who was rather notorious for the men she slept with.  She had also kept a diary naming names and recording secrets about them.  Before she died she told Niki to keep it safe, that "they" would be after her for it, but she died before she could tell Niki where she had hidden it.  Now she's hiding out with her recently discovered half brothers until she can figure out where the diary is.

I liked both Niki and Sawyer.  Niki had a very unusual childhood because of her mother.  By the time her mother died she knew what type of woman her mom had been and was very careful not to be like that.  She didn't know about her brothers until after her mom's death and went to them when she felt the need to hide out.  Because she didn't know them she started out by giving them a fake name.  I liked the way that she soon felt guilty about that and told them the truth.  When she met Sawyer she was still being cautious, but she was also really attracted to him.  I liked her combination of innocent and worldly, as she was well-traveled but also hadn't done many adventurous things.  Being with Sawyer gave her the courage to try some things she wouldn't have done before.  When she found out he knew who she really was she felt hurt and betrayed.  They were able to agree to cooperate to find the diary.  

Sawyer is used to being the fix it man for his family, who appear to be a bunch of rich screwups.  In this case his uncle is a senator who was one of Gabriella's lovers.  He has secrets that would cause him major problems if they came out, so he sends Sawyer out to fix the problem.  Sawyer buys a ranch near the one Niki is living on and gets to know her under an assumed name.  He is expecting a conniving, manipulative woman and is confused when Niki is none of those things.  He is also just as attracted to her but is trying to do the right thing and not get too deeply involved.  It isn't working and he's starting to fall for her.  When he blows his cover he has to do some fast talking to show Niki that she can trust him to help her.  

I liked several things about this book.  The romance between Niki and Sawyer was pretty sweet, despite the deceptions.  The attraction was pretty steamy, but they also took the time to talk and get to know each other.  I also really liked the sense of family.  Even though they weren't the best people, it was obvious that Sawyer's family meant a lot to him.  And though they had just met, Niki's acceptance by her brothers and their families was great.  I really loved the way that they were there for her from the beginning, and their defense of her against Sawyer.  I thought the solution that Sawyer and Niki came up with for the diary was terrific, and the epilogue was sweet.