Scan barcode
conniejoy529's review
3.0
This is my first book by Jeanine McAdam, which means that I have not read the first two books in this trilogy. This book is a stand alone,but I think it would have helped to get some more back story as both main characters were introduced in previous book. With that being said, I actually did enjoy the book, although there were a few things that bothered me.
Cassidy is an ex-undercover cop, who just got tired of dealing with all the ugliness, so she leaves her life in LA behind and goes back home to Big Timber, Montana. She is ready to follow her childhood dream of being a professional bullrider, but before she does that, she wants to reconnect with her 13 year old son Kevin. Cassidy knows she hasn't been the best mother, leaving her son behind with her brothers while she went to LA to work, but what better way to reconnect that to spend time together traveling the rodeo circuit.
At her very first competition Cassidy meets the rodeo circuit preacher, but he is like no other preacher she's seen before. In fact, Cassidy has definitely seen him before and he was most definitely not a preacher. John Risk was Cassidy's partner for years as they went deep undercover to infiltrate a biker gang, they had also infiltrated each others hearts until an argument over the case caused Cassidy to leave. Now John is undercover at the rodeo to bust a drug ring, but that is not all that he is looking to do. John wants Cassidy back in his life, but first he has to use his new found skills as a (pseudo)preacher to convince her to forgive him, and to forgive herself.
So, there were some issues with this book. First of all, I kept getting confused about the timeline. We know Cassidy had her child, Kevin, at 15. Kevin is now 13. What is unclear is just how long had she been out of his life. I felt like sometimes the time frames conflicted, for instance, at one point it was said that Cassidy and John had been partners for 2 years, and at a different time it said 5 years. They mention that Cassidy had a failed acting career before becoming a cop but didn't say how long she had been in either career. This might not sound important, but it really bothered me because I kept trying to figure out exactly how much time she had spent with her own child, if any. I distinctly remember her saying that she had left him for the first time when she turned 18, which would have made Kevin 3, but that implies that she returned, yet later she said she had never done school shopping, which means that if she had returned she hadn't stayed long. I figured that should have been reflected in her interactions with him, and in her trying to earn his trust and forgiveness, which didn't really happen, although they were reconciled by the end of the book.
There were also all of these secrets that I could not understand logically why they were secrets, except perhaps for dramatic effect. I can't for the life of me understand why Cassidy would let her family (her 13 year old son included) believe all of that horrible stuff about her. It just made no sense. She was in LA, they were in Montana, so it wasn't as though they would have been in any danger, or could have blown her cover. And she continued to let them believe it even after she quit being a cop and went home. I just didn't get it.
Aside from that, there were a lot of good things in the book. I will definitely be going back and reading the first two books because I enjoyed those characters a great deal. I liked the interaction between Cassidy and Kevin, although I wish they would have talked more. I like John a lot as well, especially the lengths that he was willing to go to just to be near Cassidy. I liked the humor in the story, and how the characters were able to laugh at themselves. I like that John was willing to involve himself in Kevin's life. I liked how the theme of redemption was worked in throughout the book, without sounding preachy. Basically there was a lot to like here. It was just a good, entertaining, quick read. I look forward to reading more.
*I received a copy of this book through Net Galley in exchange for an honest review
Cassidy is an ex-undercover cop, who just got tired of dealing with all the ugliness, so she leaves her life in LA behind and goes back home to Big Timber, Montana. She is ready to follow her childhood dream of being a professional bullrider, but before she does that, she wants to reconnect with her 13 year old son Kevin. Cassidy knows she hasn't been the best mother, leaving her son behind with her brothers while she went to LA to work, but what better way to reconnect that to spend time together traveling the rodeo circuit.
At her very first competition Cassidy meets the rodeo circuit preacher, but he is like no other preacher she's seen before. In fact, Cassidy has definitely seen him before and he was most definitely not a preacher. John Risk was Cassidy's partner for years as they went deep undercover to infiltrate a biker gang, they had also infiltrated each others hearts until an argument over the case caused Cassidy to leave. Now John is undercover at the rodeo to bust a drug ring, but that is not all that he is looking to do. John wants Cassidy back in his life, but first he has to use his new found skills as a (pseudo)preacher to convince her to forgive him, and to forgive herself.
So, there were some issues with this book. First of all, I kept getting confused about the timeline. We know Cassidy had her child, Kevin, at 15. Kevin is now 13. What is unclear is just how long had she been out of his life. I felt like sometimes the time frames conflicted, for instance, at one point it was said that Cassidy and John had been partners for 2 years, and at a different time it said 5 years. They mention that Cassidy had a failed acting career before becoming a cop but didn't say how long she had been in either career. This might not sound important, but it really bothered me because I kept trying to figure out exactly how much time she had spent with her own child, if any. I distinctly remember her saying that she had left him for the first time when she turned 18, which would have made Kevin 3, but that implies that she returned, yet later she said she had never done school shopping, which means that if she had returned she hadn't stayed long. I figured that should have been reflected in her interactions with him, and in her trying to earn his trust and forgiveness, which didn't really happen, although they were reconciled by the end of the book.
There were also all of these secrets that I could not understand logically why they were secrets, except perhaps for dramatic effect. I can't for the life of me understand why Cassidy would let her family (her 13 year old son included) believe all of that horrible stuff about her. It just made no sense. She was in LA, they were in Montana, so it wasn't as though they would have been in any danger, or could have blown her cover. And she continued to let them believe it even after she quit being a cop and went home. I just didn't get it.
Aside from that, there were a lot of good things in the book. I will definitely be going back and reading the first two books because I enjoyed those characters a great deal. I liked the interaction between Cassidy and Kevin, although I wish they would have talked more. I like John a lot as well, especially the lengths that he was willing to go to just to be near Cassidy. I liked the humor in the story, and how the characters were able to laugh at themselves. I like that John was willing to involve himself in Kevin's life. I liked how the theme of redemption was worked in throughout the book, without sounding preachy. Basically there was a lot to like here. It was just a good, entertaining, quick read. I look forward to reading more.
*I received a copy of this book through Net Galley in exchange for an honest review
More...