ARC REVIEW Cowboy, Cross My Heart by Donna Grant

Heart of Texas #2, In the first book, The Christmas Cowboy Hero, we met Abby Harper and her two teenage brothers, Brice and Caleb. Some years have past and now the brothers are all grown up each served in the military and are now working the rodeo and at the East Ranch. This can be read as a stand alone, but the first book is so good I recommend reading it. Naomi Pierce use to ride the rodeo she was so good no one has beat her high score in barrel racing but after the death of a very good friend Naomi left the rodeo and Texas all together and became a photographer. She back now to visit her mother and her best friend Whitney who is the Queen of the Rodeo this year.

Things start to go bad when someone attacks Whitney and Naomi and try to steal Naomi's camera, luckily Brice wasn't to far away and helps them out. Brice noticed Naomi when she was in the stands and she noticed him back an instant attraction. When Naomi asked Whitney about the attack Whitney clammed up, told Naomi to drop it which just made Naomi even more suspicious. The next day after Naomi developed some of the pictures she was taking right before the attack she gave some copies to Brice to see if he could help her identify the guy, Brice is wacked upside the head and had his hand smashed and the picture stolen and at the same time someone pushes Naomi in the arena and is almost killed by the wagon race. Still Whitney says nothing. With the help of Caleb, Abby, Clay, and their friends Jace, Cooper, and the Sheriff they are able to make an educated guess about what has been happening but who is involved and how deep does the corruption goes is still a mystery. It isn't until a guilt trip from Naomi does Whitney finally tell her what exactly has been going on and for how long. They press on further with their investigation making the guys behind it all very nervous.

Brice and Naomi don't have a normal courtship but the feelings are there and it's too strong for either of them to deny. Even with all this going on they still manage time to fall in love. It was a fairly easy romance with a few bumps and complications but the main focus of the story was what was happening within the rodeo pageant. Overall, I loved the story and the characters, I inhaled this book. Donna Grant is a fantastic writer I can't wait for the rest of the series.