Gotta Love A Cowboy by Sandy Sullivan

Past hurts and loss still haunt many people. For Travis, it’s his ex-wife and the loss of his son. For Ann Marie, it’s her father’s abuse and the loss of her husband. Travis doesn’t stay in one place for long and Ann Marie isn’t sure if she can handle loosing someone again. But sometimes you can’t help but Gotta Love A Cowboy when the right one comes along.

Ann Marie needs a horse trainer to ready her prized stallion to run for the money. When hunky horseman Travis Brooks answers her ad, she knows he’s the man for the job. But is she willing to let go of her husband’s memory and open up her heart to Travis?
Travis Brooks knows horses. But women? He can take ‘em or leave ‘em—mostly leave ‘em—especially since his divorce. Ann Marie pushes all his buttons and he’s not quite sure what to do with her. Can a stubborn horseman and one feisty rancher find love in the heat of the Texas Plains?

Ann Marie Skolack is doing what most women don’t or can’t: running a large ranch by herself (hired help/hands of course). Her husband (and partner) died about seven months ago and she has been making it on her own ever since. Her marriage was not a love match, but rather John was her ‘savior.’ Ann Marie grew up in an abusive house. With her father a powerful senator and her mother under his spell (not willing to leave or press charges), no one ever believed her accusations of abuse. So when John told her of needing a wife to help with the ranch, she jumped at the chance of a good, save home even with the odd situation: he was noticeable older than her twenty-two years, they barely knew each other, she was scared of a physical relationship, he was willing to make her a partner vs. just a cleaner and child-producer. It took time and patience, but after a while, she was able to have sex with John without fear, even if she never really enjoyed it. So John was able to leave her both the Double S Ranch and their eight year old son, Tyler.

Now, Ann Marie needs professional help training the wonderful but stubborn horse, Black Jack, that John had pinned many of their dreams on. Travis Brooks is the best qualified trainer who answers her ad. But he has issues of his own. He doesn’t work for women (especially unattached ones like Ann Marie), and she has to threaten to sue him to get him to stay. The problem is that he still has emotional scare from his ex-wife and doesn’t want to take a chance of another woman getting any ideas about him. His ex-wife, Catherine, was/is a gold-digger, self-centered witch. She liked his family’s large ranch and the money that he might get from it, but didn’t like being tied down or how series he was. She had been seeing someone behind his back and didn’t like that their son took away her youth (damaged her figure and kept her too busy for her person time). When on vacation trying to save their marriage, she ends up being responsible for their son’s death, but Travis never forgives himself for leaving his son with her. So he now moves around a lot, training horses and avoiding any and all attachments.

That is until Ann Marie and her son Tyler start working their way into his blocked off heart. Travis and Ann Marie have an instant attraction to each other. After a point, they agree to a quiet affair for his six months on the ranch with the understanding of no attachment, no strings. But that is much easier said than done. Both find themselves falling for the other, and Travis is drawn to Tyler, reminded that his own son would be of a similar age.

When things start to go wrong around the ranch, Travis gets protective as well. Dead cattle, a missing bull, and someone shot a trank into Black Jack. This is turning out to be much more than a no strings affair. And he finds that John had mortgaged the ranch and borrowed even more from others, all on the hopes of what Black Jack could become and what he could win at the American Quarter Horse Races.

Ann Marie knows she is falling for Travis but doesn’t know how to stop it. And just how much help can one accept from a no strings affair? With an unknown person sabotaging the ranch and more bills than she even knew about (much less be able to pay), what can she do? Travis is going to help, weather she wants it or not! But what that means about where his heart is, he has no clue. And just what is he going to do when his six months are up?

Gotta Love A Cowboy has a nice mix of characters. Travis is a wounded hero, but he is a yummy cowboy at the same time, not wearing his heart or hurts on his sleeve. That he still lets his ex-wife keep him from love or finding a home really gives her too much power in/over his life. But that he is still mourning the loss of his son and feels guilty about his death is heartbreaking. I love that Travis gets protective of Ann Marie, both of her problems and when she is threatened directly. That he is willing to spend his own money to save her ranch for her without expecting anything in return is sweet. Ann Marie kind of makes your heart ache. Her own mother would not leave her abusive father to protect her and her sister (the mother is being abused as well). That is wrong on so many levels! Ann Marie ends up married for ten years to a man who is a friend, even a partner, but not really a lover. There is love and then being “in love.” Big difference as Ann Marie learns. It says a lot about her ‘character’ that she never once looked elsewhere for more than what John gave her, for what was missing in her marriage. Tyler and Ann Marie’s sister are great support for the story as well.

Gotta Love A Cowboy doesn’t pull its punches. Ann Marie’s father is abusive both physically and mentally. Not only that, but he uses his position and power to keep from being responsible for these actions. Travis’ wife is just as ugly on the inside as she sounds (shows what can happen when men are turned by a pretty figure). She even shows up at the ranch looking to get back together with Travis (he guesses she has heard he has money saved and is really after that). When he resists her, she not only calls him and Ann Marie names, she blames him for their son’s death when she is fully at fault. Talk about damaged people!

Gotta Love A Cowboy is a good modern western. This is my second Sandy Sullivan novel, and I really like her writing. There are real issues and everyday problems, the characters are believable, the western/cowboy setting done well (even for us city folk), and the romance is steamy. Sullivan is someone to keep an eye out for in the future, especially if she keeps writing such magnificent cowboys.