Good story. (Not as good as her historicals.) Lots of typo's on the kindle version. ( )

Overall Rating: 4.75
Action: 3.0 / Emotion: 4.5 / Romance: 5.0 / Sensuous: 2.0 / Suspense: 3.5 // Laughter: 0 // Tears: 4 / Teary: 1

The Cowboy: 4.75:
Joan Johnston has a wonderful gift when it comes to telling a story. Thus, it comes as no surprise that The Cowboy, the first book in The Bitter Creek Series draws the reader into the lives of the characters that walk through the pages of this book and keeps readers engaged until that very last sentence.

Hero: 4.75:
Trace Blackthorne: A steadfast hero who know who he was. Trace was the kind of hero romance readers dream of. Who could not help but admire a man who professed his love for the heroine as he undauntingly pursued her -- and made every effort to take care of her.

Heroine: 2.50:
Callie Creed: A frustrating heroine. Callie turned her back on Trace, married Nolan, and when Trace returns after eleven years, she blames him for their breakup. Her staunch stance against Trace added an irritating, "you're not being honest with yourself" quality to her personality. Rather than come across as the strong-willed, determined, successful heroine to be admired, it was easy to want to bop Callie over the head and say, quit being an idiot and say yes to your soulmate.

Story Line: 3.00:
Johnston did a great job with the Romeo and Juliet story line set in the world of Texas ranches and cutting horse competitions. Liked the details that proved that Johnston did a great deal of research to get Trace and Callie's world right.

Action: 3.00:
There was not a great deal of action filling the pages of this book, but there were enough slightly adventurous events occurring within the story to keep the pace moving forward at a strong, steady pace.

Emotion: 4.50:
Johnston did a great job of engaging the emotions of her readers. While frustration at the heroine is not a positive quality, it is definitely an emotional one. Surprisingly enough, Johnston managed to bring forth tears during the telling of Trace and Callie's story. And Trace certainly won hearts in his constant pursual of Callie . . . and the way he treated Eli and Hannah.

Romance: 5.00:
The degree of romance throughout the telling of this story was always constant. Trace and Callie were always aware of the other, and while Callie may have denied it, she was just as much in love with Trace as he professed to be with her.

Suspense: 3.50:
The detrimental and suspect incidents that continued to occur at Three Oaks added a degree suspense to the story.

Sensuous: 2.00:
There was just something about the emotional connection between Trace and Callie that added a definite degree of sensuality to their lovemaking . . . even though it was not graphically detailed.

Secondary Characters: 5.00:
One of Johnston's great skills as an author is her ability to develop the personalities of her secondary characters to such a degree that they inspire great interest and cause the reader to want to continue reading future books in the hope that Johnston will tell their story. The secondary characters that drew great interest in this book included: {1} Jackson "Blackjack" Blacktorne; {2} Eve DeWitt Blackthorne; {3} Owen Blackthorne, {4} Summer Blackthorne; {5} Jesse Creed, {6} Lauren "Ren" Coburn Creed; {7} Sam Creed; {8} Luke Creed; {9} Bayleigh "Bay" Creed; {10} Eli Munroe; {11} Hannah Munroe; and {12} "Bad" Billy Coburn.

A more in-depth, detailed, spoiler-ridden review of The Cowboy appears at Wolf Bear Does Books (http://goo.gl/ucvdUm). ( )

The cowboy by joan johnstone
2 families have a feud, The main from one hooks up with a girl from the other.
11 yrs later they are brought back together again.
Lot of things that happened in the past are brought to the forefront and the ones involved now
find out the truth of what really transpired and why things happened the way they did.
A lot of misunderstandings along with her and he finding out about their parents misgivings takes its toll.
She packs a picnic lunch and sends her parents out to the meadow so they can light a spark in their marriage.
Problem is it's after dinner and they've not returned.
Between murder and horse thieves and just plain backstabbing, bar brawls and going behind others back, this book has that and more.
Like the details of becoming a cutter-never knew that occupation existed and like finding out about horses as I am terrified to become closer to them.
Even though there are a bunch of characters they are easy to keep straight and what's going on with each of their lives. Like how things are brought up and the problem things are dealt with and how. Being disabed it's good to know
others will light a spark under your butt to get you moving and functioning to be self sustaining and not have to rely on others for everything.
Secrets are enough to break up a marriage but it never happened and she married another. The things that come out 11 years later-I don't know if I'd be able to forgive one for withholding the information that finally comes to the surface.
Love the structure of the family and those in charge.
Love and romance was just enough to make this an enjoyable novel. ( )

I liked this book, as with some of her other books, it was a little slow at times. I also thought it was a little bit redundant. We realize he loves her, and she just can't leave her family. All in all a good read. ( )