Full Review on NG ( )

If you are a fan of contemporary western romances, then you are going to love Once Tempted, the first novel in Laura Moore’s Silver Creek series. This fast-paced novel is a beautifully written love story between a sexy cowboy and a city girl who have both had their hearts broken in the past. Please click HERE to read my review in its entirety. ( )

I found that this book was a good read, but like most romance novels ended the same way they always do. Its a good book to snuggle up with a blanket at night and read and would recommend to others who are avid romance readers and like the cowboy plot in books. It did take me a while to get into the book and get the feel for the book, but like I said in the end it was good. Hope there is another one. ( )

Reading this romance was like drinking an ice cold glass of water on a hot dry day. It was relaxing, edgy in the right places and romantic. This is not a simple story of a cowboy meeting a city girl and roping her into bed. This tale is detailed, smart and well paced. The details of the ranch work and the animal care were so exact I felt as if I was a real visitor on the ranch. I held my breath when the lambs were born, when the horses spooked and worried at the scars on one of the rescues. The reality feel of the story went beyond that they had to deal with fin aces, and building business, social media and badly behaved guests.
The characters were all so different. Wade the hunky cowboy with his sex appeal and cowboy hat was broken from a ended engagement to a gold digger. Tess, a smart italian city girl from Queens NY who works on the ranch as a kind of dare after the death of her estranged husband. His family and friends are all rich well developed characters that you can't help but love. Her family is a close family, her brother is dealing with severe autism. There are some wicked nasty people, his ex, her ex inlays- Naaaassstttty ! The kind you just love to hate.
I loved the struggle this couple had it was realistic and somewhat heartbreaking to watch, they have some issues here. It was believable, with understandable fears and attitudes. The setting was so beautiful, I want to go visit this ranch.
-i am anxiously waiting for the next book in the series ! ( )

I do love a good cowboy romance, and this was no exception. Laura Moore does a great job building this story slowly, no rushed romance here. The characters were likeable, and the hero was especially yummy. I liked how Ward and Tess were a little antagonistic with each other at first, even though they are quite obviously attracted to one another, and all of the tension that built between the two of them.

Ward and Laura have both been burned by love in the past, so getting into a relationship is something neither one of them really wants at first. Ward has some major insecurities when it comes to women and them wanting him for his money, even though there are so many other wonderful things about him. Laura has actually been married and widowed, but her marriage wasn't a happy one. So it was interesting to see their romance play out, and how they dealt with their insecurities.

Tess is a complete city girl, she didn't want anything to do with the ranch outside of her job as assistant. Ward is a cowboy who is very hands on with the ranch, and does a lot of work with the animals. I enjoyed seeing Tess go from being terrified of animals, to beginning to love them just as much as anyone else on the ranch.

The places in the story are so well described that I felt like I could see everything, but it wasn't so overly descriptive that it was boring. So I'd say that Silver Creek Ranch is a huge part of the story not just the location where the story takes place. This makes me excited to read the next book in the series, because I already love the ranch.

Readers who don't like to see a couple that falls in love too quickly will love the slower pace of this book. While it does take a little while to get started into the romance of the story, once it does the author did a great job. That was the only thing that I can say bad about it, that it took a while to get started (for me). It was otherwise well written and a fun read with an awesome Happily-Ever-After, and I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

***Review copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review*** ( )