COWBOY UP
Series: Coming Home #3
Author: Harper Sloan
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: December 19th, 2017
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Harper Sloan returns with a passionate and breathless romance about the sparks that ignite when a cautious cowboy and a once-scorned woman open up to each other in the third installment of the Coming Home series.
As the eldest Davis, Clayton has always tried to lead by example. He takes his job as head of the family businesses seriously, making sure the farm and auto shop are running smoothly—along with keeping an eye on his brother and sister. For him, there’s a time and place to let go of the control he holds with an iron grip. And with the way he grew up, coupled with a disastrous end to his last relationship, he’s just fine with his quiet, solitary life.
Most of the time.
What he hadn’t counted on was the cute, quirky, shy bookstore owner, Caroline Michaels. She’s the proverbial woman next door—well, the next town over, that is. Caroline hasn’t lived an easy life, but after escaping a verbally abusive ex, she’s finally living it for herself. The last thing she ever expected was a one-night stand with Clay Davis she can’t stop thinking about.
So when she falls on hard times and Clay comes out of nowhere to her rescue, she realizes just how impossible it’ll be to stay away from him. Now all she has to do is convince him to live a little…. Will Clay be able to give up the reins and finally settle down? And, more importantly, will Caroline muster enough courage to lasso him up?
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I push my hands from his shoulders and palm his jaw as his stubble prickles against my fingers while my hands wander up to his hair. His hat falls to the ground with a thud and I know he’s just as lost in me as I am in him, because he doesn’t even make a move to pick it up. He lets out a deep grunt when I mold myself against his body, seeking some sort of friction. The next thing I know, my back is against the door and he’s gripping my bottom. His mouth hits my jaw with a bite of his teeth, making a squeak of pleasure shoot up my throat, and his deep rumble of laughter reaches my ears as he presses me harder into the door with his hips. The heavy bulge of his erection against that spot makes me so desperate for him that I whimper in relief when his mouth finally closes over mine in a wet tangle of tongues.
I’ve never been kissed so thoroughly.
This is the kind of kiss that sets the bar for any that might follow.
The kind that shows you everything you’ve been missing and everything you never knew you wanted. I’m going to be comparing every kiss I ever have to my dark cowboy’s, even though I know there’s a good chance no one will ever compare. The sounds coming from my mouth, the ones being swallowed by his, are nothing short of needy. My hips move in tandem with the thrusts of his, and even though we’re both fully clothed, I know it won’t take much more of this for me to go off like the town’s fireworks on the Fourth of July.
“Fuck, you taste just like apple pie,” he whispers against my lips, breaking away with a gasp.
“Huh?”
“Goddamn, I love apple pie,” he says before his mouth is back on mine, this time with a whole new kind of hunger deepening his kisses.
I’m held captive, enraptured. Then his hands move from my bottom to glide up my torso. He lifts his hard chest off mine and suddenly those delicious fingers are at my breasts. Even if I had big boobs his hands would dwarf them, I’m sure, but as it is he covers both with a firm grasp before adjusting his hold with a deft twist of the wrists. His mouth continues to feast on mine while his huge hands learn my body with slow movements. I tear my mouth from his with a breathy moan when he pushes my shirt up and slips his fingers into the cups of my bra to tweak my nipples.
“Oh, God,” I moan when he does it again.
“I can’t get enough of you,” he rumbles.
“Please,” I beg, not with the slightest clue as to what I’m begging for.
His hips dig even harder into mine as he leans back, supporting me against the door with that connection alone as he pulls my shirt off. The darkness makes me feel more confident than I normally would be, almost half naked with a man—no, a stranger.
“Yours too,” I tell him as his fingers move to unclasp my bra. “I want to feel your skin on mine,” I breathe, taking over the task so he’ll hopefully give me what I want.
I fumble in my haste to feel more of this dangerous arousal he’s creating in my body, but the second my bra is free and dangling toward the floor, his naked chest collides against mine, pushing me into the door with a force that sends the air rushing out of my lungs.
His mouth hits my collarbone at the same time his hands grasp my bottom, sliding me up the door until I feel the wet heat of his breath against my breast.
Then he stops.
4.5 ‘Sweeter than apple pie’ Stars
I’ll be damned, Cowboy Up – and everything that is Clayton Davis – was the perfectly tied bow to wrap up this amazing Coming Home series! Pure romance novel perfection!
That’s right, I expected Clayton Davis’ story to be fantastic, given silent and broody men make the best romance heroes, in my opinion, and HOT DAMN, this man sure did surpass my expectations!
“I’m old enough to go after what I want without playin’ games. There ain’t a thing cocky about that.” God, his voice is pure sex.
Incredibly that what Clayton and Caroline thought would be a one time, no strings attached, night stand, where they could lose themselves of their life troubles would end up being just the very beginning of their story. Even if at the time they were anonymous to one another.
I’ve never been kissed so thoroughly.
This is the kind of kiss that sets the bar for any that might follow.
The kind that shows you everything you’ve been missing and everything you never knew you wanted.
Well, one night was more than enough for them to be branded on each other. How could it not? That kind of sexual chemistry, and physical connection we felt from the start couldn’t be beat. It was a ‘once in a lifetime’ occurrence, and they felt it deep in their soul.
“You taste like apple pie all over?” he oddly asks, when the sounds of him getting naked stop.
“What?”
“Never tasted anything better,”
Yep, they were instantly hooked, even though they tried to ignore the connection at first, but once they cross paths again, and realize they aren’t that stranger after all, well, all bets are off, at least on Clayton’s side. There is no way he miss the chance to have what he thought he’d never have in his life, what his siblings had successfully achieved, his very own happy ever after…
This must be what it feels like to miss something so deeply you crave it . . . even if you never really had it to begin with.
“Don’t let go of me,” I tell my dark cowboy.
“Not sure that’s gonna be possible, sweetness,”
I adored that from that second chance meeting, Clayton knew what he wanted, what Caroline represented, and what she could be to him and to his future, and that he was willing to fight for her and with her if necessary, to show her all they could become, that they could be each other’s everything!
“You make me feel like I’m comin’ alive, sweetheart.
Caroline was really as sweet as pie, and considering her sad background, it’s no surprise how strong she is, and how difficult it is for her to accept and believe Clayton could be her chance of true happiness.
“I probably should just tell you all the ugly parts of me so you’ll understand what a waste of time pursuing this would be. Save you from gettin’ upset when you realize you’re wastin’ your time on someone broken,” she mumbles.
“Darlin’, you’re not broken. You’re still standin’, which means you’re just a little dinged up, maybe even a little bit bent, but you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who isn’t.”
I’ve seen bent. I’ve seen fractured. But if the people I know who’ve been both can find what they need to be happy and move on, so can this beautiful woman who has me wrapped in her spell.
Oh my Lordy, see what I mean by how dreamy this cowboy is? If not for one small recollection that Caroline revealed about their past, of something that she witnessed as a teen that kind of tainted my image of him – yes, I know it’s in their past, but it was totally unnecessary for their story, at least to that level, imo – and I just couldn’t erase it from my mind *cue sad face*, he would have been the perfect romance H in my book! He’s so beyond amazing, I really wish I could delete that revelation, lol. Why oh why did that have to be there?! If not, Cowboy Up would have been the full five stars, because their story is THAT fantastic and heartwarming! Want more proof?
“One night of being bad with you, Caroline, and I felt more with you in the darkness than I’ve ever felt with anyone else in the light.
“I feel the pull to you like someone lassoed me around chest and yanked.”
ALL THE QUOTES, people! Seriously, Harper Sloan outdid herself when she created all that is Clayton Davis. This man is pure Romance Hero GOLD, and even though I’m giving you so many snippets of his awesomeness, you have no idea how incredibly hard it was to choose amongst so many brilliant, deep and heart touching quotes! This man… All the feels, I tell you!
It’s his affections, after all, that have shown me how to complete the puzzle inside of me—that have allowed me to finally shed the past and start living.
Ask me, baby. Ask me what roads we’re traveling on.”
“Wh-what roads?”
“The ones that collide together and form one indestructible path.
And better yet, Clay is not only a heart stealing, swoon worthy cowboy, no sir, like he wasn’t lethal enough for our hearts, this man had to be a dirty talking, panty melting, COWBOY! Enough said, consider yourself warned!
“My good girl doesn’t need any help bein’ bad anymore, does she? I’m about to love you so hard, you’ll think I’m still inside you for days. So vividly that you’ll take one step, feel what my hard does to you, and come from just the thought of me takin’ you alone.”
Seriously, I feel like I can’t say anymore to show you how beyond amazing Clayton and Caroline are, and how incredible and enrapturing their love story is: the true epitome of Romance novel!
Sweet, super sexy, and so immensely emotional, that I’m sure will touch even the coldest of hearts and so perfectly fitting for this holiday seasonal! I can’t tell you much more than, here are a few more quotes that I can’t resist showing you and to say: ONE CLICK this baby today!
My reason for waking and my reason for breathing. The woman who made the risk of loving her unquestionably worth it, because with her love, that risk is really just a reward.
“How did I not see it before! You rode in on your white horse, knocked me on my butt, but saved me in the end. My knight in pressed flannel and Wranglers.”
“Never gonna stop lovin’ you, Caroline.”
Her breath hitches. “And I love you, Clayton. Always.”
THAT ENDING!!!! It was PERFECTION! I’ll miss all this guys so much, but Ms. Sloan sure did tied up everything perfectly with an amazing HEA not only for this couple, but for all the Davis family! Sooooo good, and plenty of babies and bright futures for all of them. Perfect ending for this once-tortured, now-blissful siblings! <3 <3 <3 <3 <3
And that’s how Clayton and Caroline, Maverick and Leighton, and Quinn and Tate . . . came home.
ARC kindly provided by the author via InkSlinger PR for an honest review
LOST RIDER (Coming Home #1)
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KISS MY BOOTS (Coming Home #2)
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Harper is a NEW YORK TIMES, WALL STREET JOURNAL and USA TODAY bestselling author residing in Georgia with her husband and three daughters. She has a borderline unhealthy obsession with books, hibachi, tattoos and Game of Thrones. When she isn’t writing you can almost always find her with a book in hand.
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