The theme of this series, exiled shifters who end up banding together, continues in this seventh book , and it turns out Tate and Simon live in White Deer, Montana - the same town as the characters from previous books. It was good to see some of them from earlier volumes again, while following a story that is uniquely Tate and Simon's. With Simon mentally broken and Tate blissfully unaware of all the shifters around him, this is a story full of mystery, secrets slowly revealed, and suspense around how in the world these two men will make a relationship work.

Simon may be alive when he returns from Afghanistan, but his head injury prevents him from really knowing what is going on. His suffering and struggling to remember who he is broke my heart. He slowly heals, and much of it is due to the peace he feels when watching Tate work on his quilts. Simon's self-image and self-esteem are lower than low, and while he has deep feelings for Tate, he doesn't believe he is worthy of him or that they can be a couple. He guards Tate ferociously and is crushed when he fails. That specific wound is going to take a lot longer to heal than anything physical!

Tate has come to White Deer to escape LA and some bad experiences with lovers. Little did he suspect he'd run into someone intriguing who is, unfortunately, very hesitant to talk to Tate. But as his background is slowly revealed, Tate cannot help but fall for him and he is determined to make things work between them. When he is threatened and Simon tires to protect him, Tate ends up literally dying. Not just does he come back from that, but he is forever changed and now the question is if he can find his way back to a life with Simon.

The main theme of this story is acceptance of a changed self. Simon has to learn to live a civilian life again, and deal with falling in love with a man he thinks himself unworthy of. Tate has a huge change in his physical existence to deal with, while both are figuring out how to live as a couple. This is a great story about wounded men dealing with a changed reality, with an extra portion of danger for added suspense. If you liked the series so far, you have something to look forward to with this newest installment!


NOTE: This book was provided by Pride Publishing for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews. ( )

A Hearts On Fire Review

3.25 HEARTS--Lonely Cowboy is book # 7 of the Lonely Cowboys series. It's set in Montana and features a scarred, PTSD suffering ex- Navy Seal named Simon. Simon came back from Afghanistan with scars one the inside and outside. Plus he's a wolf shifter and prefers a to spend his time as a wolf in the wilderness because he blacks out and does not feel he is fit for society or being within a pack. He's a loner. And the beginning of the story kind of beats you over the head with his loneliness.

Simon is a little suicidal but he likes watching another lonely quilter in a lonely cabin in the woods. Simon watches the human, Tate make quilts and create art. He can't help but be enchanted by Tate. His thoughts even calmed and shifter towards watching what Tate does. Tate sees a large silver wolf near his cabin and is drawn to the beast instead of scared.

Simon sense danger for Tate and changes back into human form and gets closer to Tate. Tate can't help but feel the bond between the two even is Simon is ashamed of his looks and his PTSD.

So it's kind of a Beauty and the Beast theme with a twist. Simon really didn't come across as a cowboy until the last chapter where it seemed like a 'oh yeah let me have him do something cowboy like'. And Tate hit the TSTL branch on the tree of smarts. He dies foolishly (I'm not spoiling it's in the blurb) and comes back as something else. As what? Good question. Tate has some unexplained super power among an other obvious transformation.

Who is in control of the power? I dunno.
How does it happen? I dunno.
Can this power go away? I dunno.

The story introduces good ideas or twists to make shifters unique to the shifter mythology but there was no follow through. If this story was maybe a little longer to explore the possibilities and make some of the rougher transitions smooth, I'd have rated this book higher. The main characters were good. The story was not bad just not memorable.

And it ends HEA with a epilogue. The good guys win. The bad guys lose. For quick paranormal read with not too much depth, it's good. I haven't read the rest of the series which seems to be standalone." ( )