Carolyn Brown's Lucky Penny Ranch series is 100% one of my guilty pleasures. I love curling up with a cup of tea, a warm blanket and this series and just binging my little heart out. It's sweet, delightful and the happily ever after book I need! Who doesn't love a super adorable romance?

I ended up grabbing book #3 a couple years back and had been working on grabbing the remainder of Carolyn Brown's books ever since. I managed to grab a few at a local book store and they've been sitting and calling my name for quite a while. I needed something ooey, gooey and lovable, so I picked this book up! I was not disappointed!

Allie Logan is a trades girl and ends up getting hired by Blake Dawson to help fix up his house. He's a new, hot cowboy in town at a very famously bad luck stricken ranch. The two end up working together on his house, and slowly but surely find out they like each other's company a bit more than just friends... well, more than a bit! It's hot and steamy levels of "a bit".

There are so many great one liners in this book! Not only do you get all the cute romance and sexy, steamy scenes but you also get comedy! I was giggling and chuckling and oohing and ahhing my way through the book. I absolutely adorable how lovable the characters were, how relatable the characters are, and just how great Carolyn writes. This book was so easy to read and fall into!

Irene is hilarious, but the boys also get some quirky one liners in there as well. That kept me chugging along through the book.

There are negatives in this book, but they are more little annoyances for me than anything. Every woman falls over every man in this book. It's kind of amusing, but also seems unrealistic. I don't live in such a tiny town though, so maybe it's more accurate than I think it is? I do know that small towns are gossipy, heck my town is and it's not that small! Somehow everyone knows everybody's business - it was somewhat annoying, but it does happen!

I highly recommend this book if you love cute romance, hot cowboys, a spectacular series or are just seeking some HEA in your life.

Overall, this is just a wonderful book! It's romantic, it's feisty and it's funny. It has everything I needed in a happily, ever after romance with sexy cowboys in it. I will one hundred and fifty percent be picking up as many books of this series (and other books by Carolyn Brown) that I can to sink into my guilty pleasure more.

Four out of five stars! ( )

Lucky Penny ranch has never lived up to it's name. Most folks who bought it left within a year or two... so what makes the town's folk think Blake Dawson, reputed wild cowboy, will be the one to break the streak...they don't.

Blake, his brother (Toby), and cousin (Jud) bought the run down ranch with dreams and a four year plan. None of which included settling down. That was until Blake met his match in the unlikely form of one Allie Logan. A meeting brought about by quite comical Granny Irene, who is slowly losing herself to dementia, mistake Blake for a long lost boyfriend, Walter...Allie comes to get Granny and sparks start flying.

He thought he was hiring a man when Granny mentioned the family construction business, but it's Allie who knows how to use the tools and does some good work. Along the way we meet Deke, Allie's best friend and helper. We meet sister Lizzy and mama Katy.

Now Lizzy at times made me want to take her out back, find a mesquite switch and tan her fanny. She's the middle sister (Fiona is married and lives in the city) but since she is engaged to the next preacher of Wichita Falls she has become high and mighty. As Allie puts it...she's no fun and Mitch controls everything she says, does and thinks. Lizzy is always on Allie's nerves about staying away from the wild cowboy and what it would do to her reputation and therefore cling to Lizzy herself.. and as the wife of a future preacher she can't have that.

Blake is wonderful. He takes Granny Irene's mental lapses in stride and even helps by going along and keeping her calm and safe. (Mitch and his cousin Grady on the other hand think the old bat should be locked away in the place where they take of crazy people..yea, real sweetheart right?)

They learn about each other's past...both are divorced from high school sweethearts. He was super drunk when he said "I do" so his folks set to work quickly getting that mistake annulled. Allie was not so lucky. She lasted two years in a marriage that ended when she discovered he had repeatedly cheated on her for years. Plus the fact that they had tried to have children...and he wasn't the problem.

As all these stories end...our couple finds love in each other's arms. Moves on from their respective pasts and face wonderful surprises as they walk hand in had into their future. Quick paced but there is plenty of character development so that you care for these people and that's what makes a good book right. ( )

Carolyn Brown is a new discovery for me. I received an ARC of Wild Cowboy Ways from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. What stood out for me about this author is that she writes romance fiction that is entertaining but also tackles issues that are prevalent in the world. For instance, dementia is hard to witness as an outsider looking in. Just think about watching the heartbreaking changes happen to someone that you love. I know this first hand because both of my grandmothers struggled with this disease and it is painful to experience. So that aspect of the story line trigger a great deal of emotion within me. This story is about more than just a heated romance. It is about people adjusting to change and helping each other along the way. Everyone needs encouraging voice and a shoulder to lean on sometimes. ( )

Another fun hot cowboy and sassy woman romance from the author. Blake, his brother and his cousin have bought the rundown Lucky Penny Ranch, hoping to turn it into a successful cattle ranch. Though Blake has been known for his way with the ladies, he's ready to leave his wild ways behind and settle down to life as a rancher. He's the first of the three to move to the ranch and has begun preparing the land and trying to get the house in order.

Allie is feisty and determined to live her way. She has sworn off men after divorcing her cheating husband seven years earlier. She's also a darn good carpenter and proud of what she does. She lives at home with her sister Lizzy, her mother Katy, and her grandmother Irene.

Blake and Allie meet when Grandma Irene wanders into his house looking for someone named Walter. Blake keeps his head, plays along and calls the feed store (the only local number he has) hoping someone knows who she is and can help. The voice on the phone promises to send someone right away, and it isn't long before Allie shows up. When he finds out what Allie does, he looks at it as a perfect opportunity to get to know her better, even though settling down isn't in his plans yet. She feels an attraction to him also, but trusting another man isn't going to be easy for her. It was fun to see them fight the attraction that neither could deny. With Allie working on the repairs to his house, it's the perfect opportunity for them to get to know each other without any pressure. I loved Blake's respect for the job Allie does, something that she isn't used to from the other men she knows. I also liked the way that Allie saw that Blake's charming ways were the honest variety, not the smarmy methods of her ex-husband. These two things went a long way toward softening her attitude toward him. I loved seeing their growing friendship develop into something more. Both are up front about their baggage. When rough spots crop up they are able to deal with them in a mature manner once their tempers have a chance to cool down. I loved his proposal at the end, as all his intentions get overwhelmed by his feelings for her.

As always with a Carolyn Brown book, the people surrounding the main characters are integral to the story. She excels at her small town development with a variety of interesting people. First and foremost is Grandma Irene. The poor woman is in the beginning stages of Alzheimers, so you have to feel sorry for her, but it sure does lead to some crazy antics. I love her pursuit of "Walter" and really hope to learn more about their relationship in later books. She is a woman with lots of sass, and when she is with it, her love for her family is obvious. Allie's sister Lizzy drove me nuts for most of the book. She is engaged to a wannabe preacher and her attempts to control Allie were irritating. She was also completely blind to how creepy the guy she's trying to push on Allie is. Her fiance isn't much better, and I agreed with Allie that Lizzy could do much better. There were also the three women who had set their sights on Blake. His attempts to avoid their advances were pretty funny. I was a little disturbed over their revelations about Allie's ex. I'm not sure I could have accepted them as easily as she did. I did enjoy seeing Allie's solution for getting them busy with something other than chasing Blake. I also really liked Allie's friend Deke. It was fun to see how he and Blake became friends so quickly, yet he still remained her friend first and foremost. His protectiveness toward her at the beginning was really sweet. I hope he gets his own story. It was also interesting to see the various attitudes toward Blake and the others' purchase of the Lucky Penny. While some were hopeful that they could make it work, most people didn't believe that they would last any longer than any of the previous owner. ( )

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