This review may contain spoilers, so fair warning, upon reading the review.

Book Evaluation:
Plot: 🎞️🎞️🎞️🎞️🎞️
World Building:🌎🌎🌎🌎
Cover:📔📔📔📔
Hero: 🦸🏻🦸🏻🦸🏻🦸🏻
Heroine:🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️
Intimacy Level: 🔥🔥🔥
Relationship Building: 💒💒💒💒
Heart & Feels:💞💞💞💞
Witty/Banter/Reaction of Laughter: 😂😂😂
Page Turner Level:📖📖📖📖
Narration:🎧🎧🎧🎧
Ending:🧧🧧🧧🧧
Overall View: ✨✨✨✨

First Impressions
Cowboy Cross My Heart is the second installment in the "Heart of Texas" series. This is a book about the bad boy cowboy from the first book. If you have read the first book, the hero is the troubled kid from the first one who went rebellious and made some bad choices wanting to provide for his siblings. I absolutely adored seeing Brice reach his HEA and seeing him being such a responsible hard working adult. I will be honest in that this one was entertaining, thrilling, kept me on edge and had a solid romance. It definitely has Donna Grant's typical writing style.

First Line
Excitement rushed through everyone as the lights suddenly cut out in the arena.

The Main Protagonists
The Hero: Brice Harper
Brice Harper is a redeeming hero. As a teenager, made mistakes with good intentions, served in the military and determined to run his own ranch with his brother. He is sexy, protective and caring.

The Heroine: Naomi Pierce
Naomi grew up in a Texas small town, naturally born in the saddle, living in D.C.. She has a strong will, a fighter when needed and has always yearned for love and a good life

Summary
Naomi Pierce has come to Texas to visit her best friend who is part of a Rodeo Queen beauty pageant. When there is a evil plot against her best friend because she and the other contestants have been assaulted by men secretly in power and using them for sexual favors. Naomi gets targeted as she has some photo evidence, where she runs into the Harper brothers. Brice is protective and strong, and when he runs into Naomi, he is determined to protect her no matter what. When it becomes apparent that her life is in danger, he and his family use all their influence to protect them. But as tensions escalate as the danger increases, the pieces of the puzzle start to fall into place. But will Naomi and Brice survive and find a way towards their HEA?

What I Loved
Cowboy, Cross My Heart was a delightful story. It really reminded me why I fell in love with this series originally and not sure why I haven't finished the series yet. I really had a blast with Brice's book. We see him being such a responsible young man and I loved how he is with Naomi. He is so wonderful for her. I really enjoyed that. I also found it most interesting to see how he is with his siblings and became so endeared by their relationships with each other. To see him change from the young boy who made so many mistakes for his family, I just fell hard for it.

We also have a kick-ass plot. There is something so captivating about the danger-themed plot that this author implements, and she really builds on the tension regarding the mystery and intrigue. We also have a solid friendship that we see with Naomi and her best friend. I loved their bonds to each other and what a great friendship they have and have been building for years. I really admired Naomi and her strong spirit. She has such a great balance to her. She is strong and feisty but not kick ass. She is such a relatable independent heroine that I just loved seeing her within this story and her great growth in this story and the moments where we see her face adversity.

What I Struggled With
The romance was more in the backstory. While I really enjoyed their chemistry, and the spice in this book is powerful, I felt like the relationship aspects could have had a bit more focus that what we see.

Narration
Truly delightful. Not the perfect narration, but it was solid and she did a great job in building the danger feels to the story.

Overall View
Cowboy Cross My Heart is a superb read that really delivered in what I was looking for. Its a story of thrills, superb plot portrayal and an romance that endears the reader in a very solid way.

Favorite Quote(s)
Her beauty might have caught his attention, but it was her strength, steadfastness, heart, and authenticity that kept pulling him back to her

There are a great many things I regret, but being attracted to you isn’t one of them.

Book Details (also in my shelves)
Sub Genre: Contemporary Romance, Romantic Suspense
Character Types: Bull Rider, Cowboy, Rancher
Themes: Small Town, Family Bonds, Western,
Tropes: Redemption, Forced Proximity

Book Perspective
3rd POV

Relationship Conflict vs Plot Conflict
Plot Conflict

Song This Book Inspires
Dust on the Bottle

Recommendation For Reading Order
You can do either, these are easily read as standalones

Steam/Spice Explanations

Warmin' by the fire- a medium level of sexual tension, a balance of sexual and emotional intimacy, lighter on the details in the sexual moments.

Narrators:
Rebecca Estrella ( )

Went straight on to this after reading The Christmas Cowboy Hero, as I enjoyed it so much as a holiday read. This was exactly the same, though the drama was more serious - life and death even.

(Spoiler alert) I was surprised that four people died! and others seriously injured.

But it's still an enjoyable read ... with great cowboys. I look forward to reading about other cast members we have met, when they get their own book.

The series moves from Clayton to Brice, his much younger brother in law. We find that Bryce has grown up and modelled himself on Clayton, as a soldier and cowboy. Naomi is a photographer and horsewoman. She is smart, brave and independent and as Clayton tells them at some stage, they do indeed seem ideal for each other... ( )

Naomi Pierce is a photographer working on a project for her friend Whitney Nolan at a rodeo. Her job of snapping photos for Whitney gets a bit sidetracked when she spots cowboy Brice Harper. She can't take her eyes of him. Brice has the same reaction. He sees her watching him and notices that something is happening to both of them.

Romance takes second place however. It sadly becomes apparent rather quickly that Whitney is being stalked. When things get really hairy, Brice cannot help but to step in. His motives are pure, but he has cause for doubt. There is just something about Naomi that pulls hat his heartstrings. Brice has a history, however.

When he was a boy of eight, his mother walked out on him, his sister and younger brother. While his sister Abby did a fine job of raising him, he was truly affected by the abandonment that they all experienced. But, he is a good man, and even offers to have Abby stay with him when the danger affecting her friend Whitney gets a little too close.

Not only does Brice work at the rodeo with his brother Caleb, they both work for the East Farm. Brice started at the farm years ago after he got caught up in castle rustling and stole some of the farm's cattle. That experience changed his life, and he became a true cowboy.

Naomi might be a photographer that is only passing through, but with Whitney in trouble, and with al the help Naomi is getting from Brice, and by extension, his family, Naomi has a lot of reasons to think about staying around. Not only does she need to know what is really going on with Whitney, Abby also realizes that she missed a lot from the years she was away from ranching. Given the chance to draw closer to Brice certainly has its benefits.

This story was done very well, and loses a star in rating only because as much as the romance did indeed grow, the element of mystery and intense danger seemed more prevalent. Otherwise it was a great addition to theHeart of Texas series, and I did enjoy reading it.

Other stories in this series is The Christmas Cowboy Hero and My Favorite Cowboy. The next book in the series, A Cowboy Like You, is set for release in August. ( )

From the very first chapter of Cowboy, Cross My Heart, you cannot help but like Naomi and Brice and the journey they go through to not only fight for justice, but also fall in love.

Naomi is not 100% happy with her life in DC, but comes home to Baxter County (for work and a break) to watch her best friend Whitney compete for Miss Rodeo Texas crown, but when Naomi is attacked for unknowingly taking a photo of one of the men abusing the contestants, she is relieved that Brice Harper comes to her rescue, but unfortunately it puts him and his family in to the attackers path! Together with Brice's family, Naomi and Brice are determined to catch the perpetrators, while trying to keep everyone safe.

This is the second book I have ever read that was written by Donna Grant and I have to say that I really enjoy her writing! Her plots are well-thought-out and are practical in there execution. I'm also totally ashamed to say that I didn’t read book 1 of this series, but it didn’t matter, as it can be totally read as a stand-alone, but believe me, that book is in my future! Well, it is an excuse to read Cowboy, Cross My Heart again!

Cowboy, Cross My Heart is a fast pace Western romantic suspense that keeps you on your toes, grips your heart and soul and by the end of the book, you just begin it again! That is until the next book in the series is out.

I give Cowboy, Cross My Heart 5 stars! ( )

Cowboy Cross My Heart by Donna Grant

Naomi Pierce has come home to visit after some time away and finds herself in the thick of dealing with a situation that involves her best friend Whitney who is one of those women in the rodeo beauty pageant. How does Naomi realize there is a situation? Well…it kind of leaps out of the dark one night as she walks with Whitney and is taking photos someone doesn’t want her to print. Leaping to her defense is Brice Harper, rodeo team roper and all around good guy. The two are instantly attracted to one another and with each new action taken by the bad guys the two get closer to unearthing what the issue is and who the corrupt men and women are. Lives are at stake, family steps in to help, evil men do eventually get their just desserts and the HEA for Naomi and Brice is found.

This book deals with the abuse of power, objectification of women, making life choices that impact forever and determining what is truly important in life as it also shows just how important friendship and family truly are.

Did I enjoy this book? Yes
Will I read more in the series? Definitely

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC – This is my honest review.

4 Stars ( )