Always a Cowboy by Linda Lael Miller

• Title:  Always a Cowboy
• Series:  The Carsons of Mustang Creek #2
• Author:  Linda Lael Miller
• Genre:  Contemporary Romance
• Pages:  384
• Published:  August 2016 – HQN Books
• Source:  Publisher; NetGalley; Little Bird Publicity

Description:  He’s the middle of the three Carson brothers and is as stubborn as they come—and he won’t thank a beautiful stranger for getting in his way! 

Drake Carson is the quintessential cowboy. In charge of the family ranch, he knows the realities of this life, its pleasures and heartbreaks. Lately, managing the wild stallions on his property is wearing him down. When an interfering so-called expert arrives and starts offering her opinion, Drake is wary, but he can’t deny the longing—and the challenge—she stirs in him. 

Luce Hale is researching how wild horses interact with ranch animals—and with ranchers. The Carson matriarch invites her to stay with the family, which guarantees frequent encounters with Drake, her ruggedly handsome and decidedly unwelcoming son. Luce and Drake are at odds from the very beginning, especially when it comes to the rogue stallion who’s stealing the ranch mares. But when Drake believes Luce is in danger, that changes everything—for both of them. (publisher)

My take:  Drake Carson is the head of his family’s ranch. All his life he’s wanted to carry on the tradition of tending the ranch that’s been in his family for several generations. He cares about the land and the animals who live there. That includes the cattle and the predators that threaten them.

Luce Hale cares about animals and the environment and plans to write her dissertation about the wild horses that roam the Carson ranch. Drake sees them as a nuisance and threat to his horses and land. She hopes to convince him to find a humane way to deal with the wild horses. Eventually these two find a mutual respect and even more.

The second book in the Carsons of Mustang Creek series was enjoyable and I learned a bit about wild horses – I’ve heard about them before but didn’t know much about them. The novel ends a bit abruptly but I still liked it. The scenes with Drake’s brothers and the rest of the family were fun and a bit exciting near the end. If you enjoyed the first book in the series I think you’ll love Always a Cowboy.

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About the author:  The daughter of a town marshal, Linda Lael Miller is the #1 New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of more than 100 historical and contemporary novels, most of which reflect her love of the West. Raised in Northport, Washington, the self-confessed barn goddess pursued her wanderlust, living in London and Arizona and traveling the world before returning to the state of her birth to settle down on a horse property outside Spokane.

Linda traces the beginning of her writing career to the day a Northport teacher told her that the stories she was writing were good, that she just might have a future in writing. Later, when she decided to write novels, she endured her share of rejection before she sold her first title to a publisher in 1983. Linda then successfully published historicals, contemporaries, paranormals, mysteries and thrillers before coming home, in a literal sense, to concentrate on novels with a Western flavor. For her devotion to her craft, the Romance Writers of America awarded her their prestigious Nora Roberts Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007. In 2016 Linda will receive a Lifetime Achievement award from RT Book Reviews. Currently the Hallmark Movie Channel is developing a series based on Linda’s Big Sky Country novels.

For more information about Linda and her novels, please visit lindalaelmiller.com

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