Maverick Wild

A great second book in the "Wild" series, although just as good as a stand alone (but really, why not just read them all?). I think I'm falling in love with Stacey Kayne's writing. Reading her books is like coming home, she does such a wonderful job at developing relationships between the reader and the characters. My problem in so many other romances is that the characters never quite seem like real people. Not the case in Miss Kayne's books. Not only do you feel like you know them all, but you really like them all (also sometimes a problem for me in other novels). I have no doubt that if I could both time travel and make fiction come to life I'd be hanging at the Morgan ranch with the bunch of them. The first book, "Mustang Wild", follows the independent Skylar who is better at riding trails and training horses than most men. "Maverick Wild" follows Cora Mae, a very different but equally likable gal. For those of you who have grown tired of hearing about how tiny every woman's waist is, this book will be a welcome change. Cora Mae is a short and curvy homemaker sort, sweet and sassy all in one, the kind of girl you'd like for your best friend. Stacy Kayne had me from page one. I couldn't wait to read the entire book and then find myself both satisfied and sad after it was over. Fortunately I have a few of her books yet to go. I wish I could add on a bonus star to two...I love these books that much.

Maverick Wild gave me many hours of entertainment this weekend. It is the second story in the Morgan brothers duo by Stacey Kayne. Chance Morgan is eager to continue his carefree bachelor existence and not at all eager to get married. However, meeting Cora Mae Tindale again puts a wrench in those plans. Cora is the daughter of his hated stepmother. When they were kids, she was a boon companion who Chance and his brother enjoyed corrupting. Many times they got they young girl in trouble with her mean, overbearing mother, but she never complained about the abuse that she suffered at her mother's hands. When Chance and Tucker ran away to join the Confederate Army, they knew the couldn't take little Cora Mae with them. But Chance promised to return for her. However, when they were able to come back, Cora was gone, and their stepmonster had sold their father's farm. Bitter about women and how marrying them destroyed a man's life, Chance vowed never to get married. Twenty-one years later, they are reunited when Cora Mae arrives in Wyoming to visit her stepbrothers for a short time. When she arrives, she finds that Chance has become a hard, dangerous stranger who only sees a hated Tindale when he looks at her. Little does she know that he sees a beautiful red-head with bewitching curves that make it very difficult to be resistant to her. He needn't worry that she wants to trap him into marriage. After a painful and harrowing experience with a man that her mother tries to force her to marry, Cora Mae has sworn never to marry. She just wants to feel a sense of family and home that she felt with she tagged along with Chance and Tucker as a girl. Maverick Wild was an excellent book. It helped to cement my appreciation for Stacey Kayne as a western writer. It's not a copycat of her first book, Maverick Wild. The heroine and hero are different people with different motivations. Yet the elements that made her first novel appeal to me are there in spades: emotion, vivid descriptions of western life, good storytelling, and likable, appealing characters. Cora Mae is not a rough and ready cowgirl like Skylar. She's more of a homemaker who is very happy knitting and crocheting, and baking goodies. She is a sturdy, curvaceous woman, who has been made to feel that she is unattractive. Although she is self-conscious after years of being put down by her mother, she has an inner strength and spunk that makes her a worthy opponent for Chance. She also has a sweetness and a kindness that makes everyone around her love her. Chance sees this in her, but is determined to resist the pull she has on him, at times showing a suspicious attitude towards her that is hurtful to Cora Mae. Chance is definitely a western hero. He's very attractive in a hard, sexy way. He's tough and independent, but clearly loves his family and wants to protect them. Although he fights his attraction for Cora Mae fiercely, when he realizes how dangerous her plight is, he steps up to the plate

I am giving this book a 4, although it barely makes a 4. It was an enjoyable western love story, but it was predictable. The story in the first half of the book was just okay, taking me a bit to get into the story, but the last half of the book makes up for it, that's when the couple finally get together. Cute, quick, enjoyable with tension through the roof. I chose this book based on cover alone!

I love any books on Texas, historical or modern. Stacey Kayne writes great interesting books. I always hate to come to the end.

Chance Morgan is a tough, strong cowboy who is totally unprepared to have his world shaken apart. Cora Mae has lived a hard life devoid of happiness or loyalty with the exception of her stepbrother, Chance. In the midst of a battle for land and against a sexy widow with marrying Chance on her mind, they must heal old wounds and find love. Stacey Kayne always writes western stories with grit. Real men and women facing realistic troubles set in a West that leaps off the page to spur the imagination, but this book, THIS BOOK is packed full of emotion. You'll laugh, you'll cry and when Chance and Cora find their happy ending, you'll sigh. And then you'll read it again. I can't wait for the next Stacey Kayne masterpiece.