The Cowboy's Return

Living in a small town, Camila Walker has been subjected to years of malicious gossip. Camila has worked hard to be a good mother to her daughter, Jilly, and an asset to the community. When rodeo star Tripp Daniels returns home to care for his aging parents, he is looking for answers. Answers concerning Camila's relationship with his brother and answers regarding Jilly's paternity. Finally being home after years of exile, Tripp is forced to acknowledge he should have returned years ago. His parents need him and seeing Camila again makes him yearn for her. Family loyalty prevented him from pursuing Camila years before, but now that he is older and wiser, nothing will stand in his way. However, a secret from the past does stand in the way. A secret Camila must share with Tripp if she's ever to have a future with the only man she has ever loved. It has been years since I read a series romance and I am so glad I chose The Cowboy's Return. A real 'feel good' romance, The Cowboy's Return left me all warm and fuzzy. Ms. Warren has written a book with clearly defined good guys and bad guys, full of mystery, romance, and a story with more than one moral. The Cowboy's Return is a very wholesome and delightful book that left me feeling sunny and cheerful! Annabelle reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

Near Bramble, Texas, Camila Walker raises her eleven years old daughter Jilly by herself. Jilly's father Patrick died before he could marry Camila; his parents rejected Camila insisting she was a tramp and Jilly was not of their blood. The unwelcome child visits her grandparents' spread after reading in the Temple newspaper that her Uncle Tripp, national bareback riding champion and calf roper, had finally come home. Tripp left home after a family fight following his brother's tragic death but finally has returned to the ranch because his aging parents need him. Jilly tells him he and his parents missed plenty not being there to watch her grow and he not knowing her mama. Tripp needs to know whether he is the preadolescent's uncle. He challenges Camila, who wants nothing to do with him or his family as they rejected her as an unwed twenty-year old pregnant woman whose only lover her son had just died. However, she also knows that when she first met her boyfriend's brother she was attracted to him; she did not know Tripp felt the same way but family comes first and he never acted on his feelings. Now he plans to act on that attraction that has seemed to grow stronger with their absence, but first he must deal with his bigoted dad. THE COWBOY'S RETURN is a strong family drama started by an error in judgment by Patrick that still haunts the adults years after his death. Readers will feel for each member of the extended cast even those bogged down by bigotry as no one has obtained closure. Though the romance between Tripp and Camila is secondary to the deep character study, contemporary readers will enjoy this strong Texas tale. Harriet Klausner