Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Sharp Shootin' Cowboy by Victoria Vane



TAKE YOUR BEST SHOT, COWBOY...
 
Weary warrior... After eight years as a Marine sniper, war-scarred Reid Everett is back in his native Wyoming. He knows and loves this rugged land, so working for wildlife services to reduce the booming wolf population suits him to a T.
 
Caring crusader... Wildlife biologist Haley Cooper is desperate to make a difference. Leaving the world of academia behind, she accepts a position as a wolf advocate to protect the animals she loves.
 
Raw attraction... Their jobs set them on a collision course, but chemistry sparks like wildfire between Reid and Haley. They'll have to brave some rough territory if they hope to reconcile their polarizing views with a passion that won't be denied.
 
Title: Sharp Shootin' Cowboy | Author: Victoria Vane | Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca | Release Date: June 2, 2015 | Genre: Contemporary Romance | Source: Publisher | Rating: DNF

I’ve really enjoyed Victoria Vane’s Hot Cowboy Nights series up until now. Sharp Shootin’ Cowboy just did not work for me and I ended up stopping at 29%.
 
I really liked the hero. Reid was a sturdy sort and, honesty, he was the only reason this book wasn’t dropped from the very start. I thought if I would focus on Reid, I’d be able to finish the book, but that wasn’t the case.
 
The heroine was just too much for me. Really, if I wasn’t reading this on my Kindle, I so would have chucked the book against the wall. I just could not stand her. She was the type of heroine that if Reid said it was raining outside, Haley (although she was dripping wet) would say it was a dry, sunny day.
 
I truly loathed Haley from the start and she got worse as the book went on. I really should have stopped reading when Haley learned of a military assault where Reid was stationed then told Yolanda, her friend, ‘They knew what they were getting into, Yo.”… “It is war, and they volunteered for it.”
 
That just made me ill because I know what it feels like to have someone you care about stationed in a warzone.  I know what it feels like to see it on the news then wait frantically for an email or phone call to see if your loved one survived. So nothing turns me off of a novel faster than a person like Haley.
 
You know, I normally like a chalk and cheese relationship between the hero and heroine it adds to the chemistry but I think that Vane was trying way too hard to make conflict between Haley and Reid and in the end, Haley just came off as an annoying cow.
 
Overall, Haley just did not work for me. I’m not overly fond of characters that are antimilitary or hyped up activists. They just rub me the wrong way. The novel had potential but the heroine ruined it.





So, lovelies, what rubs you the wrong way in a book?

9 comments:

Sophia Rose said...

I liked the first two books in the series just like you, but I purposefully skipped this one after seeing the blurb and getting a few early excerpts. I was done before I started. You are the second reviewer to point out her callous comment about those deployed getting what they signed up for and it turns my stomach to know its there even if it was meant to show how far the heroine had to come. I, too, have had friends and family in the hot zone.

Lanies Book Thoughts said...

LMAO!!! You called her an "annoying cow", I dont think I've seen you use that before.lol xD. I'm sorry that this book sucked so hard for you, that's BS that there were even antimilitary characters in this type of book. Are you gonna keep goin with this series, or drop it like a bad habit?

Anna@herding cats&burning soup said...

Yup that's about where I checked out on it too. I could not believe that scene and it annoyed the tar out of me they kept calling them marines. I really enjoy her books usually but that one had me feeling really irate.

Angela @ Simply Angela said...

I really wished I would have skipped this one as well.

Angela @ Simply Angela said...

Oh, Lanie, she was such an annoying cow. I couldn't think of anything that fit her better. lol While I loved the previous books in the series, this one kind of turned me off of the author.

Angela @ Simply Angela said...

That scene was uncalled for. I've read characters that haven't supported the war but they supported the troops and I would have much rather have seen that in this book. It really turned me off of the series. It drives me batty when authors use marines instead of Marines or navy seal instead of SEAL.

Lanies Book Thoughts said...

Lol, everytime I see you type that now I just bust out giggling. I'm gonna avoid this series cause I dont think I could read about the heroine without replacing her name with "annoying cow". lol. That's a bummer, maybe she'll do a new series or something and you could try it one day!

Angela @ Simply Angela said...

She will forever go down in history--well, my version of it anyway, as an annoying cow. At the moment, I think I'm done with the author, which is sad, because I loved the first two books in the series.

Lanies Book Thoughts said...

Ha, ya you should run while you still can:)