Review: Corralled by Lorelei James

Corralled: A Blacktop Cowboys Novel
by Lorelei James
Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: NAL Trade
Available: August 3, 2010
Genre: Western Contemporary Romance
Book received from: Smexy Books

Sports therapist Lainie Capshaw has been rehabilitating injured cowboys long enough to know that a charming western drawl combined with a fine physical form doesn’t mean you fall for the man.

So no one is more surprised than Lainie when she finds herself involved with not one, but two different men: Hank Lawson, a bullfighter, and Kyle Gilchrist, a bull rider. Lainie feels guilty about her two-timing, but it doesn’t keep her from doubling her fun-that is until Hank catches her with Kyle.

She’s shocked that Hank isn’t mad. But she’s more shocked to learn Hank and Kyle are hometown buddies. But when the men offer to share her-in every way-she knows that she’s going to have to choose the one man who can give her the ride of her life…

Reviewed by: Fiction Vixen

Whoo-ee!  Lorelei James does it again!  I have recently become a fan of Lorelei James’ Rough Riders series so when I heard she had a whole new series about to release I was all over it.  I couldn’t wait to dig into another luscious cowboy story.  To say that I had high expectations for Corralled is an understatement.  I was not disappointed.  I was hooked, first line in the book:

“Screwing two guys doesn’t make you a slut”

Kyle Gilchrist—bull rider and Hank Lawson—bull fighter, have been friends since childhood.  They’ve gone their own way in life but now they have reunited on the rodeo circuit and plan to be traveling partners.  That’s the plan until they discover they’ve both been seeing the same woman.

Lainie Capshaw is a med-tech spending lots of time on the road as she works two different rodeo circuits providing first-aid and medical treatment to rodeo competitors.  Since she’s on the road so much, there’s not a lot of time for relationships but it’s nice to spend a little time with a sexy cowboy now and then.  She’s had a part time fling going with Hank for a while and it’s worked out well. No promises, just occasional casual dating and some quality time between the sheets.  But when she meets Kyle the chemistry is between them is off the charts so why not enjoy his part time company as well?  She’s feeling just a little guilty about seeing two men at the same time but since both relationships are casual she’s going with it.  Until she finds out that Hank and Kyle are friends.  Both still want her and but she refuses to choose one over the other and doesn’t want to become between their friendship.

Hank and Kyle come up with a solution.  They will share Lainie if she’s up for it.  Both men are alpha and competitive by nature so this cold be a win/win for Lainie.  Due to a forced vacation, she’s got time on her hands so she hits the road with the boys as they compete for her affections and try to win her heart while seeing to her physical pleasure as well. *waggles eyebrows*  Let me just say that both Kyle and Hank are delicious, but Hank had my heart from the get go.  MINE!

I love a good m/f/m romance.  Unfortunately I’m not always convinced of the relationship dynamics since jealousy, and competitiveness is a fact of human nature and not easily overcome even in best of situations.  That is part of why I loved Corralled.  Although it was Kyle and Hank’s idea to share, both went into the three way relationship with the idea of winning Lainie over.  Neither one of them thought of the three way relationship as an indefinite situation, both looking to win Lainie’s heart in the end.  But even though they are both competitive, they are also life long friends and seemed to respect each other despite the jealousies that arose.  I really felt like this was a very believable relationship and loved how the men respected Lainie, as well as each other, and managed preserve their friendship.  I was a little surprised at how agreeable they both were to sharing in the first place though.  Being alpha men, it seems like they both would have been more resistant in the beginning.  I suppose the opportunity to have an ongoing threesome with a desirable woman made the decision easier. Lainie goes into the relationship with excitement but with several reservations as well.  She doesn’t want to come between friends and at one point wants to walk away without either man in the best interest of their friendship.  With a little convincing from her best friend, she gets on board the three way train eventually.

The main focus of the story is on the romantic relationships between Kyle, Lainie and Hank.  But we also get a chance to learn about some about their familial relationships.  Each has an interesting past and in the process of learning more about these three characters we’re introduced to secondary characters that will hopefully be stepping up in future books in the series.  I especially liked  Hank’s rebellious younger sister Celia and Lainie’s best friend and champion barrel racer Tanna.  Both hold their own being surrounded by cowboys in a male dominated sport and I look forward to seeing them both again as the series progresses.

For fans of the Rough Riders series don’t worry, you won’t be miss out on all the goodness you’ve come to love in a Lorelei James cowboy romance.  You still get smokin’ hot cowboys, lots of western charm, and plenty of available lube. *g*  Corralled is a great start to another erotically charged western romance series. Be warned though, you may be tempted to pull up roots and hit the road in search of your own rodeo cowboy. 

Favorite Quote:

She looked at him over her shoulder.  “What color condom are you sporting?”

He grinned.  “Yellow.  Feel free to comment about a yellow submarine bein’ long, thick, hard, and filled with seaman.”

Lainie couldn’t help it; she giggled.

Purchase a copy of Corralled

Other books in the series:

Saddled And Spurred – March 2011

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