Lone Star Blues is the fifth installment in the Wrangler’s Creek series. When Dylan was introduced in Roman’s book, I knew I was going to like him finally settle down. Dylan is the playboy bachelor and he has a rude awakening when a little boy shows up at his doorstep and a social worker let him know that he is a father. As the story progressed, he was actually a wonderful father and he loved his son but of course that was not the end of his journey. Then there is his ex-wife Jordan that comes back into the picture because her cousin is the little boy’s mother. She has been through so much while in the military she was a war hero even though she couldn’t stand that title. She was suffering from PTSD and severe anxiety plus she didn’t know if she wanted to reenlist into the military. When she went looking for her cousin’s child, she had no idea that she would end up at Dylan’s doorstep. Now let the fun begin because not only will Jordan be staying at the ranch but Dylan’s mother wants custody of his son but that is not all the drama. Lucian, Dylan’s oldest brother, has a point what if the little boy is not a Granger and Dylan gets more attached to him and he loses temporary custody. I totally loved this story they are all going to have to travel through this journey in order to find out the truth.

The Wrangler’s Creek Series is one of my favorite series by author Delores Fossen. It is my first series I cut my teeth on by her.

Dylan Granger is considered a love them and leave them type man. Dylan makes sure the women he beds understands that one mistake is enough or, so his ex-had said. Because of Dylan’s sexual ways one of Dylan’s ladies decided to create a little fun game called “Sex Bingo Dylan style”. As Dylan is trying to collect all the bingo game cards he runs into his ex-wife Jordan. Dylan was just coming to terms with the first he considered of many surprises like, “Surprise you’re a Daddy!”.

Jordan Rivera had divorced Dylan 14 years ago. There was no doubt she loved Dylan, the problem Jordan faced was her knack too stick in one place. In her marriage she felt trapped, so she hit the road and joined the Military where she done quite well. Jordan suffered from PTSD from being captured on a mission working through her own issues and nightmares Jordan gets a phone call taking her back to the one place she just would like to forget… Wrangler Creek.

Dylan and Jordan have always had heat and passion what they ran short on is staying power. After 14 years Jordan returns, but things aren’t like when she left. When things took a turn for Dylan and Jordan imagine Dylan’s shock at the path his life is heading.

Visiting the Granger Ranch is like coming home. I get to catch up with the family and town folk. I just love it. The supporting character were in full bloom in Long Star Blues, there was a full house. Long Star Blues had so many twist and turns and some shocking out comes. Adele (Jordan sister) had a few of her own secrets that kept the reading interesting. Corbin was cute as a button, I adored him.

Even though I can say Long Star Blues was not my favorite Wrangler’s Creek book, without reading it would had put a serious dent in the Wrangler’s Creek Series. I will keep reading this series by Delores Fossen because in a whole Wrangler’s Creek Series wonderful!

Rated 4 Stilettos by Deb!

I've thoroughly been enjoying Delores Fossen's Wrangler's Creek series, and this latest installment, Lone Star Blues, is no exception. Going back to the Granger ranch is like getting together with a group of old friends, and this secret baby, second chance at romance novel is among my favorites in the series, and because I had only one small issue with this book, it gets 4.75 stars from this reader.

Lone Star Blues is Dylan Granger's story, and what a story it is. In short, this sexy, charming cowboy has always been quite a manwhore, although he was faithful to his ex-wife, Jordan, during their courtship and relatively brief marriage. Dylan's love 'em and leave 'em reputation, and his sexual repertoire is so legendary that one of his former lovers created a Dylan's Sex Bingo game, and they're pretty much found everywhere in Wrangler's Creek. After a night of drinking at his brother's bachelor party, he wakes up with a naked woman he can't identify and doesn't even recognize, and while everyone else in the house has already noticed the trail of her clothing starting in the front yard (where his mother's dog is running around with her red lace undies--I just love Ms. Fossen's sense of humor), there's a video of him at the bar, three sheets to the wind and swearing a vow of celibacy, and that's just the beginning of his problems, because in a very short while, a social worker shows up at the ranch, bringing with her a very cute 2-1/2 year old little boy, Corbin, that she claims is Dylan’s son, a son he never knew he had, and Dylan has been granted custody of this son because Corbin's mother is his ex-wife's cousin, Adele, who is now incarcerated and facing trial for felony possession of stolen goods, and, because this isn't her first offense, there's no way she's not going to do prison time for this offense. Surprisingly, for all his past drinking and womanizing, Dylan realizes that he can't charm his way out of this mess, and even though he doesn't recall ever having sex with Adele, he really falls in love with his surprise son, and begins to grow up and take his role as a father seriously.

Meanwhile, Dylan's ex-wife of 14 years, Jordan Rivera, has had problems of her own. She divorced Dylan, a man she loved, because she felt hemmed in at Wrangler's Creek, and had a serious case of wanderlust. She'd already enlisted in the military when she told Dylan she was divorcing him, and she's had an excellent career in the military, achieving officer status. Unfortunately, after her helicopter crashed, she was taken captive by a group of insurgents, tossed in a hole in the ground, and even though she was rescued within a couple of days, her reaction to her experience shook her idea of who she was and left her with a case of PTSD, and the flashbacks and nightmares that go with it. When she gets an urgent call from her cousin, Adele, about taking care of Corbin (he was a surprise to Jordan as well), she heads back to Wrangler's Creek as fast as she can. She certainly didn't expect that her ex-husband would already have custody of his son, but when Adele couldn't contact Jordan fast enough, and to avoid his being sent into foster care, her default custodial parent became Dylan--and oh, by the way, this is just for starters, because Adele's story about who fathered her son keeps changing, Dylan's mother, Regina, steps in and also wants custody, Jordan's former lover, Tate, another military officer and her rescuer, is one of the possible dads, and his solution to the custody issue is to propose to marry Jordan, even though their relationship ended long ago. The twists and turns of who fathered Corbin, who deserves custody, Dylan and Jordan's strong sexual attraction to one another after all these years, Tate's presence in Wrangler's Creek, the involvement of Dylan's last girlfriend, Melanie and her father, the presiding judge on Adele's case, will certainly keep you guessing, and you might need a scorecard, because that's not all of the characters, craziness and complications in this whirlwind of a story.

The secondary characters in this novel are every bit as entertaining as the leading ones. There's Dylan's closed off, usually irritated brother, Lucian, who is and has been blind to the fact that his personal assistant, Karlee, is and has been in love with him for years. I'm hoping that their story in the next one in the series. There's also Karlee's screw-up of a brother, Mack, who shows up mid-novel after losing yet another job, and who does at least remember having sex with Adele, making him another choice in the who's the father guessing game.

There's also plenty of heat still blazing between Jordan and Dylan, even 14 years after their divorce. Everyone wants custody of Corbin, but Adele keeps changing her story, and then Lucian takes it upon himself to get a DNA test, even though Dylan has forbid him to do so. He's so in love with Corbin, and loves being his dad so much that he doesn't care whether or not he's his biological father, but Lucian requests the results anyway, and more surprises await you in this addictive novel.

Yes, there's an HEA ending to this novel, but that HEA ending is my one criticism--it's not the happily ever after I was hoping for, and it all wraps up on the last page of the novel, so it was also too quick, too pat, and didn't have the emotional impact I was hoping for at the end of this complicated story. Perhaps an epilogue set some time in the future might have provided that, but it wasn't there.

Don't let my one gripe stop you from reading this novel, as it was truly an excellent read, filled with well-drawn characters, Ms. Fossen's trademark sense of humor and of the absurd, and a thoroughly engrossing and emotional read, one of Ms. Fossen's best to date.

I voluntarily read an advance reader copy of this novel. The opinions expressed are my own.

A review was psoted on From the TBR Pile 4/27/18: http://fromthetbrpile.blogspot.com/2018/04/blog-tour-review-excerpt-of-lone-star.html

Goodreads 2 stars: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2337716227

Lone Star Blues is the fifth book in the Wrangler Creek series. Dylan Granger wakes up one morning to find a naked woman in his room and a social worker on his doorstep with a toddler she claims is his son. On top of that, his ex-wife is back and wants to fight for custody of the boy. Before now, I would have said each of these could be read as stand-alones. However, having missed reading the fourth book, I kept feeling like I was missing something. For starters, what was the Bingo game? I don't remember that from the first three books. But, I could just not be remembering correctly.

I have to admit that I really didn't care for this story at all. Out of the four in the series that I have read, this is my least favotire. There are a few reasons. First, everyone seemed to be overly angry in the story. That is the vibe that I kept getting as I read it. No one seems to like each other. Second, I couldn't understand why no one had confidence in Dylan that he could raise Corbin. So he had been with a lot of women. Who cares? It's not like he strung them all along or forced them. He has money and a successful ranch. It didn't make sense to me. Frankly, I felt bad for Corbin the most and he was only 2.5 years old. Jordan's PTSD was not really addressed very well and that bothered me. The ending was abrupt and highly unsatisfying.

There were a few humorous moments, but not enough to really save the book. I do recommend the series as a whole, but this one isn't high on my list. _Kari

Wrangler's Creek is one of my favorite series, it is a series that I have tried to get in paperback as well as in ebook form as I love it so much. While Lone Star Blues might not be my favorite book in the series so far, but it does not take away how much I have enjoyed the series and it doesn't stop me from continuing to read the series, that's for sure.
I just don't think Lone Star Blues was a romance story. Yes, Dylan Granger and Jordan have sex, they even have a bit physical chemistry between them, after all, they were married 14 years ago, so there have been some deep feelings in between them a long time ago. But I didn't get that the feelings were deep now, or were romantic in any sort of way. The story itself has absolutely no romance, not even as they declare their feelings for each other, a scene that somehow didn't fit the rest of the tale.
Basically, this is a tragic story of a custody battle of a child, who is the results of people sleeping around. The chaos and turbulence that is always part of the Wrangler's Greek life come from the fact that there are several possibilities who the father of the child is, and the drama unfolds in front of the whole town.
I am not a fan of the male-slut type heroes, or third person drama in relationships even in romance books. The whole story is basically based on that theme, and I felt sorry for that little boy who was in the eye of the storm throughout it all. The bingo with Dylan's sexual experiences was awkward and made me laugh several times.
The book is well written, the plot has plenty of twists and unexpected turns. The whole extended family gets involved in the paternity case, and we get to meet many of the characters from the previous books in the series. The story does give new insights to the family, and thus builds up the series, or takes it deeper. I am just a bit confused with the sudden ending of the tale, that didn't give much of a conclusion or a solid solution to most of the issues talked about in the story, so I claim this book in my mind another chapter in the wild and lively life of the Granger family at the Wrangler's Creek, with hopefully, more insights to come in the future.
~ Three Spoons with a teaspoon on the side

Dylan is known for sleeping around so much that there's a bingo card made out for the women in town to have. Jordan is back from the military suffering from PSTD after being rescued from being kidnapped. Both Dylan and Jordan are ex's and now a free spirited cousin of Jordans is claiming that Dylan is the father of her child and he needs to watch over the child while she is in jail. Jordan is less then thrilled and is willing to to partake in a custody battle over the child.

I thought that this book was pretty good. I enjoyed the characters and loved that chemistry was going on between Dylan and Jordan. I thought it was interesting how everything played out and how her cousin was being a pain when it came to the custody battles kept things interesting. I thought it was funny the fact that this down had bingo cards based off Dylan I will say that's not something I've heard mention in a book before. I though it was interesting how everyone was handling the custody of the child. Overall this was a pretty good book I really enjoyed it.

Lone Star Blues by Delores Fossen
Wrangler’s Creek Series

Dylan Granger and Jordan Rivera were once husband and wife but it seems it was a short marriage nobody thought would work, and they were right. Jordan headed to the military and Dylan, with a broken heart, worked on the family ranch while dallying with many women. The premise for this book is that a child may bring the couple together again after fourteen years apart.

Dylan, thrust into fatherhood suddenly, takes on the challenge and is more mature and responsible than expected. Jordan, just returned from overseas, is dealing with PTSD that is not addressed as much as in other veteran novels that showcase this problem. Dylan and Jordan had chemistry before and it is still there when they meet again.

The main question, beyond whether or not there will be a HEA for Jordan and Dylan, is who the baby daddy REALLY is. Is it Dylan or could it be Theo – the man that Jordan has dated or then again…could it be someone else entirely?

There were parts of the book I really enjoyed and some where people from previous books I have not read made an appearance that were not essential to me but probably nice for those following the series. There is a set-up for a future book in the series and the HEA/HFN that Jordan and Dylan get at the end.

This was an easy pleasant sometimes silly read with an unusual bingo game, small town antics, a wedding and more. And…there was a nice friends to lovers Wrangler’s Creek short story at the end to enjoy, too.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Harlequin Books for the ARC – This is my honest review.

3-4 Stars

Favorite Quotes:

Tiffany Kelly, a cocktail waitress at the Longhorn Bar, had indeed started a bingo game that involved sex categories— specifically sex categories with Dylan— and she had distributed variations of the cards to women around town… Apparently, once a woman had her card filled, Tiffany would give them a drink on the house. So far, there’d been four winners. Okay, there were five, but one of them had cheated.

Walter Ray probably didn’t know that most folks called him dick-nose, and it was a well-earned moniker. It was one of those noses that made you stare and wonder why the heck he hadn’t run to a plastic surgeon.

Had this been any other person, Jordan could have argued that sex didn’t just happen, but this was a woman who’d stolen flip-flops and Twizzlers. Adele’s life had seemingly been a string of things that’d “just happened” or else really stupid things that she’d planned.

Her arrest record reads like stuff a stand-up comic would use. Did you know she once got arrested for peeing on a CEO’s car? She was protesting the way he treated his employees.

He peed in the gas tank of Mildred Wheeler’s Toyota after she fussed at him for being drunk in public. Then, he peed on those feral chickens that are out by Police Chief McKinnon’s house when somebody bet him that he couldn’t do it. One of the chickens got mad, jumped on his wiener and spurred him. He needed stitches.


My Review:

I smirked my way through this delightfully amusing and skillfully crafted tale. I adore Delores Fossen’s wickedly observant and clever wit. Her books are highly engaging and provide delectable entertainment. I could read her work every day and never tire of her enticing yet uniquely flawed and endearing characters. I enjoy and greatly anticipate her easy to follow and breezy writing style with comedic descriptions and strong visuals that succinctly and simultaneously define her quirky characters’ appearance and behavior with her own brand of vividly colorful and entertaining flair. Reading her books feels like a fun and indulgent vacation and I always feel a bit rueful at having to return to the real world once I’ve finished.

If you enjoy second chance romances you may enjoy this one. After Dylan Grainger’s wife left him to join the military and divorced him, he became such a man whore that there are sex bingo cards circulating in the community with women trying complete by completing the items on the card with him. The story starts with him waking up with an naked woman in his bed - and he has no idea how she got there! It deteriorates further when a social worker drops off a toddler, Corbin Dylan Rivera, whose mother Adele Rivera is in prison. Adele has asked the social worker to make sure the child is taken to his father, Dylan. He knows nothing about the child but does know that Adele is his ex-wife’s cousin and he did see her at about the right time but can’t remember having sex with her!

Then his ex-wife, a war hero who had recently been rescued after being captured, turns up. She’s heard about his reputation - in fact she’s already seen some of the bingo cards - and she want to have custody of her cousin’s child. However the chemistry between this couple is as hot as ever, in fact they still love each other but can they give their love another chance?

There are more twists and turns in this than on a winding mountain road. It set off being an engaging story with a great plot but, I have to say, I really hated how it ended so abruptly. It felt as though the author suddenly ran out of time or pages and had to finish it all abruptly. Considering how much I’d enjoyed the story until then this was a real shock and disappointment to me. I’d liked how the hero had stepped up to take responsibility and a more mature attitude. I was surprised more wasn’t made of the impact of the heroine’s flash backs and PTSD. The family and friends were well developed and many interactions superbly portrayed so, if you can cope with the brief finale, you may well enjoy this story. I’ve enjoyed other books by this author, including the previous one in this series - Texas Sized Trouble - and will continue to look out for more by her in future.

I requested and was lucky enough to be given a copy of this novel, via NetGalley, with no obligation. This is my honest review of the book after choosing to read it.

Dylan Granger is having a bad day. It started with a naked woman asleep in his bed and reaches its peak when a social worker drops his apparent son on his doorstep because the toddler's mother has just been arrested.

If this sounds like your sort of choc-a-plot, read on. This book is full of twists and turns - multiple marriage proposals, custody suits, interfering family of all sorts, cameos from previous books I haven't read, and endless drives back and forth to the prison to talk some sense into Adele, the mother in question.

Somewhere in the middle of this mess are Dylan and his ex-wife Jordan, who also happens to be Adele's older cousin. It's pretty obvious that their chemistry is off the charts, but they've tried the marriage thing before, and it didn't work out

I would've liked to see more of the kid and less of the sprawling supporting cast - I know later books in romance series run into it but it seemed almost every character was visiting from their own book or being set up for one. I also disliked how big events happened off the page and would be related in flashback form, which dilutes the impact.

I do wish the ending had been a little less sudden, but if you want a second-chance cowboy romance with tons and tons of plot, don't go past this one.

Three and a half stars

I received a copy of this book for review from Barclay Publicity

This one had a lot more plot twists than usual for a Delores Fossen book. We have two people who were once married and one very interesting child. The question is who is the child's father? We do know who the mother is. Another question - where are the two headed who were once married headed? That is played out for most of the book. Turns out it takes DNA to answer one question. That brings on the answer to the other important question - can they make a go of marriage again.

I received a free copy of the book in return for an honest review.

Not to sound like Annie Wilkes in Misery, but I am Delores Fossen’s number 1 fan. I love everything she writes. She crafts such loveable, flawed characters that I forget they’re just characters in a story and feel like they’re old friends. I find myself thinking about them even when I’m not reading, wondering what will happen to them. Maybe I am just as nutty as Annie Wilkes or maybe Delores Fossen is just that brilliant. I’m pretty sure it’s the latter.
Thanks to his cowboy charm, Dylan Granger has always gotten by with his frat boy behavior. He’s known for drinking and carousing. Especially since his marriage fell apart years ago. But when a social worker shows up with a little boy that she claims is Dylan’s son, Dylan is faced with a situation that even cowboy charm can’t fix. It’s time for Dylan to step up to the plate and prove to his family and all of Wrangler’s Creek that he’s not the screw up they’ve always thought him to be.
Jordan Rivera is trying to get her life back together after being taken captive when her helicopter crashed. She’d barely left the hospital when she received an urgent message from her cousin Adele. Adele, whose life was a string of things that “just happened” or else really stupid things she’d planned, had ended up in jail and it appeared she might be there for quite a while. Adele wanted Jordan to take care of her son, Corbin. A son Jordan didn’t even know existed and who apparently belonged to her ex, Dylan Granger.
When Jordan and Dylan meet again, it’s apparent time hasn’t diminished their attraction to each other. Both had to remind themselves that while sex had been great between them, marriage had been a different story. Regardless of the fact that that spark was still there, both Jordan and Dylan were dealing with their own issues now. Best not to add sex to the mix. But could they both be part of Corbin’s life and keep their past in check?
I can’t get enough of this Wrangler’s Creek series. Jordan and Dylan’s story was the perfect addition to this witty, sometimes delightfully silly, yet emotional series. Dylan and Jordan had married young, and while the physical side of their relationship had been great, they’d had way too many arguments before Jordan walked away. Their love for Corbin brought them back together. Regardless of their past, they both wanted what was best for the little boy. I loved seeing Dylan grow up when faced with fatherhood. He wasn’t the screw up he’d thought he was. He needed a reason to grow up. I think he hadn’t felt like he had a reason after Jordan left. Jordan had grown a lot too in her time away. Where Wrangler’s Creek had once felt like a dead weight she needed to escape, now with Dylan and Corbin there, it felt more like an anchor. Neither had forgotten the other in the years they’d been apart. I think it was very telling that they’d both held on to their wedding rings. Theirs was just a situation of being married too young before they even really knew who they were as individuals.
I loved all the twists and turns in this story. Is Dylan the real father? And, if not Dylan, then who? And who’ll get custody of Corbin? There were lots of bids for custody, lots of claims of fatherhood, and lots of marriage proposals as well. And funniest of all were all the Dylan Granger sex bingo cards floating around.
As in all the books in this series, the secondary characters add so much to the story. I know mom Regina is meddlesome but I love her. I’d love to see her get her own story. I felt for Karlee’s brother Mack. Even though he was a screw up, he knew his limitations and I was rooting for him. I’m especially anxious for Lucian and Karlee’s story. Lucian can be a real jerk and I can’t wait to see Karlee bring him to his knees.
If you love characters and situations that are relatable and stories with lots of humor and sizzle, you’ll fall in love with the Wrangler’s Creek series. Creating a series that’s both funny and sexy is a talent not many authors have. Delores Fossen has that talent in spades. A Book Obsessed Chicks Review Team Selection

Lone Star Blues by Delores Fossen is another story about a sexy as hell cowboy who got himself into a reckless situation. Before that, his wife left him and his heart broke. Now, he faces the consequences and is raising a kid whose mother didn't want to be bothered. When news travels to Jordan's wife, she comes back to him with hopes to raise the baby, together. But fear places them both at odds with each other. Their chemistry is still there. However, it is up to them to figure out where they are headed and what they really want. Life is always completed and messy. Delores Fossen easily captures this into her latest novel, Lone Star Blues. I enjoyed reading this sexy cowboy romance. Overall, I recommend this book to readers.

A playboy falls into daddyhood with flying colors! Dylan reformed really quickly when Corbin is delivered to his ranch out of the blue. Jordan tries to come to her cousin's rescue, AGAIN, and is thrust back into the small town she ran from long ago. Corbin is a sweetheart! The dog is a hoot! Lucian - well, his story is going to be epic since he's such a cranky jerk. The bingo cards were ridiculous, but funny in the end.

I tried. I really tried and I am so sorry to give a bad review but I just couldn't stand either character! A cheating Hero and a forgiving heroine never works for me but neither did this story I'm sorry to say!

Dylan and Jordan were married once but her wanderlust wouldn't allow her to stay with him. Dylan has never gotten over her even though he has quite the reputation with the women in town. When a social worker drops off a child and says he's Dylan's things change rapidly. Enjoyable romance