"The First Man To Give Me One": The Assumptions About Female Orgasm in Romance

How do heterosexual women reach orgasm during sex? From reading many a romance novel, one could easily conclude that orgasm is not something a woman need actively strive for at all. Instead, orgasm is often described and portrayed, as something a romance heroine receives from her male lover.

In Old Skool romance, with its typically virginal protagonists, the usual sign that a hero was the right partner for a heroine was the fact that he could sexually excite her when no other man could or had. In the 1970s and 80s, good romance heroines did not ever get turned on, at least not until they met their one true love.

We assume that the sexual experiences of real women are far different today than they were in the 70s and 80s. But in fact, the average age of first sex has gone up a tad since its low of just below 17 in the mid 70s, to a bit closer to 18 in 1989, and then back down a bit to about 17 today (see info from the Guttmacher Institute). So perhaps it's just that social acceptance of premarital sex has finally caught up to social practice of same.




In romance novels, what does this social acceptance look like? Well, heterosexual romances in 2018 features far fewer virginal heroines than they did in the 70s and 80s (although they still do exist, and in both female and male types). But despite heterosexual romance novel heroines' increasing sexual experience, many a romance novel still links the discovery of a heroine's true love with the simultaneous discovery of a partner who can bring her to orgasm. Let's call it "The First Man to Give Me One" trope.

Take this example from the compulsively readable Harlequin author Maisey Yates. In Untamed Cowboy, book #2 in the Gold Valley series, Yates' veterinarian heroine, Kaylee, embarks on a sexual relationship with best friend Bennet. Kaylee's made herself orgasm before, but "She had never come with a man before. She just could never get herself all the way into it. Could never stop feeling self-conscious. About where to put her hands, about whether or not he was enjoying it. About whether or not she was enjoying it enough" (Kindle Loc 2067). For Kaylee, thinking about sex is a problem, one that interferes with her ability to relax enough to reach sexual climax.

But with Bennet, who is not only her business partner and closest friend, but also the man she's been nursing a secret crush on for years, it's far different:

Then he pressed it [his finger] between her slick folds, rubbing her slowly, methodically. Before pushing inside of her completely.
She broke. And he swallowed her cry of pleasure as her internal muscles pulsed around his fingers as he gave in to the deepest, most intense orgasm she had ever had in her entire life. The only one she had ever had in front of another person.
And it was Bennet. Bennet was the one who had seen it. Bennet was the one who had caused it." (2091).


The narrative here puts Bennet in the role of actor ("pushing inside her completely"), Kaylee as reactor ("She broke"). Kaylee's internal dialogue echoes this narrative positioning: "Bennet was the one who had caused it." A woman has an orgasm not because she strives for it, reaches for it, but because she responds to the actions of her male partner.

Kaylee echoes this same language around female orgasm later, in the midst of a fight with Bennet:

"Thank you. Thank you for the orgasm. It was awesome. I'm putting it in my diary. Because you are the first man to ever give me one."
Well, crap.
She hadn't meant to confess that. And right about now you wud be able to hear the tinest piec eof straw fall onto the concrete barn floor. Because Bennet had fallen utterly silent, his mouth dropped open in an expression of shock.
"What?" he asked. . . . "No man. None of them. None of those douchebags I watched you date."
She crossed her arms and shook her head, defiant. "Nope."
"Well, that's just . . . I'm torn between wanting to beat them up and wanting to take a damned victory lap."
"This is not really more charming than any of the other crap you pulled earlier."
"I'm the first one to give you an orgasm?" he asked as if he hand't heard her previous statement.
"Yes," she said, "don't let it go to your head."
"It's not my head it's going to."
"Bennet!" . . . .
"It's just hard for me to believe."
"That there's something wrong with my body.
He shook his head emphatically. "It's not you, Kaylee. Hell, no. It was them." (Kindle Loc 2433)

In Yates' construction, female orgasm is something a man "gives" to his partner. A bad male sexual partner will fail to give the gift ("Hell, no. It was them"), while the right male sexual partner will always bestow it. Responsibility for an orgasm thus lies completely with the male partner, not with the female ("It's not you"). Even though earlier Kaylee admitted to herself that her own self-consciousness stood in her way, Yates' novel tells its readers that self-consciousness will inevitably vanish in the face of the right male partner, clearing the way for the gift to be received. In such a construction, a woman plays no real role in achieving climax with a partner, beyond picking the right man; all responsibility for female orgasmic pleasure lies with her male partner.

Is male climax with a female partner portrayed in the same way? Yes, Bennet is just as blown away by his own climax (in a later scene) as Kaylee is by hers in this one. But the language Yates uses to describe orgasm from Bennet's point of view does not cast it as something that Kaylee does to him or gives to him; Bennet still remains the active party, even as he loses control:

Pleasure gathered at the base of his spine, electric and undeniable. It was like fire building inside of him. One that was going to rage out of control at any moment. One that might consume him completely. That need again. That thing he had known would be a raging, destructive thing. And it was. It was. But he was ready to jump feetfirst into it.
He lost his hold on his control, letting go completely, igniting and bringing Kaylee along with him.
If they were going to burn, at least they were burning together.
They clung to each other, his orgasm taking them over completely, a feral growl on his lips as he let it all go completely. (2803)

Bennet's orgasm is all about his choice to lose control. "He was ready to jump feetfirst into it"; even though he "lost his hold," he still is the one who is "letting go completely." It is not Kaylee who gives him the gift of orgasm; in fact, it is Bennet who "brings Kaylee along with him." Female orgasm is a gift from the right male to the right female, but male orgasm is an active male choice.

What's at stake when female heterosexual orgasms are constructed as a gift from a man to a woman, while male orgasms are portrayed as an active choice a man makes all by himself? Here are just a few downsides:

• It ignores the fact that many women never not reach orgasm during p in v sex at all, and that those women who do often need additional clitoral stimulation to achieve it. According to a 2017 study of 1478 women in the Archives of Sexual Behavior, 51%-60% of respondents reported reaching orgasm via intercourse plus clitoral stimulation, while only 21-30% reported reaching orgasm without such assistance. Needless to say, such "assistance" can come from either partner. But if a woman believes that she is the passive recipient of the gift of orgasm, she's far less likely to take matters into her own hands, or to ask her partner to take them into his.

• It plays into the linkage between the ideal male romantic partner and the ideal female sexual experience. Good sex usually takes time to develop; more women report reaching orgasm with a familiar partner than with a new or casual one, no matter how weak or strong their romantic feelings are for each other at the start of their relationship.

• It puts men in the drivers' seat when it comes to sex and female sexual pleasure. If you're waiting for a guy to give you an orgasm, you might be waiting a good long while.

• It suggests that women are not responsible for their own sexual pleasure, which can make women reluctant to ask for what they want, or suggest to their partners that they do something different than they are currently doing.

• Just because sex for men is the cycle from arousal to ejaculation doesn't mean that climax has to be the end goal for a woman. Multiple orgasms, or no orgasms, can be just as good an option for a woman than the one orgasm per sexual act common to the male.

• And as one of my favorite lines from one of my favorite web sex education web sites, Scarleteen, reminds us: "Don't forget: the vagina, all by itself, is an active muscle. It grips what is around it: it doesn't just hang out and whistle Dixie while things happen to it." Check out the rest of this post, which busts the myth that males are active, females are passive during sex.



How often do the romance novels you read portray female orgasms as a gift from a male to a female? How often do they portray sex as an active experience for both partners?

If you've read Olivia's book ( Smooth-Talking Cowboy ), you knew that something was brewing between Bennett, Olivia's ex, and Kaylee, his partner in his veterinary business. Even Olivia noticed it--eventually. So when I found out that their book was out, I couldn't wait to read it.

Bennett and Kaylee's romance--she's been pining after him forever, he's been happily motoring along in the friend zone--definitely needed the additional complication of the teenaged son Bennett didn't know he had (and those are words I never thought I'd say). Without him, I don't know that the two of them would have ever gone any further in their relationship than they already were, and Kaylee (and Bennett, honestly) needed the talking-to that the aforementioned teenager gave them both, believe it or not. Kaylee had a tendency to be very self-destructive when it came to relationships (yes, she had reasons) but I don't know that she would have gotten herself over it without Dallas's intervention. Honestly, though, there were times that I enjoyed myself more while reading about Bennett and his siblings and Dallas and, well, just about everyone...more than Bennett and Kaylee. Not that I didn't want to see them together, but geesh, they were both pretty aggravating at times.

Still, I did enjoy their HEA at the end and absolutely cannot wait to read more in this series!

Rating: 3 1/2 stars / B

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.

I really had trouble getting into the book initially and getting caught up in the emotions of the characters. The storyline was good, but it just didn’t stand out in my mind amongst other books in the genre. The blurb was great, but overall the book just fell flat for me.

Enjoyed the basic plot and characters off this story. Best friends, partners in business, neither wanting to acknowledge the spark between them. But, the internal dialogue was very lengthy and repetitive. I had to skim in some spots to get on with the story.. I put it down a few rimes thinking I was giving up. But I really did want to find out what happened.

After coming off of the high of Maisey Yates' Smooth Talking Cowboy (you can read the review here), I was so ready for Untamed Cowboy. Unfortunately everything that made  Smooth Talking Cowboy work seemed to be lacking in Untamed Cowboy.

First off, it's really rare that I don't like heroes in romance novels. I mean, they're the ultimate reason we read romances, right? However, Bennett goes from being wishy-washy and bland to a jerk in 0-60. Even at the end, I don't feel he ever redeemed himself in my eyes. I also didn't get over his attitude, as a veterinarian, that there was a hierarchy of animals which should be saves and those which should not. In fact, his attitude about becoming a vet stymied me because it seemed that he went into it rather than being a people doctor was because he couldn't deal with people dying rather than to help the animals.

Kaylee is a decent heroine. I wanted so much more for her than Bennett. With description of Bennett's older brother, I thought, he'd be a much better choice for Kaylee, except we already know that he's going to end up with Lindy because they hate each other. 

My favorite couple in the book had little to do with romance. It was Bennett's newly revealed secret son, Dallas, and the horse, Lucy. Now this was where my heartstrings were pulled as Lucy becomes ill, and Dallas shows just how attached he's become. 

Untamed Cowboy (not sure how they came up with that title because Bennett is pretty tame) goes on for too long and has a great deal of repetition, which gets really monotonous after a while. If there were the slightest spark between Kaylee and Bennett, or, if, they actually had some fun scenes together, I'm sure I wouldn't have minded all of the exposition.

This is the second book I've read by Maisey Yates and the second book in the Gold Valley series. I will read other books by hers counting on the fact that Untamed Cowboy may be the fluke and Smooth Talking Cowboy the real deal.

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I typically love Maisey Yates, but I struggled with Untamed Cowboy. It's cute, quick and sweetly sexy, but I wasn't expected the surprise baby to be a surprise teenager, There is nothing wrong with a teenager, but I think the differing expectations started me off on the wrong foot.

I do not know what could have made me love the story more than I do, it was so perfectly emotional, with just the right amount of angst, turmoil, drama mixed with sweet, sexy, and spicy. I was on an emotional edge throughout the tale, with a serious book-hangover afterword, wanting to linger in the world the author had created. While the story was entertaining and engaging, it was also meaningful and thought-provoking, it is a story that in the past couple of days has kept popping into my mind at the most unexpected moments.
Bennett Dodge and Kaylee Capshaw caught my attention when they were first mentioned in Olivia's story. The friendship, connection between them is so natural, authentic, and real, it's like they truly were two parts of a whole.
Bennett is an organized planner. He needs to keep control of his life by planning everything ahead and stick to it, to avoid the pain, to not feel the uncontrollable turmoil, to be able to carry the responsibilities in his life. He is a loyal, reliable, smart, and caring man. The loss of his mother at the young age has shaped him to be the man he is, with the guidance of his loving father and the middle child's need to avoid to bring drama and turbulence to his parent's life. There's just one secret he has kept from a young age, and that secret has just exploded to his face.
From the early age on, Kaylee's parents neglected her and made her very aware of the fact that she was not wanted, loved, cared for, or cherished. She learned to rely only on her self, not to trust her feelings, to keep a safe distance from any deeper involvements, and love only from the afar. What rescued Kaylee was the loving friendship she had with Bennett, and the open arms his family welcomed her into their fold. But the scars of the careless words and her parent's oversight of her are deeper than Kaylee realized. With all the strife and trouble in Bennett's life and the new, burning physical attraction between her and her best friend, Kaylee has to deal with the painful wounds of her past to be able to move on and truly live and embrace the new possibilities coming to her way.
I loved every moment of the journey Bennett and Kaylee were on, the bumps in the road, the ardent passion building up between them, the banter, the true friendship they had that was the foundation of their relationship. I loved the support they gave to each other, the trust, the honesty, the way they could rely on each other. They were a unit from the start, from the very first moment they met as children, and there was nothing that was going to break that bond they had built between them if they were willing and able to do the work and take the leap into a romantic love.
A poignant, captivating, and touching story that just burst my heart and mind with all the feels, emotions, and passion soaring off the pages. From heartrending neglect of children and pain of a loss of a loved one to a heartfelt and delightfully ravishing love story between the best friends, with meddling family and adorable four-legged creatures all around, Untamed Cowboy conquered my heart and mind.
~ Five Spoons

I was lucky enough to read book 1 in this series and OMG! I think I liked this story so MUCH more than the first! First, both characters are veterinarians - so I love them already! Secret loves and secret sons and this book is just totally a captivating read from beginning to end. So often I don't click with a story like this but Bennett and Kaylee had my attention from the get go. I wanted to shake Bennett and just give Kaylee some encouragement to find another guy other than Bennett. Another series I will be keeping an eye out for!

I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Bennett and Kaylee are Veterinarians and have been friends for a long time. Kaylee has a thing for Bennett but she's got her own baggage been keeping her distance. That is until a heated exchange leaves them wanting more from eachother then just friendship. Then Bennett's life is changed when a teenager who claims for him to be his father shakes things up. The teen is troubled and has no where else to turn to and Bennett now got to learn to how be a father to the teen.

I really enjoyed this book. I loved getting to know Bennett and Kaylee's characters, their backstories and seeing how Kaylee was handling Bennetts relationship when shes was pretty much pining for him. Then it was interesting seeing how Bennett was handling things when he finds out he has a son and how he was going to break the news to his family and i loved seeing how supportive everyone was in his life. I enjoyed seeing Bennett and his son's relationship and learning more about the son and what he was going though. This book is by no means original but how everything turned out was unique and enjoyable in its own way and I really enjoyed this book.

Untamed Cowboy
Maisey Yates

Yates welcomes fans back to Oregon with full-length novel #2 in her new Gold Valley series staring two BFF Veterinarians in a classic with a few twists and turns friends to lovers story. The storyline deals with some sobering issues but the author is not afraid to raise a little Cain and have some fun as well, and offers her audience that winning combination of featuring animals and kids, even though the animals are aging rescue horses plus side of the road varmint saves and the kid just happens to be surprise fifteen-year-old surly teenager. The father-son and family dynamics are realistic and the dueling Vet stars are a complicated pair, he’s a Mr. Fix-It and she’s a product of an unhappy past who doesn’t believe she’s deserving of love. The wilds of Oregon settings complete the bucolic feel and the perfect HEA ending makes the tears shed worth it.

SUMMARY:
Bennett Dodge just got blown away when a surly fifteen-year-old mini me showed up at his door accompanied by a social worker that in no uncertain terms said; congratulations it’s a boy. He needs his BFF Kaylee more than ever to help him through this but all of a sudden he’s looking at her as a beautiful desirable woman and not his pal, and that’s the last thing he needs. Kaylee Capshaw has been Bennett’s best friend since they were kids, they now run a Veterinary clinic together and now that Bennett’s life has been turned upside down he needs her more than ever. The trouble is that she’s also been in love with him since forever and although helping him in a time of need is a no brainer she has to wonder how she’s going to keep her desire for him a secret.

Let me start by saying that I am a huge fan of Maisey Yates' novels, was eagerly looking forward to reading this second novel in her Gold Valley series, and, once again, I found this this one almost impossible to put down, but I did have a few minor issues with it, which I why I can only give it a 4.5 star rating.

Bennett Dodge and Kaylee Capshaw have been best friends since they first met when Kaylee was 13 years old. She was the lonely and scared new kid in school, when young Bennett joined her at her lunch table, and the two have been best friends for the past 17 years, even attending the same veterinary school together and opening a joint veterinary practice in Gold Valley.

Kaylee's childhood and home life was anything but ideal, her parents were selfish alcoholics, but from the very first, Bennett drew her into his family dynamic and gave her the sort of stability her own parents never provided. Is it any wonder that she fell in love with the handsome guy and has secretly carried a torch for him ever since? Not wanting to risk losing their friendship, she's kept her feelings to herself, even when Bennett became engaged to marry another woman, but her relief when his engagement fell apart was palpable. When she finally had the chance to make her feelings known, she remained silent, not wanting to risk their friendship if Bennett didn't return her feelings. Although she's dated several men over the years in the hopes of getting over her love for Bennett, no man has ever measured up to him, and Bennett is clueless enough to make fun of the fact that her dating relationships don't last very long.

Bennett Dodge lost his mother when he was only seven years old--she died shortly after giving birth to his younger sister, Jamie, and ever since that sad event he's wanted to control and plan his life down to the last detail, keeping everything in order, so that he'll have no more unpleasant surprises. His friendship with Kaylee has been a constant in his life, he knows he can turn to her, rely on her, and has never seemed to notice Kaylee as the attractive woman she's become, or noticed that she's interested in far more than merely being his best friend, but when it comes to Kaylee and her feelings for him, he's utterly clueless, and it's his utter cluelessness that is the reason I couldn't give this this novel 5 stars--it was simply maddening.

When 16-year-old Bennett impregnated his first high school girlfriend, he was prepared to do the right thing and marry her, but she told him that she'd had a miscarriage and left Gold Valley for good, so you can imagine his surprise when a social worker with a moody, snarky, distant and difficult teenage boy in tow shows up at the Dodge ranch and he learns that the miscarriage was a lie and that he now has a 15-year-old son, Dallas. Fathering a teenager certainly wasn't in his life plans, and who is the first person he calls? It's Kaylee, of course, and once again, she's there for him, and she totally understands Dallas and his situation when he admits that his mother was a drug addict, one who would ignore and leave him alone even at a very young age, preferring drugs to motherhood. He's a troubled teenager, has been shuttled from foster home to foster home, and was in danger of going to jail for shoplifting when he finally admitted to knowing that Bennett Dodge was his father. Bennett, although stunned by these revelations, is quick to be the responsible adult, thrilled to have a son, and tries to get through to Dallas, but his life plan has been irrevocably altered, and will soon be even more so.

When a stressed-out Bennett admits to his best friend Kaylee that he really needs to hook up with someone to get his head on straight, she finally has to act on her feelings for Bennett and volunteers herself to help him out physically. For Kaylee, having sex with Bennett that night is the culmination of her lifelong secret love for him, a life long fantasy of hers, and it's a life-altering event, but afterwards, Bennett simply thanks her, and for him it's back to the status quo, thinking it's a one-off and expecting nothing to change. As I said, utterly clueless, but we soon learn that he's not the only clueless character in this novel.

The remainder of this un-put-downable novel is about about these changing relationships and how her characters adapt to them, about keeping secrets, and about self-realization for all the characters involved, and as such, it's a gripping and emotional read that at one point had me in tears. Ms. Yates shows real insight into these complicated family dynamics, a deep understanding of the lies these characters tell themselves, and the walls they hide behind in order to protect themselves from being left hurt and alone, and she does so brilliantly. It was an absolutely excellent read.

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

She was everything. Everything he had wanted her to be. Everything he had needed her to be. And then some.

I have to admit, I was a little nervous going into Untamed Cowboy, for the sole reason that I can be a little picky when it comes to friends-to-lovers romance. Don’t get me wrong—I love them, and consider them to be one of my favorite tropes, but I wasn’t sure what this story would deliver.

Ultimately, it delivered what I have come to expect of Maisey Yates, and that is a charming, sexy and likable love story. Bennett and Kaylee’s relationship developed well, and the added dimension of Bennett’s newly discovered son complemented it perfectly. It made this book incredibly easy to read, and it gave me lots of reasons to smile.

In fact, the appearance of Dallas and the way he impacted both Bennett and Kaylee’s life was my favorite part of Untamed Cowboy, and made some of the repetition of Bennett and Kaylee’s problems/issues/concerns a little easier to deal with.

Not that that repetition was a deal breaker. It wasn’t, but it is worth noting, just as the sometimes-one-sided nature of their friendship is worthy of a mention. Ms. Yates worked that into their story seamlessly, and made the development of their feelings—and well as some elements of their history, which readers of this series would be familiar with—that much more authentic and engaging.

Which is part of the reason why, only two—and a half, if you include the quick-but-enjoyable novella tucked into the back of Untamed Cowboy—books into the Gold Valley series, I’m already addicted. And not at all nervous about reading more . . .

It was like lightning. A moment that cracked the sky wide-open and lit up . . . everything. Just for a moment, a blinding, brilliant moment, everything was clear.

~ FOUR STARS ~

I really enjoyed the storyline of Untamed Cowboy. I read it all in one weekend because I didn’t want to put the book down. Although I could have done with a little less repetition of Kaylee and Bennett’s issues.

My very favorite part of Untamed Cowboy was definitely Dallas! He has had to grow up fast and he could be bitter and closed off from the life he has lived. Instead he ends up acting the least immature and childish of the main characters!

“I wanted to make sure that she knew she wasn’t by herself.”
Those words, quiet and serious, stopped Bennett’s heart. In them was a wealth of pain, a wealth of meaning. Dallas had been alone. When he was sick, no one had held him. When he’d been scared, there had been no one to chase away monsters.”

Young Dallas makes Bennett open his eyes to all the good that is right in front of him. Bennett has to see that Kaylee is just what he needs and wants instead of walking with blinders on just trying to make the world around him fit into the mold of how he thinks his life should be.
-4 Stars!-

➳ Rate: 4,3 / 5 stars

This was my first Maisey Yates book and I gotta say I really enjoyed it. I'm sucker for best friends to lovers so that fact called out to me, but once I met all the characters and the story started flowing you learn that this book is so much more than the romance.

Bennett and Kaylee have been best friends ever since she moved into town. Bennett was Kaylee's escape from her home life, he gave her strength, helped her turn her life around and gave her a life plan. Besides being best-friends, they are also co-owners of the local Vet.

Kaylee has been in love with him for many years, but has always been afraid to take that step and lose him. So she always stood by his side, being there for him in any way she could but watching him be in a relationship with someone else. He just got out of a two year relationship which would have eventually ended in marriage if it hadn't truly ended. Bennett is now free but Kaylee is still afraid to show him she likes him as more than a best-friend. She tries to move on and date but it turns out to be impossible, her heart has Bennett tattooed on it.

Bennett is not doing so well, the break up and having just found out that Olivia is having a baby with someone else brings back old memories of his first real girlfriend and the baby they lost. And then said baby shows up on his doorstep, as a skittish fifteen year old who has had it rough and is very hard to trust Bennett and his intentions.
Bennett is completely blindsided and doesn't know what to do, so he goes to Kaylee for help as he always does. Kaylee helps him with Dallas, she and him had very similar upbringings and share the same kind of scars so they have that empathy. Bennett had no idea Kaylee had it so rough growing up, she never shared that part of her life with him, and he sees how much it affected her when it threatens to ruin everything they could be now that they know they love each other and they could have a future.

Untamed Cowboy was a good story, not just because of the beautiful love story but because it shows how a parent should love and support his kid. Bennett became a parent in a blink of an eye and despite the fact that he had no idea what he was doing, he knew that from the moment that kid showed up on his door step, he loved him because he was his. He was the kid he had wanted 15 years ago and was still not over losing. And now he had that kid, and he had the chance to turn the kid's life around. Even though it hurt to not have been there for the past 15 years, specially since they were so hard, now he had the duty to love him and give him everything he needed.
I enjoyed so much more to see the relationship between Dallas and Bennett, and the rest of the family, grow and become a true parental relationship, then I actually enjoyed Bennett and Kaylee. For me that was the best part of the book. Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy the romance too. It was hot, sweet and even angst-y, aka super enjoyable.

Bennett and Kaylee are so super sweet together. Best friends since high school, all through vet school and even started their practice together. Their personalities craved being around the other, fate knew all along how this would play out but it took quite a while for their brains to catch up. Watching Bennett interact with Dallas, willing to go all out from the first moment he met him, truly identifies him as father first and foremost. A whirl wind of emotions hit Kaylee, to watch the love of her life introducing her to his son. Gathering courage to tackle the vet practice, raise a child, and work on their relationship is a lot of pressure. The couple handled it like mature adults, leaning on each other for support, helping Dallas out whenever possible. Only when it came time for her to accept Bennett’s love did she stumble. Once they overcame the hurdle Kaylee had set in place, everything came together in a very natural way.

Ms. Yates has another great novel to add to her resume. Untamed Cowboy had a great cast of characters, each one leaving paths in your memory. Kaylee, Bennett and Dallas were very well developed characters, relatable to in many ways. To watch how all of the characters bond over animals is heartwarming. The feeling of hope and happiness were carried throughout the novel, rarely did negative emotions enter the picture. I personally loved that Dallas entered Bennett’s life prior to their relationship starting; many times it the other way around and I feel puts unneccesary stress on the relationship. They really worked together as a true team both at work and at home, making Untamed Cowboy a great read. The Dodge family has me hooked, I cannot wait to see what happens next!

Will appear shortly at Romance Reviews Today. http://romrevtoday.com/

UNTAMED COWBOY – Maisey Yates

A Gold Valley Novel

HQN

ISBN: 978-1-335-90070-8

June 2018

Contemporary Romance



Gold Valley, Oregon – Present Day



Bennett Dodge and Kaylee Capshaw have been best friends since childhood and now run a veterinary practice together in Gold Valley. When Bennett is shocked to find out he has a fifteen-year-old son, it’s Kaylee that he contacts first with the news. His son, Dallas, has a pretty big chip on his shoulder after being abandoned by his mother and thinks Bennett is only taking him in because he feels obligated. It’s Kaylee who helps guide Bennett to forge a fledgling relationship with his son. The shock of fatherhood has him looking at Kaylee in a new light. They may be best friends now, but does he want more?



Kaylee watched Bennett romance his now ex, Olivia, jealous of the fact that he didn’t look her way. She’s always been attracted to him even though he only thinks of her as a “buddy.” With his previously unknown son from a teenage romance now living with him, Bennett has a lot on his plate and leans even more heavily on her. But now he suddenly wants her as a woman and not just as a friend. Should Kaylee let things move from friends to lovers? Or is he just looking for sex on the rebound?



Readers will remember Bennett and Kaylee from SMOOTH-TALKING COWBOY (Luke and Olivia’s story) and UNTAMED COWBOY perfectly segues from one tale into the other. Bennett dated Olivia yet wouldn’t give her what she wanted: a ring on her finger. After they broke up, he shrugged it off but his pride was a bit wounded. By his side—always—has been Kaylee. For the first time in his life, he’s looking at her differently. She is a vital part of his life that he’s never taken seriously as a desirable woman. Would having sex with her destroy their friendship?



Kaylee didn’t have the best of childhoods, but Bennett and his family were instrumental in helping her work through it. She has kept her feelings for Bennett locked inside. After all, she values him as a friend even as she wishes he’d look at her as someone desirable. In UNTAMED COWBOY, she gets her wish…but she still isn’t happy. Is Bennett on the rebound after losing Olivia and because his life is in an upheaval after Dallas moves in? Kaylee has too much pride and a lack of self-esteem to see herself as someone he’d make a future with. Is she selling herself too short?



Besides the romance between Bennett and Kaylee, there’s plenty of father-son interaction going on in UNTAMED COWBOY as they work out the kinks in their relationship. Dallas has bounced from one foster home to another, so readers can understand his trepidation in believing Bennett is really invested in being his dad. Their growth as father and son will bring a smile or two to readers.



UNTAMED COWBOY is part of Maisey Yates’s ongoing Gold Valley series and can be read as a standalone without too much difficulty even though there are a lot of characters that both Bennett and Kaylee interact with who might be familiar to readers of the series. But this romance is all about our couple…and watching them find love.



An engaging tale that I thoroughly enjoyed, be sure to put UNTAMED COWBOY on your book buying list.



Patti Fischer

I was excited to see Bennett getting his own story. I was definitely intrigued to get more of him after seeing the relationship with Olivia go.

I liked Olivia and Bennett. They’re both compatible and I thought their friendship was sweet. Of course the rest of the family was in it and I enjoy their dynamic, especially with the addition of a somewhat sullen teenager.

Plot wise, it was okay? Between Bennett’s need to plan and Kaylee’s uncertainty about Bennett, it got repetitive. I didn’t see their chemistry and would have loved scenes of them dating or something. Instead it was a lot of inner monologue.

Overall, it was the characters that kept me reading, but I wanted a lot more out of them. Annnnnd I’ll be over here waiting for Lindy’s book.

**Huge thanks to HQN Books for providing the arc free of charge**

I really dislike pregnancy tropes and it was ridiculous this book had two. I thought the hero of both were kind of dicks but the first book especially, he treated her horribly. All the conversations, especially with the kid, were just a bit too trite.

Just wait until you Dallas. The newest member of the Dodge family. Unexpected but whole heartedly accepted and probably one of the best developed characters – and he is not really supposed to be the lead. If it was the academy awards Dallas Dodge would be my nominee for the best supporting actor – Maisie Yates out did herself in this one.
UNTAMED COWBOY brings us back to Copper Ridge. UNTAMED COWBOY is about a family who joins ranks and money to run a dude ranch called Get Out Of Dodge – Yep - caught you smiling already. Warning you can’t help yourself when reading something by the creative mind of Maisie Yates. Her visions of these characters start long before they actually appear on paper.
Grant, Wyatt, Jamie and Bennett Dodge own and operate GOOD. Not all full timers but when required all hands are on deck. I know strange metaphor for a ranch. Bennett is a full time vet specializing in large animals and is in partnership with his best friend Kaylee who works with pet size ones. They have been friends and confidents since young teenagers and shared this common goal of becoming a veterinarian. Kaylee with the help and support of the Dodge family. She was practically an honorary member – but – not actually family with these people who meant the world to her. They were her world. And that’s a problem, for Kaylee anyway.
Bennett has a lot on this plate right now and believe it or not none is really his fault. Stuff happens and you deal with the fall out and it seems all that has ended up at Bennett’s feet.
For fifteen years Bennett thought his teenage girlfriend had miscarried their child but Dallas is that child, very much alive and escorted with child services to his ranch.
For more years than that Bennett has thought of Kaylee as nothing deeper than his best friend and now something is changing that too. All these changes happening concurrently are making his head spin and his well-controlled orderly life is becoming almost chaotic. Well at least in Bennett’s mind.
Kaylee on the other hand is having a major problem trying to maintain long set boundaries between business and personal – friendship and romance with best friend Bennett.
Dallas is discovering a whole new world and trying to picture his role in it.
So this trio is really caught up in the same internal battle. Fun to see how each winds up managing their life.
UNTAMED COWBOY is a delightful entertaining read. But that is truly minimizing how thoughtful Maisie Yates was in creating this cast of characters and making them come to life page by page. Some of these folk we’ve met before in previous Copper Ridge stories so it is of course a pleasure spending time with them. But UNTAMED COWBOY by Maisie Yates is unequivocally the story of Bennett, Kaylee and Dallas. And with every word, conversation, image Maisie Yates tells a truly beautiful story about a fabulous trio.

I would have liked this so much better if it was shorter. I was all in from the beginning because single dad romances are some of my favorite books to read.

We have Kaylee and Bennett who have been best friends since forever. Kaylee has been pining for Bennett for half of that time. Bennett has a teenage son that he didn’t know about turn up. Throw in an unexpected kiss with Kaylee and his world is spinning out of control.

My main reasons I couldn't rate this book higher was because while I did like the characters, I didn't feel really connected to them. The romance between them was sweet, but I didn't really feel the love they had for each other. Also, because of the constant thoughts of Kaylee's doubts about Bennett and Bennett going on about his life he had planned out. It became a little too much. I'm all for angst but it seriously could have been cut in half.

There was a short second story at the end of this one and is it wrong to say I liked it better?

While it was a heartwarming story, it could have been shorter. (I know, I know. I keep saying that) If you are a fan of cowboy stories with a lot of angst, then this one is for you.