So Nicole Helm takes her place with Maisey Yates in the I-read-all-their-books category of my romance reading. And even though I was feeling surfeited? satiated? on Yates-Helm, I can’t resist those Harq romantic suspense covers. It’s too bad that lanky, near-clean-shaven, moderately-good-looking dude on the cover has nothing to do with one of the most marvelous romance heroes I’ve read in ages. Grady Carson is HUGE, broad, bearded, rough, a saloon-owner with dubious liquor-selling practices, who gets mixed up with the straight-and-narrow town deputy, Lauren Delaney. As it turns out the Carsons and Delaneys have been harboring a feud in Bent, Wyoming, that makes Capulets and Montagues, Hatfields and McCoys, look like spats. Enter one dead cousin, Jason Delaney and a half-brother suspect, Clint Danvers, and Deputy Delaney and saloon, “Rightful Claim”, proprietor, work together and argue and fight their attraction to find the culprit in Laurel’s case and exonerate baby bro in Grady’s case. All pretty standard RS stuff and ho-hum, so what makes this great?

Well, it certainly isn’t the suspense part of RS. Frankly, I lost interest in the whodunit and whydunit and found the “villains” moustache-twirling cardboard cut-outs. Probably the suspense part was better than I thought because Grady and Laurel were so great everything else paled. Grady. Sigh. Grady and Laurel together. Double sigh. They were just so damn FUN. Laurel was straight-woman to Grady’s over-wroughtness. And Grady, for a big, gruff he-man, seeming alpha-hero, was atypical of what we’ve come to expect. Oh, he was protective and handsome and sexually potent, but he was also a bit of bumbler, readily admitted weakness and so totally innocently open about his feelings. Laurel was a great match: she was conscientious, concerned, of impeccable integrity, smart, and also totally open about her feelings. No games, no denials, no betrayal, no dark moment — and you know how much I love my dark moment — and yet I enjoyed this immensely.

I thought the feud was an inspired idea, giving Helm’s RS an old-fashioned Hollywood Western feel. At the same time, the crime, without spoiling, is totally contemporary and will resonate with readers. Laurel and Grady were both typically romance opposites-attract and fresh in how they differed from our tropish expectations. I’ll share a few snippets to tantalize. Here’s where I fell in love with Grady: “Grady was a lot of things — a tatooed, snarling, no-respect-for-authority hooligan … “, a sheep in “hooligan’s” clothing was our Grady. He was respectful, thoughtful, and caring, but his tumble-weed-rough demeanor was a hoot. Laurel’s I-can’t-help-myself response sets up their DEE-lightful antagonism: “He walked past her, way closer than he needed to, and that wolfish smile was way too bright, way too feral. How could anyone call him attractive? He was downright … downright … wild, uncivilized, lawless. All terrible things. Or so she told herself as often as she could manage to make her brain function when he was smirking at her.” I loved how Grady’s “ferality” messes with Laurel’s control and calm.

Just like Helm builds on Grady’s wildness, she cultivates his softie-ness: “Trouble wasn’t good for business, and as much as he would never admit to anyone, a little too hard on his heart.” How adorbs is that? With her uprightness and his not, Helm makes them a great load of fun to read when they’re bantering away:

“And, baby, you don’t know a thing about shady. But I do.”

“What are you going to do? Eavesdrop at the bar? Beat a few answers out of people? This is a police investigation.”

“I can be subtle.”

She barked out a laugh. “You’re as subtle as a Mack truck.”

And as likely to not fit in many places: in pursuing the culprit-not-Grady’s-bro, dangerous, villainous dudes stalk Grady and Laurel. Grady goes charging in where angels fear to tread and Laurel has to rescue him. Oh, Grady returns the favour, but there is no doubt this is a relationship of equals. Grady respects Laurel, what she does and what she stands for. Laurel may be the quieter of the two, but it’s marvelous to see how she becomes the centre of his world. Grady isn’t just in love, he’s dedicated to Laurel and that’s pretty wonderful to read. Wyoming Cowboy Justice came when I had yet another work-week-from-hell: it’s amazing how much, I read about it from Twitter friends too, so often, romance sustains us in our everyday and not-always-easy lives.

Nicole Helm’s Wyoming Cowboy Justice offers “no charm equal to tenderness of heart,” Emma.

Nicole Helm’s Wyoming Cowboy Justice is published by Harlequin Books. It was released on September 18th and may be procured from your preferred vendor. I received an e-galley from Harlequin Books, via Netgalley.

Laurel Delaney is following a case that ends up chasing after a brother of Grady Carson which doesn't bode well since their family has had this feud. Thing is Laurel will do everything she can a chase after what ever lead she can find and Grady wanting to make sure to prove his brother innocene will aid Laurel but if he's honest there's a bit of an attraction and protective streak that'll leave him trying to help Laurel on her case.

Such a great mystery suspense novel, I really enjoyed it. There was so much going on, plenty of leads to keep things interesting. There were plenty of random striked that kept the readers and characters on their toes wondering who is behind the murder and much more. Then there was the whole romeo and juliet sorta thing with the family feud that were keeping Grady and Laurel apart and caused a bit of a rift between the two knowing things would not end well. I loved how determined Laurel was in this book she was the cop in this book and din't stand down letting Grady do the work. For some reason I've noticed book shave been doing that just because shes female doesn't mean she'll stand down when a strong handsome man comes around that's completely not certified to even be apart of the case. I loved that she didn't back down, she was like a dog with a bone when it came to leads and I loved that she rarely let anything stray from her case. Overall really great book I really enjoyed it!

A suspenseful story with two amazing characters that ooze chemistry and all the right feels. Normally Harlequin Intrigue takes a backseat on romance but in this story, it had just the right amount feels that I look for and a mystery that left me waiting hanging until the very end.

Grady and Laurel are the Romeo and Juliet of Bent, Wyoming. With each of their respective families caught in a generations-long feud, the two must put aside embedded prejudices to solve a crime. Told in alternating PoVs, Wyoming Cowboy Justice is a tale of two people who have to figure out who they are outside of their families, if they even want to, and what the consequences of risky love might be.

Laurel Delaney’s primary identity is that of cop. She loves her job and takes her oath to protect Bent seriously because she also loves her town. The fact that she’s a Delaney makes that both easier and harder; easier, because being from a powerful family means she has the connections she needs; and tougher because anytime she has to interact with the Carsons, her last name trumps her badge.

Grady Carson’s primary identity is that of being a Carson. He is steeped in the family lore of how the Delaneys stole their land from them many moons ago, and that all that is wrong with the world can be traced back to that family. As the saloon owner on the Carson side of town, he keeps tabs on his sprawling family from behind the bar.

The two knew each other before the start of our story, of course, but didn’t really, and that tension is one that Ms. Helm plays with expertly.

The issue at hand is a dead body in Bent and one of Grady’s relations as the only possible witness. The Carsons aren’t fans of law enforcement, so getting Grady’s cooperation in order to track the kid down is a challenge, but Laurel and Grady reach an agreement that allows the search to move forward. Over the next hundred or so pages, the two uncover some shady dealings in a local mining operation as well as uncovering some serious chemistry between themselves. Watching the two of them decide to trust the other, outside of their preconceived notions, was so much fun.

I also loved how specific Ms. Helm is with letting us know about Grady’s conflict over falling in love with a woman who can totally take care of herself. All of his protective instincts are challenged at every turn in this tale, but he checks himself repeatedly so as to allow Laurel to do her job. It’s never easy for him, but it was an evolving piece of their relationship I found myself smiling at quite a lot.

As suspense novels go, I wasn’t on the edge of my seat, but this is still a well-developed mystery. I rarely dip into the Harlequin Suspense line, but I’m glad I didn’t miss this on. If you’re looking for a tale where the bad guys get caught and the girl gets her guy (in more ways than one), I’d give Wyoming Cowboy Justice a try.

Buy it at: Amazon/Barnes & Noble/iBooks/Kobo

Nicole Helm Hatfield and McCoys type of western story has just the right amount of realism and fantasy that will keep readers wanting more as they fall in love with Laurel and her strength and Grady the miss understood Carson. The story is fast pace intrigue with the right amount of sexual tension to keep romance readers needing more and mystery reads watching out for the next bullet.

Nicole Helm can create a world readers will want to stay in long enough to get out alive.



Thank you to Netgalley and Harlequin Intrigue for the advance copy of Nicole Helm Wyoming Cowboy Justice.