This book was alright for me wasn't terrible but wasn't that great for me.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance read.

Born into a family of over-protective brothers, Anna Delaney finally has a chance at true independence when her a conglomerate buys out her small tech company and she moves to Austin Texas. Someone wants the valuable software Anna’s developing and King Sanders is determined to keep her safe even if she insists that she doesn’t need another bodyguard. Neither Anna nor King is prepared for just how wild Texas can get or just how hard they’re willing to fight to stay together…

An accidental meeting starts this thrilling story off in a romantic way that has readers sighing over ‘knights on white horses’ and then they can only sigh some more as these strong, vivid characters fight to stay together. The romance between King and Anna is delightfully sweet and full of magnetic chemistry that has sparks flying in every direction while the relationship has a few obstacles and some emotional turmoil for the most part this romance is in the right place and right time to turn into that everlasting kind of love.

The fast pace of this story keeps readers glued to the pages as it builds thrilling suspense up to heart pounding proportions and readers can’t help but become caught up in all the excitement as the bad guys try their best to steal Anna’s million dollar idea. With some surprising twists, a cave full of bats and an enemy with some serious delusions, there is never a dull moment to be found in this thrilling Lone Star romance that sets hearts aflame.

This book grabs you from the beginning when Anna Delaney a computer geek is feeling like she is being followed. When she runs into billionaire King Sanders who was in another one of the author series. Taking time and calling her boss before allowing him to help her. She is shocked when arriving at her apartment and finding her dog running around in the parking area. Finding her place broken into King has her come out to his ranch mainly for her protection. Still not trusting of anyone she goes again after talking to her boss. It is really there that you begin to see how desperate the people are who want her new program, which she has developed. Still working a few problems she is wanting a place to be able to that in peace. She can’t though with people after her and her mind on King, when not being hounded by the people after her program and then later her. This is a fast paced story with many good characters. The story keeps you going to the end. A good book.

Anna and King certainly had a quick romance with a lot of drama and danger keeping things interesting. Although the plot was a little far-fetched, it was a fun and quick read.

I love Gerry Bartlett's works so much. I haven't read her Texas books so this was a nice introduction to them. It had excellent suspense and kept me guessing as to who was behind things until it was revealed but there was so much more to the book than that. The characters were typically well-written and were developed whether they were main characters or not. Gerry Bartlett doesn't put someone on paper without giving them the same attention as she would the main characters. I found myself reading aloud at parts and staying up until I finished. The dialogue was realistic and I liked that the love interest wasn't necessarily into the same thing as the main character but wasn't upset that the best friend geeked out with the heroine.

Thank you to Gerry Bartlett, Kensington Books, Lyrical Liaison, and NetGalley for the chance to read this amazing story and share my honest thoughts and opinions with others.

a small tech company bought by a large conglomerate and a billionaire that is interested in more than her mind.

Anna moves from Boston to Texas when her company is bought out. She is inventing a code that will be worth millions. When she meets King, she’s almost passes out from the heat and he catches her. King is a billionaire and is an investor in the company Anna works for. When her apartment is broken in to and trashed, King takes her to his home because it has security. They soon realize someone will stop at nothing to get to Anna and her code.
King is a sexy, wealthy cowboy and Anna is beautiful and a computer wiz. There is lots of action, mystery, and a little steamy. At first some of the dialogue between the characters didn’t sound real. The more I read, the harder it was to put down.
* Voluntarily read and reviewed this for Netgalley *

Review by Amanda for Love Romance Books Blog

I was asked by the author for an honest review.

This is the first book I've read by Gerry Bartlett. I really liked the characters and the storyline. After reading it, I checked to see if it was part of a series. It sounds like it might be related to the author's Texas Heat series (which I plan to check out), in addition to being the first book in the Lone Star series.

I'd recommend this book to readers who like romantic suspense.

Texas Lightning by Gerry Bartlett
A Lone Star Suspense #1

Action-packed romantic suspense that caught my interest from the beginning and held it to the end.

Anna Delaney has taken a break to get outside away from her computer job for a bit only to find that January in Texas is MUCH warmer than it is in Boston. With heat stroke and fainting likely she is saved from face-planting by none other than King Sanders. Soon after they meet it becomes apparent that there is someone out to get their hands on the computer program Anna has been working on for years. With her safety in mind and her boss’s agreement she is taken to King’s home. As the book unfolds at least one of her brothers is called in, her friend is kidnapped, her life and others as well as the software she is working on are all imperiled. Who is behind the dastardly deeds is eventually found out and by the end I was satisfied but then eager to find out what will happen with more than one of the supporting characters.

This is the first book I have read by this author but do look forward to reading the next in this series as soon as it is written.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Publishing-Lyrical Press for the ARC – This is my honest review.

4 Stars

Lone Star Suspense #1, The fact that this takes place in Texas and is Romantic Suspense, I love those, completely outweighs the fact that the main guy is a billionaire, not impressed with billionaire romance it's not really my thing I rarely read it. An added bonus the main female lead is a computer geek; we're off to a good start. This is my first time reading Gerry Bartlett and I'm impressed I definitely want to catch the next books in the series. I enjoyed this very much likeable characters, a strong, intelligent woman a swoon worthy guy who is devoted to his newly found love he's that he's willing to do anything to keep her safe, some suitably heinous bad guys, and the plot doesn't skimp either.

Anna Delaney had an idea, one that could save countless lives and she is so close to achieving that dream. A Boston native she moves to Texas where the company who bought her idea was located. One day while she was exploring the capitol she meets King Sanders. King, billionaire rancher/farmer/jack of all trades, takes an instant liking to Anna takes her to lunch and then drives her home but when they get there they discover her apartment has been broken into, all her computer equipment stolen. Coincidentally King happens to be friends with Anna's boss and an investor in the company that owns Anna's program. Not that he cares about the money her program can make him he's too worried about her safety and rightly so. Anna's best friend, Scarlett, who came with her from Boston was kidnapped and used as leverage to get the code to get into her computer but Anna's the only one who can work her code so they keep coming after her. King even goes as far as hiring Anna's brother, former military and FBI, new security company. But that doesn't stop the bad guys from coming or from trying to kidnap Anna to finish the program.

Overall, great read. There's great sexual chemistry between Anna and King and the romance takes a side step to the suspense it is a good romance they work through stuff. Anna is headstrong and King has a time getting her to admit her own feelings. I look forward to the next book which is Scarlett's and I believe ties into another one of Bartlett's series.

Texas Lightning is the first book in Gerry Bartlett’s brand new Lone Star series, and with so much action and suspense to keep a reader engaged, this is sure to be an exciting and popular edition to anyone’s collection. The plot was easy to follow and the characters had a great connection too. I’m looking forward to the next in this series and much more from Ms Bartlett in the future.

4.5 Stars The first book in the Lone Star series, Texas Lightning is a action filled, romantic suspense. I am really enjoying this author and this book is exactly the reason why, with well developed characters and a suspense driven storyline I was engaged throughout. I will definitely be reading more and recommend you do too.

This book was alright-- it wasn't terrible but it wasn't a page turner for me either. The romance between Anna and King felt forced and some situations in the book were not believable. Unfortunately, this was a miss for me,

I didn't finish this title. The cover and the title of this novel don't give any indication that it's a romance. In fact I feel the romance is forced in this book, so much so that it took away from the main plot. Fell apart for me about 40% in. I have chosen not to finish or offer a review for this novel.

Texas Lightning by Gerry Bartlett was excellent. I love the Texas storyline and all the characters. The main character King was a very strong well written character who wanted to protect Anna from harm. Anna was a naïve computer nerd writing a potential billion-dollar computer program that someone wanted to steal or kidnap her for its completion. These two had little in common but they somehow worked. The story had a both romance and suspense and was a fast pace story that was hard for me to put down. I have never read Gerry Bartlett’s books before, but I most certainly will in the future. Loved her writing style and didn’t want it to end. I am looking forward to reading more from her.

OMG.......this is the first Texas book I’ve read by Gerry and I absolutely loved it.....it had suspense and romance......good guys and bad guys had me on the edge of my seat and I couldn’t put it down.......as with her real Vampire series it keeps you up all night cause you don’t want to put it down........10 plus stars

"Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy of this book, in exchange for an honest review."

I LOVE every book from Gerry Bartlett, but I especially loved Anna and King's book, Texas Lightning! This book was such a wonderful read, I had trouble putting it down, wanting to read it all the way through in one sitting. It had the perfect amount of sizzling hot romance between Anna and King, and suspense being chased by one of Anna's ex's trying to steal her software idea. I HIGHLY recommend this book to everyone!