Bea has always been different than the other people in her life preferring to spend time taking care of hurt and abandoned animals than with people. When Dane gets hurt badly bull riding in the rodeo she is happy to take care of him too since she's had a crush on him forever. Dane is going through hell trying to recover and realizing that his career is over. Can these two people get together and create a new life or will their pasts keep them apart. Enjoyable romance.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Synopsis
Beatrix Leighton has loved her former brother-in-law, Dane Parker, for as long as she's known him whether he deserved it or not. But Dane, rodeo superstar extraordinaire, sees tender-hearted, animal-rescuing Bea as nothing more than a little sister. So that pretty much sucks. But when Dane is very seriously hurt in a rodeo accident his whole self-identity is suddenly in flux. Forced to be still for the first time in his life, Dane starts to see Bea is completely new (sexy) light...romance ensues.


My Thoughts
Ahhhh, grumpy cowboys coming to terms with their feelings and the women who love them...

I think Maisey Yates is such a skilled writer. Her characters have depth for days and she uses figurative language in a way that always surprises me because I'd never think of expressing something that way but I am always like yes, that's exactly what that's like! I really enjoyed Unbroken Cowboy. Lots of angst and sulking and I am always a fan of a hero realizing he's had something amazing in front of him for years but has been too stupid to notice.

I will say that there were times both of these characters annoyed me. I don't want to spoil anything and I won't but a few times I was muttering 'stop being so stupid' under my breath and rolling my eyes. Dane and Bea both have issues and baggage and both insist on getting in the way of their own HEA again and again. But...this is romance! What can you do but sit back and enjoy the angst?

Unbroken Cowboy is scheduled to release on April 23, 2019 and it's another great one from Maisey Yates. It's a standalone novel but part of the Gold Valley series. I'm still making my way in a random/backwards order through this swoony series but if you're new to Maisey Yates maybe you want to start a the beginning with Cowboy Christmas Blues. Or not. You do you.

Dane can come off as an ***, “oh, I effing noticed, Beatrix. About the time that you were standing in front of me naked the other day.” Bea likes to be a little hellion at times, "...She scooted to the center seat and buckled in there, eager to touch him. “Careful not to distract me,” he said, as she put her hand on his thigh." I liked this book, I loved Dane.

A fairly simple, formulaic romance. Not great, not terrible. The two main characters never seemed like a good match overall, but it was all right. I felt like the author developed some serious issues for Bea and never really resolved them properly. Issues like Bea has don't resolve over just a couple of days.

I was provided an ARC of this book by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Unbroken Cowboy really threw me for a loop in the best way.  You see, after meeting Beatrix in multiple Gold Valley books I had a very clear picture of who she was.  I didn't view her as an adult like I should have given her friends, rather more as a very naive teenager.  It wasn't even about her age as much as her naive and childlike demeanor that made me see her that way.  Because of that I wasn't sure how the author was going to pull off a pairing with Dane who has clearly been a playboy rodeo cowboy.  I shouldn't have doubted her, she pulled it off beautifully.

Beatrix who has always seemed extremely simple and loving has been hiding a spine of steel from everyone, even those closest to her.  After all, living this way has allowed her to hide her vulnerable heart from any further heartbreak after she experienced a devastating loss as a teenager.  The image of the naive and fragile girl that she presented to even her closes friends have led them to believe that she is someone who needs to be protected, even from herself.   So when Bea finally sets her sights on heating up her relationship with Dane, her friends are certain that heartbreak lies ahead.

Dane's life is no longer what he wants it to be.  After a bull-riding accident almost kills him, he has been laid up for months being babied by everyone he comes in contact with.   To say he's a bit of an ass as a result would be an understatement.  Dane has spent so much of his life chasing being a rodeo star that he no longer knows who he is, all he knows is that he is now stuck in a life he didn't want.

When Dane inadvertently gets a glimpse of Bea's body combined with the real her, he realizes how wrong everyone including himself has been about Bea.  She's determined and rather than battling those around her to make them see her points, she flows around any obstacles she encounters like water. Forceful and fluid the reality is that Bea always ends up accomplishing what she sets her mind to.  Dane quickly realizes that this new life with Bea is almost exactly what he has always needed, if only he can get her to accept one minor tweak with him returning to work in the rodeo circuit as an agent.

Can Bea trust that she will be enough for Dane in the long run when he entire childhood showed her that marriages are anything but permanent?  Or will she walk away breaking not just her own heart, but Dane's as well in order to stay safe?  Pick up your copy of Unbroken Cowboy to find out.