I really, really enjoyed this book!
It had good strong characters, and it was a very well written story.
The attention to detail was very good which made the story flow very well.
It was a real page turner and I loved every minute!

An enjoyable read if you like some suspense mixed in with your romance. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced reader's copy of this book.

I enjoyed this hot and steamy romance with mystery and suspense. The story line remains interesting the entire time and never goes through a lull. Hunter is sweet and sexy, but strong and powerful. Samantha is just as powerful and sexy. They are hot together.

After reading the story I must say that the title misses the mark and neglects an equally tough woman.

This book started off so well, I do not read a lot of mysteries but I was intrigued by all of the suspicious deaths in the small town from the get go. I liked the idea of two characters with a history being reunited to help figure out what was happening. That might be about all I liked. The central mystery to the story eventually goes off the rails with the kinds of coincidences that I cannot just roll with. Links from California to Detroit where the heroine just happened to have been living since she left town. Granted more focus was spend on the sexytimes between the two characters than anything else. I don't have a problem with sex scenes but there were over the top with the two of them constantly tearing each other's clothes off no matter what else was happening at the time. There was an additional voyeurism scene involving the hero which was honestly odd.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review and honestly it is not a book I would recommend.

One Tough Cowboy was a hot, steamy romance with a touch of suspense that just keeps you guessing. Hunter is the Sheriff in town who knows that the recent deaths in town are not what they seem. Samantha comes back to town for her aunts death. Samantha and Hunter know each other from their childhood, even though there is a few years between them. When Samantha returns to town Hunter's interest in her is piqued. The chemistry between Hunter and Samantha is off of the charts. They work well together in investigating the recent accidental deaths, until Samantha's past follows her to town and begins to make live more interesting for Hunter and Samantha. I enjoyed One Tough Cowboy and I can't wait until the next book is released.

I’m a long time Lora Leigh fan so I was looking forward to her latest book, One Tough Cowboy.

It was just an okay read for me. Given the title, I was expecting something more in the cowboy realm. Hunter is a small town sherriff who was formerly in the military. He does say “ya’ll” and “sugar” a lot and there’s a casual mention that he lives on ranch so I guess that makes him a cowboy? Otherwise the cowboy aspect was pretty lacking.

Hunter and Sam, a childhood friend, are reunited when Sam returns to town for her aunt’s funeral. Sam is police officer in Detroit and is a kick ass heroine—which I loved. She’s suspicious about her aunt’s death and some other things going on in town. She jumps head first into Hunter’s investigation whether he wants her there or not.

I really liked the characters of Hunter and Sam and their initial interactions together. I got a little tired of the sex after awhile. It seemed like they were doing it all the time and it dragged on forever. The plotline with the bad guys also got a little convoluted in the second half of the book.

This book didn't do it for me.

1. Ya'll? Over and over we saw it, but these people didn't live in the south. I've never heard anyone living in CA say ya'll. Discombobulated? I feel like this word was used just to prove that there was a cowboy in this book. Which there really wasn't. Hunter is a sheriff with no real sense that he was a cowboy.

2. Offensive description: "hick" clothing, "redneck", and other similar wording turned me off of the book.

3. The mystery was all over the place. I found it really hard to stay engaged with the story.

Sam is not a Damsel in Distress. Hunter has a hard time in the beginning with this. They are both Alpha's, which makes it even better when she submits to him. Small town life can be wonderful, but in this story it is a way to hide criminal activities. Good thing Hunter doesn't know the meaning of stop.

Amazing book! A rekindled romance, a mystery and a happy ending. Samantha is home to take of her Aunts estate. The cause of death is made to look like suicide, only Sam knew better. Hunter’s uncle had also passed from what had been labeled a hunting accident, only he didn’t hunt. Hunter and Sam team up to solve the three mysterious deaths. It turned out they help solve more than that...

One Tough Cowboy

Thanks to the publisher for an ARC copy to read and give my honest opinion.

This was a fun read as we meet Sam and Hunter. Book starts out with a death and it seems foul play has occurred according to the Sheriff. A childhood friend comes back to town and old feelings with new ones surface.

What did I like? The chemistry between the two main characters was panty combustible and hot! The story is a small town cop vs corruption and scandal. Several characters look like they're going to be great in a separate book, Hunter had his hands full with Samantha but it wasn't too over the top.

Would I buy this book? I love this author but this book was a bit plain so I'd have to say no. It was a fun read but it's definitely kindle copy. An actual paperback would be a waste of money.

Thoughts for the author? This is a cute book and a fun read but let's be honest... this whole scenario has been done before. Three and a half stars.

What an intriguing story. Hunter is a small town sheriff whose town has been plagued by suspicious deaths. Sam's aunt was one of those deaths and she comes to town to investigate and took a leave from her job as a cop in Detroit. They start working together and clash constantly (as both are alpha's) Sam had a crush on Hunter when she was younger and that attraction is still there. Eventually they act on it. The chemistry between is hot!! I don''t know Veronica Chadwick's books but I have been reading Lora Leigh's books for years. They are always hot. This book was no exception. It had a good storyline, good and bad cops, mystery, romance and hot sex. What more could you ask for. I highly recommend.

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

Loved this book very much. It had just enough sweet, sexy romance and the storyline was great! I highly recommend!

It was alright. I liked the idea of the book, the characters were interesting but it seemed to me like this is a setting up book for the rest of the series. Maybe in the context of a longer series it would be much better. I would like to continue the series to get the full picture.

This was one book I could not put down!! It had enough of everything, Romance, mystery and action! I really Can not wait for next book!

Full review to be published online in late January.

ONE TOUGH COWBOY is the first book in a new series by perennial erotic romance author Lora Leigh, and new-to-me author Veronica Chadwick. Samantha and Hunter are likeable characters that have known each other since they were kids and when reconnecting as adults find out their secret teen infatuation turned into a mature sexual attraction. Although I liked the characters, their past history and the tenderness between them, I really didn’t enjoy this story that much, because it soon became more about descriptive and endless sex, parts I’ve found totally uninteresting, than about developing the emotional dimensions of their reconnecting.

Make no mistake, ONE TOUGH COWBOY IS Romantic Suspense light and erotica heavy; and nowhere near 'Elite Ops' quality. Having sex in the middle of dangerous situations seemed reckless and unprofessional for both a sheriff/former Special Forces and a cop. Perhaps one can think that the sense of danger increases the sex drive, but for me as a reader this kind of narrative options makes the characters seem quite unprofessional. LL really needs to evaluate her writing style. There is nothing wrong with having a strong plotline around the endless sex scenes.

Could have been so much better…
One Tough Cowboy is the first book I have read by this author and it was just an ok read for me. I enjoyed the characters, the plot was interesting – murder, conspiracy, deceit, cover-up, and romance but the overall storyline was just too involved, too much going on all at once with too many people and it was a little confusing, while other parts seemed lacking, with unanswered questions. Samantha and Hunter were both likeable characters, I enjoyed the evolvement of their relationship, and they definitely had chemistry; however, there was just too much endless, unnecessary sex in the story. It seemed to be on almost every page, always on their minds, and happening at inopportune times which made it harder to connect to the characters and made the story less believable. The book seemed to have stopped revolving around the actual plot and just on the sex and it was really distracting. I am all for adding it to a story when it enhances the relationship for the couple but this was just too much. This read had so much potential and would have been great if the author would tone down the sex, so it was just ok.

*I was invited by the publisher – St. Martin’s Press – to review an ARC via NetGalley and am providing my honest review.

Thrills, mystery amd hot hot sex will keep you turning the pages. Hunter and Samantha are on fire together both in bed and out.

Samantha still remembers that at age ten, she followed her friend and "crush", teenage heartthrob, Hunter, who was always irritated by his "pesky pixie"! Time has moved on and Samantha is a beautiful young woman who comes back to her childhood town to find that her crush is now a handsome police chief. Samantha gets involved with Hunter and is working together with him to solve a string of strange murders in town. The situation escalates and Samantha wonders if she made the right move to get involved. This spicy-hot story is a great way to get through the cold, winter months!

One Tough Cowboy by Lora Leigh will be available January 29, 2019 from St. Martin's Paperbacks, an imprint of St. Martin's Press. An egalley of this book was made available by the publisher in exchange for a honest review.

I had so many issues with this book.

This first is, this takes place in California, albeit a small town, but the vernacular didn't match how Californians talk or think. Many Southern culture ways kept popping up (e.g. calling someone sugar (when you're not a grandma), referencing Yankees (and not the baseball team)). California played a small role in the Civil War and it was for the Union (it was a free state), so I didn’t get why Hunter kept calling Samantha a Yankee or making it sound like they were in the South.

The whole subplot with Sam’s ex, Tom, was unnecessary and was clearly just there to add drama. You had to really suspend disbelief to buy into that many coincidences that connected what was happening in this small California town to what happened in Detroit.

Every time Hunter and San slept together I cringed. It was super long and drawn out and some of the wording was awkward. Plus they did it at very stupid and inopportune times (like during surveillance). Two professionals would not let their guard down and potentially ruin an investigation just have sex.

SLIGHT SPOILER AHEAD

Lastly, the biggest thing for me was the sexual assault/attempted rape scene. It felt so gratuitous and cheap. There was a different way to convey whatever it was they were trying to say (which was what? That Hunter and Sam love each other? That her ex is a bad dude?) And honestly, in an international terrorist ring they aren’t going to let some random guy get his jollies and revenge on an ex when they’re in the middle of an operation that could very well be compromised. This is a delicate situation to write about, and I cannot stand when authors use it frivolously and without regards to the severity of it.

Sam has returned for her aunt's funeral, and meets up with her old crush Hunter. He is now the sheriff in town, and is also trying to solve the mystery of three recent deaths. I liked the overall premise of the story and the characters, but every time the story started to build up more on the mystery it kept getting sidetracked with the two of them going at it like rabbits. Don't mind sex in a story, but expect it to be a side issue, not the main part. Had enough interest to finish, but would probably not read again.