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Tangled Up in Texas (Lone Star Ridge #1). By Delores Fossen. 2020. HQN Books (ARC eBook)

Sunny Dalton has returned to her grandmother’s home in Lone Star Ridge, Texas to regroup after a broken engagement and recent health scare. In a small town, the return of a former-child-star-turned-comic book artist does not go unnoticed. She’s Funny Sunny and now, a Runaway Bride. And she doesn’t find herself lacking suiters, but there is only one cowboy she’s wouldn’t mind reconnecting with—her first love.

Shaw Jameson is content running the family ranch, but the return of Sunny—his first love, stirs up old feelings and even though he knows he will not be able to give her everything she’s dreamed of, he can’t help but to fan the sparks between them. Will the two of them realize they are capable of being each other's happily ever after?

Tangled Up in Texas is the first book in the new Lone Star Ridge series and I was addicted from the first chapter. With heat, heart, and plenty of family, Fossen has development a great cast of characters. I adored sexy Shaw and warm Sunny and look forward to following the rest of the Daltons and Jamesons.

Great start to a new series! This is the first book in the Lone Star Ridge series. I'm looking forward to reading the others. This is a second chance love story of a cowboy named Shaw and just moved back to town Sunny. Great writing and very enjoyable. Recommended!

Shaw is having family drama going when he and the family find out that his father had another kid and this teen its a tough one ready to shake things up. Sunny his first love is back and with a mother like hers drama is bound to ensue. That aside its clear that spark Shaw and Sunny had is still there but her life is so different now and its clear she has things she wants out of relationships and its a matter if he can give that to her.

I loved this book. I love a good family drama and there was LOADS of it in this this book. With a tough little teen confused and angry with how her life is going clearly her mother doesn't care much for her and the father really isn't interested - not that she knows just yet! But its just an all around sad situation but Shaw and his family is there and it was nice to see how supportive they were throughout the book. Then there was Sunny and her mama drama. Her mother is a hateful women and you'll see why. But I will admit it made for some interesting reads. Then there was the steamy times and romance between Shaw and Sunny that I really enjoyed. Overall its a great book!

Second chance romances are a favorite of mine because sometimes life gets away from us and we don't realize what we've lost until it's gone.  This is especially true when you're a teenager and have little to no life experiences to nudge you along.  The only problem with reuniting when you're older and wiser is that you also tend to have a lot more baggage dragging behind you, too.  

Sunny and Shaw fall into that 'extra baggage' compartment and then some.  For most of his life, Shaw's been handling the fallout from his father's promiscuous ways, leaving him feeling bitter towards fatherhood in general.  Which is a shame because you can see how good he is with his three-year-old twin nieces.  On the flip side, Sunny had zero role models in the parenting department.  Her dad split and her mom continues to try and use her, and her sisters, as a cash cow.  Those few scenes were Sunshine, Sunny's mother, were present or involved, I wanted to chuck my Kindle because she infuriated me so much.  As a mother myself, I couldn't fathom how you could treat your child in such an awful way.  

I knew that Shaw's reluctance to start a family would be an issue.  It's one that's a dealbreaker for a lot of people, so I was ready for that to be the main problem in Sunny and Shaw getting together.  When the big secret came out about midway in the book, I was disappointed.  While I can easily see how Sunny was upset by the reveal, I think she also made too big of a deal out of it.  On the plus side, she managed to get over it pretty quickly and accepted Shaw's explanations.  

Shaw's siblings and Sunny's grandmother, Em, made the story for me.  Em was a crackup and exactly how I would have expected my own grandmother to be had she lived to see me in my thirties.  Also, the addition of Ryan and Kinsley added another dynamic to the story that elevated it for me.  I'm excited to read the next in the series so I can find out what Sunny and Shaw are up to as well as watch another Jameson sibling find their true love.

Good second chance story with interesting (and sometimes hilarious) family dynamics. Sunny is on her way back to Lone Star Ridge after ending another engagement and to recover from a health scare. With her is the sixteen-year-old son of her ex-fiancé. She looks forward to seeing her grandmother again, but home holds a mixed bag of memories. The Dalton triplets were stars of a show called The Little Cowgirls, and not all of her memories from that time are good ones. She didn't expect to see her teen crush Shaw before she even made it home.

Shaw Jameson is the oldest of his siblings. He runs the ranch with the help of his brothers and sister and does his best to keep his life on track. It isn't easy when he seems to spend his life cleaning up his father's messes. Most of those messes come from the fact that Marty can keep his zipper zipped and mostly look a lot like him. Sunny's arrival throws Shaw for a loop, especially when her arrival coincides with that of another half-sister.

Shaw and Sunny have a history from when they were kids and teens. They were good friends that developed into something more, but one major issue kept them apart. Sunny wants kids of her own, and Shaw doesn't. So they went their separate ways, but the feelings never went away. Sunny's quest led her into two engagements that didn't work out, while Shaw stuck to his plans. I enjoyed their first meeting, which gave a good indication of how the rest of the book would go. It started with Shaw finding some intriguing bits of Hadley Dalton's costumes along the road, followed by the arrival of Sunny herself, who was retrieving them. It was clear from that moment that the sparks between them were still there. Sunny's almost-stepson was also there, which gave Shaw a bit of a start when he thought of his and Sunny's past. But the biggest thing was the presence of Marty's latest mess, Kinsley, his previously unknown daughter. Kinsley just found out about him and wants to meet him. Knowing his father, Shaw also knows that it won't go well.

Fate finds ways of throwing Sunny and Shaw together, and it isn't long before they give in to the flames of attraction. Both are certain there is no future for them as their fundamental differences have not changed, but they can enjoy their time together for what it is. Of course, Fate has other plans. I liked watching their friendship grow along with the attraction. There were some terrific scenes as they worked together to help Kinsley. They also paired up to support each other when Sunny's greedy mother shows up and creates all kinds of complications. Though there were times I felt that the relationship between Shaw and Sunny took a backseat to the family drama, that same drama helped pull them closer together. Shaw's refusal to have a family of his own seemed at odds with how wonderful he was with children, from his young nieces to the teenagers Ryan and Kinsley. I liked the changes that I saw in both Shaw and Sunny that brought them together in the end.

The family dynamics in both Shaw and Sunny's families made for some hilarious and some heartbreaking scenes. The stories of Sunny's times as part of The Little Cowgirls had a significant impact on who she is now, especially her need to keep some things private. I liked that she had enough good memories of home, plus her love of her grandmother, that she was able to go there to recover. I loved her grandmother, Em, who was a feisty old lady. She especially made me laugh with her appreciation of a good-looking cowboy. She is also protective of Sunny, even when it comes to her daughter. It was her actions against Sunshine that created much of the drama in this book. Sunshine herself is one of those characters that is very easy to detest. There were also her issues with her ex-fiancé, who was a selfish jerk. He made a total ass of himself at the end of the book, and I cheered the actions of both Em and the duck.

On Shaw's side, it is impressive that he and his siblings turned out as well as they did considering the father they have. Marty's irresponsibility is horrendous. While I didn't like him much, he does have a few redeeming moments. I ached for the way Shaw and the others constantly had to deal with the results. I really liked how they stood together to take care of Kinsley when she showed up. I hurt for Kinsley, who felt rejected by both parents and wasn't surprised by how she expressed those feelings. When Marty finally showed up, my heart broke for her. Things became even more complicated when Sunshine stuck her vengeful nose into the situation. In the end, I wasn't at all surprised by the solution to the issue and loved Shaw's comments to Kinsley about it.

Now I can't wait to read the next book in the series, about Austin and McCall. There was a teaser at the end of this one, and it sounds like it will be just as good.

Rated 4.5 - TANGLED UP IN TEXAS by Delores Fossen begins with the best first line that pulls you in with laughter and curiosity. A witty launch of the LONE STAR RIDGE series makes me anxious to experience more from this entertaining author.

Sunny and Shaw have a history that was never resolved. Both of them have experienced life without each other for years, so when Sunny comes back to Lone Star Ridge, it reignites all kinds of feelings.

Sunny was a child-star with her triplet sisters, creating a childhood that was far from normal. Shaw was part of that childhood, so he understands what Sunny has had to overcome. With one failed relationship after another, Sunny doesn’t want to try again. As an illustrator for children’s books, she has everything she has ever wanted except a child. Will her exes’ children be enough, or will the tug of being a mother be too much to stop her from making a foolish decision?

Shaw and his siblings run his family’s ranch. Their father continues to astound them all with his careless behavior. Shaw is always the responsible one, cleaning up after a father who barely admits they exist. He’s not ready for more grief, but something about Sunny is too hard to resist.

Sunny and Shaw are very cute together. Author Delores Fossen knows how to deliver naughty humor that makes it cute, while accentuating the sizzle between the leads. I love a good reunited lovers’ story that emphasizes the friends-to-lovers theme.

Although this book sagged toward the middle, the pull of Sunny and Shaw’s possible HEA and the quirky characters enticed me forward.

Delores Fossen is really good at taking mundane everyday moments and tossing them with the ridiculous to entertain, while giving her characters reasons to fight love and fall into it at the same time. How she thinks up this stuff is beyond me. Thankfully, all we have to do is come along for the ride. And what a merry ride it is.

I laughed out-loud and grinned a lot while reading this book. There are also some unredeemable family members who make this couple’s life hell, and my skin crawl. I kept hoping they’d get paid back for all the trouble they caused. Some of that payback starts in this book. But I’m guessing they’ll continue to be thorns in future books.

This series style reminds me of Molly Harper’s Southern Eclectic series, one of my favorites. It’s similar in the characters’ off-the-wall behavior and craziness that keeps me chuckling.

I’m learning to expect the unexpected with Delores Fossen’s humor. Something I find irresistible.

For those who wonder, there is a good amount of explicit sex between the leads in this story. It needs to be there to make up for Sunny and Shaw’s past, and to get over their current circumstances. I don’t believe this couple would have reached their HEA so smoothly without it.

This just proves how good Fossen is at characterization. I prefer a less graphic love story, so when an author convinces me her story wouldn’t be right without the sexual details, that’s talent at choosing what’s right for her story.

This may also be why the middle of the book sagged for me. Some readers may skip that part, but they’d miss the loving reason it’s there. It’s also very well written, with just the right amount of naughty mixed with love. The love scenes are close to being erotic, but they are sensual in language, so it should please both preferences.

I don’t want to sound callous, but I didn’t always understand Sunny’s self-conscious behavior. Her illness caused some emotional upheaval, and then, miraculously – she was over it. I just wasn’t convinced it was a valid obstacle to keep them apart in the beginning.

Setting wasn’t a huge emphasis in this first book, so I didn’t get the western feel I expected for a ranch. I’m hoping for more of that in the future books, when the author has more room to expand on it. I still consider this a Contemporary Western Romance, because it has just enough of a feel to start. This book introduced a lot of characters and possible series plots, where getting into too much setting may have distracted from the character development.

Sunny and Shaw’s HEA was satisfying, but their resolution felt rushed. I wanted a clearer explanation of Shaw’s change of heart, since it was a huge part of their history. I could see why, but I wanted to hear it from Shaw. Sunny deserved it, too, even though she didn’t seem to mind. Maybe she sensed Shaw’s heart as I imagined, even when Shaw didn’t know himself?

Hippie Grandma Em entertained me the most. She’s not too old to ogle a cowboy’s hiney, while sharing her binoculars with Sunny. She’s always there to protect those she loves, especially when it requires whacking a man with a broom who deserves it. Even Em’s own daughter doesn’t escape her wrath when Sunshine lunges in to hurt everyone with her greed.

There are many more characters who add to the madness of Sunny and Shaw’s life. I’m looking forward to repeat appearances of some of them in future books. And then there are others, who I’m sure I’ll get mad at all over again. Fossen really made me angry at her villains/villainess.

There’s an excerpt at the end for McCall and Austin’s book that’s just as emotionally engaging as TANGLED UP IN TEXAS began. CHASING TROUBLE IN TEXAS promises to be another fun adventure with the child-star triplets and their boyfriends, all grown up.

TANGLED UP IN TEXAS is an entertaining reunited lovers’ story that emphasizes the friends-to-lovers theme. It’s full of quirky characters easy to love and laugh with when they mess up. An engaging start to the LONE STAR RIDGE series I’m excited to continue.

Review by Dorine, courtesy of TheZestQuest.com.

Sunny and Shaw were teenage sweethearts, but haven't seen each other in quite some time when she returns home to recuperate after surgery. With her is a lot of baggage, both emotional and physical.

Shaw is dealing with another illegitimate half-sibling showing up. Together they learn to deal with irresponsible parents, all while rebuilding their relationship as adults. A story of love, family and redemption that's worth the read. Looking forward to Austin and McCalls story in the next book.

I received a free ARC eBook from Net Galley and the publisher in exchange for my honest opinions.