Cover Image: Wyoming True

Wyoming True

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Member Reviews

I really enjoyed this book. It made me laugh and cry. Once I picked it up, I couldn't put it down. The dishes can wait. It was like visiting an old friend. One of the Diana Palmer books you know and love. I can't wait for the next book.

You will want to read this book. You will be glad you did.

Thank you Harlequin and Netgalley for allowing me to read this title for an honest review.

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Thank you to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for allowing me to review.

I'm not sure how to review this one. It was good, but I didn't fall in love with it right away. Old-school romance, which I always love, but seemed a bit off in some way also. Still, good to read for a good happily-ever-after. And I always recommend Diana Palmer.

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Wyoming True (Wyoming Men #10). By Diana Palmer. 2020. HQN Books (ARC eBook).

Jake McGuire is a hardworking, successful businessman. And he is protective of his reputation; and he has wealthy widow, Ida Merridan pegged as bad news. But Jake is also an old fashioned gentleman, and ex-military, who will lend his help where he can. And after he helps Ida, that brief amount of time was enough for him to see that she has been hiding behind a false persona. Intrigued, he spends more time with her and discovers not only is she as wary as he to love, but she being threatened by an ex-husband.

In Wyoming True, a private and jaded man rescues an equally private and jaded woman from financial and physical harm. This was my first read by Palmer and I want to read more. But this book wasn’t a hit for me. There were quite a few scenes where Ida goes into her past that is a bit too repetitive because each time she is talking to different people and instead of revealing more and more, she reveals the same information. And the biggest let down was the suspense that ended up being nullified off screen. Jake and Ida are good characters though and were a good fit for eachother.

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I have been reading Diana Palmer for years, but sometimes her books are too predictable. The heroine is 26 and yet she's already been divorced twice. The first husband was gay (she got rich from that marriage) and the second one is an abuser.

This girl has had just about everything but the kitchen sink thrown her way, Things were just too unbelievable for me. And the hero- sheesh...this guy is alway observing her every little facial expression. I like my hero's to be a little more alpha than this guy.

I made myself finish it, but I'm not sure if I will read another DP novel. I prefer her older ones.

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My copy was not Wyoming True. It was Wild Nights in Texas. I cannot post a review. I was sent the wrong book.

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Wyoming True
By Diana Palmer
Format - Ebook
I give this book a 3 out of 5 Stars

This book was an easy read for me. I started it for that reason alone. I have long debated whether or not I want to continue reading Diana Palmer’s books because they are all almost the same.

With that said I enjoyed this book in all it’s predictableness. It was your typical Palmer book. Man meets woman he despises. Finds out that she is really a good person even though she has a completely different persona that she puts forth in public. Then comes the marriage of convenience to protect her. Ending up with them falling in love.

This book does deal with the violence involved with domestic abuse. Which strikes a cord with me because I am a survivor of that. Definitely not to the extent that the woman in the book was abused but that is one of the things I like about Palmer’s books, she deals with the tough issues in society. I also like that there is always a knight in shining armor to help out in the woman’s time of need.

After reading this book I think I will continue to read her books when my brain is fried for other more intense books. It is only a few days before Christmas as I am writing this and everything is overwhelming. So a nice easy read was a good choice for me. I only gave it three stars because of the predictability.

In researching domestic violence I found this webpage where people can go for help. The website address is https://www.thehotline.org/. This is just one among many places people can go if they or a loved one is in danger from experiencing domestic abuse. If things get too dangerous I can’t stress enough to call 911 first and have the person removed. Most cities have safe places to go to when a person is in this situation. Sometimes only the people that work there and one or two cops in the city know how to get ahold of them. This is a problem that must be addressed and I applaud Palmer for making people think more about it.

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Great to see Jake have his story. I love Diana Palmer's Wyoming series. Even though we already knew there was more to Ida than she appears to the rest of her community, her character really comes alive in the book.

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Ok, so I am sad to say that I am giving 2 stars. I really could get into Wyoming True and I really didn't want to finish it but I forced myself to finish.

I found this story boring.

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Another good addition to the Wyoming men series. I really liked Ida though her story was a little rough. Jake was getting on my nerves but I'm happy overall with this book. My main complaint is that some of the ideals are way too old school for my taste and that this book ended kind of abruptly.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing me an arc for an honest review.

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*3.5 stars*

I haven’t read this author for a while but I’m always happy to pick up one of her romances. A bit old-fashioned, always gentle, and people who are very black and white in nature, the surprises are in the characters rather than their circumstances. Older, experienced man rescues an innocent woman from financial or physical harm. The premise may be formulaic but that doesn’t mean it can’t be a really good read. And that is what Jake and Ida’s story was…

Ida had been married twice but still managed to have an air of innocence about her, and a core of goodness despite the wild woman reputation she had cultivated. Jake was at first dismissive but as he grew to know her, his attitude and feelings changed. Ups and downs and a lot of learning about each other later, they found themselves on common ground. If the story was a bit repetitive in spots, that didn’t take away from a love that quietly grew and made for a satisfying read…

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WYOMING TRUE is a twisty, tear-jerker story that Diana Palmer is known for writing. Readers will feel terrible for the young Ida and the horror that she has gone through and why she used what everyone thought to be a very plausible reputation she hid behind. Jake, being the natural-born hero, cannot turn his back on her when he learns the truth and that she has been hiding behind a false persona.

Reviewed by Annetta Sweetko for Fresh Fiction

Compete review may be found at: https://freshfiction.com/review.php?id=72288

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Ida is nothing like the fake persona she lets most others see her as which is just fine with her because she's hiding.

Jake doesn't care for Ida but he doesn't really know her. He gets a small glimpse into the real Ida and it intrigues him into spending more time with her even if she isn't wanting to be around him.

Ida is hiding from her abusive ex-husband who just got out of jail. She doesn't want men coming on to her so she wears her fake persona like a shield to keep them away and it worked for most. But when Jake gets a glimpse of the real Ida, he's surprised that she's actually shy and not at all the promiscuous woman that she pretends to be at times.

When accidents keep happening at her ranch and her animals keep getting hurt, she knows that her ex-husband is behind it but doesn't know how he's getting on her property. Jake is there to help her with dealing with everything as well as making sure that her ex can no longer get to her or her animals.

I am a huge Diana Palmer fan so I was happy to have had the chance to read this book. These two are such a sweet couple. Ida has some physical and emotional scars from her ex but Jake has some scars of his own. It was fun to see how they were going to get closer when they both had reasons why they couldn't. Diana Palmer gave me another great book.

Disclosure: I was given an eARC of this book via NetGally but all thoughts and opinions are my own.

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I really enjoyed this title. It felt like classic Diana Palmer. Very nice story and I thought it was well written. Recommended!

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I received an electronic ARC from HARLEQUIN – Trade Publishing (U.S. & Canada) through NetGalley.
Palmer doesn't disappoint though I grow frustrated with the double standard presented for her male and female characters. Her heroine, Ivy, has been through incredible abuse with her second husband and continues to live with the physical, mental and emotional recovery. She solved her fear of men following the divorce by pretending to be promiscuous and gossiping about her lovers. It solves one problem but opens her to gossip from her small town. When Jake helps her after a flat tire, he suspects something is off about the rumors and reality. They become friends who both have to overcome trust issues to be together. It was refreshing to see they were both at the same social level rather than one being wealthy while the other was poor. I appreciated the slow pace as their relationship evolved and they became more comfortable with each other. The tension from her second husband's attacks blended well with the evolving trust and relationship. Their marriage as friends was amusing to me as a reader as well as the other characters but both Ivy and Jake worked their way through their feelings and found ways to be honest with each other.
A sweet romance and a quick escape read.

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I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Ida & Jake both have tough pasts & are trying to deal with them on their own. Since they’re both wealthy in their own right, there’s no issue of someone being out for money. Ida’s ex-husband is scary & abusive. Jake is trying to get over Mina, the only woman who hasn’t wanted him in return. Ida & Jake get to know each other & decide to be together as friends. I highly recommend reading this story to see the roller coaster their relationship rides.
Thank you to HARLEQUIN – Trade Publishing (U.S. & Canada) & NetGalley for advanced copy in exchange for honest review

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It’s been a while since I’ve read a Diana Palmer book and I was not disappointed. Her writing is as great as ever. Jake and Ida are wonderful main characters and there are equally wonderful supporting characters. It’s a fairly quick read. I couldn’t put the book down. I thoroughly enjoyed it! I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced free copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I received a copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

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I've been reading Diana Palmer's romance novels for the past 30-something years, and with the possible exception of Lacy and The Morcai Battalion, all of her other romance novels are formulaic, although this one is a little more up to date, slightly different (no swooning virgins), and while I enjoyed it a bit more than some of the previous novels in her Wyoming series, I still had more a few issues with it, which I why I'm giving it a 3-star rating.

Wyoming True is the story of battered, broken and abused Ida Merridan, whose first husband was considerably older and who treated her like a princess, except for never having sex with her, something she really didn't question until his suicide note, 5 years later, explained that he was gay. She may be old-fashioned, as are all of Ms. Palmer's characters, but I can't imagine any bride not even questioning why her husband never attempted to have sex with her, and never wondering whether or not he was gay, impotent, or even asking him.

Ida's second husband, Bailey, was a sadistic, evil, money-grubbing gambler, and an abusive jerk, whom she married after a very short courtship, and who was in prison for throwing her off the roof of a parking garage, breaking her hip, her leg, nearly killing her, and leaving her terrified of men. For all that, he was only only given a 5-year sentence, and as we learn early on, was out of prison in just 3 years for good behavior, and he still wanted his ex-wife to pay off his debts. In the interim, she's returned to her hometown in Wyoming, a very wealthy widow, thanks to her first husband, and established a rather odd reputation for herself as a slut, whose many lovers never measured up and who wasn't afraid to discuss their shortcomings in public--all in an attempt to keep men away from her.

Jake McGuire is another ultra-wealthy character, who, when he steps outside the local diner, notices that Ida's Jaguar has a flat tire and overhears her on the phone as she's told no one will be able to get to her car for 2 hours, making her late for a medical appointment, so Jake, always a gentleman, reluctantly offers to get her to her appointment, and get her home safely. While he couldn't possibly have a worse impression of her at the outset, he eventually learns that she isn't at all what she seems, and although he's been nursing a broken heart since the woman he was in love with, Mina, married a friend of his, when he learns that someone has harmed two of Ida's horses, and that she's sure it's her ex-husband, he goes into protective mode, moves her into his home, and eventually asks her to enter into a non-sexual marriage with him--and although Ida is still not trusting of men, she agrees.

Okay--at this point my willing suspension of disbelief snapped. First, Jake, although kind to Ida, can't stop mooning over his lost love, Mina, and at age 37, can't envision himself ever loving another woman again. Thirty-seven is a long way from over-the hill, and since he feels that his love life is over, why offer Ida marriage, when they merely could have lived together or simply become good friends and companions? Additionally, Jake is scarred from an IED explosion during his military service in Afghanistan, and is ashamed to even show anyone his scars. Ida is also emotionally wounded and scarred, yet accepts his proposal, knowing full well that he's in love with someone else's wife. Again, after a sex-free marriage to a much older, closeted, gay man, followed by marriage to a violent man she only knew briefly and which nearly ended with her death, why agree to another sexless marriage to a virtual stranger?

We finally get to the supposedly suspenseful part of this romance, but all of the suspense happens off screen, so the build-up to Ida's ex-husband finally getting his hands on her and payback for the time he spent in prison because she testified against him, is over in a page or two, without the two of them even seeing each other again and it falls flatter than a flapjack. Bailey is painted as such a vile, evil character that the fact that we never even get to meet him didn't make a bit of sense to this reader.

Yes, of course, there is an HEA ending to all of this, and yes, it's a well-written novel with two likable main characters, but it could have been so much better had Ida and Jake's relationship not been quite so unbelievable. While I'm sure that most of Diana Palmer's many fans will enjoy this latest Wyoming novel, for this Diana Palmer fan, it left quite a bit to be desired.

I voluntarily read an advance reader copy of this novel. The opinions expressed are my own.

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Going into reading this book, I had a pretty good idea of what to expect. I've read quite a lot of Diana Palmer novels and I'm familiar with the structure of her books and her language. That being said, I was kind of taken aback when I heard one of the main characters call the other "promiscuous" within the first few pages of the book. I know it's supposed to take place in a small town but it seemed pretty judge-y to me. But moving on from that, the story hits most of Diana Palmer's main plot points. If you are looking for a classic Diana Palmer with the damsel in distress and the classic macho male (which is pretty much why we read her books, right?) then you won't be disappointed by this book. It wasn't my favorite of her novels, but it was exactly what I expected and a decent read.

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I really enjoyed this book. I remember both Jake Maquire and Ida Merridan from Diamond in the Rough and Wyoming Heart. It was a book it’s sad but good story line and took in the awful things that are happening today that’s becoming more prevalent and talked about more openly than things that happened years ago. I was glad to see how it ended and I will read it again when it comes out.

I also enjoyed the first two chapters of Notorious and look forward to it published.

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I absolutely loved this story and I cannot wait for the next one, we get a glance of the next stpry at the end and I absolutely cannot wait.

This is Ida and Jake's story. We previously met them in the previous book. Ida was fake dating Jake's friend and she has a very bad reputation. She has buried one husband and another got sent up to jail for attacking her. Her first marriage was wonderful but he was much older than her and her second husband abused her terriby. She has lost her trust in men so to keep men away she has gotten a very sexual reputation, so that men stay away.

Jake is a bit broken hearted. Mina, the woman he was in love with fell in love with his friend and while he is still friends with him, he lost the woman he loved. Meanwhile he cannot stay away from Ida. He helps her out while still hating her but he also is very attracted. But Ida is terrified of men and Jake sees that and so he wants to find out her story.

I thought this was a pretty wonderful story. I would have liked to have seen more romance and I felt that at a point Jake betrayed Ida. She needs him while he hangs out with Mina and her husband instead of coming home to her and protecting her. But as awhole I enjoyed this story.

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