Whiplash is the second book in Janet Dailey’s The Champions series. Val Champion has returned to the family fold leaving behind dreams of stardom and nightmares of drugs, alcohol, and being involved with very dangerous people. She is home to heal and bond with her sisters Tess and Lexie. When it is apparent how important it is to her family that she attend the PBR finals in Las Vegas she agrees to go in spite of the specters from her last time there.

While Val does her best to make excuses to stay in their room, she is coaxed to attend the events when their bulls are participating. Her reasons are twofold. She doesn’t want to be seen and recognized by those that might be hunting her and she doesn’t want to see the love of her life, the one she left behind, Casey Bozeman. Even so, both happen.

Casey is a protector. He protects bull riders by being a bullfighter and he protects people he loves regardless of whether or not he is asked. With the deep secrets Val carries she feels she deserves nothing good from anyone, and especially not Casey who she wronged so deeply.

This is an interesting story diving into the rodeo world as well as the underworld. With emotion and action this is a solid tale. I did enjoy this book and I do recommend it!

This is a Romantic Suspense, and this is the second book in the Champions series. I have to read and review the first book in this book series, and I really enjoyed the first book in this series. This book is all about Val Champion. I loved learning Val's back story. I also loved that some of the other characters in the first book is in this book, and I loved that this book has a more closer look at the bulls. This book is a great mixed of suspense and romance. I loved Val and Casey. This book is fast pace and pulled me into it so fast. I was kindly provided an e-copy of this book by the publisher (Kensington Publishing Corporation) or author (Janet Dailey) via NetGalley, so I can give an honest review about how I feel about this book. I want to send a big Thank you to them for that.

This is the second book in the series and I have not read the first book. I do wish I would have read the first book but I did not realize this was a series. I felt like I would have liked Whiplash better with knowing more of the backstory of book one.
So lots of bull riding and rodeo information which was interesting to learn about.
Characters were engaging though not all were likeable.
Bit of mystery.
Bit of romance.
Bit of suspense.
To sum it up, Whiplash was a ok read for me.
Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and author for the opportunity to read this book for my honest opinion. All opinions expressed are my own.

Although this is the second book in a series, I did not read the first one, and I have very mixed feelings about this one. I have enjoyed many of Janet Daily’s books over the years, but this book really dragged for me. I felt like this book went into so many different directions with its storyline that I wasn’t sure was important. There is the finals of the PBR, and then there is Val who sounds like a mess. Casey features important to her but again I often felt like everything about this story was muddled. It wasn’t until I got to the last quarter of the book, and maybe further than that, that i felt some interest in what was happening. I must admit that I really had a hard time finishing this one.

Val Champion has made many mistakes in her life, and when she saw her one and only love, Casey, at the rodeo, her past and her future came together. Val had secrets, and she stayed away from her family and friends, thinking she was protecting therm.
When she went home to the ranch, the family listened to what she told them, but decided they were family and would be there with her. She tried to push Casey away, and she finally told him what she had done to him when she left. When Val was convinced she was going to be killed, she sent an envelope to Casey with the facts of why she did what she did. It was sad, and Casey had to decide what to do, and he decided to go to the ranch and be there for her. When he finally arrived, it was a lot going on, and the author keeps us in suspense, with emotional highs and lows. Sometimes people think they are doing the best thing for others, but others are thinking the wrong things, but eventually it all comes out, and we see how it will all turn out.
It is a page turner, about Val's life. Life isn't always easy, but you do have to follow it through.

It’s easy to get caught up in the bull riding and forget there’s an actual suspenseful story brewing. There’s a lot of details here about the bulls, which is interesting, but the story is lost in places. Tess runs a tight ship on the family ranch raising cows and bucking bulls for the rodeos. Lexie got her HEA and is currently pregnant and helping when she can. Val has returned from nine years unsuccessfully chasing an acting career. She comes with loads of baggage and secrets. All of which haunt her while her sisters are working with the bulls. I just wanted her to be strong like her sisters, but I found her character strong sometimes and flighty the next. Definitely an entertaining read and worth reading the entire series. I’ve received my copy through Netgalley and written this review voluntarily.

Excellent Rodeo Ranch Thriller
This was such an excellent thriller! The background is the PBR Finals in Las Vegas, a bucking bull ranch, and a family of cowboys. The plot is excellent and has plenty of twists and turns. I love it when a book goes in a much different direction than what I anticipated. This was a memorable book. I will be reading all of this author's books in the future. I received this ARC book for free from Net Galley and this is my honest review.

This is a book that has a lot of information about the rodeo and the hardships of living that life. While I enjoyed the book, I found it difficult to connect to Val. I wanted to sympathize with her, but it took so long to find out what all of her secrets were, it was hard to be all in with her. I also found it hard to remember who the book was about because there was so much to do with her sister. Casey, on the other hand, stole my heart. He had a heart of gold and would do anything to protect those he loves.
The intrigue of who was after Val and why was what kept me turning the pages. Finding out all of the reasons why she never came home and kept pushing Casey away (even though she led him on, in my opinion) was also worth reading. The culmination of this story was heart stopping and I wish Casey and Val would have had a more in depth conversation after everything that happened, but I was still satisfied. The epilogue has me wanting the next book to see what happens.
I received an ARC in exchange for an honest, voluntary review.

Troupes - Second chance romance, cowboy romance
My thoughts -
I loved the whole rodeo/bullriding setting..the author has done great research and this was probably my first book about it. I just felt that it had a little more focus instead of the characters and their situations!
More than Val, Tess s character had more depth and would totay read her story!
Thank you Netgalley and Kensington publishing for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

Complementary copy given for my honest review and opinion. I loved this book and the characters. The suspense and romance combined created a perfect storm to the very end. I can’t wait to read what happens next in this family.

I really enjoyed this anguished second chance of romance thriller from author Janet Dailey. Val Champion was the beautiful girl who seemed to have it all except she had a dream to get a star in Hollywood. As she found out, beautiful girls are a dime and dozen and it takes a lot more than what she had to make it big. Now chastened, out of rehab she's finally made her way home to lick her wounds in private.
To support her sisters she accompanies them to the bull riding tournament in Vegas, a city that has a terrible association for her and also comes face to face with her first love whom she had left without a word to make her way to Hollywood. She's full of secrets some of which will come back to bite her later but some which will have immediate impact. She's known in Vegas and people are hunting her and she's inadvertently brought danger to her family and friends.
The story will have you spell bound as it moves along where perhaps Val's biggest champion will turn out to be a bull called Whiplash. Along the way there's a nice education into the rodeo and bull riding scene. All in all I'm happy to have read this one and perhaps it's whetted my appetite for more of these.

This book was absolutely wonderful. I haven't read a Janet Dailey book in 20+ years. Looks like I'm going to have to go back and read some of her previous books, because I really loved this one. Thanks NetGalley for an advance copy for my honest review!

This, although a standalone, is the second in a new series of books.

I love a cowboy romance and this ticks all the boxes in that respect.

However, if I'd rather be watching TV than reading, there is a big problem. I don't know what it was about this book that just didn't capture my attention and I struggled to finish it. It became a chore, which reading never is!!

Obviously, this one was just not for me!

A second chance romance. Rodeo action in Las Vegas along with mobsters. Some exciting and heart-breaking moments. I am eager to see the sparks fly in the next book about the Champions.

I enjoyed the first book in this series. I love a cowboy romance. I am super into romantic suspense. But I just didn't like Val. She was too shady and secretive and it just felt like so much work. Between her secrets and her past, it was hard for me to feel sympathetic for her. I struggle when a story could be completely changed by a conversation and this landed that way for me.

As soon as I saw the name of the author, I decided to read this book. So many of her books I've really liked. But sorry to say, this book just didn't really grab me. Was it well written? Yes. Did I like the main characters? Yes, they had depth. Did the story have emotions that were well displayed? Yes. Was the main plot of danger against Val well written? Once again, yes it was. And the author did seem to have done her homework when it came to bucking bulls in the arena and raising them. But for me, something was just missing Maybe it had to do with all the focus on the bulls, which I wasn't really all that interested in.
At one point I had to go back and recheck on who the story was talking about. Mainly because it almost felt like at times the story had a lot more focus on Tess than Val.
Brock Tolman was a mystery. He seemed pretty straightforward ruthless. But every once in a while, he did something that wasn't. I'm sure in the next book there will be more things to discover about him. Since, the door was left open for another adventure with Brock and the Champion family. Tess in particular looks like she's in for quite the time.
The story itself ends in a pretty dramatic way, with some justice served. So I have to give points for the parts I did like. So, I will be giving it 3.5 Stars on Amazon.


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

What an exciting story! Just enough romance, mystery and intrigue! It has cowboys, horses, bulls and a rodeo, throw in the mob and how can it not be a good story! Janet Dailey is one of my favorite writers and she did not disappoint! I am looking forward to her next book! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for letting me read an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Whiplash
Janet Dailey
August 31, 2021


Valerie Champion left home when she was 17. Just finishing high school, she left her soul mate to find a job in a big city. She loved Casey Bozeman desperately but knew he needed to pursue his career and find a mate more suited than she. Val grew up in Arizona on a cattle ranch with her sisters Lexie and Tess. They loved the big spread of land and working with the animals. Val hated the chores, dirt and expectations involved with living there. She wanted to go to LA and find work as an actress, make movies. Leaving meant breaking Caseyś heart but she knew they both needed something different. Unfortunately as the years passed Val headed in the wrong direction. In order to find her dream on a movie set she had to comply with men who made promises that required her to accept their illicit ways. Although she was in a few films, her parts were small, as was her pay. Alcohol and drugs became a necessity she found she would do anything to acquire. In time after too much violence and dependency she admitted herself into rehab. The thugs who were after her couldn't find her there. Once finished ,she could go home.
Whiplash is a page-turner mystery that gives us a close-up look at Valś life once she decided to return to Arizona, become whole again. Daileyś mysteries circle around living within the cattle country. Love, remorse, regret are all a part of the characters and their family. Whiplash by Janet Dailey will be published by Kensington Books on August 31, 2021. I appreciate their allowing me to read and review this latest in The Champions series. Readers who enjoy Janet Daileyś books will find this exciting and tantalizing. Do enjoy!

My Thoughts

Took a couple of days to read as kept choosing You Tube videos and movie watching over the book.

Then I powered through the second half as things got more intense.

As those before me have stated I also have mixed feelings towards this books content and particularly Val herself as the lead character.

I did however think that overall meeting the Champion family and, more importantly to me, experiencing second hand the powerful excitement of what goes on in the rodeo arena behind the scenes was well worth my time.

This is a true second chance at love romantic suspense that actually delivered better than I hoped it would once all the secrets were revealed and the story was over.

Having missed reading first book feel this second one stands alone quite well with an ending that guaranteed I would dearly love to read a third!
[EArc from Netgalley]

On every book read as soon as it is done and written up for review it is posted on Goodreads and Netgalley, once released then posted on Amazon, Barnes and Nobles as well.

After binge reading Janey Dailey's books for several years, I took a break from her writings. There seemed to be a sameness in her stories, so I ventured into new authors. It has been several years since I have read a book by this author and I must say that Whiplash was a pleasant surprise.
This book definitely checked all my boxes. The plot was meatier, the characters richer and there was an element of suspense threaded throughout the novel. This author has honed her writing skills, culminating in a 5-star contemporary western novel that held my attention from the opening page until the final paragraph.