Series: Texas Legends: The McCabes (Book 2)
THEY’RE BOTH IN TRIPLE TROUBLE!
Some cowboys are meant to be family men, and Deputy Dan McCabe is one of them. Only, this eligible bachelor just can’t seem to find the right woman. Or rather -- he has found her. But single mom Kelly Shackleford just keeps turning him down as if she’s immune to his charms. What could be the only way to Kelly’s heart? Her rambunctious, adorable toddler triplets!
Kelly knows that sexy cowboys and romance don’t mix in any lasting way. Dan is just a friend, thank you very much. But a spark of attraction is turning “just friends” into something warmer and much, much deeper. Kelly doesn’t want a husband or a broken heart…so why can’t she stop falling for this heartbreaker of a cowboy?
Sweet story. Dan is a cowboy deputy who is ready to settle down. He's been the focus of a lot of women who want the same thing, but none of them seem right. That is until he meets Kelly and her adorable kids. However, no matter how hard he tries, he can't get her to go out with him. Kelly likes Dan just fine but refuses to go past being friends. She gave in to a sexy, charming man once and it got her nothing but trouble - and three babies.
I liked both Dan and Kelly. Both of them are warm, loving people. Dan takes his work as a deputy very seriously, believing in the importance of rules and order. He's recently returned home to Texas, after several years working in Chicago. He left when the woman he was engaged to tried to use him to protect her criminal father. Because of that, he has some trust issues with anyone who wants him to bend the rules. He is also fun-loving, patient, and kind-hearted. Kelly is a woman whose children are the center of her world. She has put her life back together after divorcing their father and is happy with the way it is. She loves working with children and giving them a happy start to their school careers. I loved her determination to help the kids of single parents when it came to holiday celebrations. Her biggest blind spot is when it comes to social services workers. She spent a lot of time in and out of foster homes, thanks to her mother's illness and what she saw as uncaring social workers.
I enjoyed the development of the relationship between Kelly and Dan. Because they are friends, Kelly goes to him for help regarding one of her students. I liked Dan's willingness to help, and also enjoyed how he used it to tease her into finally going out with him. The attraction between them was obvious from the start, but Kelly desperately tried to resist it. She'd been burned by passion once before and doesn't want to risk it again, but Dan won't give up. I loved seeing Dan bond with the kids at the same time he and Kelly grew closer. That closeness with the kids helped soften Kelly's resistance, and it wasn't long before the chemistry between them heated up. The road didn't run smoothly though, as Kelly's emotional responses to problems would butt up against Dan's cooler, more logical ones. When a crisis with the mother of one of her students brought Kelly's issue with social workers up against Dan's duty as a deputy, both of them reacted badly. Thanks to some well-timed advice from Dan's mother and Kelly's friend, both of them realized that they were close to losing something very special. I loved the ending and seeing a mature discussion of what they'd done wrong and where they wanted to go from that point forward. The epilogue was adorable, with a very interesting twist.
The secondary characters were terrific. The triplets were adorable, sweet, but not too much so. They also had their troublesome moments, and I had to laugh about the goats, the boots, and the poop. And like most kids that age, they have no filters on their mouths. Some of the things they said were hilarious (though not necessarily to their mother). I also liked Sharon and her daughter Shoshanna. I ached for what Sharon was going through with her boss and her friends from her old home. I really liked how she and Kelly became friends. Mirabelle was the character I had the hardest time with. Her refusal to bend on the picnic was infuriating, and I really understood Kelly's problems with her. Of course, that put Kelly's back up also, and I wondered what was going to happen. I ended up feeling a little sorry for her.
I hope there will be more McCabe stories, even though the Harlequin Western line is done.
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