Killer Cowboy <br>Charm

Talk show hostess Meg Delaney whines all the way to hot and barren Arizona, that from now on she will stick to the show’s script. How could something that started out as an ad-lib joke turn into something so potentially disastrous to her career? With the running joke concerning her lack of social life combined with her co-host’s comment about cowboys, it just seemed like a great time filler to state that she should go out west and search for a real live cowboy. Leave it to the New York crowd, as well as the show’s producers, to think it’s a GREAT idea. Since it leaves her biggest rival to fill in on the show for her, she thinks is a HORRIBLE idea . . . until she gets a look at a real live cowboy in the form of Clint Walker.

Ranch foreman Clint is certain that his great-grandfather, who built the Circle W Ranch from the ground up, is rolling over in his grave at the thought of it being turned into a media circus to find the “Hottest cowboy in the West”. Now that the ranch is no longer owned by his family, Clint doesn’t have any control over the situation but he can stay as far out of camera range as possible. He knows that the money from the title as well as the commercials that are sure to spawn from it will bring more than enough cash for him to buy back the ranch, he just can’t stomach the idea of parading himself in front of the American television audience. Can a certain talk show hostess change his mind?

I cannot write this review without extending HUGE congratulations to Vicki Lewis Thompson and Harlequin Temptation on the publication of the 1000th book of this much loved line. As she states in the forward of Killer Cowboy Charm, she published her first book in 1984 with Temptation and it has been her dream ever since to pen the book that would bear the 1000th number on the spine. This month her dream is a reality.

Through the years Ms. Thompson’s writing has evolved with the times and with her expanding talent, but one thing has not changed; when you pick up a book that bears the name of Vicki Lewis Thompson on the cover you can expect a great read. Her characters are as real as you and I. She puts those characters in situations that will make you laugh, cry, need a cold shower and most importantly fall in love. Fall in love is exactly what I did with Meg and Clint. They are both single minded in what they want out of life and think that nothing will change that. With the undeniable heat between them they know that something, or someone, will have to give. Which one will it be? To discover the answer to that question and to get your hands on the last book that Vicki Lewis Thompson will pen for the Temptation line, which Harlequin will cancel in June 2005, make sure you experience Killer Cowboy Charm for yourself.

Reviewed by: Missy