The Comeback Cowboy by Cathy McDavid

The Comeback Cowboy by Cathy McDavidThere are two reasons why I don’t review a book that I’ve read: either I didn’t like it enough to recommend it (and there’s no point in telling you what not to read with so many books out there), or because I didn’t have time to review it when I finished. The second is what brings me to The Comeback Cowboy by Cathy McDavid.

I was going over my list of books read last year, and noticed a handful of titles I’d been too busy to review that really deserved a mention. The Comeback Cowboy falls into this category for one simple reason. The minute I reread the title in my list of 2011 books read, the story came back to me in detail. To give some sense of context, I read 48 books/fiction magazines for a total of over 15000 pages last year. I finished McDavid’s book on June 23, smack dab in the craziest part of my year between family visits and conventions.

So, what do I remember?

This romance novel starts with a rodeo champion down on his luck because his horse, his partner, died. Ty Boudeau is blaming all his troubles on the new horse, so in a last ditch effort, he goes to a rodeo training facility to work out.

Right off the bat, their troubles start. He knows what he’s doing. He’s a star after all. He just needs her to work with the horse.

Adele Donnelly, owner of the Cowboy College, doesn’t agree, seeing deeper issues. She forces him to do things her way, all the while fighting a growing attraction between them because she knows all about fickle cowboys.

What I liked about it was that it touched on how complex talent is, and all the ways that you can get up in your head and mess with it. Like in the movie Bull Durham where the star pitcher’s “mental coach” convinces him to wear a ladies garter belt to keep his mind distracted so his body can pitch. His conflicts, their causes and his struggles, read very real to me.

Then there’s her. She’s a strong woman without being pushy. She knows her business and is confident in that fact. She’s not cowed by his celebrity either. At the same time, she has a vulnerable side that leaves her open to helping him.

It’s a powerful, emotional story with a lot going on that can be related to circumstances outside of the rodeo, circumstances that affect most of us.

I received this book through the Tell Harlequin program, and completed the requested survey. This review is my opinions above and beyond what they ask of me.

This entry was posted in Book Reviews, Reviews and tagged , . Bookmark the permalink.

2 Responses to The Comeback Cowboy by Cathy McDavid

  1. jjmcgaffey says:

    Huh. And while I enjoyed the characters and the setup, the ending kind of blew it for me – waaaay too scripted. Blame laid in the wrong direction by someone who should have known (who did, in-story, know) better (I’m being very vague, because it would be major spoilers if I got more specific). Do you remember that part, and did it work for you?

    • Margaret McGaffey Fisk says:

      Honestly, I didn’t like the end as much as the rest of the book. I think if Cathy McDavid had had another 30 pages to play with it would have been stronger, but the length is a serious limiter. However, there was more good than bad in the story to my mind :).

Leave a Reply to jjmcgaffeyCancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.