One Tough Cowboy by Lora Leigh

One Tough Cowboy (Moving Violations)

by Lora Leigh

Sheriff Hunter Steel lives to protect. The up and coming star in a family steeped in law enforcement, Hunter has an eye for trouble and the power to stop it. But there’s a murder of one woman he can’t solve, and when the victim’s niece returns to California burning with intensity and the curves to match, the stakes are raised even higher.

A police officer in the city, Samantha Ryder hasn’t been back to the small town she was raised in - in years. She’ll stop at nothing to figure out who has brought pain to her family - even if it means her partnership with Hunter will explode into all-consuming, earth-shattering passion. But amid their fiery affair, an enemy that is deadlier than they can imagine is waiting for them, determined to destroy them at all costs.

Reviewed by chymerra on

4 of 5 stars

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I needed to read One Tough Cowboy. I had come off a string of books that had some heavy subjects in them. I needed a book that I could read, not worry about the plotline and enjoy. I got that in this book.

The plot of One Tough Cowboy was pretty simple. Samantha has come back to the town she grew up in for her beloved Aunt’s funeral. She is also there to investigate her aunt’s death. See, her aunt overdosed on pain medication. The only thing, she didn’t like to take it and that was a well-known fact. Which made her death very suspicious not only to Samantha but to Hunter, the sheriff for her hometown. The deeper Samantha and Hunter dig into her death, the more danger they both are in. Who killed Samantha’s aunt? And why?

I liked Samantha. She was going to back down when it came to investigating her aunt’s death. As a detective in the Detroit police force, she was tough. She wasn’t going to let anyone stand in her way. I was chanting, in my head, “You go girl” every time she did something that empowered herself. Loved it!!

I wasn’t as big of a fan of Hunter. I liked him at the beginning of the book. He knew something shady was going on. There was a string of suspicious deaths which included his uncle. But he lost his mind as soon as Samantha arrived. Strike that. As soon as he had sex with her. Then it went all downhill from there. He spent all his free time (which seemed to be a lot) in bed with her. People were starting to comment on it. I kinda wanted to shake him and say “Dude, it can’t be that good.” But since it is a book, I had to be satisfied with muttering to myself.

I will say that the sex scenes were scorching hot. The sparks between Hunter and Samantha were hard to ignore. I figured that they would have sex early in the book. But, they had hot sex every single time. Every single time. It was amazing that the author could keep that sexual attraction and tension up the entire book. I mean, with most books, they usually lost it after the first encounter. I also liked that there was a bit of voyeurism in this book. Hunter got caught watching his friend nail a chick outside his house. People kept walking in on Samantha and Hunter as they were messing around. That made the sex spicier and, dare I say, hotter?

The suspense angle was wonderfully written too. You knew who the major players were early in the book. But, what they were doing was kept under wraps until almost the end of the book. I was taken by surprise at what was going on. But, at the same time, I had no problem imagining what was going on actually happening in real life.

There are a few disturbing scenes that are later on in the book. There is an attempted rape (well, there was penetration with fingers. Is that considered rape?). It was graphic and disturbed me.

I didn’t like how the book ended. Not getting into it but I would be pissed if I was woken up and told that. Talk about rushing into something. Jeeze.

I would give One Tough Cowboy an Adult rating. There is explicit sex. There is violence. There is language. There are trigger warnings. They would be attempted rape, human trafficking, and domestic violence. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.

I would reread One Tough Cowboy. I would also recommend this book to family and friends.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 7 January, 2019: Finished reading
  • 7 January, 2019: Reviewed