Book Reviews of the Hotel Rodeo Series by Victoria Vane

Hell on Heels (Hotel Rodeo #1) by Victoria Vane
Genre: Adult (Contemporary Romance)
Date Published: January 19, 2016
Publisher: Lyrical Shine

Some Odds are Meant to be Played... 

PLACE YOUR BET

The Hotel Rodeo in Las Vegas has seen better days, but managing partner Ty Morgan has come up with a way to return it to its former glory. His plan looks promising until the unthinkable happens. Suddenly Ty is working for the boss’s daughter. And Miss Monica Brandt, hot as she may be, doesn’t share his vision…

ROLL THE DICE

She left a fabulous career and a frustrated fiancé in New York to move to Vegas and save her father’s investment. But now Monica is locking horns with a sexy cowboy-turned-businessman. What does Ty think he can do that she can’t? All Monica knows is that she doesn’t dare trust him—or is it herself she doesn’t trust...

AND WIN 

The battle lines are drawn. The stakes are high. And the attraction can’t be denied—especially the more closely Ty and Monica have to work together. Some odds are just meant to be played, and with chemistry this electric, it may be time to grab life by the horns…

Tye and Monica have nothing in common. They start off hating each other, but it gets hot and heavy fast. Very fast. They both are so set in their ways, I didn't expect one of them to want commitment so soon. Too bad the other isn't ready yet. These two grabbed my attention. IT was a very fast and entertaining read. I'm ready to start the next book.

Hell on Heels (Hotel Rodeo #1) by Victoria Vane was kindly provided to me by the publisher through NetGalley for review. The opinions are my own.

Her gaze was even with his chin, requiring her to crane her neck. She hated the advantage his height gave him. It was the reason she always wore heels—to level the playing field. She was five foot seven. Her stilettos made her close to six feet, which allowed her to stand nose to nose with most men, and even gave her a slight advantage over Evan who was only four inches taller than she was, but Ty had her by half a head.
“The twenty grand you refused?”
“No, the ten I accepted along with the—”
“Okay,” she blurted. “You already called my bluff. I’ll give you the twenty. Half now and the rest in three months. I’m being square with you here, Ty. Let’s make this happen.” She almost groaned as Evan’s favorite words spilled from her mouth. She’d been his protégé for five years. It would probably take as many for the stink to wear off.
Ty cocked his head in thought.
She waited, fighting the urge to tap her heel.
“All right,” he said at last. “I can accept that deal… on the provision that I still have the last word on operations.”
“Absolutely not! I’ll make all the final decisions.”
“That ain’t gonna fly with me, Sugar. Tom let me have free rein. If you want me to stay, you’ve got to let me handle things my way.”
“Equal say,” she countered. “Partners. Just like you and Tom.”
He shook his head. “Tom and I are like-minded but you and me? We’re never going to see eye to eye on anything.”
“Probably not,” she agreed.
“Look, Ms. Brandt, one of us has to wear the pants in this relationship.”
“Wear the pants? What chauvinistic bull****! I can’t even believe you said that!”
“Told you I’m old fashioned. ‘Sides,” his gazed roved slowly and suggestively down her body, “you look mighty fine in a skirt.”
She fought a ridiculous surge of satisfaction that he’d taken notice. “Don’t you know I could call you out for sexual harassment?”
“Could you now?” He stepped into her space. “Maybe you need a bit of sexual harassment, Ms. Brandt,” his voice was suddenly low and smooth as silk. “As a matter of fact, I think you need a whole lot of it.”
She retreated a step.
He advanced two.
“You see,” he continued, backing her up to the desk, “I was raised in the belief that anything worth doing, is worth doing right.”
 His hands came down on the desk, braced on either side of her. His musky masculine sent washed over her, sucking the air out of her lungs. Evan wore outrageously expensive Clive Christian 1872. Ty Morgan wore “pure cowboy” vintage 1982, earthy, tangy, and tantalizing.

Two to Wrangle (Hotel Rodeo #2) by Victoria Vane

Genre: Adult (Contemporary Romance)

Date Published: February 16, 2016

Publisher: Lyrical Shine

A COUNTRY BOY

Maybe having a hot and heavy affair with the boss’s daughter wasn’t the smartest move. But country boy Ty Morgan didn’t regret a moment with city girl Monica Brandt…until she left Las Vegas to return to her life in New York.  When devastating news sends her running back, Ty can’t help but open his arms.  His heart, however, is another matter.

AND A CITY GIRL

Now that Ty has what he’s always wanted—controlling interest in Hotel Rodeo—Monica is certain their time together is at an end.  Then Ty asks her to come on board as a partner.  Maybe it’s just her money he needs, but the chance to stick close to the sexy wrangler sure could make work a whole lot more interesting.

GET READY TO TANGO

Their partnership doesn’t come without a heap of problems. The two can’t agree on anything—except their iron-hot attraction.  As the hotel’s Grand Opening approaches, the truth is all too clear: Ty and Monica must find a way to mix business with pleasure if they have any shot at dancing off into the sunset together…

Two to Wrangle by Victoria Vane is the second book in the Hotel Rodeo series. Things are getting more serious on many levels within this book, which means Ty and Monica will be fighting and making up and fighting some more. Monica wants to give up and fly off to New York and give up way too easily. With as much of a hard baller she is in business, I expected her to have more of a backbone in her personal life. Ty is. .well, he's Ty. He tries to stick to his original, no commitments, no obligations plan, but can he really keep it up? He already started breaking his rules in the first book.

Two to Wrangle (Hotel Rodeo #2) by Victoria Vane was kindly provided to me by the publisher through NetGalley for review. The opinions are my own.

Kade had interposed himself between the animal and the fallen rider, while two others flanked the bull on either side. Waving and yelling, the three men distracted the manically bucking animal while the rider scrambled of the danger zone. He spun and charged Zac who barely dodged a horn. The bull then froze, stared down the arena and snorted a stream of snot, before trotting back to the chute leading to the holding pens.
Ty chuckled. “That’s one badass bull. Least he didn’t wreck.”
“What do you mean wreck?” she asked.
“A wreck is when bad sh** happens, but it’s inevitable if you ride long enough. Everybody knows that. At its best, bull riding is beautiful to behold, but when things go bad, it makes your blood run cold.”
“I still can’t understand why you did it,” she said.
“Ever heard of an adrenaline junkie?” Ty asked.
“Of course,” she said. “But I always picture those as the crazy people who free climb buildings and cliff faces.”
“Not the same at all,” Ty said. “I’m not sayin’ you can’t get hurt or even killed climbing rocks or buildings, but it’s not like the rock is out to get you. If you mess with a two thousand pound bull, you’re eventually gonna get the horns. Knowing he can kill you is the ultimate adrenaline rush.”
“You’ve never struck me as a thrill seeker, Ty.”
“I’m a different man now than what I was back then. Part of the change is age and wisdom. Part of it’s a lifestyle choice. Eight years ago I chose to leave it behind.”
“Do you miss it?” she asked. “The adrenaline? The excitement?”
“Sometimes I do,” he admitted. “The bull arena is purely a male domain. There’s something raw and primitive about it. There’s not much of that kind of thing left in our modern world. I guess that’s part of the appeal—for both the competitors and spectators.”
His words made her think again of the ancient Roman gladiators.
Ty tilted his head back to the chutes. “Zac’s up next. Even with a bad wrist, that ol’ geezer will show you how it’s s’posed to be done.”
“Old geezer? He doesn’t look any older than you, Ty,” Monica remarked.
“He’s thirty-four, but that equates to ‘bout a hundred and two in bull rider years. It’s not the years but the mileage that counts in this game, and Zac’s got a lot of long hard miles.”

Beauty and the Bull Rider (Hotel Rodeo #3) by Victoria Vane

Genre: Adult (Contemporary Romance)

Date Published: March 15, 2016

Publisher: Lyrical Shine

When Beauty Wants A Baby

Championship bull breeder and former Texas beauty queen Delaney McCall was having a heck of a time finding a daddy for the baby she craved. A failed marriage left her with no desire for another husband, but finding the right stud to satisfy her needs presents a bigger problem that she could have imagined. 

And The Bullrider Wants Beauty

After hanging up his spurs, bull rider Zac McDaniel wants nothing more than to fulfill Delaney’s dream of having a family. After all, his best friend’s ex has been his fantasy for years. Zac, however, has no desire to be seen as just a means to an end. When Zac insists on doing things the “old fashioned” way, their passion explodes like a bull out of the chute.

Some Bucking Is Bound To Happen 

While insisting it’s all just a passing fancy, the more Delaney sees the softer side of the rough and tumble cowboy, the harder it is to keep her emotions corraled. Zac, meanwhile, is more determined than ever to prove he’s what she really needs, and will do whatever it takes to tear down the mile high fence around her heart… 

Beauty and the Bull Rider is the third book in the Hotel Rodeo series by Victoria Vane. When I first grabbed this book, I was surprised to see it was Delaney and Zac's story. I have to say it turned into a pleasant surprise. While I knew Delaney couldn't have been as bad as Ty made her look in the previous two books, I wasn't prepared to fully like her either. But, I did. In fact, I think I even like Zac better than Ty. He has his mysteriously charming ways that have that effect on me anyway, but he seems to have things figured out. I can respect him for his decisions, and how he's gone about doing most things in his life. I really enjoyed this story, and I fell for these characters pretty quickly. I enjoyed all three books in the Hotel Rodeo series. I think I'm going to have to check out some other books by this author as well.

The ARC of Beauty and the Bull Rider (Hotel Rodeo #3) by Victoria Vane was kindly provided to me by the publisher through NetGalley for review. The opinions are my own.

He leaned back on the breakfast bar, taunting her with a cocked brow. “Running away?”
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“I think you’re afraid.”
“Afraid of what?” she asked.
“I think you’re attracted to me and it scares the sh** out of you.”
 “Last night I said you were attractive, Zac. I didn’t say I was attracted to you. There’s a difference.”
“No, there isn’t. You’re splitting hairs.”
She gave a snort. “Do you really think you’re that irresistible? Your ego is as big as Ty’s.”
“C’mere.” He jerked his head in a beckoning motion.
“What for?” she asked warily.
“I think it’s time for a little test. We can end this whole debate here and now.”
“What kinda test?”
“The kiss test,” he said. “It’s real simple. I’m gonna kiss you. If you can stand there and do absolutely nothing, you win and I lose.”
“What’s the point?” she asked.
“Sexual compatibility,” he said. “If we kiss and I don’t do it for you, I’ll drop any ideas of sex with you and submit to the test tube.”
“That simple?” she said. “You’ll donate your sperm if I let you kiss me?”
“As long as you don’t respond. That means no sounds. No kissing back. No touching.”
“Just one kiss?” she said.
“One kiss.”
“How long a kiss?” she asked.
“A standard breath hold,” he replied.
“No tricks?”
He held out his bare arms. “Nothing up my sleeve.”
Slapping his wet shirt down on the counter, she upturned her face. “Okay, Zac. I’ll let you kiss me.”
Now that the moment had come, Zac’s heart hammered against his breastbone. He’d never been nervous about a kiss, but then again, a kiss had never meant all that much to him. That wasn’t to say he didn’t like kissing. It was a pleasant enough pastime, but mostly it just served as an appetizer to the main course. He suddenly realized he didn’t know if he was a good kisser or not. He’d never had to try all that hard. Most of the women he’d been with were already primed for a tumble well before the first lip lock. He’d never suffered a crisis of confidence with any woman, but this wasn’t just any woman—it was Delaney McCall, the woman he hoped to spend the rest of his life with.

Victoria Vane is a #1 best selling author of of smart and sexy contemporary Western romance and an award-winning author of erotic historical romance. Her books have received more than twenty awards and nominations to include the 2014 RONE Award for Treacherous Temptations and Library Journal Best E-Book romance of 2012 for The Devil DeVere series. Look for her scorching hot Hotel Rodeo series coming from Kensington/Lyrical Shine early 2016.

To learn more about Victoria Vane and her books, visit her website.You can also find her on Goodreads, Facebook, and Twitter.

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