Review – Cowboys Dream Too – Morgan Q O’Reilly

 

 

The Blurb

 

Even a cowboy can dream of a Celtic goddess... But is it just a dream?

From the first time he dreamed of his perfect woman, Gray Dunbar was no longer satisfied by his pre-ordained future on the family dude ranch. She's leading him on, away from Colorado and around the world, until he can't stay away from home any longer.

Reed O'Brien needs a vacation. Her boss's company is falling apart. When a proposed trip to a dude ranch retreat comes along, she jumps at the chance. A stop in Vegas gets the ball rolling -- especially when she meets the one man her boss would love to put out of business.

Is this destined to be war...or love?

 

 

The review

The Characters

Reed O’Brien – The woman who had it all and not only didn’t realise it, but also failed to recognise when someone actually knew it. The stabilising force in so many life's, the one with her feet planted firmly on terra firma and the one who is the most undervalued

Gray Dunbar – The dreamer and the most focus one of his family. He has plot and planned and all for one major event in his life – finding the woman of his dream.

Troy Spearman – The best friend who is now - not quite the enemy, the boss who desperately wanted to be more, the man whose link to the two most important people in his life – is not needed nor wanted – but ultimately vitally important.

 

The Plot

From the moment  Gray knew the dream he has been having was his future, he literally geared his life to accommodate the woman of his dreams.

Reed , the practical person all her life, never hoping or longing for any more than she had but always the strong person who had dampen a world of hurt and resentment to not only be where  she is now in her career but also how her friends and family sees her.

Reed is burnt out for too much hours at work and too little time for herself – with that in mind, she ditches her boss and makes a stop over in Vegas with her best girl pal and that’s when the fun begins.

Not only has a stranger man a beeline for her – her the full figured woman who gets no one looking at her. Gray however know what he wants and Reeds ticks all his boxes. Not every meeting is like a business takeover and although they both connect through their dreams, they find they must battle reality and its long winding tentacles if they ever have a chance of living their dream.

 

Reed dunked her head back to cool her face, before pushing her feet to the bottom.
“There’s a built-in bench,” he said, and drew her over to sit beside him.
An unaccustomed blush burned across her cheeks when his thigh pressed against hers. She
scooted away, putting at least six inches between them. “Slow down there, mister,” she warned
with a coy look.
“Why? Isn’t this Vegas? And if I heard correctly, you’re leaving in the morning. Doesn’t
give me much time to woo you properly.”
“Woo?” Reed laughed and looked into his teasing eyes.
Sense of humor. Very sexy.
“If I told you I loved you and wanted to marry you right now, you’d walk away from me,
wouldn’t you?” He sighed dramatically.
“You’re right, I would. And then I’d call for the men in the white jackets to take you away.”
“Why? I’m not insane.”
She gave him a long steady look. He looked sane enough. Maybe he was hoping by paying
attention to her, he could get close to Sam faster. It’d happened often enough.

Cowboys Dream Too © Morgan Q O’Reilly

 

Surprise Element

There was so many things surprising about this book (I’ll go into further detail below) – it was a smooth read, it didn’t have a convoluted plot  that gets bogged down in all the elemental and spiritual aspect of dreams and other world setting – it was a meeting of the souls and i loved it.

A new to me author, so i was very pleased at how much i liked Ms. O’Reilly’s style – she uses easy scenarios, heartfelt emotions and even her baddie was actually my favourite person in the book.

 

Predictability

When i read  “Even a cowboy can dream of a Celtic goddess... But is it just a dream”, I suppose i was expecting something a little not exactly paranormal but out of this world, but COWBOYS DREAM TOO was a  solid down to earth book, that couldn’t be more grounded if it tried.

 

Smut/Ick Factor

There was no grey areas about where these two people would end up – they got in on, they got it on often and there was lots of moans, groans, a few giggles and even some broken furniture. Other than the angst that makes up part of any relationship, i love how these two lock horns figuratively and literally and refuse to budge – well they had to take a break from battle sometime….and how i love those breaks.

 

Positive

From the moment i opened this book i was hooked and i enjoyed it. Ms. O’Reilly uses the stereotypical assumptions about people and what they see in front of them  and made it her own in this story.

There is a  level of consistency to how the protags acted and what they wanted and it held true all the way through the book.

The characters were fully developed, and in ways that was not only fun but also builds on the unknown element of the story – there life history wasn’t thrown at you all at once, only little pieces as needed was given and each person fills in another section of the story – different but genius.

The interactivity and dynamics between the main protags and the support cast was also well presented, not only did attitudes and feelings cross the entire length of the emotional spectrum – but a few were dealt with head on and some home truth were told and learnt in the process.

There was a few fun moment that will have you enjoying a laugh with the protags and even the support cast, but the highlight is the sarcasms that literally roll out of these peoples mouth without them actually batting an eye. Simply hilarious.

COWBOYS DREAM TOO was well paced, from the moment the story gets going, everything was well time, scheduled perfectly and i ended up looking forward to the dreams just as much as Reed and Gray.

The switch between dream and present day was nicely done – after the first scene you knew when the dreams interrupted reality  and when reality had to step in and deal with any uncertainty left over from the dreams.

I like the balance of the dreams and how in sync the centuries all rolled over, to always culminate in Gray finding Reed, irrespective of what name or situation they were in – to be so lucky to find your soul mate no matter what century you were in….

Some side stories were thrown in for good measure and they weren’t developed enough to overshadow what was developing between Gray and Reed, however i hope Ms O’Reilly revisit this quaint little dude ranch and fill us in on all the goings on that we are left wondering about.

The cast are most noted for there insightfulness, however i was very impressed with how open and free the men were in not only talking about emotional issues, but also not afraid to be the nosey parkers in the relationships they are in.

Even with all the above going for this book, the highlight of the book for me, was the fact that grown people do revert to their high school tendencies – when emotions enters the field of play. I laughed, i cringed and i thought  - oh god – i remember that – I love it..

 

Negative

As much as i loved Gray and was so jealous of Reed for having him, after a while i was so totally annoyed with him. Not only was he too perfect – he was well educated, he made is own wine, he was a tycoon, knew all the things to make sex the best thing since slice and he was cowboy as well – as i said too perfect.

I like my men with a little bit of angst and a few issues – toss in for good measure. However Gray met Reed when she was hauling a whole lot of emotional and physical baggage around and she and the family that has woven themselves around her, needed Gray and all the perfection that he came with.  

 

Cover

This is one of those covers  that i am just going to say – it’s wrapping up a hell of a wonderful package. Something about it didn't ring any bells for me – I tried, but i didn’t like it.