Review: Cowboy in the Crosshairs (Turquoise, New Mexico #1) by B.A. Tortuga

Once upon a time, a prince lived in a magical kingdom called Turquoise, New Mexico.

Well, really, TJ is a small-town police chief. Every Friday he holds court in the diner with the local holy roller, the art colonists, and the horsey people. But the Benes, who own the rodeo company, keep to themselves. TJ knows, because he was once hot and heavy with the oldest Bene son.

When Wacey Bene gets trampled by a remuda and comes home to heal, he’s none too happy to run into TJ, or his two little boys and their momma. The story might end there—if it wasn’t for some pesky bastard trying to kill Wacey.

The law steps in, and the townsfolk are cross about somebody messing with one of their own.

But once the bad guy is put away, can TJ and Wacey make their place in this wild and eccentric town a permanent one?

Usually this author with her cowboys and babies/kids is a home run for me. I get lost in all that comes with the writing and fall into the fluffy romance but this time, I struck out looking.

I am not sure what it was because the blurb ticked all of my heck yeah buttons but the book didn’t. I did like that Wacey and TJ had a past relationship, that TJ screwed up and walked away and now Wacey was back home and these two have major love/hate chemistry going on. I was ready to get lost in the book and instead at about 30 pages in, I found myself wanting to skim to see if it would get any better.

For me, it didn’t.

I didn’t feel a connection to either TJ nor Wacey as individuals or as a couple other than the first time they see one another again. After that, it was an odd read for me. I can normally get into the dialogue used by the author and her cowboys/characters but this one was a bit abrasive with the name calling and homophobic slurs being tossed around. I don’t know if it was ‘we’re friends who can call each other terrible things because we’re friends’, but when I read a straight character call a gay character a cocksucker, I got a bad taste in my mouth. The family dynamics that once again have worked in other stories I have read from the author were so over the top the took away from any part of the story I was trying to be invested in,

I won’t drag this out because I am sure others will really enjoy the book for me, it didn’t work on many levels.