Cowboy Tough

November 5, 2012
Kennedy's love of the West shines in this cowboy romance featuring a watercolor artist. Cat Crandall decides to trade in her Chicago ad agency job for a two-week stint teaching painting at a Wyoming dude ranch. Since her sister's death, Cat wants to live life to the fullest, and that includes being a mother figure to her rebellious teen niece, who's attending the art camp along with an elderly couple and their middle-aged daughter, a big tattooed man, and a snooty photographer who puts her teeth on edge. Rodeo star Mack Boyd has returned to the ranch to help his mom out of financial ruin, but he finds his mind more on Cat than the horses, not least because the ranch desperately needs the income from the art lessons. Several romantic subplots and various hot sex scenes are tacked on to a muddled plot of cattle rustling, horse poisoning, and art. Agent: Elaine English, Elaine English Agency.

December 15, 2012
As far as Cat Crandall is concerned, the Boyd Dude Ranch is rustic only when seen in the rear-view mirror. Rundown is more like it. But Cat really doesn't have any choice but to make the best of matters. In no time, five students, along with Cat's niece, Dora, will be arriving there for an artists' retreat, and if Cat wants to secure a permanent place as an instructor for Art Treks, she has to make it work. The Boyd Dude Ranch desperately needs the steady infusion of cash Art Trek students can provide, so Mack Boyd is determined to do whatever it takes to keep Cat happy. Of course, wrangling artists sounds a lot easier than it actually is, especially once Mack discovers one citified lady artist in particular just may have lassoed his heart. Kennedy's latest contemporary romance packs a powerful, emotional punch, and when it comes to capturing the appeal and feel of the West and its people, nobody does it better.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)