eBook; 289 pages
Publisher: Carina Press, June 14, 2010
eISBN-13: 978-14268-9017-8
Genre: Contemporary Cowboy Romance
Book: Stand Alone
Main Characters: Rafe Cabrerras & Liberty Starr
On sale at: Carina Press

Summary:
Rafe had never met a truly irresistible woman, until he met Liberty.

Libby has the kind of beauty that comes on slow—strikes a guy the longer he looks. And Rafe sure is having a fine time looking, and touching, and loving Liberty Starr. The only problem is that Rafe is pretending to be just another cowboy down on his luck. Working for the FBI, he’s come to Stone Hill, Colorado, to investigate the man Libby loves like a father.

He was just another cowboy.

Free-spirited Libby offers him a job and a place to stay. Together they spark like wildfire, their intense passion filling their days and nights. But Rafe is only in town for the summer, and while Liberty is willing to risk her heart secrets threaten any possibility of a future together...

Pearl’s review:

Liberty “Libby” Starr owns an inn and boards horses in a small town in the Colorado Rockies, Stone Hill. Libby is very open and free-minded. She grew up in a nudist colony and is a self-proclaimed nudist who is very comfortable in her own skin and has no problems with nudity. I loved Libby; she’s softhearted but not gullible. She’s a smart and independent woman, spontaneous and outgoing. She is very capable and has good business sense

Rafe Cabrerras is pretending to be a cowboy down on his luck. But he has come to Stone Hill with an agenda. He is investigating Caleb Hamilton, Libby’s business partner and the man she considers a father. His investigation leads to events that turn both his and Libby’s world upside down, and that’s not even taking into account the immediate chemistry between them. Rafe was a delicious hero. Pulling off the cowboy role perfectly and the subtle humor and banter between him and Libby was a joy to read next to their explosively hot chemistry.

I totally and unexpectedly warmed up to Caleb. He may seem harsh, cold and calculated but deep down he’s not. He’s a sensitive, intuitive man who’s known loss and hurt and has hardened himself to avoid being vulnerable. His caring feelings for Rafe and Libby are genuine and I loved his role in the book.

The very first paragraph of this book reeled me in and grabbed hold of me as much as the blurb already had. I normally don’t pay much attention to blurbs but the one for LIBERTY STARR draws you in and makes you want to read the book immediately without delay.

Normally I am not a fan of romantic suspense where one of the main characters is keeping stuff from the other but in this case Rebecca E. Grant made it work for me because I was left in the dark too and thus anticipating the moment of revelation along with Libby. The power of omission worked very well for this book. As some things weren’t immediately explained I kept wanting to read on, waiting to discover what the deal was with Rafe, Libby and Caleb.

Even though while reading I felt the build up was slow and the plot progressed slowly too, in hindsight, it was beautifully done and fitting the story and characters. Without getting very explicit Rebecca E. Grant managed to write a sensual and hot romance novel that wasn’t the thrilling suspense story I was expecting but LIBERTY STARR turned out to be a western contemporary that’s earned its place in my small list of favorite cowboy romances because of its beauty in simplicity and emotions.

Quotes:
He was the match, she the striking surface. Together they were a wildfire.

Rafe: “I love you, Elle. I’ve never said that to a woman before. I thought it was because I never had the time to fall in love. Now I realize it has nothing to do with time at all. It’s because I hadn’t met you.”