Book Tour Book Review: Courting The Cowboy

COURTING THE COWBOY

by Carolyne Aarsen

Love Inspired; January 17, 2017
$5.99U.S.; 224 Pages

ISBN-978-0-373-622566

Looking for inspiration, artist Ella Langton rents a cabin in the isolated Porcupine Hills of Alberta, Canada. She didn’t count on having neighbors, but rancher Cord Walsh and his three children are just a stone’s throw away.

Still healing from a tragic accident, Ella has no plans of reaching out, but she’s having a hard time keeping them out of her yard—and her thoughts. And when little Suzy ropes Ella into helping her with an art project, she can’t help her growing feelings for the girl’s rugged daddy.

With three persistent children, Cord and Ella may find their fenced-off hearts opening up sooner than they thought!

Review:  I have a fondness for the Love Inspired line of books. Courting the Cowboy is a lovely story of two people in need of healing. Both Ella and Cord have had problems in their past relationships. Ella holds a lot of secrets close to her heart and Cord had guilt about an argument before his wife's death.

Ella is in Porcupine Hills to work on her artwork, but Cord's children manage to keep her from doing much work for quite a bit of time. I really found Suzy and Paul to be darling and little Oliver is absolutely precious. I love when children in stories are really viable characters. Suzy and Paul and their art project, as well as their love for Ella's dog, Pablo.

There is very little romance here. Its more a progression of friendship that builds as Ella gets closer to Cord's family. It's not dates that bring about love,but more getting to know each other by spending time with one another. Its also Cord's children the do a lot of the healing in Ella's heart. To explain why Ella needs healing would spoil that part of the story, and I don't want to do that.  I think that its enough to say that Cord's children open Ella's heart after a lot of pain, just as Ella helps Cord heal from the loss of his wife 2 years prior.  Cord's children also inspire changes in her art.

It's the job offer combined with the secrets that Ella is keeping that provide the conflict here but it is brief conflict which is enough to show them that they really love each other.  I would have liked a little more romance between Ella and Cord before their happily ever after though, other than a few kisses that they shared.

This was a truly sweet story.

Rating: 4 flowers

CAROLYNE AARSEN lives in Northern Alberta where she was born, raised and married and has raised four children and numerous foster children. Her writing has been honed between being a stay-at-home mother, homemaker, gardener, crafter columnist and business partner with her husband in their cattle farm and logging business.