Delores Fossen’s ‘The Last Rodeo’ Captures What It Means To Be A Texan [REVIEW]

Ranching is tough business, and sometimes it takes more than a little faith to make it all work. (Photo by Don Christner, Flickr)

Being the oldest son isn’t everything it’s cracked up to be, especially when you’re from a small Texas town and your father is a serial philanderer with a lecherous eye who seems intent on running the family business into the ground. With all that against him, will the “devil” of Wrangler’s Creek be able to salvage his family empire, win the girl, and beat his father at his own game? Find out in Delores Fossen’s latest novel, The Last Rodeo.

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The annual rodeo is coming up, and Lucian Granger is determined to win it this time. Of course, he’s failed to do so for the last eighteen years, but this time he’s determined to follow in his great-grandfather’s footsteps and score his own championship belt buckle for his efforts. Unfortunately, he has an Appaloosa who seems capable of bucking his tight butt right off its back before he gets anywhere close to eight seconds. But that’s not the only thing he’s got going against him.

He’s also torn between two women: Amelia, the one who stole his heart and ruined him for anyone else, and Karlee O’Malley, his assistant on the job who just so happens to have had a major crush on him since she was a teen. Well, she’s no little kid anymore, but Lucian can’t risk damaging their working relationship, so he’s kept things professional for years. Yet all that is about to change when the Granger family is turned on its head.

Lucian isn’t the most popular guy in town, despite his devastating good looks and shrewd business acumen. After all, there’s a reason some folks have given him the moniker, Lucifer. He’s the kind of guy who gets what he wants, and sometimes that means he steps on a few toes in the process. So when he upsets most of Wrangler’s Creek by demanding a road be built to help his business, his absentee father swoops in and fires him to take over the family business.

Lucian knows his father, however, and he’s confident that dear old Dad has a personal agenda that could ruin them all, which is something Lucian won’t allow. Instead, he turns to Karlee and his mother for help and they concoct a scheme to makeover Lucian’s public image, win over the favor of the community, and take back the business. Will they succeed or will people see through their plan? And will Lucian and Karlee’s hearts survive the endeavor?

Delores Fossen is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. Not only are her books filled with wit, clever banter and loads of family secrets, but she creates characters readers can instantly identify with and fall for. They are layered, flawed, and realistic, and even the antagonists in her stories have at least a few good qualities, even if they are deeply buried.

More importantly, at least to me, is that Fossen writes Texas darn well! Having lived in the Lone Star State for years, one quickly comes to realize that this is indeed a country unto itself. Texans have their own way of doing things, are bold and brazen, and are always swift to speak their mind. Yet beneath the brash exterior, most Texans also have a courageous spirit and a huge heart, a trait which brings them together, even when they may not like each other very much. Fossen captures all these qualities in her books, with seemingly little effort, and this gives her novels a verisimilitude that makes them undeniably readable and authentic.

The Last Rodeo is no exception. This is classic Fossen. She makes us feel like we’re right there on the ranch, among the cattle and the hairy corn salad (it’s a flower), caught in the midst of family angst and budding romance. She has us cheering on Lucian, who is likable despite himself, and hoping that he and Karlee will find their way into one another’s arms before the last page is turned. For every reader who has ever fantasized about a tall, strong cowboy or dreamed about a simpler life on a vast ranch in the heart of Texas, this is the story for you. Don’t miss Delores Fossen’s The Last Rodeo. It’s a keeper!

Delores Fossen

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Delores Fossen is the Rita Award-nominated author Blame It On the Cowboy, Lone Star Nights, Texas on My Mind, and the bestselling Appaloosa Pass Ranch series from Harlequin Intrigue. She is also the recipient of the Romantic Times Reviewers Choice and Booksellers Best Awards.

As a child she dreamed of becoming a Texas Ranger or FBI agent, but now creates fictional cowboy cops and law enforcement officers in her romantic suspense novels instead. Before writing full time, she also worked as an Air Force captain, a special education teacher and a rehab counselor.

She lives with her husband, an Air Force colonel, and her four children. Visit her home on the Web, like her on Facebook, follow her on Twitter and on Instagram.

THE LAST RODEO
By Delores Fossen
400 pgs. HQN Books. $7.99

Purchase The Last Rodeo at one of these fine online retailers: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, Harlequin, and IndieBound.

The Last Rodeo is brought to you in association with TLC Book Tours.