Guest Review: Texas Tangle by Leah Braemel

Leah Braemel
Texas Tangle
Carina Press, 2010

Backblurb:
Thanks to her cheating ex-husband and her thieving brother, all horse breeder Nikki Kimball has left is a bruised heart, an over-drawn bank account and an empty home. When sex-on-legs Dillon Barnett and his brooding foster-brother Brett Anderson start showing more than just neighborly attention, Nikki is intrigued…and a little gun-shy.

Dillon and Brett have a history; back in high school, the two friends fought a bitter battle over Nikki. Now, ten years later, Brett still longs to be the man in Nikki’s life, but he’s determined to stand back and let Dillon win Nikki’s heart.

Society says Nikki must choose between the two men she loves. Is Nikki strong enough to break all the rules in order to find happiness?

Genre & Keywords:
M/F/M, Menage, Cowboys, Foster-brothers

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Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Heat level: 3 out of 3 flames
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*Review copy received from the publisher through Netgalley*

Guest review by Lis:


Wooooweeeee. Where can I find a pair of these sexy as sin, hot as hell cowboys as described in this book? Hot damn people. The times I wanted to switch places with Nikki, the female lead in this story. This sure is a story to keep you warm on a cold December night!

Oh right, you don't know what I'm talking about yet! Texas Tangle is the story of Nikki, Dillon and Brett. Nikki is on the down and out after a no good, dead beat ex hubby and a self-centered, egotistical and thieving brother left her. Not to mention her bible waving and quoting parents.

Brett and Dillon are foster brothers. Brett came to live with Dillon’s family at a young age after he was almost beaten to death by his drunk father. He now is a cop in the small Texas town and not to mention stubborn. Dillon is the knight (or cowboy) in a black hat who is responsible, caring, problem solving, loving and hot as hell. They're both good neighbors (where can I find neighbors like this?!) to Nikki and have been there for her since before she got married to that no good ex-hubby of hers.

It is not a complex story. More than anything else, the focus is on the relationship between the three and how it should work out and some problems from the past. The fun part is that the suggestion for a permanent menage-relationship comes from the grandmother.

What I missed in this story is depth. Yes there is depth in the conflict between the three on how everything should work, but that's it. Of course, the story involves a lot of hot, screen-melting and very imaginative sex scenes. Because of the tunnel-focus on the relationship, I missed a bit of the surroundings, support characters and the general world building. It is mentioned that Nikki works with horses, but we almost never get to read about her handling the horses. Brett is a cop, yet we never get to really see him do cop things. Just as Dillon is a landscaper and we never get to see him get all dirty.

While the story reaches a satisfactory ending (yes it is a HEA), it sort of leaves the story unfinished. Not in a bad way, but we never get to see their relationship evolve. There were also some issues that, while minor, were never talked through. The small subplot, in the form of her thieving brother, never reaches the end I thought it should have gotten. If my brother took off with all my stuff and 19 creditcards in my name, there was no place for him to hide where I would not find him and beat the living shit out of him. Then again, I'm a little more vengeful than Nikki.

This story is a nice, lovely read. It restored some of my faith in m/f books. I'm a strong believer in strong female leads. While Nikki wasn't really much of one, nor reaches the full potential of one, you do see glimpses. That was enough for me.

Now if you're looking for a melt-you-in-a-puddle-of-goo book to curl up on a cold night, then Texas Tangle is definitely the book for you!

Linking:
Leah Braemel’s website | weblog | on Goodreads | on Twitter | on Facebook
Buy Texas Tangle here

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