Review: The Cowboy Takes a Bride by Lori Wilde

The Cowboy Takes a Bride
Lori Wilde
Publisher: Avon
Publish Date: March 27, 2012
Kindle {p.348}
Source: Publisher
Genre: Contemporary, Western
Mariah Callahan, Joe Daniels
Challenge: 100+
Buy the Book: Amazon

Ex-champion bull rider-turned-cutting-horse cowboy Joe Daniels isn't quite sure how he ended up sleeping in a horse trough wearing nothing but his Stetson and cowboy boots. But now he's wide-awake, and a citified woman is glaring down at him. His goal? Get rid of her ASAP. The obstacle? Fighting the attraction he feels toward the blond-haired filly with the big, vulnerable eyes.

When out-of-work wedding planner Mariah Callahan learns that her estranged father has left her a rundown ranch in Jubilee, she has no choice but to accept it. Her goal? Redeem her career by planning local weddings. The obstacle? One emotionally wounded, hard-living cowboy who stirs her guilt, her heartstrings, and her long-burned cowgirl roots...

I was really drawn into Ila and Cordy, the secondary characters, story. At times I was more interested in seeing their story than that of the main characters, Mariah and Joe. The best interaction between the two of them was at the very start of the book when Mariah finds Joe asleep in a horse trough.

They were an unlikely pair from the start because of Joe’s occupation. Mariah has a distrust of cowboys leading back to her father, a cowboy, abandoning her and her mother.

Joe and Mariah were okay characters, but the tug-of-war between Cordy and Ila was a bit more exciting and entertaining. Joe and Mariah were just a bit on the bland side for my taste.