A Cowboy to Keep

A solid collection for lovers of cowboys and westerns, “A Cowboy to Keep” offers seven stories by seven different authors in the genre. The stories are of varying quality, but the writing is decent throughout. 

In "City Boy, Country Heart", cowboy Chay Ridgway has traded horses for the subways of the city, but can he be happy there when the country still holds his heart? 

In "Blue Sage", archeologist Audrey Diggs tumbles off a mountain and lands at the feet of cowboy Braden Delaney. Together, they uncover ancient secrets. This was one of the stronger stories in the collection because of the added archeology angle, and the mystery. 

"The Drifter’s Kiss" and "Border Romance" are regular romance stories, of decent quality but not outstanding. "Phoenix Heat" adds some drama, and the emotions are higher in this one, making it the strongest of the three. The strongest story in the entire collection, however, is "Her Man", which offers a murder investigation and a deputy falling for one of the potential suspects. 

With the typical cowboy tropes, the stories are a bit predictable and not all that original, but the writing is decent, and fans of cowboy stories will no doubt enjoy this collection.  

Majanka Verstraete