Review: Cowboy Tough

by Joanne Kennedy
Rating: 2/5

She’s looking for paradise… When Cat Crandall ditches her career in advertising to take a job teaching painting workshops in exotic locations, she’s hoping to be sent to Tuscany, or maybe France. Instead, she’s assigned to lead a group of aspiring artists through the backcountry of the isolated Boyd Dude Ranch in Wyoming. He’s looking for a way out. Mack Boyd is in the middle of the best bronc-riding season of his life when his mother asks him to help lead an artists’ retreat at the ranch. Mack might be able to ride a wild stallion to a standstill, but he can’t say no to his family. Together, they just might find what they both need. It doesn’t take long for Mack to figure out that artists are a lot harder to herd than cattle—especially when they’re led by a spitfire of a city girl who doesn’t like to be bossed around. Cat Crandall is nothing but trouble—so why is he so drawn to her?

Cowboy Tough is the sixth book by Joanne Kennedy, all of them contemporary westerns thus far. There has been some character cross over in the later books, but only in a cameo style role, and with a different setting each book, they aren’t a series.

I was left angry and upset with how much I disliked this book. The set-up is practically a the same as One Fine Cowboy, an earlier Kennedy book which is worth a read, except Cat also has a daughter/niece to take care of.

The teenagers act ridiculously, Dora making references to Cat and Mack sleeping together and actively pushing for in a way that makes me cringe because that would just be awkward in reality. Dora and Viv are dangerously unprepared for life. Mack has no idea about safety when it comes to being online, something my own parents are still getting information on and trying to keep me safe over.

Mack’s ex-wife is both a negligent parent and a cardboard stereotype to prove that all women are bad, giving the whole book misogynistic undertones as Cat and her not caring just about shopping ways is special among women. First, why is shopping bad? Second, when are women the only ones who like shopping? Sure, men don’t like to clothes shop (or not many of them) but shopping in itself depends on what you’re looking for.

There are so many antagonists in this book it basically ends up with ending fatigue. First there’s Trevor the ephebophile, facebook stalker who is a threat and then disappears taking the suspense in his subplot with him before reappearing as a false lead for Dora’s disappearance and attempting to poison the horses and being found immediately to have this part wrapped up basically as an afterthought.

Then there’s Ollie, Mack’s stepfather who has deliberately worked to bankrupt the ranch appearing to threaten the it and set up the final antagonist. Sullivan who has been sold cattle by Ollie that Ollie didn’t own, so he tries to steal the Hanover’s cattle.

Then there’s Dora, first she’s self-hating, then she’s matchmaking (in a odd adult way),  next she hates horses and her mother and she runs away and all of this means nothing because from the beginning she was a hateful character and I didn’t ever have a reason to give a shit.

I will not be reading anything more by this author, because the last two books have disappointed me so badly. I would give this one a pass if I were you.

Currently Listening: Skyway Avenue – We The Kings