Review: Wyoming Rugged by Diana Palmer (Wyoming Men #5)


Note: This ARC was provided by TLC Book Tours in exchange for an honest review.

Blair Coleman has more money than he knows what to do with but money seems to be the one thing that the woman he married was ever interested in. There have only been one young woman who's consistently shown how much she cares for him--his best friend's daughter, Niki Ashton. But Niki is sixteen years his junior and Blair isn't ready to cross a line that cost him the friendship of a man he trusts and respects. It doesn't matter that Niki clearly has feelings for him, but it's just infatuation, or at least, that's all it could ever be. He's too old and too jaded to give her what she deserves, and he pushes her away because it's the right thing to do--even if it means having to break her heart in the process. But when Blair gets too close to losing Niki for good, he needs to decide if it's time for him to be honest about how he feels or to let her go.

Wyoming Rugged is the fifth novel in bestselling author Diana Palmer's Wyoming Men series. While the first four books were somehow connected because of involvement with the Kirk brothers--this fifth book can totally be read as a standalone, not having any relation to the events in previous novels, as far as I could tell. For the record, I did read the first novel and glanced through the next three to check if the characters in book five were mentioned previously and vice-versa. The story of billionaire oilman Blair Coleman and Niki Ashton, an heiress filled with innocence was interesting because of the dynamics involved. The potential match may seem taboo because of the age difference (which seems to be a recurring theme in the series) plus the fact that Niki is the daughter (not the sibling) of Blair's best friend. 

This was a slow burn kind of romance. There isn't any insta-love going on, though Niki has been harboring a crush on Blair since she was seventeen, and there aren't any real illicit goings-on between the two for a good portion of the book. The fact that Niki comes off as being quite naive when it pertains to her own desires and her appeal when it comes to the opposite sex seems unbelievable at times, even if she is from Wyoming. This is the twenty-first century, after all, and it's not as if she doesn't have access to social media and the internet. There are moments where Blair coaching her on how her body reacts to sexual situations had me raising my eyebrows in disbelief, but hey, who am I to question if there are still people in their twenties who are still that innocent? Maybe I'm just as disillusioned and jaded as Blair tends to be.

The story itself was one that I enjoyed and I can't really complain when it came to the seemingly lengthy wait our main characters had to go through before realizing that what they were feeling was mutual. There was a surprise or two in how everything played out, but the biggest one had to do with Niki's asthma and the emergency remedy that's applied in the second half of the story. I have asthma and I had no clue that strong coffee could be used in case of an attack, so that was a definite bonus for me. Comparing this to the only other book that I read in the series, I much preferred this latest addition more because Blair Coleman was far more likable than Mallory Kirk in Wyoming Tough. This was a change of pace for me but one that wasn't all that bad. Wyoming Rugged gets 3.5 stars and may read books two to four later on in the future. ♥

Release Date: 01 December 2015

Date Read: 21 November 2015

Learn more about Diana Palmer.

Pre-order Wyoming Rugged on Amazon | B&N | Kobo.

Comments

  1. I appreciate that there isn't an insta-romance - those are the least believable for me. I like when I can totally believe the romance based on the way it builds up.

    Thanks for being a part of the tour!

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