Brodie Hayes is a former rodeo star, now a rancher--a cowboy, through and through. But when he finds out some shocking news about the circumstances...
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reviews
Feb 13, 2009
Rachel
rated it: 
Brodie Hayes is a famed rodeo star, now forty and retired. He gets the shock of his life when Alex Donovan appears on his doorstep. A private investigator, Alex is working an easy case for a woman who believes Brodie might be her long lost son. The revelations that follow force Brodie to look deep inside himself to decide who he really is.
This was, for the most part, an excellent book. I found myself really caring for the characters. I found some of the plot devices unbelievable and More...
This was, for the most part, an excellent book. I found myself really caring for the characters. I found some of the plot devices unbelievable and More...
Jan 29, 2012
Brandy
rated it:
Another FREE kindle book!!! And an AWESOME book for being FREE!!! My first? by Linda Warren I think! I LOVED Brodie! LOVED Alex!!! LOVED the whole tough/yet feminine ex-cop, PI falling for her client's case? Handsome Cowboy (Brodie) A woman, Helen comes to PI, Alex, looking for her son that was stolen from the hospital nurserey almost 40 yrs ago...EX-Proffesional Bull rider/now cowboy/rancher/Brodie Hayes!!! In the process of helping Brodie deal with his earth-shattering/life changing secrets ab
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Nov 11, 2011
Kiwi
rated it: 
ONCE A COWBOY is the story of Brodie Hayes, a retired world-champion bull rider, trying to discover who he is after private investigator Alex Donovan tells him she's working for a woman who thinks he might be her son, who was stolen from the hospital just days after he was born.
It's a nice idea for a story, but the plot didn't get the treatment it deserved, and so fell flat. The characters weren't poorly developed, but their development was openly displayed to the reader. The author wa More...
It's a nice idea for a story, but the plot didn't get the treatment it deserved, and so fell flat. The characters weren't poorly developed, but their development was openly displayed to the reader. The author wa More...
Oct 14, 2011
Cara
rated it: 
I just don't enjoy category romances very much, but this one was okay. There were some mechanical problems with it, like clunky writing:
By late afternoon she had a lot of information on Brodie Hayes. He’d earned lots of accolades.
"A lot" and "lots" could have been - and should have been - edited to something more exciting. There were several of these instances, plus a lot of info dumping. And though I realize this was not a law book I had to More...
By late afternoon she had a lot of information on Brodie Hayes. He’d earned lots of accolades.
"A lot" and "lots" could have been - and should have been - edited to something more exciting. There were several of these instances, plus a lot of info dumping. And though I realize this was not a law book I had to More...
May 26, 2011
Vilja
rated it:
I almost - almost - gave this book a second star just for Naddy, Alex's skinny-dipping, male-stripper-groping, case-solving grandmother, but then I took it away for not making the whole book all about Naddy. That's just criminal.
Comprehensive list of cowboy facts I learned from this book:
1. Being a cowboy is genetic.
2. Once a cowboy, always a cowboy.
3. Once a cowboy falls off the saddle, he just dusts up and gets back on again.
4. A cowboy always More...
Comprehensive list of cowboy facts I learned from this book:
1. Being a cowboy is genetic.
2. Once a cowboy, always a cowboy.
3. Once a cowboy falls off the saddle, he just dusts up and gets back on again.
4. A cowboy always More...
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Apr 28, 2011
Stephanie
rated it:
Every so often I get the urge to read one of these super cheesy romance novels. It's like getting a pint of Ben & Jerry's -- you know it's just full of empty calories with no nutrition, but you can't help yourself from devouring it.
This wasn't AS bad as other dime-store romances I've read...but it wasn't exactly a stimulating read either. Alex was way too Mary-Sue (she's beautiful, an awesome detective, insanely compassionate, and has a wacky-but-loveable family!) and Brodie "I More...
This wasn't AS bad as other dime-store romances I've read...but it wasn't exactly a stimulating read either. Alex was way too Mary-Sue (she's beautiful, an awesome detective, insanely compassionate, and has a wacky-but-loveable family!) and Brodie "I More...
Jan 17, 2011
Robin (RBBR)
rated it: 
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Nov 11, 2010
Jessica
rated it:
ok dont judge before you read this! This book was a free e-book for my Nook! and I was sooo frustrated after reading the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series I needed stupid reads! The author was actually a pretty good writer, very detailed you felt connected to the characters (but was still cheesy as romance novels go) until you got to about 75% into the book...then the author was going for every stereotype imaginable for this one! The whole story is about a COWBOY named Brodie Hayes (I really li
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May 13, 2010
Rose
rated it:
A bland book, in my opinion - it was a free ebook as a part of the Harlequin anniversary set, so I suppose I can't complain too much, but I saw the plot beginning and ending from a mile away - and that disappointed me. The story revolves around Brodie, a 40 year old retired rodeo star who finds out that he may be the missing child of a family whose son had been kidnapped as a young child. Alex Donovan is the investigator who not only breaks the news to Brodie, but also ends up falling in love w
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Jan 05, 2012
Amy
rated it:
Oh how I love sexy cowboys. This may be the first cowboy romance I've reviewed, but rest assured it won't be the last.
Look at that cover model. I just want to lick him.
Retired Pro bull rider Brodie Hayes finds out from sexy PI Alex Donovan that he's actually the child of a couple whose baby was stolen from the hospital forty years ago.
Well, there's one I haven't heard before. I guess these days us romance writers have to come up with some new and interesting premises to keep it More...
Look at that cover model. I just want to lick him.
Retired Pro bull rider Brodie Hayes finds out from sexy PI Alex Donovan that he's actually the child of a couple whose baby was stolen from the hospital forty years ago.
Well, there's one I haven't heard before. I guess these days us romance writers have to come up with some new and interesting premises to keep it More...
May 29, 2011
Slayermel
rated it:
This book was your typical Harlequin Romance with a Hunk you can’t resist and a woman who is unlike any woman he’s ever met before ;op
The story was interesting if you can get over the fact that the results were very predictable and the lead female (Alex) is kind of stockerish, seriously back off lady! Which I found endlessly entertaining since Alex is supposed to be an ex-cop now turned P.I.
I loved Naddy the eccentric grandmother and her wild ways, and I would have almost giv More...
The story was interesting if you can get over the fact that the results were very predictable and the lead female (Alex) is kind of stockerish, seriously back off lady! Which I found endlessly entertaining since Alex is supposed to be an ex-cop now turned P.I.
I loved Naddy the eccentric grandmother and her wild ways, and I would have almost giv More...
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Sep 15, 2011
*Babs*
rated it:
Alex is a PI a partner with her father at Donovan Investigations. One hot afternoon a woman and her daughter walked in with a request. She had a clipping of a bull rider saying it was her son that was kidnapped right after birth 40 years ago. She wasn't sure about taking the case as when she was a cop a situation like this did not go well. After she saw the pictures of Helen's sons she did see a resemblance and decided to help. She goes to see Brodie and she socked how good-looking he
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Jan 18, 2012
Suzie
rated it:
I enjoyed the first half, but in the second half, things started to irk me. The author put back story in the character's mouths and as soon as she did, it stopped sounding like dialog and started sounding like a scripted info dump (which it was). The hero also related his two best friend's histories so completely that I suspect there is a book for each, but since I now feel like I know all about them, I feel no need to read their stories.
I liked stories where the H & h take their tim More...
I liked stories where the H & h take their tim More...
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Aug 28, 2010
Megan
rated it:
This is one of Harlequin's free reads, and I don't normally go looking for cowboys, but I decided to give this book a try. I'm glad I did, because the story is emotional (a lot more emotionally complex than I was expecting from the American Romance line, which I do like but find too trite at times) and moving. The hero and the heroine are both kick-ass and complicated, and they're both, quite refreshingly, adults. There was one moment of stupidity that made me roll my eyes and a time when a "
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Dec 01, 2011
Barbara
rated it:
An interesting little romance, I enjoyed this story of Alex Donovan, who is a private investigator, working with her father Buck in their P.I. business, and Brodie Hayes, who is a retired rodeo cowboy, now living on his cattle ranch. When Alex takes on a new case, to verify that Brodie Hayes is the Braxton’s son who was stolen as an infant, she thinks it will be a quick job. She’ll prove he’s not their son and then close the case. Of course, nothing could ever be that easy. Alex and Brodie d
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Mar 09, 2011
Kate
rated it:
Brodie Hayes, former Rodeo world champion now cowboy rancher, finds out that his parents weren't really his biological parents.
Honestly, I didn't really enjoy this story. The descriptions were somewhat simplistic (Brodie had blue eyes and black hair and Alex had blonde hair and brown eyes and they kept using the same descriptions the whole way through).
<spoiler>I also had a problem with the coincidences in the story.
Both people have gone nearly 40 years and th More...
Honestly, I didn't really enjoy this story. The descriptions were somewhat simplistic (Brodie had blue eyes and black hair and Alex had blonde hair and brown eyes and they kept using the same descriptions the whole way through).
<spoiler>I also had a problem with the coincidences in the story.
Both people have gone nearly 40 years and th More...
Sep 16, 2011
Sara
rated it:
while i liked this book, it was a slow read and lacked a certain flow that would make me want to read it more often.
<spoiler> and the fact that Alex's mother also wasn't her biological one seemed a bit too much for the book. As if the author wasn't really interested in the plot and this was her way of throwing it at us. </spoiler>
I gotta admit, i'm not as much a cowboy fan as i thought i would be, but it could be that Brody was just too boring for me.
& i never unders More...
<spoiler> and the fact that Alex's mother also wasn't her biological one seemed a bit too much for the book. As if the author wasn't really interested in the plot and this was her way of throwing it at us. </spoiler>
I gotta admit, i'm not as much a cowboy fan as i thought i would be, but it could be that Brody was just too boring for me.
& i never unders More...
Jun 05, 2011
Laura Ashlee
rated it:
This book definitely wasn't what I expected. I assumed because it was Harlequin that it would be mostly about sex. It wasn't. It was more about Brodie finding who is really is, it just happens to involve Alex. It was actually a pretty touching story. The whole thing about his birth was kind of tragic. The plot worked out pretty well though. I was engrossed, and I really loved the characters. Some of the minor characters were difficult to get interested in because they played such a small part. T
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May 29, 2011
Corinne
rated it:
I guilty pleasure read that I actually really enjoyed. The plot pulled me in and I genuinely wanted to know where it would go. The end got cheesy as quesadillas, but as far as a romance novel (Harlequin even) I'll admit that I had fun.
First of all, it has a cowboy on the cover. Thats all I needed to download this for free! We follow a P.I. who approaches a case where a cowboy isn't the son of who he thought. We unravel the emotions and the truth behind that story.
Rec More...
First of all, it has a cowboy on the cover. Thats all I needed to download this for free! We follow a P.I. who approaches a case where a cowboy isn't the son of who he thought. We unravel the emotions and the truth behind that story.
Rec More...
Mar 15, 2011
Rhonda
rated it:
I enjoyed it. cute story was just what I needed to escape too. I like the free books available on my kindle reading all different books, authors. Alex's is a P.I. Who has a women come to her to find her son that was taken out of the hospital 40 years ago. She saw a article about rodeo champion Brodie that looked so much like her husband and her two sons that have died. Alex tries to help them all find a way to work things out. falls in love with brodie a lot about family what it takes all diffe
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Oct 04, 2009
Mojca
rated it:
Brodie Hayes is a former rodeo star, three times world champion, whose life unravels when P.I. Alex Donovan appears on his ranch, asking him to consent to a DNA test. Thinking it's probably some woman claiming he is the father of her baby, he's shocked to his core, when Alex informs him of a woman's claim that Brodie is her son.
With the test twice resulting 99.9% positive, Brodie is faced with a hard choice and an even harder journey toward self-discovery.
I was surp More...
With the test twice resulting 99.9% positive, Brodie is faced with a hard choice and an even harder journey toward self-discovery.
I was surp More...
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Aug 29, 2011
Melanie
rated it:
This book came to me also via free web promotion (like many of the reviewers already listed, and the only reason I read it in the first place), and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. Don't take that too heavily, because my expectations were in the gutter, but I found that, despite its MANY cliches and (surprisingly few) ridiculously corny (and brief!) "adult" scenes, the book as a whole had more spunk and heart than I would ever find myself crediting to a romance novel. Two sta
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Feb 11, 2011
angela
rated it:
Normally I don't read romances, they are too mushy for me but something told me to take a chance. so I did and I have to say that it wasn't bad at all. there was just enough balance between the love of the cowboy and gruffness of the main characters dad. it wasn't overly descriptive when it came to them making love which could be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on who is reading. I feel that the book was kinda rushed though, there are chapters and scenes that develop within the plot that
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Feb 28, 2009
Netanella
rated it:
This book started out great - female P.I. and a retired rodeo star cross paths when she investigates whether he was a baby stolen at birth. The usual angst of "who am i?" follows and contrives to keep the lovers apart. The plot gets way too contrived as the book progresses, though - turns out the P.I.'s mother was not really her mother either, but a dying-of-AIDS-ex-girlfriend-of-mean-as-nails daddy. But for the terrible plot twists and sappy epilogue, this book could have ranked th
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Jun 27, 2011
Jody
rated it: 
I love chick-lit and cowboys; finished this book in a few hours. Really enjoyed the storyline. I have read a lot of romance books and usually when you have read one, you've read them all; but this one had several new twists that made it very interesting. Loved the characters and story!
This is the first book I have read on my Kindle and I wasn't disappointed! Amazon offered this as a free book; so I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it.
This is the first book I have read on my Kindle and I wasn't disappointed! Amazon offered this as a free book; so I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it.
Jul 30, 2010
Kara
rated it:
This is a typical Harlequin Romance novel. Skinny, blond girl with ample bosom, meets gorgeous, dark haired, blue eyed, hunk, who once slept around but now faced with this PERFECT WOMAN, will settle down and have many children.
You don't actually expect anything from books like these. Let me tell you that the only reason this isn't 3 stars is because the author needs to write a series called "The Many Adventures of Naddy". I'd buy that.
You don't actually expect anything from books like these. Let me tell you that the only reason this isn't 3 stars is because the author needs to write a series called "The Many Adventures of Naddy". I'd buy that.
Jun 14, 2011
Cass
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Apr 20, 2011
P&K
rated it:
A cute read. I enjoyed the relationship development, and while there was a case of one character taking off (a pet peeve of mine about romance novels), it actually made sense for once, and the other character didn't go chasing after them (or waste excessive energy pining away)! My big annoyance was the sudden twist at the end for the female lead that felt really thrown in, and I think it should have been edited out.
Mar 16, 2011
Joy
rated it:
Romance apparently written in an alternate universe where all babies are switched at birth. The best scene was the cowboy actually doing cowboy things, by which I mean getting a bull loaded into a truck, and there is some funny stuff here about the heroine's scandalous grandmother. Book overall not too bad when it wasn't going all tropetastic, but nothing to make me say I wanted to run out and buy more books by this author.
Jul 15, 2011
Barbara
rated it:
Who could refuse a free Harlequin romance?... I cut my teeth on these books as a young teenager and still enjoy the occassional romance. It is refreshing to fine one that actually has a decent story attached. I really found this story engaging and bought the two books Ms. Warren wrote centering around two characters that appeared in this story. All three stories were delightful, light summer reads.
