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Rancher and Protector
Amber Brooks took the job at Camp Cowboy to find a way to reach her special-needs nephew—not to go gaga over the best-looking guy she's ever laid eyes on. True, Colt Sheridan can teach her a thing or two about horses, but Amber knows better than to trust anyone with her secret. And yet…just what is it about cowboys?
Going undercover at the camp is Colt's way of finding out where "Aunt Amber" has hidden his buddy's little boy. In exchange, his friend's promised him a prize-winning horse. And what this rodeo rider really wants is a shot at the national championship. Unfortunately, what he's got is a crush on the softhearted equine intern. But if Amber is such a good person, how can she keep a man from his own son?
Going undercover at the camp is Colt's way of finding out where "Aunt Amber" has hidden his buddy's little boy. In exchange, his friend's promised him a prize-winning horse. And what this rodeo rider really wants is a shot at the national championship. Unfortunately, what he's got is a crush on the softhearted equine intern. But if Amber is such a good person, how can she keep a man from his own son?
224 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published October 1, 2011
2 people are currently reading
84 people want to read
About the author
Pamela Britton
74 books147 followersWith over a million books in print, Pamela Britton likes to call herself the best known author nobody’s ever heard of. Of course, that’s begun to change thanks to a certain licensing agreement with that little racing organization known as NASCAR.
Nowadays it’s not unusual to hear her books being discussed by the likes of Jay Leno, Keith Olbermann, or Stephen Colbert. Flip open a magazine and you might read about her, too, in Sports Illustrated, Entertainment Weekly, or Southwest Airlines’ Spirit Magazine. Channel surf and you might see her on CNN, ESPN, ABC or NBC.
But before the glitz and glamour of NASCAR, Pamela wrote books that were frequently voted the best of the best by The Detroit Free Press, Barnes & Noble (two years in a row) and RT BOOKclub Magazine. She’s won numerous writing awards, including the National Reader’s Choice Award, and a nomination for Romance Writers of America’s Golden Heart and the Holt Medallion.
When not following the race circuit, Pamela writes full-time from her ranch in Northern California where she lives with her husband, daughter and, at last count, twenty-one four-legged friends.
If you'd like to chat with Pamela you can find her on her myspace where she loves to hangout with her readers.
Nowadays it’s not unusual to hear her books being discussed by the likes of Jay Leno, Keith Olbermann, or Stephen Colbert. Flip open a magazine and you might read about her, too, in Sports Illustrated, Entertainment Weekly, or Southwest Airlines’ Spirit Magazine. Channel surf and you might see her on CNN, ESPN, ABC or NBC.
But before the glitz and glamour of NASCAR, Pamela wrote books that were frequently voted the best of the best by The Detroit Free Press, Barnes & Noble (two years in a row) and RT BOOKclub Magazine. She’s won numerous writing awards, including the National Reader’s Choice Award, and a nomination for Romance Writers of America’s Golden Heart and the Holt Medallion.
When not following the race circuit, Pamela writes full-time from her ranch in Northern California where she lives with her husband, daughter and, at last count, twenty-one four-legged friends.
If you'd like to chat with Pamela you can find her on her myspace where she loves to hangout with her readers.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
May 7, 2020
Amber Brooks is a speech pathologist who has taken a job at Camp Cowboy in the hopes that it can assist her severely autistic nephew, reaching him through horse therapy. She's his legal guardian, as his father Logan is in prison for the vehicular manslaughter that killed the boy's mother. Colt Sheridan is the horse wrangler at Camp Cowboy, and just happens to be there at the behest of Logan, who wants to know where his nephew is. Colt's mission is complicated due to he and Amber developing feelings for each other.
I liked Amber. She is smart, driven, caring, with a good sense of humour. If the story had been devoted squarely to her work with her nephew and other special needs children, this book might have had something to it.
But I hated Colt! What a horrid, pathetic, sniveling little excuse for a "hero" he was! First of all, he's at Cowboy Camp on the say-so of a person in jail, all too happy to believe everything he says, that Amber is a horrible person willing to keep a man from his son. He's taking the word of a jailbird over a professional doing good in the community! He sneaks into Amber's room. He helps her onto a horse (she's nervous around them), then takes off. In a strange scene, he demands she take her top off, and then takes it off her himself after she says no! He gives her an orgasm, and then proceeds to ghost her for a week. He gets stroppy whenever he has a difference of opinion with others. To cap it off, he has that tropey martyr attitude of never being allowed to love again because people he loved in his past died and he feels responsible.
He truly was awful! He was more immature than all of the kids at the camp. Not that the kids at the camp could be called immature. It's just that Colt really was that bad! Amber deserved far better.
I'm assuming Colt is the Rancher of the title and Amber is the Protector. At least I hope so! There was nothing about Colt that would make him deserving of being called a protector. He was surly and childish and off-putting from start to finish.
I liked Amber. She is smart, driven, caring, with a good sense of humour. If the story had been devoted squarely to her work with her nephew and other special needs children, this book might have had something to it.
But I hated Colt! What a horrid, pathetic, sniveling little excuse for a "hero" he was! First of all, he's at Cowboy Camp on the say-so of a person in jail, all too happy to believe everything he says, that Amber is a horrible person willing to keep a man from his son. He's taking the word of a jailbird over a professional doing good in the community! He sneaks into Amber's room. He helps her onto a horse (she's nervous around them), then takes off. In a strange scene, he demands she take her top off, and then takes it off her himself after she says no! He gives her an orgasm, and then proceeds to ghost her for a week. He gets stroppy whenever he has a difference of opinion with others. To cap it off, he has that tropey martyr attitude of never being allowed to love again because people he loved in his past died and he feels responsible.
He truly was awful! He was more immature than all of the kids at the camp. Not that the kids at the camp could be called immature. It's just that Colt really was that bad! Amber deserved far better.
I'm assuming Colt is the Rancher of the title and Amber is the Protector. At least I hope so! There was nothing about Colt that would make him deserving of being called a protector. He was surly and childish and off-putting from start to finish.
January 25, 2012
The hero Colt arrives at a children's therapeutic ranch to help out with the horses, however he is really there to find out where one of his friend's son is. The heroine Amber is the guardian of the little boy and she is working as a therapist at the ranch, so Colt plans to get to know her then hopefully get her to open up to him. Amber is desperate to try anything to help her severely autistic nephew, both with the therapy through the ranch program as well as keeping him away from his imprisoned father. Colt approaches Amber and helps her learn about horses, pretty soon he begins to realise that his friend's description of Amber as a cruel, heartless woman is wrong. Instead Amber is a warm and caring woman, whom he is undeniably drawn to. Amber is also very attracted to Colt and they grow closer and closer. As much as he hates lying to her, Colt still tries to find out where her nephew is but is only left frustrated when she doesn't give anything away.
This is a really deep and moving story. There is quite a bit of sadness in the book, but it's weaved through the book with some fun moments. The issues raised around children's learning disabilities are handled with honesty and sensitivity. Both the hero and heroine are complex characters and perfectly portrayed, they fit together well and I felt that there is a lot of depth to their relationship. I loved the inclusion of the hero's dog, it added such charm to the story!
The only moan I have is that the little boy's father was made out to be the baddie throughout the whole book yet in the closing pages he had completely reformed and was the nicest man possible - it felt weak and a little shallow.
There is angst, emotion, and passion in this book. I really liked it.
Originally posted at http://everyday-is-the-same.blogspot....
This is a really deep and moving story. There is quite a bit of sadness in the book, but it's weaved through the book with some fun moments. The issues raised around children's learning disabilities are handled with honesty and sensitivity. Both the hero and heroine are complex characters and perfectly portrayed, they fit together well and I felt that there is a lot of depth to their relationship. I loved the inclusion of the hero's dog, it added such charm to the story!
The only moan I have is that the little boy's father was made out to be the baddie throughout the whole book yet in the closing pages he had completely reformed and was the nicest man possible - it felt weak and a little shallow.
There is angst, emotion, and passion in this book. I really liked it.
Originally posted at http://everyday-is-the-same.blogspot....
May 25, 2012
It's my year of romance novels and I'm sampling different imprints. This book is my first American Romance. Enjoyed it enough to pick up another one sometime, but I won't be rushing out.
Our heroine, Amber, is a speech therapist who's caring for her autistic nephew while his father is in jail for involuntary manslaughter. She enrolls him at a camp for special needs kids that engages in hippotherapy (therapy with horses). For reasons that aren't entirely clear, she hides her relationship with her nephew who's a camper. (I won't bore folks with the logical flaws, but it just seemed unnecessary other than providing a plot conflict). Our hero, Colt, is a friend of the boy's father, Logan, and goes to the camp to spy on her. (And I'll just skip over all the leaps of logic, such as how did Colt or Logan know he was there. Or if she has temporary/partial custody - can she really hide the kid)
If you can get past those leaps (and the non-lawyer readers probably can), it's a nice story. It provides one an appreciation of the challenges of raising a child with autism. I really wanted to know what happened to the child and how he developed. I also thought the emotional pull between the characters developed nicely.
(avast ye maties, plot spoiler ahead)
What did not sit right with me were the two physical scenes. I found them very jarring. I'm reading along, enjoying the story. Colt & Amber are just getting to know each other and he goes to her room and demands she takes her shirt off. What? Where did that come from? And then the second big scene - the nephew's in the hospital so of course Amber must kiss him. One second he's trying to apologize, the next he "commands" her "Take your clothes off." Jarrring. I don't have a problem with these scenes, but this was so jarring. It didn't seem to fit with the story. Oh, and this whole ordering around a woman you are just getting to know? Really - who wants that?
The title is also a curiousity - because Colt doesn't act like much of a protector. He's a rancher, but I don't see that much protecting - ordering a woman around is not protecting. I'm wondering if the protector in the title refers to Amber - she really is the protector here. She protects little Rudy - and in many ways Colt - trying to help him deal with his own demons.
Other than that, it was a sweet little 2-3 hour read. I may try the series again, but I must admit I just don't get the obsession with cowboys. Perhaps I'm not the target market.
Rated on my 5 star romance scale
Our heroine, Amber, is a speech therapist who's caring for her autistic nephew while his father is in jail for involuntary manslaughter. She enrolls him at a camp for special needs kids that engages in hippotherapy (therapy with horses). For reasons that aren't entirely clear, she hides her relationship with her nephew who's a camper. (I won't bore folks with the logical flaws, but it just seemed unnecessary other than providing a plot conflict). Our hero, Colt, is a friend of the boy's father, Logan, and goes to the camp to spy on her. (And I'll just skip over all the leaps of logic, such as how did Colt or Logan know he was there. Or if she has temporary/partial custody - can she really hide the kid)
If you can get past those leaps (and the non-lawyer readers probably can), it's a nice story. It provides one an appreciation of the challenges of raising a child with autism. I really wanted to know what happened to the child and how he developed. I also thought the emotional pull between the characters developed nicely.
(avast ye maties, plot spoiler ahead)
What did not sit right with me were the two physical scenes. I found them very jarring. I'm reading along, enjoying the story. Colt & Amber are just getting to know each other and he goes to her room and demands she takes her shirt off. What? Where did that come from? And then the second big scene - the nephew's in the hospital so of course Amber must kiss him. One second he's trying to apologize, the next he "commands" her "Take your clothes off." Jarrring. I don't have a problem with these scenes, but this was so jarring. It didn't seem to fit with the story. Oh, and this whole ordering around a woman you are just getting to know? Really - who wants that?
The title is also a curiousity - because Colt doesn't act like much of a protector. He's a rancher, but I don't see that much protecting - ordering a woman around is not protecting. I'm wondering if the protector in the title refers to Amber - she really is the protector here. She protects little Rudy - and in many ways Colt - trying to help him deal with his own demons.
Other than that, it was a sweet little 2-3 hour read. I may try the series again, but I must admit I just don't get the obsession with cowboys. Perhaps I'm not the target market.
Rated on my 5 star romance scale
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June 30, 2016Miniseries: American Romance's Men of the West
"A wonderful, emotional, and heartwarming book. I especially the part where Amber gets acquainted with horses. I loved Camp Cowboy and what it was all about. The book is about horses, dogs, especially Mac and the power they have with special-needs children." From a review posted by an Harlequin.com member. To read more, go here.
"A wonderful, emotional, and heartwarming book. I especially the part where Amber gets acquainted with horses. I loved Camp Cowboy and what it was all about. The book is about horses, dogs, especially Mac and the power they have with special-needs children." From a review posted by an Harlequin.com member. To read more, go here.
October 8, 2011
Not as good as I was hoping - the one-dimensional characters marred the read for me. The hero was also not emotionally as strong as I expected, considering the title of the book.
Full review soon at www.mangamaniaccafe.com
Full review soon at www.mangamaniaccafe.com
February 13, 2012
This was a great book, I am kinda partical to Pamala Britton's books. But what really touched me about this book was how the main character delt with a child with special needs. I could identify with the character so much having a special needs child. Ms. Britton has wrote yet another great book.
August 27, 2012
Didn't like this nearly as much as her other books.
September 14, 2015
A very entertaining and informative story. Enjoyed it immensely. I will definitely be reading more books by this author.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews