What do you think?
Rate this book
Prosperity, Montana #1
A Rancher's Honor
There is no room in day-care owner Lana Carpenter’s Life for casual things. After all, her dream of adopting a baby is closer to becoming a reality now than ever. So why is she still mooning over the sexy cowboy who makes her forget everything but the strong, sure feel of his arms around her?
It wasn’t supposed to be more than one unforgettable night between consenting strangers. But when Sly Pettit spots Lana’s photo in the local paper, he grabs at the chance to see her again. The guarded rancher is falling hard for Lana, but it can only end in heartbreak. Unless Sly can trust her with the secrets that keep him from believing that, just maybe, they could have a future together.
It wasn’t supposed to be more than one unforgettable night between consenting strangers. But when Sly Pettit spots Lana’s photo in the local paper, he grabs at the chance to see her again. The guarded rancher is falling hard for Lana, but it can only end in heartbreak. Unless Sly can trust her with the secrets that keep him from believing that, just maybe, they could have a future together.
- GenresRomance
224 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2014
10 people are currently reading
57 people want to read
About the author
Ann Roth
92 books71 followersI'm a bit of a voyeur. I love to stick my nose into total strangers' business and observe how they deal with life's hurdles and whatever obstacles fate throws at them. I can't think of anything more challenging or interesting than delving into a character's psyche to discover what makes her/him tick. The surprises and insights are amazing.
The people who interest me most are the ones I know will triumph despite life’s problems and challenges. For me, writing their stories is both rewarding and a whole lot of fun.
Publication didn't come easy for me--just ask my family! That took seven-plus years, during which I worked full-time as a banker, complete with an MBA in finance and human resources management. I wrote evenings and weekends, spending countless hours hunched in front of the computer while I painstakingly honed my craft, and collected folders of rejections. In 1999 my efforts at last paid off. That summer, I won the Golden Heart for best long contemporary romance. Sadly it is now defunct. Six months later, just four days before Christmas, I sold my first book to Silhouette Special Edition, also now gone. That book, STRANGER IN A SMALL TOWN, was a 2000 Romantic Times nominee (another loss) for best first long series novel.
Since then I have sold multiple novels to publishers and tried my hand at indie publishing.
But things change, so check back often for updates.
Thanks for stopping by, and come back soon!
The people who interest me most are the ones I know will triumph despite life’s problems and challenges. For me, writing their stories is both rewarding and a whole lot of fun.
Publication didn't come easy for me--just ask my family! That took seven-plus years, during which I worked full-time as a banker, complete with an MBA in finance and human resources management. I wrote evenings and weekends, spending countless hours hunched in front of the computer while I painstakingly honed my craft, and collected folders of rejections. In 1999 my efforts at last paid off. That summer, I won the Golden Heart for best long contemporary romance. Sadly it is now defunct. Six months later, just four days before Christmas, I sold my first book to Silhouette Special Edition, also now gone. That book, STRANGER IN A SMALL TOWN, was a 2000 Romantic Times nominee (another loss) for best first long series novel.
Since then I have sold multiple novels to publishers and tried my hand at indie publishing.
But things change, so check back often for updates.
Thanks for stopping by, and come back soon!
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
March 5, 2020
"When are you two going out?"
"He didn't ask me out," Lana said. "I never had a chance to find out his last name or anything else about him. He was only interested in kissing me."
"Ooh. Did you let him?"
"Of course not." But Lana had wanted to. Badly.
"Are you crazy? If you don't want to kiss Sly Whatever-his-last-name-is, send him my way."
"Ha, ha, ha. I didn't let him kiss me because he's only interested in one thing."
"I thought you liked doing that one thing with him."
Lana gritted her teeth. "You're not helping, Kate. I don't want a sex-only relationship." pg. 39
This book opens with Lana waking up after a ONS, very uncharacteristic of her. She went to bed with Sly after meeting him at a bar on a bad night for her - a night when she found out her ex-husband's new wife was expecting a baby.
Lana is infertile, and it's why her ex-husband left her. She runs a daycare and plans on adopting a baby. She's actively going through the adoptive process now.
Sly is weird. For one thing, he seems allergic to the 'r-word' (relationship) and even when he has a 'girlfriend' he doesn't allow her in his house and especially not his bedroom. Doesn't this seem strange to you? It seems strange to me.
He's also a guy who thinks with his dick. It's a bad sign when your cock does your thinking for you. I was really hoping there was going to be more to him than that.
Sly's issues also confuse Lana. For instance, he says stuff like "I want to get to know you." She's like, "That's called dating." and he's like, "Ha ha ha, don't use the r-word."
Later in the book, he's like, "I want to spend time with you and also have sex with you on the regular and see you a lot." And she's like, "That's a relationship." And he's like, "No, it's not a relationship" and both her and I are like "???"
So he keeps showing up, helping her, wanting to see her and yet still claiming he doesn't want a relationship. He's a fuckboy.
Sometimes she calls him on his shit:
"I'm not interested in getting serious or anything, but I would like to get to know you."
"Oh, really? Then why didn't you ask me for my number, or at least act like you were interested in ME as a person? You never asked me a single question about myself." pg. 57
And sometimes she drools over him:
He rolled up his sleeves to the middle of his forearms. Lana couldn't help noting his thick wrists and hands.
The nails were short and clean, and his fingers and palms were calloused and scarred from ranch work. Strong, competent hands that could also be gentle and bring such pleasure... pg. 95
But either way she's confused by this fuckboy.
Unfortunately, if you are a romance reader, you can see the "plot twist" in this book coming from a mile away: Infertile Lana who desperately wants a baby and is going through the adoption process While this is very typical in Romancelandia, it's annoying and IMO a copout. It would be much bettter IMO to write a book in which a commitmentphobic fuckboy has to deal with the fallout of falling in love with a woman he tried his best to use and discard, even having to take on the fact that she is actively adopting and he will have to be a father if he chooses to be in a (gasp) relationship with her. That's pretty good and difficult. Instead, however, the author cops out and How sad.
I have to give Roth props for having Sly come to grips with his fuckboy-ness while lecturing a much younger fuckboy about responsibility to his woman. One of Sly's 20-year-old ranchhands gets his girlfriend pregnant and plans on just leaving - not telling his girlfriend anything, just abandoning her and skipping town. Sly is aghast and advises the youngster not to be such a fuckboy. He explains that the ranchhand should be a man, stand up and take responsibility for his actions. In doing so, he realizes that HE is a fuckboy and that HE needs to stand up and take responsibility for HIS actions because he also got a woman and he needs to deal with that circumstance like a grown man of 35. Which he is. Pretty old to be a fuckboy, right?
After that, he goes to Lana and tells her that
However, is he cured of his fuckboyedness? I don't think so. Even up to page 182, he's literally saying to Lana, "I want to have sex with you regularly, I want to , but I don't want to have a relationship with you." And she's like, "That's what a relationship IS. Are you crazy?" I was expecting some sort of explanation for why this hero is SO WEIRD, beyond your standard one-sentence "A woman broke up with him in the past." I mean, women break up with men all the time, it doesn't lead them to being so strange that they ban anyone they are dating from their house/bedroom. ??? But I did not get a satisfying explanation of his behavior.
IS THERE ANYTHING GOOD YOU CAN SAY ABOUT OUR HERO, CARMEN?
Yes.
- He does dishes. Voluntarily, and with no complaints. Seems amenable to doing household chores. Doesn't see household chores as 'women's work.'
- Does labor. Is willing to do labor.
- Doesn't get ruffled easily. Yes, he took the news of badly, he was upset. He's not a mensch, he's a fuckboy, you understand. But generally he is pretty calm, hard to ruffle, has a steady nature with no temper. Doesn't get riled easily. Doesn't lose his temper. He's good at taking things in stride.
- Stops immediately anytime Lana tells him to sexually. He may be a fuckboy, but he's not an asshole and certainly not a rapist.
This is kind of damning the guy with faint praise, huh? I mean, besides the 'calm' part, these are pretty low standards to have for a man. "Isn't a rapist" - good standard, right? LOL
HOW'S THE SEX, CARMEN?
"We had sex."
Kate gave her a funny look. "He disappointed you?"
Lana shook her head. "Sly is the best lover I've ever had." pg. 197
Usually when a heroine says this I laugh her out of the room. Usually heroines don't know what they are talking about and simply accept any kind of fucking as stellar fucking. For some reason. Because they are inexperienced? Because the author can't be bothered to write good sex? Because men are shit in bed as a general rule? IDK.
But Sly actually takes care of Lana in bed. I have to give it to him. You have to give a man credit where credit is due. He genuinely enjoys foreplay. He goes down on her. He cares that she orgasms and makes sure it happens. He didn't seem rushed or impatient in bed. She's lucky. You'd be surprised how many contemporaries I read about 'womanizers' and historicals I read about 'rakes' who, despite having vast sexual experience in bed, really are rotten at giving women any kind of pleasure, and, more importantly, don't seem to give a crap that women aren't enjoying themselves.
I didn't find the sex scene in this book sexually stimulating, I don't think Roth writes in a titillating way. Also, Sly talks in bed and honestly I wish he wouldn't. I wish he would just shut up. But that being said, I'm happy Lana found someone who knows how to put it down for her. This would be a much worse book if she had a horrible ONS, and then was saddled with a callous sexual partner for life. At least I can rest happy that she's found a man who cares about pleasing her in bed.
TL;DR Standard, typical, could-see-it-a-mile-away 'plot twist.' Standard romance-book fare. I think the story would have been much more interesting if Sly had to deal with his feelings for a woman he had a ONS with, a woman with different values than him (she wants children and he's allergic to even having a relationship with a woman), and trying to come to grips with his new future and his new values.
But Roth takes the easy way out and relies on the old trope of forcing Sly with a heavy hand into a situation that he doesn't want. To me, this is less about love than about a man who can only allow himself to be an asshole to a certain extent. It's more romantic if a man chooses to be with a woman, a ONS, who insists on adopting and having children when his whole schtick is not becoming involved with people. There's nothing more involving than raising a child. But It's cheating. Because he will go up a few levels on the asshole-scale if he It's lazy, and the author doesn't want to do as much work, so she copped out. Or Harlequin ordered the plot (might be more likely). Either way, it neuters what could have been a powerful book.
I didn't hate the book, but there was nothing special about it.
ROMANCE CATEGORIES:
Contemporary Romance
Cowboy/Western Romance
Non-Virgin Heroine
He's a Rancher, She's a Day-Care Owner.
Takes Place in Montana, U.S.A.
NAMES IN THIS BOOK
"He didn't ask me out," Lana said. "I never had a chance to find out his last name or anything else about him. He was only interested in kissing me."
"Ooh. Did you let him?"
"Of course not." But Lana had wanted to. Badly.
"Are you crazy? If you don't want to kiss Sly Whatever-his-last-name-is, send him my way."
"Ha, ha, ha. I didn't let him kiss me because he's only interested in one thing."
"I thought you liked doing that one thing with him."
Lana gritted her teeth. "You're not helping, Kate. I don't want a sex-only relationship." pg. 39
This book opens with Lana waking up after a ONS, very uncharacteristic of her. She went to bed with Sly after meeting him at a bar on a bad night for her - a night when she found out her ex-husband's new wife was expecting a baby.
Lana is infertile, and it's why her ex-husband left her. She runs a daycare and plans on adopting a baby. She's actively going through the adoptive process now.
Sly is weird. For one thing, he seems allergic to the 'r-word' (relationship) and even when he has a 'girlfriend' he doesn't allow her in his house and especially not his bedroom. Doesn't this seem strange to you? It seems strange to me.
He's also a guy who thinks with his dick. It's a bad sign when your cock does your thinking for you. I was really hoping there was going to be more to him than that.
Sly's issues also confuse Lana. For instance, he says stuff like "I want to get to know you." She's like, "That's called dating." and he's like, "Ha ha ha, don't use the r-word."
Later in the book, he's like, "I want to spend time with you and also have sex with you on the regular and see you a lot." And she's like, "That's a relationship." And he's like, "No, it's not a relationship" and both her and I are like "???"
So he keeps showing up, helping her, wanting to see her and yet still claiming he doesn't want a relationship. He's a fuckboy.
Sometimes she calls him on his shit:
"I'm not interested in getting serious or anything, but I would like to get to know you."
"Oh, really? Then why didn't you ask me for my number, or at least act like you were interested in ME as a person? You never asked me a single question about myself." pg. 57
And sometimes she drools over him:
He rolled up his sleeves to the middle of his forearms. Lana couldn't help noting his thick wrists and hands.
The nails were short and clean, and his fingers and palms were calloused and scarred from ranch work. Strong, competent hands that could also be gentle and bring such pleasure... pg. 95
But either way she's confused by this fuckboy.
Unfortunately, if you are a romance reader, you can see the "plot twist" in this book coming from a mile away: Infertile Lana who desperately wants a baby and is going through the adoption process While this is very typical in Romancelandia, it's annoying and IMO a copout. It would be much bettter IMO to write a book in which a commitmentphobic fuckboy has to deal with the fallout of falling in love with a woman he tried his best to use and discard, even having to take on the fact that she is actively adopting and he will have to be a father if he chooses to be in a (gasp) relationship with her. That's pretty good and difficult. Instead, however, the author cops out and How sad.
I have to give Roth props for having Sly come to grips with his fuckboy-ness while lecturing a much younger fuckboy about responsibility to his woman. One of Sly's 20-year-old ranchhands gets his girlfriend pregnant and plans on just leaving - not telling his girlfriend anything, just abandoning her and skipping town. Sly is aghast and advises the youngster not to be such a fuckboy. He explains that the ranchhand should be a man, stand up and take responsibility for his actions. In doing so, he realizes that HE is a fuckboy and that HE needs to stand up and take responsibility for HIS actions because he also got a woman and he needs to deal with that circumstance like a grown man of 35. Which he is. Pretty old to be a fuckboy, right?
After that, he goes to Lana and tells her that
However, is he cured of his fuckboyedness? I don't think so. Even up to page 182, he's literally saying to Lana, "I want to have sex with you regularly, I want to , but I don't want to have a relationship with you." And she's like, "That's what a relationship IS. Are you crazy?" I was expecting some sort of explanation for why this hero is SO WEIRD, beyond your standard one-sentence "A woman broke up with him in the past." I mean, women break up with men all the time, it doesn't lead them to being so strange that they ban anyone they are dating from their house/bedroom. ??? But I did not get a satisfying explanation of his behavior.
IS THERE ANYTHING GOOD YOU CAN SAY ABOUT OUR HERO, CARMEN?
Yes.
- He does dishes. Voluntarily, and with no complaints. Seems amenable to doing household chores. Doesn't see household chores as 'women's work.'
- Does labor. Is willing to do labor.
- Doesn't get ruffled easily. Yes, he took the news of badly, he was upset. He's not a mensch, he's a fuckboy, you understand. But generally he is pretty calm, hard to ruffle, has a steady nature with no temper. Doesn't get riled easily. Doesn't lose his temper. He's good at taking things in stride.
- Stops immediately anytime Lana tells him to sexually. He may be a fuckboy, but he's not an asshole and certainly not a rapist.
This is kind of damning the guy with faint praise, huh? I mean, besides the 'calm' part, these are pretty low standards to have for a man. "Isn't a rapist" - good standard, right? LOL
HOW'S THE SEX, CARMEN?
"We had sex."
Kate gave her a funny look. "He disappointed you?"
Lana shook her head. "Sly is the best lover I've ever had." pg. 197
Usually when a heroine says this I laugh her out of the room. Usually heroines don't know what they are talking about and simply accept any kind of fucking as stellar fucking. For some reason. Because they are inexperienced? Because the author can't be bothered to write good sex? Because men are shit in bed as a general rule? IDK.
But Sly actually takes care of Lana in bed. I have to give it to him. You have to give a man credit where credit is due. He genuinely enjoys foreplay. He goes down on her. He cares that she orgasms and makes sure it happens. He didn't seem rushed or impatient in bed. She's lucky. You'd be surprised how many contemporaries I read about 'womanizers' and historicals I read about 'rakes' who, despite having vast sexual experience in bed, really are rotten at giving women any kind of pleasure, and, more importantly, don't seem to give a crap that women aren't enjoying themselves.
I didn't find the sex scene in this book sexually stimulating, I don't think Roth writes in a titillating way. Also, Sly talks in bed and honestly I wish he wouldn't. I wish he would just shut up. But that being said, I'm happy Lana found someone who knows how to put it down for her. This would be a much worse book if she had a horrible ONS, and then was saddled with a callous sexual partner for life. At least I can rest happy that she's found a man who cares about pleasing her in bed.
TL;DR Standard, typical, could-see-it-a-mile-away 'plot twist.' Standard romance-book fare. I think the story would have been much more interesting if Sly had to deal with his feelings for a woman he had a ONS with, a woman with different values than him (she wants children and he's allergic to even having a relationship with a woman), and trying to come to grips with his new future and his new values.
But Roth takes the easy way out and relies on the old trope of forcing Sly with a heavy hand into a situation that he doesn't want. To me, this is less about love than about a man who can only allow himself to be an asshole to a certain extent. It's more romantic if a man chooses to be with a woman, a ONS, who insists on adopting and having children when his whole schtick is not becoming involved with people. There's nothing more involving than raising a child. But It's cheating. Because he will go up a few levels on the asshole-scale if he It's lazy, and the author doesn't want to do as much work, so she copped out. Or Harlequin ordered the plot (might be more likely). Either way, it neuters what could have been a powerful book.
I didn't hate the book, but there was nothing special about it.
ROMANCE CATEGORIES:
Contemporary Romance
Cowboy/Western Romance
Non-Virgin Heroine
He's a Rancher, She's a Day-Care Owner.
Takes Place in Montana, U.S.A.
NAMES IN THIS BOOK
June 6, 2014
Good book. Lara is recovering from the news that her ex-husband and his new wife are expecting a baby. He had divorced her because she had been unable to have children. She met Sly while she and her friend were at a local bar. They had an instant connection but as neither wants a relationship they agreed to one night only, then part the next morning.
Lana hasn't been able to forget him, but she has other things on her mind too. She is trying to adopt a baby and a fling just isn't practical. She's surprised when he seeks her out, even though he has said that he doesn't do relationships. They begin a tentative relationship that is leaning a little more on the friendship side as she discovers Sly is very supportive of her plans to adopt. Things get a little complicated when she discovers that he is involved in a lawsuit with his next door neighbor, who is also her cousin. She is torn between her growing feelings for Sly and her need to support her family member. Family is very important to her and she is nervous about telling them who she is involved with. It gets even more complicated when she discovers she is pregnant. Sly has made it clear that he doesn't intend to have children and she worries about how he will react. She wants him to be involved but she's willing to do it alone. I liked seeing her patience with his fears and how she kept him involved without showing any expectations. I got a bit frustrated with Lana's constant worry about pleasing her family. At thirty-two she should be at the stage where she can stand up to them in regards to her own wants and needs. She didn't cave in to their wishes at least, but she didn't speak up either. In the end, Lana had to decide what was more important to her, her love for Sly or the approval of her family. I really liked what she did with her decision.
Sly has never been good with relationships. He keeps things very superficial which drives women away after awhile. Sly doesn't like to risk his heart because every time he does, things go wrong. His parents died while he was young. His uncle took custody of him and his younger brother but not his little sister, who went into foster care. The uncle wasn't good to them, so Sly tried to do his best for his younger brother. Unfortunately, Seth went down a bad road no matter what Sly did and ended up dropping out of school and disappearing. Sly blames himself and swears he will never inflict his poor parenting skills on a child of his own. He also had a bad relationship in college that soured him on love. His night with Lara was incredible and he hasn't been able to get her off his mind. He wants to get to know her better, in spite of his misgivings. Even though he tells himself to stay away, he finds himself getting involved in her life. He supports her through her nerves about adopting and helps her assemble furniture for the nursery. He likes talking to her and discovers they have a lot in common. When she tells him about the baby he is stunned and not real happy, but he promises her his support. He can't stay away from her and finds himself growing closer to her and more comfortable with the idea of the baby. I loved the scene in the doctor's office. He also starts thinking about what it would be like to have her in his life permanently which really scares him. He doesn't want to risk getting his heart broken again and when something happens regarding the lawsuit it looks bad for the two of them. I loved seeing Lara's influence on what he does at the end to help resolve it, and how he finally is able to open up his heart.
Lana hasn't been able to forget him, but she has other things on her mind too. She is trying to adopt a baby and a fling just isn't practical. She's surprised when he seeks her out, even though he has said that he doesn't do relationships. They begin a tentative relationship that is leaning a little more on the friendship side as she discovers Sly is very supportive of her plans to adopt. Things get a little complicated when she discovers that he is involved in a lawsuit with his next door neighbor, who is also her cousin. She is torn between her growing feelings for Sly and her need to support her family member. Family is very important to her and she is nervous about telling them who she is involved with. It gets even more complicated when she discovers she is pregnant. Sly has made it clear that he doesn't intend to have children and she worries about how he will react. She wants him to be involved but she's willing to do it alone. I liked seeing her patience with his fears and how she kept him involved without showing any expectations. I got a bit frustrated with Lana's constant worry about pleasing her family. At thirty-two she should be at the stage where she can stand up to them in regards to her own wants and needs. She didn't cave in to their wishes at least, but she didn't speak up either. In the end, Lana had to decide what was more important to her, her love for Sly or the approval of her family. I really liked what she did with her decision.
Sly has never been good with relationships. He keeps things very superficial which drives women away after awhile. Sly doesn't like to risk his heart because every time he does, things go wrong. His parents died while he was young. His uncle took custody of him and his younger brother but not his little sister, who went into foster care. The uncle wasn't good to them, so Sly tried to do his best for his younger brother. Unfortunately, Seth went down a bad road no matter what Sly did and ended up dropping out of school and disappearing. Sly blames himself and swears he will never inflict his poor parenting skills on a child of his own. He also had a bad relationship in college that soured him on love. His night with Lara was incredible and he hasn't been able to get her off his mind. He wants to get to know her better, in spite of his misgivings. Even though he tells himself to stay away, he finds himself getting involved in her life. He supports her through her nerves about adopting and helps her assemble furniture for the nursery. He likes talking to her and discovers they have a lot in common. When she tells him about the baby he is stunned and not real happy, but he promises her his support. He can't stay away from her and finds himself growing closer to her and more comfortable with the idea of the baby. I loved the scene in the doctor's office. He also starts thinking about what it would be like to have her in his life permanently which really scares him. He doesn't want to risk getting his heart broken again and when something happens regarding the lawsuit it looks bad for the two of them. I loved seeing Lara's influence on what he does at the end to help resolve it, and how he finally is able to open up his heart.
Read
June 30, 2016" The wonderful characters are a delight to get to know and make this story a joy to read (RT Book Reviews)". 4 stars
Miniseries: Prosperity, Montana
Miniseries: Prosperity, Montana
July 30, 2014
I really enjoyed this book. It is a great romance novel. Looking forward to reading more of the Prosperity, Montana stories.
January 21, 2015
Nicely done. Unexpected pregnancy, enemies in love...
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews