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Montana Mavericks: Back in the Saddle #1
The Last Single Maverick
Look out, there's another Traub bachelor in town! Jason "Jace" Traub is every bit as gorgeous as his sexy twin brother, but rumor has it he is even more marriage-shy. There's not a woman alive who could make this restless rancher settle down….
Yet insiders whisper that Jace has been talking wedding plans with Jocelyn Bennings, the chestnut-haired beauty who ran out on her own wedding just days ago! Could the confirmed bachelor really be hooking up with heartbroken, headstrong Joss? Stay tuned, loyal readers, to find out if their marriage of convenience runs amuck—or if lasting passion will finally rope in the last single maverick!
Yet insiders whisper that Jace has been talking wedding plans with Jocelyn Bennings, the chestnut-haired beauty who ran out on her own wedding just days ago! Could the confirmed bachelor really be hooking up with heartbroken, headstrong Joss? Stay tuned, loyal readers, to find out if their marriage of convenience runs amuck—or if lasting passion will finally rope in the last single maverick!
Paperback
First published January 1, 2012
About the author
Christine Rimmer
759 books433 followersNew York Times bestselling author Christine Rimmer has written more than one hundred contemporary romances for Harlequin Books. She has won Romantic Times BOOKreview’s Reviewer’s Choice Award for best Silhouette Special Edition. She has been nominated seven times for the Romance Writers of America’s prestigious RITA award and five times for Romantic Times Series Storyteller of the Year.
A California native who first longed to be an actress, Christine earned her theater degree from California State, Sacramento and then went to New York to study acting. Later, she moved to Southern California, where she began her writing career with short stories, plays, and poems. Her poems and short stories were published in a number of small literary journals. Her plays were produced at The Back Alley and Group Theaters in Southern California and have been published by Dramatists Play Service and West Coast Plays.
She now lives in Oregon with her family and two very contented cats named Tom and Ed.
A California native who first longed to be an actress, Christine earned her theater degree from California State, Sacramento and then went to New York to study acting. Later, she moved to Southern California, where she began her writing career with short stories, plays, and poems. Her poems and short stories were published in a number of small literary journals. Her plays were produced at The Back Alley and Group Theaters in Southern California and have been published by Dramatists Play Service and West Coast Plays.
She now lives in Oregon with her family and two very contented cats named Tom and Ed.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
September 15, 2015
She swallowed. Hard. "I'm... on the pill, but I should have brought condoms."
He reached in his pocket and brought out four of them. "Okay," he said roughly. "It's like this. I never planned to put a move on you, I promise you..."
She teased, "But you wanted to be ready, just in case I dragged you up here and wouldn't let you go until your made mad, passionate love to me."
"Right." His dark eyes were bright with humor - and heat. "You being such a total animal and all."
She took the condoms from him and set them on the nightstand next to the chocolates. "So, all right, we have chocolate and condoms. We're ready for anything."
This book was actually charming, I am surprised.
Jace (Jason) Traub is going through a bit of a... life change. After breaking it off with his fiancée he's not only single (much to his family's horror) but also refusing to work in the family's oil corporation (to his family's even bigger horror). Now he's back in town for a reunion, and it's not very enjoyable to him. His mom keeps trying to introduce him to "nice girls." His great-aunt is chasing him around trying to get him to go to church. His older brother is trying to browbeat him into coming to work at the oil company and his one-night-stand from last year is trying to get a repeat performance.
Can't a man ever get a little peace?
He heads over to the bar to get a beer.
There he meets Joss, sitting at the bar by herself. Thirty years old, she's on her "un-honeymoon." Her boyfriend of five years was slowly becoming someone she didn't like. The last straw was when she caught him - on her wedding day - having sex with her cousin Kimberly in the closet. Now she's jobless, homeless, and determined to enjoy this week-long un-honeymoon.
Jace is instantly attracted to Joss. He wants to hang out with her and spend time with her and get to know her. But she's like,
"Before I decide whether to go with you or not, I need to get something crystal clear."
"Fine."
"I want you to listen very carefully, Jace."
He assumed a suitably intent expression. "I'm listening."
"I'm. Not. Going. To. Have. Sex. With. You."
Jace says he's fine with that, and he actually means it. They decide to be "best friends" for a week. And it's a great set-up. They go golfing, horseback riding, out to dinner, swimming, and dancing. They talk to each other about their lives, their problems, and their pasts. But when the week is over and it's time to say goodbye, can they really let each other walk out of their lives forever?
...
I was surprised at how cute and charming this novel was. It is also pretty juvenile.
I don't mean "juvenile" as an insult, necessarily. It's very light, light-hearted - more of a romantic-comedy or sitcom than what you'd usually find in the romance genre. The story is simple and straightforward and predictable, but with a kind of teasing breeziness that is rather delightful. Neither Jace nor Joss take themselves or their problems too seriously. Jace and Joss often come across not as thirty-year-olds, but as older teenagers. That's not bad or even necessarily unrealistic. A lot of people nowadays who are in their late twenties and early thirties are not in the place their parents were at that age. I don't think this is a bad or unkind portrayal. Tons of people will be able to identify with Jace - he's at this point in his life where he only knows what he DOESN'T want to do, not what he actually wants to do. He's a bit lost and at a crossroads.
I mean, it's not exactly like I feel sorry for him - he has an executive oil job laid out for him if he ever wants to work for his family's corporation. This is a wealthy man with lots of security and options.
Jace is a kind of teasing, funny hero - but at times he acted a bit too childish for me. I like goofy guys, but that chocolate fight scene was a bit much. Mostly I liked him, though. I love men who tell you it's okay if you don't want sex, and actually mean it. He's a good friend to Joss and I feel like they actually get to know each other. He's great with consent and boundaries.
Joss is struggling to put her life back together after catching her groom in the act - she's the more serious half of the couple, although she's teasing and comedic, too.
How's the sex, Carmen?
Not very exciting, but I felt like Rimmer was genuinely trying. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't very hot.
...
Tl;dr - Cute, light-hearted, and funny - this could be exactly the breath of fresh air you need if you are bogged down by angsty romances. A quick Harlequin jaunt.
THREE REAL STARS, THREE ROMANCE STARS
He reached in his pocket and brought out four of them. "Okay," he said roughly. "It's like this. I never planned to put a move on you, I promise you..."
She teased, "But you wanted to be ready, just in case I dragged you up here and wouldn't let you go until your made mad, passionate love to me."
"Right." His dark eyes were bright with humor - and heat. "You being such a total animal and all."
She took the condoms from him and set them on the nightstand next to the chocolates. "So, all right, we have chocolate and condoms. We're ready for anything."
This book was actually charming, I am surprised.
Jace (Jason) Traub is going through a bit of a... life change. After breaking it off with his fiancée he's not only single (much to his family's horror) but also refusing to work in the family's oil corporation (to his family's even bigger horror). Now he's back in town for a reunion, and it's not very enjoyable to him. His mom keeps trying to introduce him to "nice girls." His great-aunt is chasing him around trying to get him to go to church. His older brother is trying to browbeat him into coming to work at the oil company and his one-night-stand from last year is trying to get a repeat performance.
Can't a man ever get a little peace?
He heads over to the bar to get a beer.
There he meets Joss, sitting at the bar by herself. Thirty years old, she's on her "un-honeymoon." Her boyfriend of five years was slowly becoming someone she didn't like. The last straw was when she caught him - on her wedding day - having sex with her cousin Kimberly in the closet. Now she's jobless, homeless, and determined to enjoy this week-long un-honeymoon.
Jace is instantly attracted to Joss. He wants to hang out with her and spend time with her and get to know her. But she's like,
"Before I decide whether to go with you or not, I need to get something crystal clear."
"Fine."
"I want you to listen very carefully, Jace."
He assumed a suitably intent expression. "I'm listening."
"I'm. Not. Going. To. Have. Sex. With. You."
Jace says he's fine with that, and he actually means it. They decide to be "best friends" for a week. And it's a great set-up. They go golfing, horseback riding, out to dinner, swimming, and dancing. They talk to each other about their lives, their problems, and their pasts. But when the week is over and it's time to say goodbye, can they really let each other walk out of their lives forever?
...
I was surprised at how cute and charming this novel was. It is also pretty juvenile.
I don't mean "juvenile" as an insult, necessarily. It's very light, light-hearted - more of a romantic-comedy or sitcom than what you'd usually find in the romance genre. The story is simple and straightforward and predictable, but with a kind of teasing breeziness that is rather delightful. Neither Jace nor Joss take themselves or their problems too seriously. Jace and Joss often come across not as thirty-year-olds, but as older teenagers. That's not bad or even necessarily unrealistic. A lot of people nowadays who are in their late twenties and early thirties are not in the place their parents were at that age. I don't think this is a bad or unkind portrayal. Tons of people will be able to identify with Jace - he's at this point in his life where he only knows what he DOESN'T want to do, not what he actually wants to do. He's a bit lost and at a crossroads.
I mean, it's not exactly like I feel sorry for him - he has an executive oil job laid out for him if he ever wants to work for his family's corporation. This is a wealthy man with lots of security and options.
Jace is a kind of teasing, funny hero - but at times he acted a bit too childish for me. I like goofy guys, but that chocolate fight scene was a bit much. Mostly I liked him, though. I love men who tell you it's okay if you don't want sex, and actually mean it. He's a good friend to Joss and I feel like they actually get to know each other. He's great with consent and boundaries.
Joss is struggling to put her life back together after catching her groom in the act - she's the more serious half of the couple, although she's teasing and comedic, too.
How's the sex, Carmen?
Not very exciting, but I felt like Rimmer was genuinely trying. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't very hot.
...
Tl;dr - Cute, light-hearted, and funny - this could be exactly the breath of fresh air you need if you are bogged down by angsty romances. A quick Harlequin jaunt.
THREE REAL STARS, THREE ROMANCE STARS
July 8, 2015
Loved the First 90% and the Rest Really Lost its Charm -- I Was Quite Disappointed
Boy oh boy, this was going along absolutely beautifully as a 5-star read and then we reach 90% and it all went gravely down hill from there. Yes, you will get your HEA but it was so diminished by the happenings and took the joy right out of it. It left me scratching my head and mumbling what in the heck just happened and how could something so beautifully written between two sophisticated endearing people turn so quickly into a three-ring circus that sadly resembled a drunken brawl with a room full of rednecks. I was about to rate it with two-stars because of the disappointment but I felt about how much I loved the first 90 percent which was truly lovely. It is too bad that the ending was as such because it left a bad taste in my mouth. Why couldn't the crazy have been at the beginning and let us end up on a much higher note?
I am not sure I would recommend this book. I will say that unlike Ms Rimmer's other books I will not be rereading this and am unsure if I will continue this series.
Boy oh boy, this was going along absolutely beautifully as a 5-star read and then we reach 90% and it all went gravely down hill from there. Yes, you will get your HEA but it was so diminished by the happenings and took the joy right out of it. It left me scratching my head and mumbling what in the heck just happened and how could something so beautifully written between two sophisticated endearing people turn so quickly into a three-ring circus that sadly resembled a drunken brawl with a room full of rednecks. I was about to rate it with two-stars because of the disappointment but I felt about how much I loved the first 90 percent which was truly lovely. It is too bad that the ending was as such because it left a bad taste in my mouth. Why couldn't the crazy have been at the beginning and let us end up on a much higher note?
I am not sure I would recommend this book. I will say that unlike Ms Rimmer's other books I will not be rereading this and am unsure if I will continue this series.
July 25, 2019
Nombres: Jason & Jocelyn
Profesiones: Empresario & Publicista
Pais: USA
Profesiones: Empresario & Publicista
Pais: USA
September 27, 2012
KcLu's review posted on Guilty Pleasures
The Last Single Maverick is a truly just great story!! I absolutely love these heartwarming feel good stories. And I have to say I fell a little in love with Jace myself!!
Jason “Jace” Traub is the last of his siblings and cousins to be single, and he is at a total crossroads in his life. He knows he wants out of the family business, but he has absolutely no idea what he wants to do with the rest of his life. He is in the last place he really wants to be. He is at a week long family reunion with all his family members trying to either fix him up or talk him into going back to work at the company. But things change for the better when he sneaks away to the hotel bar and sees the first woman to stir something in him in a long time.
Jocelyn Bennings is on her un-honeymoon, and she has decided she hates all men until she meets Jace. He is quite ok with just being her friend, and he talks her into hanging with him and his family. He kinda uses her as a buffer from his families hook ups. Only problem is he can’t make his family believe that they are only friends.
I don’t wanna give too much of this story away because just it unveils beautifully, and to tell too much would take away from it. These two are great characters, and they find love built on friendship first. That is the kind of love we all strive for!! They are also just really fun together. This is a great read, and I hope y’all like it as much as I do!!
The Last Single Maverick is a truly just great story!! I absolutely love these heartwarming feel good stories. And I have to say I fell a little in love with Jace myself!!
Jason “Jace” Traub is the last of his siblings and cousins to be single, and he is at a total crossroads in his life. He knows he wants out of the family business, but he has absolutely no idea what he wants to do with the rest of his life. He is in the last place he really wants to be. He is at a week long family reunion with all his family members trying to either fix him up or talk him into going back to work at the company. But things change for the better when he sneaks away to the hotel bar and sees the first woman to stir something in him in a long time.
Jocelyn Bennings is on her un-honeymoon, and she has decided she hates all men until she meets Jace. He is quite ok with just being her friend, and he talks her into hanging with him and his family. He kinda uses her as a buffer from his families hook ups. Only problem is he can’t make his family believe that they are only friends.
I don’t wanna give too much of this story away because just it unveils beautifully, and to tell too much would take away from it. These two are great characters, and they find love built on friendship first. That is the kind of love we all strive for!! They are also just really fun together. This is a great read, and I hope y’all like it as much as I do!!
January 14, 2015
no podes parar de leer hasta terminarlo
May 17, 2026
I absolutely love Christine Rimmer's books and the Maverick saga. This is Book 1 of 6 in the "Montana Mavericks: Back in the Saddle" series. This is Jason, aka Jace, Traub, and Jocelyn, aka Joss, Bennings story. It's a wonderful book. I enjoyed it.
October 7, 2018
Love it
February 23, 2021
The Last Single Maverick review
The Last Single Maverick is the first book in the Montana Mavericks: Back I the saddle series written by author Christine Rimmer.
The Last Single Maverick is the first book in the Montana Mavericks: Back I the saddle series written by author Christine Rimmer.
October 15, 2022
I saw a part of this novel at home. I read it and it was really interesting so I want to read
May 19, 2023
Me gusto, la trama y los personajes son muy buenos y el final es de esos que te deja deseado más, o suave te tiene sus fallas pero nada que no se pueda pasar por alto
May 29, 2026
I got a bunch of books by Christine Rimmer at an estate sale. I have enjoyed reading her books.
June 26, 2012
Review:The Last Single Maverick by Christine Rimmer
3 STARS I liked Jace and Joss. It takes a lot of nerve to go on the honeymoon without the groom & marriage. Jocelyn Marie found her groom to be in a closet making out with her bridesmade cousin. Jocelyn threw her ring at him and called of the wedding. Joss decided to still go on the honeymoon by herself and figure out what to do next. She has quit her job, gave up her apartment because she was going to move with her new husband to his new job in a new town. Jason has been unhappy with his life and he decided to quit his job with the family company and sell his house. He is not sure what he will do now or where he will live. He decided to go to the family reunion first in Montana. He thinks thats a big mistake because everyone wants to talk about him staying with the company if not in texas than the new branch office here. Jase knows he does not want to be in the oil business any more. He has not even dated for over six months. He escaped the reunion to go to a bar in the resort that only has one consumer at the bar. Jason goes to sit at the bar and over hears Joss on the telephone telling Kenny to stop calling her. That the wedding is off. Joss and Jace strike up a conversation and Joss tells him she is not going to sleep with him. Jace says just want to talk. When a one night stand from a year ago tries to draw Jace back to the reunion Joss pretends that Jace is with her. Jace talks Joss into being his best friend for the week with no benafits just fun and companionship. So Joss and Jace go to the reunion.Joss is made very welcomed and gets lots of invitations for the week they will both be thier in town. They start a real friendship till their last night in town. Jace's mom catches them at the hotel and sees Joss with a wedding dress and jumps to conclusion that they are going to be married. Thier are a lot of sex scenes in the book. Thier are some funny moments and dramas. It is a quck read. I would read more from Christine in the future. I was given this ebook to read in exchange for honest review from Netgalley. 06/26/2012 PUB Harlequin Special Edition
3 STARS I liked Jace and Joss. It takes a lot of nerve to go on the honeymoon without the groom & marriage. Jocelyn Marie found her groom to be in a closet making out with her bridesmade cousin. Jocelyn threw her ring at him and called of the wedding. Joss decided to still go on the honeymoon by herself and figure out what to do next. She has quit her job, gave up her apartment because she was going to move with her new husband to his new job in a new town. Jason has been unhappy with his life and he decided to quit his job with the family company and sell his house. He is not sure what he will do now or where he will live. He decided to go to the family reunion first in Montana. He thinks thats a big mistake because everyone wants to talk about him staying with the company if not in texas than the new branch office here. Jase knows he does not want to be in the oil business any more. He has not even dated for over six months. He escaped the reunion to go to a bar in the resort that only has one consumer at the bar. Jason goes to sit at the bar and over hears Joss on the telephone telling Kenny to stop calling her. That the wedding is off. Joss and Jace strike up a conversation and Joss tells him she is not going to sleep with him. Jace says just want to talk. When a one night stand from a year ago tries to draw Jace back to the reunion Joss pretends that Jace is with her. Jace talks Joss into being his best friend for the week with no benafits just fun and companionship. So Joss and Jace go to the reunion.Joss is made very welcomed and gets lots of invitations for the week they will both be thier in town. They start a real friendship till their last night in town. Jace's mom catches them at the hotel and sees Joss with a wedding dress and jumps to conclusion that they are going to be married. Thier are a lot of sex scenes in the book. Thier are some funny moments and dramas. It is a quck read. I would read more from Christine in the future. I was given this ebook to read in exchange for honest review from Netgalley. 06/26/2012 PUB Harlequin Special Edition
June 27, 2012
Very good book. Jace was in Montana for a family reunion. He was also trying to figure out a new direction for his life. He realized he wasn't happy working for the family oil business any more, but he didn't know what he did want to do. The problem is, everyone in his family is trying to tell him to come back to the business and not listening to him. He leaves the family get-together for a little while and meets Joss. She is there having an "unhoneymoon". She had found her groom and her bridesmaid together at the church on her wedding day and had called off the wedding then and there. Now she is trying to get herself back together. She and Jace start talking and decide to hang out together as friends. She'll come to some things with him as protection from his family's interference and they'll just have some fun. I loved their idea of just being friends, even though I knew that it wouldn't stay that way. They spent the week doing things together, getting to know each other, and just having fun. I could see them get closer, and that they were developing feelings for each other. By the end of the week there was some serious attraction going on and they decided to act on it that last night before Joss was due to go home. The next day they decided that, since neither one believed in love any more, but they truly liked each other, they would get married and buy The Hitching Post bar and run it together. They could also have the family they wanted without the messy emotions. Needless to say, that didn't last long. Joss soon realized that she had fallen in love with Jace, and told him so. He panicked, but she said it didn't matter (yeah, right). The day of the wedding there was a big scene when her ex-fiance showed up, and Jace realized that he'd been an idiot. I really loved all the scenes of Joss and Jace getting to know each other, from the horseback riding to just walking around the town. It made a nice change from the bed first, then getting to know each other of some romances.
July 10, 2012
Marriage should always be for love as Joss and Jace find. Why is it so hard for a man to say "I love you"? I have never figured that out. They know what they want. They want to please you, make you happy, but sometimes love has to hit them over the head before they know it is love.
I remember when I married 33 years ago. People were saying they had to meet the woman who could get my husband to the altar. He was 32 at time. He just had not found the right girl like Jace in this story.
Wealth, position, and such did not satisfy Jace. He couldn't figure out what was missing. Joss almost married a player and walk away in time as she discovered him cheating on her wedding day.
Friendship between Jose and Jace led to love. They understood each other. I think friendship is important in a marriage.
A very very good read.
I remember when I married 33 years ago. People were saying they had to meet the woman who could get my husband to the altar. He was 32 at time. He just had not found the right girl like Jace in this story.
Wealth, position, and such did not satisfy Jace. He couldn't figure out what was missing. Joss almost married a player and walk away in time as she discovered him cheating on her wedding day.
Friendship between Jose and Jace led to love. They understood each other. I think friendship is important in a marriage.
A very very good read.
October 11, 2012
4,5*maybe it's cause I loved first half of the book that the ending was or rushed or just too (action)movie like. you must love that hero! they are both figuring bout how to go on in the time of their meeting and need a change and it all stars with a one,new special friend...
January 18, 2013
Good, overall. Yes, I was glad when Joss and Jace's marriage ceremony fell through.. it seemed so gauche when Joss wore the ex-wedding-dress to her wedding. The romance was fast and it fell together like the pieces of a puzzle.
May 30, 2017
Read for the 2nd time. Did not remember that I had read it a year before. I agree that friendship is very important to a marriage. But, they did not have time to get to know one another in a week, or even the 20 extra days until their wedding.
Read
July 1, 2012Miniseries: Montana Mavericks: Back in the Saddle
Category: Heart & Home
Category: Heart & Home
July 14, 2012
Really loved this book. Loved Jace and Joss, how both messed up and perfect they were for each other. A fun, delightful read. Highly recommend this one!
Read
August 3, 2016Nice romance but the end seemed rushed.
April 26, 2017
A good read for a romance
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews