Title: Texas Wide Open by KC Klein
Texas Fever Series Book One
Publisher: Kensington
Genre: Contemporary, Romance
Length: 81,000 words
Book Rating: C+
Review Copy Obtained from Publisher Through NetGalley
Summary:
Katie Harris loved growing up on a ranch. She had her horse, the beautiful Texas prairie, and Cole Logan, the cowboy next door. But there are a lot of secrets hidden under a Texas sky…
Katie always knew she’d marry Cole one day—until he broke her dreams and her heart. But now that Katie’s father is sick, she’s back home, older, wiser and nowhere near the love-sick fool she once was.
Cole knows Katie doesn’t want anything to do with him. But after so many years, he can’t pretend she’s no more than a neighbor. Not when thinking about her cherry lip gloss and hell-for-leather passion is keeping him up all night. Holding his ground was hard enough when she was seventeen. Now that she’s her own woman, Cole’s heart doesn’t stand a chance…
“Passionate, gritty and fast paced…with a hot blooded, honorable hero to make every woman’s knees go weak.”—Diane Whiteside
The Review:
KC Klein’s Texas Wide Open is a passionate second chance at love story. Katie Harris has been love with neighbor Cole Logan for the majority of her young life. With an eight year age difference between them, Katie has been impatiently waiting for Cole to see her as the sexy young woman she has become. With time running out before she heads off to college, Katie takes matters into her own hands and attempts to seduce Cole. Brokenhearted by his rejection, Katie leaves her beloved horses, ranch and love for Cole behind to attend college.
Katie Harris is a strong-willed young woman who knows her own mind. She is also impatient, immature and impulsive. Her feelings for Cole have remained steadfast over the years, and she is tireless in her efforts to attract his attention. With her dad pushing her to attend college out of state, Katie is determined to take their friendship to the next level and when subtlety and jealousy do not capture Cole’s attention, she wages an all out seduction in an effort to win Cole’s heart.
The deaths of both his parents forced Cole to grow up way too fast. Raising his sister Nikki and trying to keep the family ranch has left him exhausted both emotionally and financially. Cole is close to Katie’s father and their lives are closely intertwined.
Texas Wide Open is told through multiple points of view which helps give readers valuable insight into the different characters’ thoughts, emotions and motivations. While I appreciate getting inside all of the characters’ heads, several of the shifts in perspective are quite abrupt and pulled me out of the story.
Texas Wide Open frequently flashes back to the pivotal events surrounding Katie’s senior year of high school and the events leading up to her leaving for college. Some of the transitions from past to present were not always clear which made the story a little confusing at times.
Much of the plot concentrates on Cole and Katie’s past relationship which does not leave much time to develop their current one. In the present, their relationship is on again/off again so frequently that I had a hard time keeping up with whether they were together or not. Lack of communication between them is frustrating and contributes to a lot of their problems.
An additional story arc between Cole’s sister Nikki and his best friend Jett provides added interest to the storyline. With more than her fair share of emotional baggage, Nikki’s life is currently a mess. When her latest round of trouble lands her in jail, it is Jett to the rescue. Their storyline is unresolved and I hope that Ms. Klein plans to revisit them in the future.
Texas Wide Open is a fast-paced story that is full of drama, lust and unrequited love. With past events interspersed with current ones, KC Klein guides her readers through the various ups and downs of Katie and Cole’s volatile relationship. Their road to happily ever after is long and sometimes emotionally exhausting but it is well worth the wait.
