Reese's Cowboy Kiss by Kimberly Krey

Texan pageant winner, Reese Taylor, has a former classmate who wants her dead. Now she must leave her friends and family to enter a protection program on Emerson Ranch. A group of good-looking cowboys awaits her, but Reese has her eye on Blake Emerson, the one man too busy with the ranch to give her a chance.

Blake Emerson has no time to go lookin’ for love. He’s got a ranch to run, positions to fill, and an ache in his heart from love gone wrong. So when he agrees to harbor a witness to help on the ranch, Blake assumes his first two problems are solved. But he never dreamed his new guest would be a woman. One he was destined to lose his heart to.

With sparks burning hot and danger around the bend, one question lingers in his mind: Has he only added to his list of troubles, or has Blake just found the woman of his dreams?

*While this book is considered clean romance, it contains passionate kissing and a few mild curse words.*

Best day ever! This book was waiting for me when I first got up this morning. I took the morning by mad rush to get all my "must-do” items done so I could read.

Kimberly Krey is one of my all-time favorite authors and every time a new book is released it feels like Christmas day.

Kimberly knows how to bring tension, chemistry and sizzle to her books. In this book, the chemistry between Reese and Blake is utterly palpable. I could feel it. I call it the “steam, steam, it’s so fogged up I can’t breathe, steam”. Yeah. The cool thing is that even though there is chemistry, sizzle and steam, it doesn’t over power the whole story. The rush of adrenaline at the end with the “bad guy” was great. My heart was pounding throughout this book for many different reasons.

I loved Blake. He is level headed, responsible and well, he is a cowboy. I know I always say this but there is just something about cowboys. Oh, and a cowboy in mud? Who knew it could be so hot?! Blake is all man but he is also a gentleman, a protector. That’s enough to make any woman gush.

Reese is a beauty inside and out. Even when her world was turned upside down, she was still pleasant and kind to others. Her happy outlook was refreshing and made me love her. So often I read books where bad things happen and the character becomes mean or jaded. It was so nice to have Reese’s personality shine through.

As stated above, this is considered a clean romance book. There are no explicit sex scenes but there are some steamier kissing scenes. There is also some mild swearing.

I always beg Kimberly to do up something fun with me for her book releases and she is always such a good sport.  The following is a sort of Q&A conversation that we had over email to go along with this post.  I hope you enjoy it!

So, Kimberly Krey, (in my world) famous author and romance writing extraordinaire, I think it would be fun to have a chat about mud. In my review above, I mentioned the fun, hot scene between Blake and Reese in the mud. So, my first question is how do you really feel about mud and what inspired you to write this mud scene?

Ha ha, excuse me for one moment while my head grows… ;) Let’s see. In the right circumstances, I really love mud. I loved playing in it as a child. Smearing it all over my legs, arms, and swimsuit covered tummy. I loved sculpting things with it. Spreading it over the tips of my hair. I even liked the way it started to lighten and crackle over my skin as it dried in the warmth of the sun.

When I’m writing a novel, I consider what each character's childhood was like, based on their family dynamics, personality, ect. And for some reason, Reese was someone who seemed like she’d have played in the mud as a child. Maybe because she had a sister to play in it with - like I did. Whatever the reason, it felt very natural that Reese had enjoyed playing with the messy, goopy substance, and that she’d then like to play in the mud with the handsome cowboy, Blake Emerson. I mean, who wouldn’t? Of course this led to a rather steamy (but clean - as clean as mud can be - cough, cough) romance scene, and who am I to stop such a thing?

Oh, you should never stop a good romp in the mud. I, for one, am glad you didn't. I used to play in the mud when I was little too. I loved to fill up buckets with mud and "paint" the whole brick house. I thought it was great fun, but my mother didn't. She would come out and tell me to "clean this house off right now!" But, that was all part of the fun. Spraying the mud off the house with the hose? I loved it.

Did you know Mycobacterium vaccae, which is found in mud, is thought to be an anti-depressant? (yeah, because I'm all up on my mud facts. I'm cool like that...) So, I guess you could say that playing in the mud actually makes you feel good. It certainly made Blake and Reese feel good. <wink>

So, do you play in the mud to relieve stress now? What are your best stress relieving tricks?

Wow; an anti-depressant? I did not know that, but I’m glad to know it now. And to answer your question: no, sadly. I haven’t played in the mud for years, but all of this mud-talk is making me crave the feel of it between my fingers. I haven’t planted the garden this year yet, so perhaps I’ll have to make a mess of things first and have a good ol’ time. Maybe invite the kiddos to join me. Then I’ll send my kids into the house to clean up and invite my hubby next. Hmm. This is sounding more appealing by the minute.

Now, tricks for relieving stress… good question. It depends on what’s causing the stress. Sometimes my stress comes from a messy house. If that’s the case, my only release is to clean it like a mad woman going from one room to the next. Starting here, picking up there, and though I’ll begin several projects and only finish a few (in one day, anyway), I can practically feel the stress melting off of me at the knowledge that I’m finally doing something about it. If it’s related to anything but a messy house, I’d say relaxing in front of the warm fireplace. Getting in the hot tub, or taking a nice shower. Reading always helps too because it can often take my mind away from whatever’s bugging, which is wonderful! Not a very original answer, I guess, but there you have it. Oh, and I chomp gum way too loudly when I’m worked up or anxious. I catch myself doing it all the time and try to force myself to stop but it’s nearly impossible to do if I’m stressed out. But now you’ve got me curious. What do YOU do? Have you got some fabulous trick you’ve been keeping all to yourself? C’mon, now’s the time to share...

I've got nothing, really. I get really emotional when I'm stressed so I cry a lot. And I clean my house too. If everything else feels out of control, I clean. I can at least control that. :) Reading is my escape too. And Reese's Cowboy Kiss was a perfect escape for me.

It seems like Reese, in the book, dealt with stress really well. She has such an easy, sweet dispostition. Maybe because she knew how to play in the mud?

The mud scene was one of my favorites from the book because it was hot, yes, but also because it had such a tender moment that led to a change in Blake and Reese's relationship. I'm curious to know how you put things like that together in your book. Do you think scenes like through or do you just sit down and write and see where it takes you?

I’d have to say it’s a combination of each. I usually know the main points of the story, but the rest sort of unfolds naturally once I let each character be who and how they are. I didn’t actually know Blake was going to do what he did on that date until he did it, as odd as it might sound. But when you’re writing from each perspective and know what’s going through each character's heads, they just sort of lead the way, as long as you - the writer - are willing to step out of the way. It’s such a fun and truly exciting process for me. Kind of like reading a book, really.

As far as Reese goes, I agree that she dealt with stress well. A lot of that had to do with taking action herself, rather than sitting around being frustrated. I like that she did what she wanted to do whether Blake would like it or not. She’s definitely sweet, but she's assertive too, which is often crucial to finding inner peace, in my opinion.

My thanks to Kimberly Krey for allowing me to read and review this book for her.  I hope you will all go out and pick it up!  Especially if you love a good romance- clean with a bit of steam.

You can purchase Reese's Cowboy Kiss at Amazon.