Taken, Not Spurred

Lone Star Burn, Book 1

By: Ruth Cardello

Narrated by: Mary Kowal

From New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Ruth Cardello comes the steamy debut to the Lone Star Burn series.

Would-be writer Sarah Dery has just turned twenty-five and feels like her life is on hold. She’s done squat with her English degree and is just killing time working for her parents. So, when the opportunity to spend the summer working on a ranch in Texas comes her way, she jumps at the chance - figuring it might be just the jolt she needs to get her creative juices flowing.

Tony Carlton is a handsome and reclusive horse trainer with a tortured past and an eye for trouble, this time in the form of a naked blonde stranger he finds in his shower.

The wrong turn that led Sarah into the arms of this sexy, brooding cowboy turns out to be just what she needed to find her steamy inner voice, but will their connection be enough to break down Tony’s defenses?

©2014 Ruth Cardello (P)2014 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

Good book!

this book was a good one. i would recommend. this is a series but a stand alone book. its going to make you want to read the other books though.

I love a good HEA.

Cute cowboy love story with a feel good Happily ever after ending. I very much enjoyed this book.

Three stars overall

This contamporary romance story has a cowboy with a haunting past interested in a naive, inqusitive young lady. Not only at the wrong house, wrong ranch, & definitely the right shower to start your day.

How Cowboy!

Any additional comments?

This is a great book; this is the first book in The Lone Star Burn Series by Ruth Cardello and narrated by Mary Kowal. Sarah has her English degree but hasn’t been able to do any writing because she just can’t get her creative juices flowing. When she gets the opportunity to spend the summer working on a ranch she jumps at the chance. The problem is she ends up at the wrong ranch. Tony Carlton is the sexy reclusive horse trainer, when he comes home from working he finds the very naked stranger (Sarah) in his shower. When Tony and Sarah can’t deny the attraction is it explosive.

The narrator Mary Kowal, did a great job, and was very easy to listen too. This is the first time I have listened to this narrator, and I am looking forward to listening to more books by her. She did a great job with the different characters and their voices.

This book has romance, humor, and sexy cowboys. I could have easily listened to the book in one sitting except that I was at work while listening to it. I can’t wait until the next book in the series comes out.

A Review copy was provided to me in exchange for a fair and honest review. The free book held no determination on my personal review.

Taken, Not Spurred

I loved this story. The idea of both of them having deep scars and helping each other get past them and move forward was intriguing. The innocence of Sarah and the toughness of Tony made the story play out so well. However, The narrator choice was wrong for this book this person should have had a Texas accent and the voices for each character were just wrong.

Touching and sexy as hell

This book is filled with lust, humor, romance, heart break, redemption, and love. It is a must read!

Quirky and fun!

Wrong place, right time. This story was about characters with some serious emotional scars, but handled beautifully, with humor, insight and understanding. Can't wait to read the next book in the series.

Another good R. Cardello story; laughed out loud!

Would you listen to Taken, Not Spurred again? Why?

I thoroughly enjoyed it and chuckled out loud thru the majority of the book due to Sarah, the main character’s personality and the way a lot of her dialogue was from the point of her talking to herself in her head. It was a fantastic job as narrated by Mary Kowal & after listening to her, I can imagine I’ll hear her voice as I read the book which will enhance the reading of the book!

What aspect of Mary Kowal’s performance would you have changed?

As an audio, the male character’s voice as done by Mary Kowal kept me from fully enjoying the first half of the story until I got somewhat used to it; it felt forced & unnatural and although I thought about that less as the book went along, I couldn’t totally ignore it. If the males had been narrated by a man, I think I would have enjoyed them much more, but the story still was gripping & kept me going in spite of it & I enjoyed it overall.

Any additional comments?

This is my first time doing a review, but I enjoyed this book so much that I decided I needed to share my point of view. Sarah and Tony’s, the main male characters, seemed like the perfect ying/yang relationship. The story had a slightly unique twist and the main points that determined both of their characters emerged slowly as the story progressed which kept me guessing. I have read all of Ruth Cardell’s Legacy Collection & enjoyed them, so decided to try her new Lone Star series and am glad I did. I’m looking forward to book 2 in the series

Hot Story-Lousy Audio book Narration

Being from Texas, it's always amazing to me how people get the accent wrong on these audio recordings or on TV. Although the narrator did a good job overall, the accent was more southern than Texan. Maybe Alabama but certainly NOT Texan. Wish I had just read the book instead of listening, as for me it was distracting and not authentic.

Hot love story though band am going to read the next in the series...probably even with narration so that I can knit at the same time.

You'd think with 24 million people in Texas, someone could narrate the Texan stuff...

Sweet Texas Rose

Can a thorn bush soften enough for a rose to bloom. A rough Texan rancher has closed himself off from feeling to escape the guilt that plagues him. A sweet roeee of a girl needing to bloom and come into her own, forgiving herself for a tragic accident that happened in her family, no one to blame but no moving on. She heads to Texas to find out who she really is and bring light to a thorn of a man who also needs to forgive and move on. A really good romance, love and acceptance. I read the book and had the audio it really brings the story to life, good narrator.