Cowboy to the Core by Joanna Wayne

Cowboy to the Core 

By Joanna Wayne

Book Blurb:
As a former navy SEAL, Marcus Abbot relied on his instincts. And the moment he saw the shadows haunting Dani Baxter's big brown eyes, the private investigator knew she was in trouble…and so was he. Even though she came to him with a crazy story about a murder she'd seen in a vision, he couldn't stop the instantaneous attraction that sparked between them.
Never one to ignore a woman in need, he accepted her case. But as they traveled down a sensual path of danger and desire, Marcus discovered Dani's dreams may have been a bit too real. And the closer he got to the truth, the nearer she came to living her nightmare….

After years of reading romance novels I am almost ashamed to admit this truth but Cowboy to the Core is my very first official Harlequin Intrigue Romance. I know I know! How can a woman who loves the romance genre get by and never pick up a Harlequin Romance novel. Well a Harlequin virgin no longer. The proverbial cherry has been popped! 

Cowboy to the Core is a compact little paperback with only 213 pages so it was nice easy read for a warm sunny afternoon. I sat on my patio sipping Coke with ice and read through the book in an afternoon. Of course that’s with me running in and out of the house to change laundry, updating Twitter and refereeing a few of my kid’s arguments.

Marcus Abbot was a great male lead. He wasn’t an alpha male and he wasn’t beta male. He had tendencies on both sides of the fence which seemed like a good match for the female lead Dani Baxter.

Reading Cowboy to the Core was great timing because with all the talk about SEALS, I wanted to read a sexy romance that had a SEAL in it. Well this book had both the former SEAL and a Cowboy. What a combo right? *grins*

The Intrigue line at Harlequin is the Romance Suspense line. Cowboy to the Core had a little bit of a mystery but it wasn’t angsty or very suspensful. It flowed nice and easy and there really weren’t any big surprises or breathtaking moments.

The love scenes were light and not overly heated. Cowboy to the Core was only written in 2009 so I was a bit surprise there was no mention of a condom. Dani was divorced and hadn’t been with a man for a long time so it was a bit surprising to have the author skip over that conversation.