Romance

Morgan & Gabe
Cute short story.
Morgan is a real estate agent; everyone assumes she's after Gabe with intent to sell the Chance Ranch. She's really just after a good time, or so she tells herself and Gabe. He's also just about the good times until Morgan tells him that's what she's after too. ( )

Gabe Chance is the youngest of the three Chance brothers who are a cornerstone of the town of Shoshone, Wyoming. He's getting ready to ride one of the family's prized paint horses in the town's yearly July 4th parade when he notices a good-looking woman being held hostage by a bratty Appaloosa and decides to ride over and give her a hand.

Morgan O'Connelli was all excited to finally be in the town's parade when the horse she rented decided Morgan wasn't the boss of him and wandered off to nibble some grass. After a vagabond childhood where she rarely lived in one place for more than six months at a go, she's decided to make a life for herself with her own real estate business in Shoshone, a place she fell in love with when she lived here for a bit of her junior year of high school. Reconnecting with Gabe Chance, on whom she had a major crush 12 years ago, for a bit of fun is the icing on the cake.

Ms. Thompson has in Ambushed! a light, fluffy bit of western contemporary escapism. The action of the novel takes place over less than a week. In that span they have lots of sex, Gabe conquers some heady family drama, Morgan raises and then dismisses a desire to remain childless and the two of them get engaged and plan to have children. Everything is dealt with lightly, to say the least. But, if you check your sense of responsibility at the door, what remains is a hot whirlwind romance with witty dialog and lovable characters.

Sure everything moves absurdly fast, which accounts for the three-star grade I give it, but Gabe and Morgan talk, laugh and play together as much as they get down and dirty. While I may not buy their HEA outright, I'd put a good bet on it, they were just so damn cute together. ( )

Weakest, so far, in this series. Couldn't warm up to the heroine and hero all that much. ( )