Can't Buy Me Love by Molly O'Keefe

Contemporary Romance

I kept seeing Can't Buy Me Love on Amazon Vine.  It kept catching my attention so when it went on Last Harvest I sent for it.  The premise sounded cute and in some forms it would have been.  However the book deals with some very important issues and it does it within the content of a story that have various elements.  There are a few cute moments, some laugh out loud moments, and very serious moments all wrapped into the story line.

Here is Goodreads take: 

In Molly O’Keefe’s captivating new contemporary romance, a woman with a past and a man without a future struggle to find a place where they belong.
 
A girl from the wrong side of the tracks, Tara Jean Sweet knows that opportunity will never knock; she’ll have to seize it. Elderly Texas rancher Lyle Baker has a dying request: He will give Tara Jean a stake in his leather business in exchange for a little family subterfuge. All Tara Jean has to do is play the part of a gold-digging fiancée to lure Lyle’s estranged children home. The mission is soon accomplished.

Now Lyle’s gone—and his ridiculously handsome son, Luc, an ice hockey superstar sidelined by injuries, is the new owner of Crooked Creek ranch. He’s also Tara Jean’s boss. But being so close to sinfully sweet Tara Jean does crazy things to Luc’s priorities, like make him want to pry her deepest secrets from those irresistible lips. But when Tara Jean’s past demands a dirty showdown, will Luc stay and fight?

Characters:  I liked Tara Jean Sweet.  She is working had to change her life and had a good chance to do so.  Luc Baker is another character I liked.  He has spent his life trying to show his father that he is not a failure.  Both Tara Jean and Luc are successes in their lives.  They both have the same problem. They do not see in themselves what others see in them.  I felt sorry of Luc’s father Lyle.  He made his bed and he had to lay in it.  The one character I really did not like was Luc’s sister Victoria.  She was one weak woman but she was showing signs of changing as the book ended.

Plot:  There were several; there was the danger from Tara Jean’s past, Luc and Tara Jean’s lack of self-esteem,  then there Lyle’s will where he was still trying to control even after his death.  All three kept the book moving.  For me there was some unevenness in the movement.  I like the beginning, lost some interest in the middle and liked the ending.  I have said this before.  Sex is required today but it does slow the story down.

Writing:  Even though I thought there was some unevenness in the plotting this is a well written book.  The character development for Luc and Tara was excellent.  The side characters were also well-written and added to the story.

This is the first in a series so after you read Can’t Buy Me Love you can look forward to another book located at Crooked Creek.

Bantam published Can’t Buy Me Love by Molly O’Keefe in 2012.