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Monday, March 26, 2012

Series Week:The Creed Cowboys Trilogy by Linda Lael Miller

This trilogy came out last year by Linda Lael Miller.  It is a continuation of a series that has been around for a while, but I  never felt out of the loop.

First up: A Creed in Stone Creek
Publisher:  Harlequin
Date of Publication: February 2011

When single attorney Steven Creed becomes guardian of an orphaned five-year-old boy, he trades his big-city law firm for a ranch near his McKettrick kin in the close-knit community of Stone Creek, Arizona. Taking care of little Matt and fixing up his run-down ranch house with its old barn loosens something tightly wound inside him. But when Steven takes on the pro bono defense of a local teen, he meets his match in the opposing counsel - beautiful, by-the-book county prosecutor Melissa O'Ballivan. It'll take one grieving little boy, a sweet adopted dog and a woman who never expected to win any man's heart to make this Creed in Stone Creek know he's truly found home.

I have never read any of the preceding books in either the Montana Creed series or the Stone Creek series, but after reading this first one, I know I will be seeking them out.  I enjoyed this first in the Creed Cowboys trilogy.  Steven Creed is definitely a beta hero, but that just makes him more lovable.  I liked him and Melissa together.  While they did seem to rush into things a bit, in the end, I believed their HEA.  In each other, they found the home they were seeking.  My only criticism is that some parts of the book were a bit repetitive.  The author used a lot of the same phrasing throughout the book as well as restating things that had already been established. In all a good first intro to the Creed family for me!

Next: Creed's Honor

Publisher:  Harlequin
Date of Publication: February 2011


Conner Creed knows exactly who he is: a hardworking rancher carrying on his uncle's legacy in Lonesome Bend, Colorado. Maybe a small-town cowboy's life isn't his dream, but he owes the man who took him in as a kid. Until the identical twin brother he's been estranged from for years reenters his life. 
Conner struggles with identity issues as he gets to know his wilder brother. And then he meets Tricia McCall, a beautiful woman who knows a thing or two about living someone else's dreams. Together, they just might find their own dreams right here in Lonesome Bend....





I'm not sure I liked this one as much as the first.  I probably wouldn't classify it as a straight romance because there is very little romance in it.  In fact, I'm not sure when Connor and Tricia fell in love.  They have so little interaction in the book.  It didn't seem real to me.  IT was more like there had to be a happy ending, so she stuck them together and called it love.  While I liked both characters on their own, I just didn't see them together.  On the upside,  I did enjoy the interaction between Connor and his brother.  Reconciliation and healing is on the horizon for them.  Characters from the first book make an appearance in this one and it is always nice to catch up with them.  So, in all, not the best in the trilogy, but worth reading.


Last, but not least: The Creed Legacy

Publisher:  Harlequin
Date of Publication: February 2011

Rough-and-tumble rodeo cowboy Brody Creed likes life on the move. Until a chance encounter with his long-estranged twin brother brings him “home,” for the first time in years. Suddenly Brody is in Creed territory—a rootless bad boy among family with deep ties to the land and each other. He’s half-ready to bolt when he meets a copper-haired beauty more restless than he is. 

Carolyn Simmons is living a temporary life in Lonesome Bend, waiting to light out for the glamour of a metropolis. Then she falls for gorgeous Brody Creed, the opposite of everything she wants. But taming his wild heart might just become everything they both need…


The Creed Legacy was by far my favorite of the trilogy.  It is also the most heart wrenching.  You finally get to know what caused Brody Creed to leave Caroline six years before and what kept him away.  This book isn't all happy go lucky as you watch Brody work his way back to his family.  But, as family is meant to do, they welcome him back with open arms.  The scenes between Brody and Davis are very touching.  Both Brody and Caroline grow so much in this book and you find yourself just rooting for their HEA.  Brody is such a great guy.  I loved the date that he plans for Caroline.  It was so sweet.  Caroline finally  has a chance to find the home she has been searching for her whole life.  This was a great end to the trilogy!

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