A review by witandsin
Corralled by Lorelei James

4.0

Lainie Capshaw knows all about smooth-talking cowboys – she’s a med tech who works the country’s two biggest rodeo circuits. She vows not to get involved with any of those “blacktop cowboys,” but somehow bullfighter Hank Lawson and bull rider Kyle Gilchrist have managed to seduce her into their beds. Lainie knows she should probably feel guilty being involved with both men, but with each of them involved in different circuits and no promises of exclusivity with either, she isn’t about to choose just one.

Secrets have a way of coming out, though and Lainie’s shocked when Hank catches her with Kyle. She’s even more shocked to discover that, not only are the guys longtime friends, they have an offer Lainie can’t bring herself to refuse. For the three weeks known in the rodeo as Cowboy Christmas, Hank and Kyle will share her. As in, at the same time share her. A smoking hot ménage with two irresistible cowboys? How can Lainie resist?

There’s just one problem: each man is using the three weeks to win Lainie over for himself. Will Lainie, Hank, and Kyle come out of their Cowboy Christmas time unscathed? And which one of those red-hot cowboys will capture Lainie’s heart?

Get ready for a wild ride that lasts a heck of a lot longer than eight seconds! Lorelei James delivers one of the sexiest stories I’ve read in a long time with Corralled.

Lainie is a heroine I’m sure many a woman would love to be. But life isn’t all about two drop-dead gorgeous cowboys wanting her in their bed. Ms. James brings Lainie to life with the obstacles she faces being a woman in a male-dominated profession and also endears her to readers with her genuinely caring nature. Lainie doesn’t regret having both Kyle and Hank, but with both of them out to win her, she doesn’t just sit back and take; she gives to both, and wrestles with the guilt that she might be giving more to one than the other.

What about those delicious cowboys, you ask? Where do I begin? Both men have a core of caring, honor, and general “goodness” that appealed to me greatly. As you might have guessed by now, those factors are complemented by raw, erotic magnetism. Personality wise, Kyle and Hank definitely are different, but it’d spoil the fun to reveal how. When it comes to winning hearts, Hank had the edge for me (which isn’t to say he does for Lainie). For such a masculine hero, there’s something particularly vulnerable about him under the surface that called to me.

Ms. James brings a sense of realism to the trio’s sexual adventures. When you have two testosterone-filled cowboys out to claim a woman as their own, do you think there’d be no competition or jealousy? Of course not. Even though Kyle and Hank are best friends, they do get jealous of one another and they do try to outdo each other when it comes to Lainie, and it’s not out of meanness to one another. I liked that about Corralled, but I think I enjoyed it because you can sense which man really is “the one” for Lainie. I’m the type of reader who will go along for any ride, so long as I’m not twisted about regarding who’ll end up together in the end. Ms. James gave me that comfort and let me sit back and relish the erotic ride.

Corralled is the first in Blacktop Cowboys series and I was definitely left wanting more. I can’t wait to see which rodeo cowboy meets their match next. Corralled is filled with so many characters I adored, from Hank’s sister Celia to Lainie’s friend Tanna to the man who doesn’t get his happily ever after with Lainie and more. No matter who the protagonists are in the next Blacktop Cowboy book, it’s sure to be an exciting read with Ms. James as the writer. She knows her stuff when it comes to rodeos and it shows, making the world around Lainie, Hank, and Kyle come to life. I Joyfully Recommend Corralled. I loved it and I want one of Lorelei James’s Blacktop Cowboys!

Recommended Read. Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed.