Throwback Thursday: The Baddest Virgin in Texas by Maggie Shayne

Author: Maggie Shayne
First published in 1997 by Silhouette
Four big Brand brothers won't stop Jessi from taming her man….

NO MORE LITTLE MISS NICE GIRL…

Contrary to what her four older brothers believed, Jessi Brand was a grown woman. With very adult needs. And what she wanted was drop-dead-gorgeous drifter Lash Monroe. He was the one. The man she'd saved herself for. The man she wanted as her husband. But this ornery cowboy required some serious convincin'….

Lash had vowed never to settle down—especially when the lady came with four very protective brothers who knew how to handle shotguns! But he couldn't get Jessi out of his mind. And he couldn't resist her tempting offer….

But once he discovered Jessi was pregnant with his child…everything changed.

The Baddest Virgin in Texas is the second in the "Texas Brand" series about a group of siblings and their journey to find love and happiness.  I reviewed the first one, The Littlest Cowboy, about 4 years ago.  It's about time I continued with the series, right?  This is Jessi's story.  She is the only sister among the alpha brothers.  She is finally ready to prove to her brothers that she is all grown up.  She also wants to make her intentions toward Lash known.  Lash s a drifter, but can he resist Jessi?

I thought this was a cute addition to the series.  It was nice to connect with the the family again.  I especially loved Chelsea from the first book.  It was fun to watch Lash finally give in to Jessi.  The cattle rustling mystery was not very surprising, but it did provide for some entertainment.  In all I would recommend it.  You don't have to have read the first book to enjoy this one.  It's a quick and enjoyable read and one I would recommend.

Throwback Thursday - The Littlest Cowboy by Maggie Shayne

Author: Maggie Shayne
First published in 1996 by Harlequin Silhouette

Sheriff Garrett Brand finds a baby on his doorstep.

While his siblings joked that maybe he wasn't such a responsible guy after all. Garrett knew he was nobody's daddy. But the Texan was intent on discovering the identity of the little cowboy's mama.

All Chelsea Brenna wanted when she arrived at the Brand ranch was her nephew...and answers about her sister's mysterious death. But she never expected a rough and rugged lawman to act like a proud father and lavish the baby with love.

This is the first book by Maggie Shayne that I have ever read.  I know she writes romantic suspense and paranormal books now.  That being said, I enjoyed this early work by her.  It was a nice set up for a series of books featuring the Brand family, 4 brothers and 1 sister all raised by the oldest, Garrett after their parents were killed in an accident.  Being Texas, they live on a cattle ranch outside of a small town.

"The littlest cowboy" refers to baby Ethan who is left on the Brand's doorstep one night.  His aunt shows up looking for the baby and danger follows her.  I liked Garrett's character.  He was very sweet and such a gentleman.  It was amusing watching his siblings try to get him to make moves on Chelsea to get her to stay.  I'm not all that sure I liked Chelsea in the beginning as she was pretty cold to Garrett.  But I warmed to her by the end.  I loved their HEA.  Being the first in the series, you can see where the author sets up for future books involving the rest of the Brands finding their own HEAs.  I look forward to reading them all.  I think I will also look for some of her more recent works as well.  Give this throwback a shot, I think you will enjoy it.

--Kari