Review: The Littlest Cowboy (The Texas Brand, #1) by Maggie Shayne

Genre: Contemporary Adult Romance

Rating (Out of 5): 2-2.5 (maybe)

Publisher: Harlequin Books (Silhouette Books)

Spoilers?: Minor-ish

Goodreads Synopsis:

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.

Review:

This is a pretty generic, typical adult romance. Shayne tends to write that way, some books better than others. Her books seem to remind me, a little bit, of what you would expect from a typical lifetime romance movie. Nothing too surprising, nothing amazing, just pretty general, even though there's supposed to be all this suspense and someone after them and all that.

I don’t know if it’s just that this series is different from the last one I read, or if this is an earlier book of hers, or if I’d read too many of her books with the same set-up, or what, but I didn’t really enjoy this one. Much at all, really.

This book is about Garrett Brand, the oldest brother in a big family, who took care of his siblings after his parents died. He’s the town sheriff and he’s seen as a good, responsible boy, until a baby is dropped at his doorstep with his name. And then Chelsea Brennan storms the house, looking for her nephew.

I liked the characters, enough. Garrett I did enjoy, for the most part, and Chelsea wasn’t too bad, and I always like stories with babies, and those scenes were fun. She did do a big, typical heroine move that drives me crazy, but was in character for her. I liked all of Garretts siblings, and do want to find out what happens to them next.

There was just no surprise, though, nothing that excited me, with this book. And the one thing that has happened in pretty much every books of Shayne's that I’ve read, and that has annoyed me, is how everyone in the family has to help with the crisis. Chelsea and the baby are in trouble, and of course Garrett loves her and everyone knows it pretty instantaneously, and so everyone has to help her. It doesn’t matter that they don’t know her very well. Although I will excuse that they want to help, because it's a good thing to do, and because the baby is also involved, whom they all love as well. And then when Garrett tries to send his family away, to make sure they don’t get hurt (which can be debated on whether was a good or bad move, and which I would say was a dumb one), of course none of them listens and they are all right behind him. It’s just annoying how they all have to charge in and save the two, and they do it so well, because they’re just so amazing in a bit of an exaggerated way. Also, of course, it has to end with the ‘hero’ (Garrett, in this case, although sometimes maybe it's the girl and/or someone else important) getting shot but living through it.

It’s just… almost the same thing, every time, and it can get really annoying, what with how overused it is. And it's trying to be suspenseful and exciting when it's not; I was not kept at the edge of my seat, wanting to know what happened next. I was trying to hurry to the end of the book, just so I could finally be done with the damn thing.

I wanted to like this one, and I didn’t. I really want to read the next ones, just more of Shayne’s books, but now I’m hesitant to. I’m hoping that maybe I just wasn’t in the mood for this, and that maybe this one was just a weaker books of hers. I think I’m going to try another one, but I might give myself a little time before I do.