Review: Relentless in Texas

Relentless in Texas by Kari Lynn Dell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

If you've read the other books in this series you will know Gil Sanchez, he's the workaholic head of Sanchez Trucking, a former bare-back rider his career was over before it had truly begun when he crashed his motorbike and shattered his pelvis. It has taken years, several surgeries and recovering from an opiate addiction for Gil to be able to walk pain-free.

One night Gil is out driving an eighteen-wheeler in Montana where he is compelled to go into a bar by the sound of a live band. There he meets an enigmatic and fascinating woman called Carmelita White Fox who dances while twirling ropes. Their connection is immediate and visceral, yet over before it has truly begun when Carma is called away by a cousin who has left her baby with their grandmother who has only just got out of hospital. Somehow Gil and Carma keep up a sporadic conversation mainly through emojis and brief texts, until a mission to research horse rehab facilities for veterans and a bout of food poisoning lead Carma right to Gil's door, and I mean literally.

Gil knows he has replaced alcohol and painkillers with work, he's driven off more receptionists than he can count and he often starts work at four in the morning, but something about Carma relaxes the tightness in his soul, but he sees how everyone else leans on her for support and he doesn't want to be yet another person with their hand out wanting Carma to give, give, give.

Carma wants to be there for Gil, to be fully part of his life but it seems he tells his AA sponsor more than he'll ever tell Carma, is she just a convenience and will he drop her like a hot potato when he sees a tall. blonde white girl he fancies?

Then the impossible happens out of an accident and Gil might get a second chance at a rodeo career. But the opportunity has as many pitfalls as possibilities and will Gil and Carma survive it?

I really liked Gil, and have done from the previous books, he's single-handedly allowing everyone else in the family to fulfil their dreams while keeping a multi-million dollar trucking business going, even if his role is self-appointed. I oved that he can see that Carma has been dragged down by boyfriends in the past and is determined not to do the same, he can also see that Carma has opportunities and doesn't want to hold her back. I also liked Carma, she's a hard-worker, driven, caring and sassy. I wasn't so keen on her special woo-woo talent, especially at the start of the book, although by the end I was more comfortable with it.

Overall, another great rodeo romance with gritty characters and messy families and relatable issues. Kari Lynn Dell does not disappoint.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.


View all my reviews