The Cowboy Takes a Bride audiobook

THE COWBOY TAKES A BRIDE by Lori WildeIf I bloom where I am planted, do weeds have to show up?When everything is taken away in Chicago for Mariah Callahan picking up and moving to Texas makes complete sense. Mariah’s estranged father left her his little piece of paradise that turns out to be a complete nightmare but she is going to make the best of it especially since she has nowhere else to go. Mariah’s father was the man she always wanted in her life while he choose to chase dreams and horses. Mariah hopes that this plot of dirt will turn out to be her second chance in life and maybe bring closure to a pain that will not go away.After Mariah meets her neighbor, former bull rider, and horse cutter Joe Daniels, she quickly concludes he is absolutely the icing on a wedding cake but not quite as sweet. He is suffering over his own loss yet the draw between the two is hard to deny. The pull toward each other is strong but so is the fight to stay away from each other. Mariah has had one man choose his own life over her and she will not go through that again. However, Mariah also knows that is nothing wrong with living in the moment where you are living and Joe could be a wonderful added attraction.Mariah wants to cut and run but the town turns out to be great and everyone is helping her set down roots, dang it. Joe wants her to stay because he knows with something in his future perhaps he can let go of the past. Mariah so stubborn and full of determination you would never hold her height against her. Building a new life is never easy and when unexpected surprises arrive in the mail decisions become difficult and finding out you are the problem in the relationship is definitely scary. Mariah keeps hearing how she is like her father, like her former boss, and too much like her father when maybe she is just when maybe it is none of the above and she is just as she is supposed to be.Everyone looks for a great book and since Lori Wilde has written just that put your cowboy boots on and start reading. Let this story take you on a great ride through the difficulties of romance and the price you have to pay for love.

This was story telling at its best ! Mariah is a wedding planner in Chicago was now is out of work. Her world changes once she gets a call informing her that her estranged father has passed and left her his Ranch. Joe Daniels is one hot Cowboy, sweet, sarcastic, who is emotionally wounded and happens to be her neighbor. I won't give any details for finding out is the best part. But the chemistry is off the charts and the demons they have within are deep and tragic. This is my first book by this author and I can't wait for more. I want a Cowboy just like Joe !

Such a sweet book! I'm a fan or Lori Wilde and this book solidified why I enjoy her work. It goes to show that a person should never be judged by the cover of their book.

This Two-Fer Review posted on Guilty PleasuresRhys's Thoughts:For Mariah Callahan, finding out that tragedy has struck her life and sent her spirally back to her childhood isn't something that she relishes. But it couldn't have come at a better time. With her life in Chicago in shambles, a chance to get away and hide from the world sounds like the best thing she has heard in quite awhile. With a mix up on directions, and a meeting with a half naked drunken cowboy be the thing that makes her change how she sees the world or will another tragedy and some missteps make her want her old life back more than ever?Joe Daniels is going to get good and drunk...again. If the alcohol can numb the pain of loss before than he is damned if he isn't going to make it happen again. Not only has he lost his wife but now he has lost his best friend. With nothing and no one left to keep him going, getting drunk in a horse trough sounds like a pretty good idea. But coming face to face with a look a like of his deceased wife is just enough to make Joe wake up and pay attention. If only he can get her to stick around long enough, he may just have found the right person to make him whole again. With tragedy and heartbreak at every turn can these two see that with the other than can make anything bearable or will each problem just tear them further apart?This was a great story, and yet another example of what a great author that Lori Wilde is. I have read several of her books in the past and have loved each and every one of her characters. Not only are they life like and complicated, each of them is broken in some way that only the counterpart character can mend. If you are looking for a great story that is full of funny moments and yet will bring tears to your eyes, than this is the story for you. Lori Wilde has done it again and made me a forever reader of her works!!Rhys gives The Cowboy Takes A Bride Four Stars and a Recommended Read.DiDi's Thoughts:The Cowboy Takes A Bride enchanted me from the moment I saw the cover until I read the last word of Mariah and Joe's emotional, funny and sweet story.Jobless, homeless and broke, Mariah returns to Jubilee after the death of her absentee father, Dutch, who left her his ranch. Upon her return, the first thing she comes across is a drunk, naked cowboy sitting in a horse trough, who happens to be her neighbor and late father's best friend, Joe Delaney. Due to her father's desertion, Mariah already has a dislike for cowboys so she immediately judges Joe as a drunk, no good cowboy. Joe looks up to find a mirage of his late wife, when he realizes it is his best friend's long lost daughter, his anger about the way she treated Dutch colors his judgement of her. The two have made up their minds, Mariah is selling the ranch ASAP and heading out and Joe is buying it to get her out of Jubliee. Only problem is Joe's money is tied up for two months, so he gets Mariah to agree to stay for two months, then he will pay her cash for the land.Fate intervenes and throws Joe and Mariah together, they both fight their attraction to each other as hard as they can, both have so many issues, you begin to wonder how it could possibly work out. On top of their own emotional issues, Joe is a cowboy, which is the exact opposite of what Mariah wants in a man and Mariah has a city girl sass, something that intrigues and irritates Joe at the same time. During the two months Joe and Mariah go on a journey of healing, retrospect and discovery. Joe has to get over the loss of his wife, Mariah has to come to grips with who her father was, why he left her, guilty because she did not reach out to him and who she really is. The story is well paced, Joe and Mariah have a strong chemistry but they do not jump right into bed together, they take their time, get to know each other, which is one of the things I really enjoyed in this book, we got to "see" them falling in love, we witness intimate conversations between them, not only in bed, but also when they are trying to get to know each other. The ending is perfect, emotional and sweet, followed by an equally sweet and sexy epilogue.The Cowboy Takes A Bride is a story about two wounded souls who have to learn to deal with the past in order to move into the future. It is full of tears, chemistry and laughter. The secondary cast and the town of Jubilee make me want to rent a U-Haul and head up I-45 North to find my own Jubilee.One of my favorite lines:"His grin could drop a buckle bunny at fifty paces."DiDi gives The Cowboy Takes A Bride Four Stars and a Recommended Read

Originally Posted On My Site At Addicted To RomanceMariah Callahan has just lost her job as the assistant to a well known wedding planner in Chicago, and then her estranged father dies, and leaves her his home. So Mariah figures she has nothing to lose, so she drives down to Jubilee, Texas. Then she finds a sexy as sin cowboy practically naked except for his boots in a horse trough, and she knows she is in trouble with this man. Joe Daniels, a recent widower, and ex champion bull rider, is not ready for any relationship until he stumbles across Dutches daughter. Joe at first closes himself off from Mariah, knowing he isn't fully over his past wife yet, and the last thing he needs is one more complication in his life. But Mariah finds herself drawn not only to Joe, but the small quaint town of Jubilee, and only wants to find some purpose in her life. But when life takes a turn, and Mariah and Joe can't deny their attraction to each other, they may be in for one wild ride!!!The Cowboy Takes A Bride is the first book in the Jubilee series, and even though this isn't the first time for me to try this author out, this book may be my favorite book she has written so far. I can't even believe that I have waited so long to read this one, when its been on the shelves of my library for quite some time. It has been quite some time since I have been pulled completely in with a contemporary romance, but when you mix it in with one sexy cowboy, a house that is falling apart, and a heroine searching for love and purpose in life, I just can't resist. There wasn't anything I didn't like about this book, I LOVED everything about this story. I can barely contain my excitement of this title, and how much I adored every moment I was able to soak it in.The beginning scene is the most perfect way for this story to begin, and boy did I love the sparks that explodes between Mariah and Joe. From the first few pages, you see the attraction. Joe ,has been struggling with his late wife's death, and doesn't think he can ever love again. At the first scene, he is recovering from a period of being drunk, and drowning his sorrows away, and what happens next...a woman with fire in her eyes, orders him off his own land (but she thinks it is her land) Oh the story is just getting good right??? Well then he learns who she is, and all his senses flare up, and before he knows it he is engaging some sexy flirting, helping her when she needs a helping hand...and kissing the one woman that fires his blood like none other. Mariah has never been in a serious relationship, and doesn't have high expectations from Joe, but her heart starts to get involved, and she knows she could lose her heart to him.I just loved the way this author tells this romance....makes you want to dream of cowboys that can kiss you breathless, a love story that is priceless and heart wrenching. Its bound to bring a tear to your eyes and some laughs to bubble up when you least expect it to happen. A TRUE GEM OF A ROMANCE!!! It will knock your boots off!!

Good sense comes from experience, and a lotta that comes from actin' like a damn fool.-Dutch CallahanIn the first book of Lori Wilde's New Series, Jubilee, Texas, we meet Ex-champion bull rider-turned-cutting-horse cowboy, Joe Daniels, who wakes up to see this little blond spit-fire staring down at him while he is lying half-naked in a horse trough. Talk about a HELLO!!Mariah Callahan has nothing left, no job, no money, no home in Chicago and her mother is a newlywed living in Argentina with Iggy, the love of her life. What else is Mariah to do but head to Jubilee and claim the Ranch that her estranged has left her. She plans to sell the property as soon as she can and finally get her own Wedding Planning business off the ground, but how can she think about anything but a certain emotionally wounded, hard-living cowboy who stirs her guilt, her heartstrings, and her long-burned cowgirl roots.OH BOY.....did Lori Wilde start out with a bang in Jubilee, Texas.....You know its the Horse Cutting Heartland....haha....you will get it once you read it. I was tearing up within the first few chapters, maybe even the first few pages. I FLEW through this book, page after page, wanting to know what would happen next. This book touched my heart and held on tight. I would definitely compare this book to a Kristan Higgins Novel, which ALWAYS has me bawling like a baby.I think Joe Daniels has crawled into a little spot of my heart and I'm not sure that I'll ever let him go. I think I'll remember Joe and Mariah for a long, long time. If you have ever lost a loved one, or have lost the one that you loved more than anything, then you will be able to relate to Joe and what he is going through. I was in love the second that Mariah started to worm her way into that hole left in Joe's chest where his heart used to be. The build-up of the romance between them was sweet, and sexy, and sometimes STEAMY...like those hidden kisses against.....oh wait...sorry...almost gave it away.I have to say that I did LOVE Mariah Callahan from the start. She was vulnerable, sweet, at times a spit-fire and she never backed down when it came to Joe Daniels and his grief, but she wasn't going to be a replacement for what he lost and she wasn't going to be with someone who would just leave her, just the way her father did all those years ago.Oh...SO MUCH EMOTION, so much pain and grief, so much regret and sorrow, you can't help but feel for these two, who if they just let go of all the pain could really love each other and love each other good!!So my recommendation is to READ THIS BOOK!! I adored it!! I couldn't put it down and for that to happen...you know its GOOD!!!If you haven't read anything by Lori Wilde, try The Cowboy Takes a Bride....you wont be sorry!!!

Mariah Callahan was a big time wedding planner in Chicago, and then her boss fires her. She is at loose ends when she receives a call that her estranged cowboy dad has died and has left her his ranch. Not having a job or any prospects she heads to Jubilee, Texas. Joe Daniels is a horse man who was best buds with Mariah’s dad, Dutch. When Joe lost his wife two years ago, Dutch saved him from himself. Joe has some opinions about the daughter who never contacted her father. He doesn’t want to like the big city girl who comes off as cold and aloof at first, but it takes him all of about five minutes to see past her cool demeanor. Mariah and Joe are both battling their ghosts. Mariah is trying to overcome the bitterness of a father who seemed to be so well loved, but left her when she was so young. Just when Joe is coming to grips with his wife’s death, his best friend dies. These are two people with very broken hearts.Although this story gets hokey at times, I really enjoyed it. I blew through this book in a day getting totally wrapped up in Mariah and Joe’s wounded hearts mending together. There is so much more than meets the eye with both characters and as they get to know one another more, their characters become more appealing to each other and to the reader.I could have done without all the Sleepless In Seattle references, it was just too much for me. I thought the comparison unnecessary and it really didn’t add any validity to the tale, I think it actually made the story seem less real. Joe and Mariah didn’t need the extra drama or comparisons, the author was doing fine on her own establishing their story, adding the movie into it just distracted me.This book was surprisingly light and refreshing despite the heavy emotional content. The characters are wonderful, the town inviting, and I think the series is off to a great start!Cherise Everhard, February 2012

Good book. I really liked both characters and the other people of the town. Mariah came to Jubilee after her father died. She was still feeling a lot of hurt from his abandonment, and planned to simply sell the land and go back to Chicago. Joe wanted the land but wouldn't have the money for a couple months. She agreed to stick around until he did, and decided to start up her own wedding planning business while she was there. Joe was glad she was giving him a chance to get the money needed. Joe was still in recovery mode from losing his wife a couple years before. The more he got to know her, the more he liked her. There was a lot of back and forth between the two, due to their individual issues. Mariah was afraid to commit because she thought Joe was just like her dad. Joe didn't think he could love again after losing his wife. Part of the problem they both had was that neither wanted to be the first to say "I love you". I liked the way that Joe was so supportive of Mariah's business and did so much to help. I also liked the way that the people of Jubilee also made her feel welcome. I liked the side romance between Ila and Cordy and the way they helped Joe and Mariah at the end. I'm looking forward to the next one in the series.

This was a great book. The story was clear, straightforward, entertaining, and just downright great storytelling. There were no surprises in this book, but I enjoy the predictability of romances, so I'm not complaining. Joe was a great hero. He was a strong, reliable, and protective character who wanted the best for the heroine. Pure alpha male. Mariah was a terrific heroine. She was independent, reliable, and strong in her own way. I admired Mariah when she decided to leave the hatred for her Father behind. She did not let that bitterness rule her life. I loved this story because a mourning widower and a woman with a Father that neglected her come together and form a strong bond of love. It just takes them a little while to figure that out, which I will allow because after all, this is romance! Lol. This book had an epilogue. I normally don't care for that, but in this book it made sense. I think I found a new favorite author and will be reading more of her books.

Another heart-touching, tear-enducing story by Lori Wilde. this is the story of Mariah and Joe. Joe is still grieving for his wife who died two years ago;add to that his est friend, the one who helped survive the lost of his wife, just passed away. And along comes Mariah, his best friend's estranged daughter who has trust issues cause her dad left when she was young. There's automatic chemistry between them that they try really hard to fight. They help rach other to heal as they fall in love and almost screw it all to pieces by their stubborn pride and not wanting to be the first admit they love each other before it all falls into place. I love stories like this :) I can't wait to read more by this author :)

Reading a Lori Wilde is like comfort food. You always know your going to get something that fills you up and makes you feel good while eating it. The Cowboy Takes A Bride is just like that. I loved how each Joe and Mariah fought their relationship at different times leaving us wondering what the heck they were doing. I also liked how they both found themselves thanks to the other. This is a great start to a new series.

I reccomend this book for it's "oh my God just tell her already!" romance. For the daddy issues that's touched on and the "yes! fireworks!" love making scenes.Lori Wilde is such a great writer when it comes to western romances. She has a way with cowboys that just makes me want to run out and find one of my own. (Sorry, honey!!)

I loved the small town of Jubilee and the way Lori Wilde brought these two wounded souls together. Funny, yet it had those moments that gripped your heart in a vice, causing me to wipe at my eyes discreetly as I read on the plane. I highly recommend this book to lovers of small town romance.

I'm not usually a fan of Westerns, but this one was interesting and a lot of fun. I thoroughly enjoyed the characters. Very well done.