Unbuttoned

Carly Denton's background is questionable at best, but she's made something of herself, despite her parents' worst efforts. Raised by a philandering father and a mother who couldn't bring herself to leave him, she's used to her family being the subject of small town gossip and tear-drenched scenes, so she conducts herself with careful decisions and all the dignity she can muster. But there's one cowboy who gets under her skin like no other.

ButFor a final copy (assuming my library hasn't started packing ARCs), Unbuttoned had a surprising number of typos and syntax mistakes. Most of them were just obviously typing errors, like he instead of her, and sentences where you could tell something had been reworded because they left one of the wrong words in. It didn't ruin the story, but it does show a lack of attention to detail, and if Maisey Yates weren't such a great storyteller, I probably would have passed early judgement and bailed.

The Verdict: Having loved some of Maisey Yates's more recent books, I couldn't pass this series up when I found it at my local library. I half-expected it to be a little disappointing, given that it's a few years old, but as it turns out, I had no reason to worry.

Carly's childhood was spent watching the shameful behavior of her parents, a father who made no secret of his affairs and a mother who thew crying tantrums about them for the whole town to see. Determined to avoid that same fate, she's changed from the little girl who played in the dirt and become a woman whose suits are always perfectly pressed, whose hair is never out of place, and whose emotions will never attract the attention of the town busybodies. It seems that only Lucas, the cowboy who reminds her too much of her father, can ruffle her feathers.

Lucas remembers the Carly as his best friend's little sister, but she's almost someone completely different now. He knows where she came from, who her parents were, and that's never bothered him. In fact, his home life was even worse, which is why he practically grew up in Carly's house when they were all kids together. But now when he sees her, she acts like a shrew, like he's the last person in the world she wants to see, and he figures that can only mean two things. Either she truly can't stand him, or she feels a lot more for him than he wants to admit.

In many ways, Carly is stuck in the past, while Lucas is just trying to move forward with his life. But he soon realizes that the frosty looks Carly gives him have some heat behind them, and he can't help but push her buttons. While they have undeniable chemistry, though, getting Carly to stop worrying about what everyone else thinks and start worrying about what she wants for herself is the real challenge. And it certainly doesn't help that she watched him go through a string of girlfriends when they were younger. In her mind, he might be just as bad as her father.

While Lucas didn't have a grand old childhood, it seems that Carly has suffered more from hers. Watching her begin to give in, and seeing how genuine Lucas was about his feelings for her, is the stuff of great romance. The plot's pretty simple — two people trying to deny their attraction and growing feelings for one another — but the story itself is lots of fun. Equal parts funny, hot, sad, and romantic, Unbuttoned was a nice surprise and a great, quick romance read.

Very good. I could not put it down.

I enjoyed this book. Looking forward to reading more from this author.