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Cowboy with a Cause Book Summary and Study Guide

Detailed plot synopsis reviews of Cowboy with a Cause


Adam Benson rents the second floor of the home of the recently disabled Melanie Brooks and as they spend time together, more than friendship is brewing, but there is a serial killer in town who has targeted Melanie. Adam Benson has been sober for two months and when his brother, brother's wife and their little boy move into the family home, it gets a little snug. He answers the sign that Melanie Brooks had in her window has posted in her window for a room for rent and was pleased that it was actually the entire second floor. The available space was due to Melanie's disability, which had forced her into a wheelchair with no hope of recovery.
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She needed a tenant so she could pay the taxes due on the home she inherited from her mom, who passed away only a week before she found out she would be unable to walk. As a woman who had danced her entire life, including several years successfully in New York, a wheelchair was an especially difficult problem.

As they come to an agreement about sharing the home, he takes an interest in her and her life. Shocked to discover that she only left the house to go to her medical appointments out of town, he built her a ramp for her wheelchair so she had a safe way out and encouraged Melanie to explore the town again. Although she grew up in the little town of Grady Gulch, Oklahoma but had left for New York at 18 and hadn't been back until her mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer.   

With his encouragement, she leaves the house for a social activity, which was dinner with him, in her wheelchair and manages to have a bit of fun. We are also introduced to a sinister real estate developer, Craig Jenkins. When she moved back to town originally, she didn't know about her illness and she had spoken to Craig about selling her mother's home. When she did get her diagnosis, she withdrew the request, but Craig is still harassing her in order to get the property.

She turns him down repeatedly, but he is becoming more aggressive. The reader also learns that two young women from this small, innocent town were murdered within the last six months and there are no suspects. Someone also likes to stand in her yard, without her knowing and watch the house at night…and it appears to be the killer.

After a bit of adjustment between Adam and Melanie, things settle in fairly well. That ends when Melanie begins to think she is losing her mind in that items throughout her home are missing and broken. Once it has been established that it was not Adam, she begins to think she did it and that all the stress that has endured recently had literally driven her crazy. She hesitates to tell anyone, but eventually tells Adam.

Working together and being observant, the two of them establish she is innocent. They have a few suspects, but eventually determine it is Craig and that he is also the serial killer. Throughout the novel, Melanie is angry and bitter, plus she really sees herself as damaged goods that no man would want. She pushes Adam away, but he pursues her…near the end, he gives up and she has to tell him what she feels. It is love and nothing else matters, but it is clarified at the end that her disability is permanent and there is no hope. That doesn't matter and they are in love, with a beautiful future in front of them and the serial killer has been caught.
Best part of story, including ending: I loved it because two flawed characters fell in love, I wish they were not so flawed, because it would have been easier to like them all the time.

Best scene in story: Right after Adam moved in, he built her a ramp. He barely knew her and didn't ask firs, but it was a very telling gesture about a character who still so new. She got angry, refused to pay for the materials or his time and hew just told her it was the right thing to do.

Opinion about the main character: Melanie Brooks is an amazing character, but she can feel sorry for herself more than almost anyone. She was so negative and unhappy throughout the book that until the end, it was hard to relate to her. With that being said, it was neat to have a disabled main character in a romance novel.

The review of this Book prepared by Roberta Still a Level 7 Marbled Godwit scholar

Chapter Analysis of Cowboy with a Cause

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Plot & Themes

Time/era of story    -   2000+ (Present Day) Inner struggle subplot    -   Yes If one lover chases another...    -   he chases after her In love with caretaker or teacher    -   Yes Falling in love with    -   Homecaring friend Disability or addiction?    -   physical disability/sickness/injury

Main Male Character

Profession/status:    -   rancher/cowboy Age/status:    -   20's-30's Sex makes him    -   blissful

Main Female Character

Age/status:    -   20's-30's Profession/status:    -   unemployed Effect of sexing    -   less bitchy/arrogant

Setting

United States    -   Yes The US:    -   Deep South

Writing Style

Accounts of torture and death?    -   moderately detailed references to deaths What % of story is romance related?    -   80% How explicit is the sex?    -   descript of kissing    -   licking    -   actual description of sex Focus of story    -   equally on him and her How much dialog    -   roughly even amounts of descript and dialog

Books with storylines, themes & endings like Cowboy with a Cause

Carla Cassidy Books Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s).
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