I’m Betting on Miranda & Jesse
By Amanda Renee
Harlequin American Romance, $5.25, 218 pages
Romance novelist Amanda Renee takes us on a Texan romp with Miranda, a retail clerk from Washington, D.C., who won the lottery and decided to buy a ranch in Texas in the hopes of starting her own antique shop in a small town. On her first day at her new ranch she meets a ranch-hand named Jesse. Unbeknownst to her, Jesse wanted to buy the ranch but was outbid by Miranda – and he is determined to get the ranch one way or another.
While the dialogue is often lacking complexity and the situation challenges plausibility, the romance more than makes up for it. The sexual tension between Miranda and Jesse builds at a vigorous pace without too much cliché. Readers will begin to cheer them on only to be blindsided by another falling out, bringing the tension to full force. Betting on Texas is a good, fast-paced read that will tantalize the romantic in anyone and stimulate the senses with descriptions of a real working Texas ranch. It’s definitely worth the few hours it will take to read through this saga.
Reviewed by M. Chris Johnson
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