Monica Brandt is a New York princess; Harvard educated, she works on Wall Street as an investment banker. She has a perfect fiancé: Evan Horschfeld Davis III...or so he seems, until Monica receives a phone call that her father suffered a heart attack, and it is necessary she flies to Las Vegas immediately. Tom Brandt had the nerve to interrupt an important meeting, or it is the way Evan deems it. The fact Monica's father might be dying is of no importance to Evan. There is business to take care of. He tells her if she goes, she can kiss her job goodbye because he is also her boss. She leaves with a heavy heart.

Ty Morgan, former bull rider and proud cowboy, was with Tom Brandt, when he had his coronary. Ty's father and Monica's father were partners, and Ty succeeded his father as Tom's right hand man in managing the mostly decrepit Hotel Rodeo. They want to spruce it up, but when Monica hears about that, she is livid. Because she is taking care of her father's business until he gets better, which seems doubtful, she makes the decisions. And a war just started!

HELL ON HEELS is Victoria Vane's first instalment in her new Hotel Rodeo series. Ms. Vane writes cowboys like no one else, and as expected the writing is fabulous. I love how she gives her characters such solid backgrounds; in the space of this short novel, we really get to know Monica and Ty. At first, I thought Monica was a seriously cold witch. She doesn't trust Ty because he must be an ignoramus, being a country hick and all. Ty doesn't want to work for her because she is spiteful and demeaning. Then Monica makes Ty a proposal that sounds a bit off to me, and as much as I love Victoria Vane, this is where she lost me. Obviously, we expect Monica and Ty to agree to disagree. Monica is sexually frustrated; her perfect boyfriend is definitely not perfect in every way. Ty, as much as he can't stand her snobbish ways, plays the seduction card. And where I would have expected literally a knee-jerk reaction from the banking professional... Well, let's just say I thought the sexy interlude appeared unrealistic to me. I felt Monica behaved totally out of character, and it threw me off for the remainder of the book. Otherwise I love the story, especially Tom's. Everything else is fine, and the ending left me gasping—in a good way. I hope I can get over my issue when the second book comes out, because Victoria is one of my favourite authors, and the premise for the Hotel Rodeo series is very interesting.

Book Summary

PLACE YOUR BET...
The Hotel Rodeo in Las Vegas has seen better days, but managing partner Ty Morgan has come up with a way to return it to its former glory. His plan looks promising until the unthinkable happens. Suddenly Ty is working for the boss’s daughter. And Miss Monica Brandt, hot as she may be, doesn’t share his vision…

ROLL THE DICE...
She left a fabulous career and a frustrated fiancé in New York to move to Vegas and save her father’s investment. But now Monica is locking horns with a sexy cowboy-turned-businessman. What does Ty think he can do that she can’t? All Monica knows is that she doesn’t dare trust him—or is it herself she doesn’t trust...

AND WIN...
The battle lines are drawn. The stakes are high. And the attraction can’t be denied—especially the more closely Ty and Monica have to work together. Some odds are just meant to be played, and with chemistry this electric, it may be time to grab life by the horns…