Bryn Callahan, who is a kind-hearted waitress in the diner, finds that one horse leads to another in the first of the ‘Creedence Horse Rescue’ series. And she discovers that animals are not the only ones in need of rescuing. A COWBOY STATE OF MIND is a top-notch romance story.

Zane Taylor also lives in Creedence, Colorado, with his ornery, bitter dad. Zane trains horses for a living, specialising in difficult projects. When he sees that Bryn wants to buy an ill-treated mare from two strangers who pull in for food, Zane can’t stop himself tipping the waitress enough to cover the cost. He tells himself it’s just about the horse, but the lovely Bryn needs his help to manage the mare and he starts to look forward to her company. This is a town where folks care about one another, but they also step back to let young people go their own way and make their own mistakes. Zane has been brainwashed by his father’s poisonous words and begrudging attitude, so he doesn’t think he is worth Bryn’s interest.

I enjoyed this tale from the first page, because the horses are up front. The unfortunate mare is just the start because when word spreads, more than one animal is abandoned at Bryn’s place, until she has to start a rescue centre to keep going. Sadly, that was foreseeable with today’s difficulties for pet owners. In a sense Bryn is also conditioned, because she has been helping her brother and only family Buck, who is a rodeo hustler always down on his luck, and a boyfriend or two who took advantage of her kind nature. Darn them. This eventually leads to some of the best scenes in the book, full of both Bryn and friends cowboying up and taking charge of life. 

The contemporary romance may have you wondering why Zane spent so much time spying on Bryn, and why Zane still believes a man he now clearly does not like or respect. A responsible parent’s wishes are one matter, but supposing the mean ol’ town drunk yelled across the street that you were no good, why would you believe him? To me this is very much overdone and only the fact that Zane is carrying around other sadness and hasn’t spent time talking with anyone, manages to carry the scenes. I also found some lovely romantic scenes, don’t worry. Jennie Marts has written other modern western stories set in Montana and Colorado, and has already got a sequel to A COWBOY STATE OF MIND, When A Cowboy Loves A Woman. Just proving that like horses, good books don’t come along singly.

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