Song of the West by Nora Roberts

(omnibus cover)

Song of the West (1982) (Silhouette)
Nora Roberts
Grade: C+
Genre: contemporary romance
Sex scenes: mild
Source: own

Romance RBC 2015: A book published in the 1980s 

When her pregnant twin sister Sabrina asks Samantha to move to Wyoming to help out for the duration of her risky pregnancy, Sam doesn’t hesitate to leave Philadelphia in the dust. A former Olympic gymnastics champion, Sam feels no strong ties to her job as a gymnastics teacher. Instead, she falls head-over-heels for Wyoming’s beautiful yet contrasting landscape, with its rolling hills and rugged mountains. She feels a similar magnetic pull to Jake Tanner, local rancher and major landowner, despite his overbearing and alpha-male possessive attitude. As Sabrina’s due date looms ever-nearer, so does the time Sam has to make the biggest decision of her life …

Heartbreaker by Linda Howard

Heartbreaker (1987) (Harlequin)
Linda Howard
Grade: A
Genre: contemporary romance
Sex scenes: mild

Source: own
Romance RBC 2014: A book with a one-word title

Michelle Cabot has returned to take over her father’s ranch after his death and is faced with the biggest challenge of her life. She’s determined to manage the cattle ranch on her own, however physically challenging, until she realises that her father was heavily in debt to their neighbour, John Rafferty. When Michelle first met John at eighteen years old, she was both intimidated and attracted, but knew that she couldn’t allow either emotion to show, else he lump her in the same category as all the other women who fell at his feet in lust. As a result, Michelle made it her mission to be the iciest bitch in her power and the two have been at odds ever since.

Mackenzie's Mountain by Linda Howard

Mackenzie's Mountain (1988) (Harlequin)

Linda Howard

Grade: A+

Genre: romantic suspense

Sex scenes: hot

Source: own 

Mackenzie Family: (1) Mackenzie's Mountain 

Mary Elizabeth Potter is the new schoolteacher in the tiny town of Ruth, Wyoming and damn good at her job. When she discovers that the school’s brightest pupil dropped out a month before she arrived, she’s determined to find out why and get Joe Mackenzie’s able mind back in the classroom. Blissfully ignorant of the town’s prejudices surrounding the Mackenzie’s Indian heritage and Wolf Mackenzie’s cleared – but no less forgotten – criminal record, Mary marches up the mountain to their home, completely unprepared for what she’s about to find.

Duncan's Bride by Linda Howard

Duncan's Bride (1990) (Harlequin)

Linda Howard

Grade: A+

Genre: contemporary romance

Sex scenes: hot

Source: own 

Patterson-Cannon Family Saga: (1) Duncan's Bride 

Reese Duncan needs a bride and this time, love (or more accurately, lust) won’t be playing a part in the equation. His first wife, April, had been wholly unsuited to ranch life. After two years she fled back to the City, mercilessly taking half of Reese’s ranch in a divorce that almost bankrupted him. Seven years later, he’s almost back in the black and he wants children to carry on his family’s legacy.

Madelyn ‘Maddie’ Patterson is twenty-eight years old and bored of her City life. Her step-brother Robert gave her a job in his company after the death of his father and her mother to help her cope with the loss, but Maddie feels that she has long overstayed her welcome. When she sees Reese’s advert in a newspaper, she intrigued and tempted. She’s always loved country life and she feels that it’s time to settle down and have children. What better way to do it without the hassle of a time-consuming courtship and engagement?