One Tough Cowboy

Despite lots of explicit sex and police work, there isn’t much to enliven this overstuffed erotic romance from Leigh (the Elite Ops series) and Chadwick (Rude Awakening). Detroit cop Samantha Jolene Ryder never planned to come back to her small home town of Deerhaven, Calif., but she heads back after several years away when her aunt is murdered. Sexy sheriff Hunter Steele, already investigating three suspicious deaths and short on trusted deputies, welcomes Sam’s help in looking for her aunt’s killer. Sam plans to go back to Detroit after the investigation and tries to ignore Hunter’s sultry kisses and steamy innuendo, but he isn’t keeping his distance. Sam wavers between the appeal of their toe-curling romps and her fear of getting hurt, all the while trying to uncover the secrets that led to her aunt’s death. She’s also fiercely independent, resents any hint of patronizing, and often misreads Hunter’s intentions; meanwhile, he repeatedly pushes her boundaries and ignores her objections to a degree that may put off consent-focused readers. There are small-town relationships and rivalries to unravel, but this disappointing contemporary never fully comes together. Agent: Robin Rue, Writers House. (Feb.)