COWGIRL BE MINE By Elaine Nichols Silhouette Romance Special Edition #1428 ISBN # 0373244282 October 2001 {Click here to buy this book} "Cowgirl Be Mine" is the debut novel by Elaine Nichols. Normally I shy away from cowboy stories as they seem to dominate the

Mandy Thomson is no ordinary cowgirl. She's a high spirited party girl of the rodeo. She's a prize winning bull rider to boot. Living life to the fullest fits her personality more so than moderation in all things. To prove it, all one has to do is pick up the latest rodeo magazine or newspaper to see her latest wins, loses and after hours antics.

But when a freak accident befalls Mandy she's left to try to either pick up where she left off, if she can, or try to find a new life. The first thing she needs is down time to recuperate. Thanks to her brother Ben, Mandy finds herself on the ranch of her dreams where she's guaranteed privacy, quiet and the space to relearn how to ride, let alone walk. What she didn't expect was to find her long lost love, the owner of the ranch.

Mandy left Jake Miller ten years previously. While she loved him to the ends of the earth it was his talk of commitment, marriage and kids that scared the hell out of her. At 18, Mandy didn't think she'd lived enough to get herself tied down. The rodeo was in her blood. That's where her heart and career lay. Jake couldn't accept her chosen life though he never asked her to quit. But Mandy always felt that this is what he wanted. Her only choice was to leave him. Now, 10 years later she's face to face with Jake and being forced to come to terms with the emotions of their previous life together, which she thought she'd buried. One look into Jake's eyes threw everything she believed out the window.

Jake Miller never understood why Mandy left him 10 years previously and was unable to keep her from this thoughts for very long. Secretly he followed Mandy through the news, tabloids, and her brother Ben with whom Jake's still very close to. He'd tried dating but Mandy was always there in the back of his mind and he'd find himself comparing the other women he met to her. Family responsibilities kept him occupied though so dating was never high on his priority list.

When Ben comes to Jake and explains his sisters needs for recovery Jake is only too happy to let her stay with him at the ranch. She'd have her own private apartment and could live there as long as she needed to recuperate. When he sees her, though, all the feelings from the past come flooding back. What he decides is that if he could have her, just once, that it would be the end of it for him. He could get her out of his system and move on with his life. What he doesn't count on is that the one time with Mandy would leave his whole world in chaos.

"Cowgirl Be Mine" is, in a word, brilliant. Were I to explain more of the plot would be giving the story away. Suffice it to say the characters are extremely well developed and credible. The plot isn't full of twists and turns but follows a likely path of life. Situations are highly believable and their paths natural. Mandy and Jake's story is not over-shadowed by secondary character stories. They are the story. Secondary characters keep things real, give the story balance and depth but they never take center stage. This is a rare and unique feature in romance today and one that I hope Ms Nichols will continue with in her future works.