Katy Pearl Richland quits her job as a banker and retires her party hat when her aunt Pearlinda leaves her an old hotel that resembles the one out of the movie Psycho.

Red’s Hot Cowboy is the first book that I’ve read by Carolyn Brown, though I do own all of her other books. I really didn’t know what to expect. A bit of steam and a hot cowboy is normally always a good story but something got left out of this one. Pearl is a likeable character. She is strong, willful, and independent and has a sassy mouth. Wil is a hot cowboy who supposedly has a bad boy image but the author never shows how he became to have that image.

Wil Marshall needs a place to stay when the town loses power. Stopping at the town’s motel seems like a logical choice. He never expects to be smitten by the motel’s sexy red-haired owner. Pearl is not like any woman he has ever met. When the night brings on a bunch of chaos and the morning leads to Wil being arrested for murder, Pearl shows that she is loyal and she will do what is right. The murder arrest brings to light a mistaken identity and Wil is released immediately. Wil and Pearl get close as Wil try to repay Pearl for all that she did to help clear his name quickly (the same day which could have been developed and drawn out).

The story flows nicely in which Pearl and Wil clash a bit and fight their attraction, both claiming that they didn’t want to get involved with one another for various reasons. Once Pearl and Wil get together the story goes on nicely and the relationship develops without little to no angst. The story shows several dates and sex scenes but nothing more. This is a standard contemporary romance story and nothing different.

The secondary characters (several members of the town) are shown throughout the story but they add nothing important just like Wil and Pearl. Since Pearl is short staffed she hires a woman who is on the run from her abusive husband. There is an opportunity to bring some drama to the story but the author doesn’t take the bite and Lucy’s character is not developed. I’m assuming that she will get her own story because she appears to have enough to create the angst that is needed in this book.

Overall, the story is fun but lukewarm.

~ Samantha