Cowboys Never Cry    by Tina Welling Order:  USA  Can New American Library, 2010 (2010) Paperback, e-Book     Reviewed by Martina Bexte After three years, Cassie Danner has yet to find closure to her husband's sudden death while scaling the peaks of the Himalayas. Distancing herself from the grandeur of the Grand Tetons and returning to the east coast might have been her first step, but Cassie's love for the wild beauty that surrounds Jackson Hole, Wyoming is as great, or greater than her husband's had been. Determined to find peace and perhaps, finally, her place in life, she signs on as cook at the Cross Wave dude ranch and soon finds herself clashing with Robbin McKeag, a disillusioned Hollywood actor. Cassie works hard to ignore Robbin's insulting and combative behaviour toward her - she has to; she needs this job to pay her mounting bills. But Robbin's determination to get her fired is relentless. As she interacts and finds out more about the fallen movie idol, she comes to realise that his heart and soul are as damaged as hers - and that his campaign to alienate her is a defence mechanism to keep himself from falling in love. Cassie knows she'd be foolish to let herself be swept away by Robbin, not when she's still trying to come to grips with her husband's death - and his various secrets. As the summer passes, however, Cassie and Robbin agree to an affair. Will Cassie take the next step and allow herself to trust this sweet talking modern day cowboy, or walk away before her heart's broken all over again? This tale is filled with plenty of emotion and character growth and focuses primarily on a grieving widow's journey to find herself and move on with her life, even after that journey takes an unexpected turn. Cassie's characterization is beautifully done. However, I couldn't get as emotionally invested in Robbin and his issues, other than through dialogue exchanges with Cassie and other secondary characters. While the story is written in third person point of view, the author chose to have Cassie as the sole narrator. Consequently far too many sharp and very enjoyable dialogue scenes were suddenly interrupted and replaced with long, drawn out narrative passages and flashbacks that often disrupted the continuity of the story. Even so, Cowboys Never Cry is a thoughtful, well-written contemporary romance about two lost and troubled souls who travel a unique path to rediscovering love. Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons. Find more Romance books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews