Review: Even the Score

Even the Score by Kate Meader
My rating: unrated

Week 5 of Shameless brings me to a cowboy romance. I'm mixed about this story. It started out rather difficult to read because I did not realize it was going to be a cowboy theme. I am not a fan of the cowboy genre. Still, it I continued the story. Initial impressions are not so good. I did not like Tess McKenzie much. She does come across as a shallow poor little rich girl. She is not likeable because I'm not fond of this type of female. She is annoying and holier than thou in a smug kind of way.

Surprisingly, I ended up liking the cowboy, Hunter Dade. Hunter is a man I can respect. He came out of very poor background and formed out of tragedy. He is a self made man with demons that drive him. Sometimes it is his mother who is a broken woman heaping out abuse to her son. This is where the story turned for me. I really admired Hunter and from a character perspective, he's amazing. Ms. Meader definitely creates a character who is swoon worthy. The question is, why is he interested in Tess? Tess has mommy issues but really, they are nothing like what Hunter experienced. Yes, yes, I understand there are no "whose had a worse" life competition. And yes, Tess's issue is crushing. Still based on how Hunter survived and made a difference in this world, it seems he has it together and Tess is just running away and doing not much with her life.

The romance between the two falls flat for me because I can not get over how Tess isn't worthy of a great guy like Hunter. He's marrying down. Yes, there are some things she does that shows she can be a protective loyal friend, but it still seems just skin deep. She needs more growth to catch up with Hunter. By the end of this story, I'm resigned to the fact that love sees no reason as Hunter falls deeply in love with Tess and treats her way too well.

If this series is going to be about Hunter and the men he knows, it will be interesting. These men are dream fantasy material. The women... I hope they will not all be a mess like Tess. The typical ne'er-do-well female who let one moment in time allow them to decide to put their life on hold and drag them down. This romance is recommended to readers who enjoy cowboys riding in to save the day.