Dealer's Heart by Cyndi Whitten
Awe-Struck eBooks
Contemporary
Full Length, Sensual
Review by Hydrangea

♥ ♥ ♥

Dealer’s Heart is a light, funny, quirky novel with unique characters, wacky situations, and even a stray hurricane--and I really liked its offbeat charm. From the opening pages, when I realized Abby’s situation was not at all what it seemed, I was hooked. And the first time she spoke to her cat--and the cat answered her--I knew I was in for a fun read.

The heroine, Abby, is a horse trainer who just happens to be a poker champion. She’s slightly disaster-prone and sometimes a little crazy, but I really liked her humor and sparkle. She’s a bit out of the ordinary for a romance heroine: she needs glasses and contacts to see anything; she’s not above fleecing a man at cards; and not even the prospect of a headless specter daunts her. But I appreciated that she’s also charming, spirited, and never at a loss for words. In fact, her repartee with the hero is sharp, sexy and often laugh-outloud funny.

The hero, Florida rancher Cole Hannible, is described as tall, dark-haired, green-eyed, and in need of a shave. That yummy description alone was enough to put me on his side--but I also liked that he’s strong and dependable, and matches Abby’s quirky sense of humor with his own. What I didn’t like was that some of his actions seemed closer to frat house pranks than a romantic hero’s actions ever should be but that was a minor problem, outweighed by the sexy, tension-filled attraction between Cole and the heroine.

I also found the story a little underwritten at times--I occasionally had to re-read passages to figure out exactly what was happening--but, I still enjoyed the fun and mayhem of the plot and was definitely never bored. So, if you are looking for something light and frothy but chock full of sexy romance, you will enjoy Dealer’s Heart.