A Writer's Review of “A Cowboy's Touch" by Denise Hunter

I went to the American Christian Fiction Writer's Conference last September. The main reason I did this was because my friends from church who'd read the rough draft of the book I'd written insisted that I needed to find out what other writers and people in the book industry thought of my voice, idea and writing in general. They all raved about these things themselves—but they were my friends. They were supposed to.

Well, even though I was scared to death—I went. And not only did I receive all the confirmation that my friends thought I would, but I also saw just about all of my favorite authors there. Julie Lessman, Julie Klassen, Ruth Axtell Morren, Tamera Alexander, Colleen Coble… and Denise Hunter.

Of course, I didn’t go up and speak to ANY of them. Didn’t have my picture taken with ANY of them. Hardly wanted to look like I noticed they were there at all. I don’t know why I’m like this—I just am. I regret it now—especially when I see Casey Herringshaw’s endless fan photos on her blog—though I still don’t know if that will change my behavior at the conference next year… Seriously, even if Gerard Butler was standing in front of me—I would completely ignore his existence.

Well, speaking of Gerard Butler… let me get to what this post is supposed to be all about. I think he would be a rather good fit for what the rodeo cowboy in Denise Hunter’s A Cowboy’s Touch would look like… and do to a girl on the inside—except with a Texas accent instead of a Scottish one.

Denise Hunter is pretty much the only contemporary romance author that I read. I write historical romance myself, so I usually try to completely inundate myself with books that are similar to what I want to produce. But I just cannot stop reading Denise Hunter’s books! Who knows maybe this fascination I have with her talent will even spur me on to write my own contemporary romance someday. I’ve already started thinking more about writing a Regency romance too—thanks to Jamie Carie!

A Cowboy’s Touch. I get why this is the name of the book—and I know which specific (amazing) scene it comes from too. But really, the title and the cover are the only things I didn’t like about this book. In my opinion, the content of the book went much deeper than the title and cover portrayed to any would-be reader.


But again, and with great skill, Denise Hunter brings her antagonist (journalist, Abigail Jones) and her protagonist (ex-rodeo cowboy, J.W. Ryan) together while they each struggle through their emotional and spiritual bondage that threatens to keep them apart. I almost expected more complexities—but that is probably because of my recent ventures into two of Denise Hunter’s other books, Surrender Bay and Driftwood Lane.

I give A Cowboy’s Touch 4 stars.

 I'm reading Denise Hunter's second book in this "Big Sky Romance" series (The Accidental Bride) right now (on my new Kindle!!! Yay!!!). I'm about 68% of the way through it and am LOVING it so far!!!