REVIEW: Trouble in Texas by Katie Lane

Trouble in Texas

(Deep in the Heart of Texas #4)

by Katie Lane

5 HEARTS

From Goodreads

THERE'S A FOX IN THE HENHOUSE 

Inheriting the most notorious house of ill repute in Texas can spell trouble for a girl's reputation . . . especially when she's Elizabeth Murphy, Bramble's prim and proper librarian. Yet when she discovers a buck-naked cowboy handcuffed to a four-poster bed, she forgets all about the town gossips. Elizabeth has sworn off men, but the stranger's kisses melt her resolve faster than ice cream on a hot summer day. 

Waking up in Miss Hattie's Henhouse isn't how Brant Cates reckoned on getting to the bottom of his great-granddaddy's murder. The plan was to solve the centuries-old crime, then get the heck out of Dodge. But after meeting Elizabeth and discovering that the buttoned-up beauty is a sexy siren in disguise, he just can't pull himself away. 

Now Brant needs Elizabeth to finally put his past to rest, but is she willing to risk her future on Bramble's newest bad boy?

Trouble in Texas is the latest book in the Deep in the Heart of Texas series by Katie Lane. Often, by the time I’m reading the 4th book in the series it can feel phoned in or repetitive. That is not the case with this book, at all. This series offers the odd occurrence of just getting better and better as it goes on. 

Elizabeth Murphy is the prim and proper, small town librarian and the secret owner of the town’s notorious house of ill repute. Raised by a man hating mother she has never really had a need for men in her life. Oh the irony, that her grandmother left her the Hen House in her will. The Hen House has been in disrepair for many years and is well past its prime. Actually, that is true for the house and the 3 women that are still living in the house. Elizabeth is trying all she can to put the house on the market, convince the remaining Hens that a retirement home is what they need and keep her involvement quiet. Oh how she misses the day when that was her biggest problem. Called to the Hen House for an emergency she finds a man handcuffed to one of her beds. Stuck between a rock and a hard place, she chooses to leave the law out of it. If she calls the law everyone will know her secret. All she can do is hope when this guy wakes he’ll want to keep his stop at an ancient whorehouse a secret as much as she does. Instead when he wakes he kisses her senseless and ignites feelings she’s never known. 

Brant Cates has gotten himself in quite a mess. His family is cursed and he’s convinced if he can solve his great grandfather’s murder he can lay the curse to rest. Heading to Bramble, Texas, the scene of the crime, he stops at the infamous Hen House to take a quick look around. Coming across 3 crazy, old women is not what he expected. Nor did he expect one of the ladies to take a shot at him and another to drug him. Now, he’s awake, handcuffed to a bed and the woman of his dreams is leaning over him. He experiences a lust that he hasn’t felt since his wife and son were killed in a tornado a few years before. Unable to control himself he grabs this woman of his dreams and kisses her with all that he has. They are soon interrupted by his baby brother who shows up at the house to find him. Wanting nothing more than to get as far away as possible Brant finds his plans are definitely not working out the way he wanted. His brother decides to buy the house and wants to remodel it for a gentleman’s club. Brant decides to hang around for awhile, so his brother doesn’t have to go at it alone or so he tells himself. The sexy, beauty of a librarian haunts him in so many ways. He loves and misses his wife, but Elizabeth is making him feel things that he isn’t sure he deserves. 

This book was heartbreaking in several parts. It dealt with a couple tough topics that were hard to read about, but Katie Lane did such a good job at balancing these tough topics with the funny and sexy. Not only do we have the crazy townspeople of Bramble, Texas that we’ve grown to love, but we now add 3 crazy, old women that were once ladies of the night and can’t seem to let go of the good ol’ days. I found myself laughing out loud several times over their antics. 

A special thank you to NetGalley.com for the loan of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Hotness Rating 

4 out of 5