The rowdy cowboys are back at the Ugly Stick Saloon during rodeo week and Mona, who works tables for some extra cash, holds her head up but spurns advances. She's been let down hard by a rodeo circuit cowboy and she's not falling for that one again. BOOTS AND BUCKLES are definitely on show in Temptation, Texas, as the cowboys brush dust off their chaps and order beers from the pretty girl. Mona runs her own hairdressing salon and she needs the work, and tips, to try to put down a deposit on the purchase of the premises.

Grant Raleigh, with a wonderful memory of Mona but a heart full of shame for never contacting her since, sits quietly with his roping partner, Sam Whitefeather, trying to work up the courage to speak to the girl. How can this be so much tougher than bronc riding? Between dancing the two- step and line dancing, Mona has a fun evening with the hundred or so guys in the bar. But that ends when she spots Grant in the corner. Grant thinks it best to leave, and in an emotional state he tells his story to a young lady he's just met over coffee. Grant got himself into a very complicated mess since he saw Mona last, involving another guy, another girl, too much drink and a sham of a marriage. He's divorced now, sober and winning with the help of Sam, but how can he convince Mona he cared for her all along? And as Sam clearly thinks Mona's the finest lady in town, is someone going to have to choose?

I disliked Grant's describing intimate details about Mona to another woman. In a more conservative area the story could have been enough to get Mona fired. So that doesn't make me think very well of Grant, although the story was mostly about himself. After hours the sheriff's department is offering rides to cowboys too drunk to drive. Despite this Mona gets grabbed by a man and she promptly throws him over her shoulder, making me cheer! Another cowboy, egotistical and mouthy, tries to get a winning edge by baiting fellow competitor Grant about Mona. Now that's the kind of guy Mona's well off without! Characters are what make the 'Ugly Stick Saloon' series, that and exciting fantasy adult action in the hottest small town in Texas. Myla Jackson has a lot of fun writing this series and in BOOTS AND BUCKLES she gives us another self-reliant woman to cheer for.