Before I begin my review I must ask a question: how common is the phrase “calf nuts on a cracker?” Is this just a Texas expression? A rancherism? This was the catchphrase of the hero of Boone Mitchell, the hero Unforgettable by Alison Kent. Unfortunately, the title is a misnomer and the story is pretty forgettable.

Here is the breakdown of the story: Big city girl Everly Grant leaves her troubles behind in Austin and moves to the sleepy town of Crow Hill, Texas. Everly, who once was a prominent newscaster in Austin, takes a job at the local newspaper. This is where the new information stops and the book became heavily reliant on the earlier series; which meant that I was seriously confused about some details. For example, at the start of the book, Everly had lived in Crow Hill for four years yet did not know Boone. Then there was the return of the Dalton Gang. Everyone kept referring to the return of the Dalton Gang; however, I don’t know when this return happened since it is not specified in this book. They have been back long enough for two of the three members to get hooked up in relationships. Anyway, from what I surmised the Dalton Gang did some crazy stuff as youths and then they left (I don’t know why, I’m assuming it has to do with all of their hell-raising). Well now they are all back and the local newspaper wants to do human-interest piece on them, and guess who is assigned to the case?

For you readers who love your men to be big and quiet, Boone Mitchell is right up your alley. What he lacks in conversation, he makes up for in brawn. I will admit that at first I was actually alarmed by Boone (Well firstly, I couldn’t get over the name, it reminds me of what you would call your slow-witted dog). However, I digress – Boone did not have the best introduction yet he turned out to be my favorite character of the story. We are introduced to Boone at the town’s fundraiser where he drinks too much and ends up drunkenly going home with Everly. He wakes up the next morning not knowing where he is or with whom he went home and yet his first instinct is to pleasure himself in her shower (?) Anyway, further into the story Boone redeems himself. Boone is the macho man but really has nothing else going on besides being a beefcake. He is a very simple man – he works the ranch, he eats meat, and needs sex. Once I realized that that was all there was to Boone I accepted him. I guess I am used to reading stories where the hero might be a simple man, with simple needs, yet deep and profound thoughts. I don’t think there was much of that going on upstairs with Boone. In fact, that was a common theme for all of the men in the story. Their primary concerns were feeding and rutting. In one scene, Casper (another member of the Gang) actually asks to be interviewed in the kitchen because it is where his food and drink are kept.

Everly Grant was a hard character for me to like. I get that she had a whole closet full of issues, but I couldn’t help feeling like she was taking advantage of Boone for his killer body and unending sexual appetite. He made it more than clear that he wanted a deeper relationship and that was something that Everly definitely did not want, yet she kept showing up at his house, with a picnic basket full of food and the ready-made domesticity that Boone wanted. I think that Kent wanted to create a complex character that the reader would end up loving despite her faults, but that was not happening for me. Instead all I could do was focus on how unfair Everly was to Boone. There were times I wanted to swoop in and save Boone from Everly’s seductive ways. I get that opposites attract, but that can only go so far. Everly and Boone were total opposites, her complexity with his simplicity just was not a believable duo.

For me, this book was lacking any real romance. The two characters (well mostly Everly) used each other for a sex-only relationship that never developed into anything tangible. The ending was as hastily done as the beginning and the heart of the story lagged. There were no overall big events and the story focused solely on a relationship that never developed into anything beyond the physical. In the end, I’d rate it slightly below average.