Unridden is one of those books that really makes me wish for a half star because it was better than three stars, but it never quite captures a fourth star.Jenna Block is a romance novelist from NYC(how masturbatory, a romance novel about a romance author, but I digress) researching cowboys for her next novel. While in Tulsa at a romance authors' convention, she meets Mustang Jackson (so nicknamed for his oversized wang of mighty lovin') and Slade Bower, two pro bull riders in town for a championship. They meet for drinks to discuss bull riding and flirt a bit before Jenna goes home for the evening, promising to attend the event the next evening.I liked that Johnson had the heroine go back to her room. I find a lot of menage stories have a woman falling quickly into bed with two strangers, a decision so reckless I can hardly respect the heroine afterwards. Instead, Johnson takes two nights for Mustang to charm and Slade to intrigue her before Jenna basically says "Fuck it, why not?" That it happens on her 35th birthday, Jenna deciding she's not getting any younger, also lent more realism to the situation for me.The sex scenes are rather sweet, considering the content. Johnson mercifully avoids the play by play style sex scene so common to the genre and focuses on their thoughts, feelings and reactions throughout. We see Mustang having a fun time, Slade fighting jealousy and Jenna trying to process it all. However, this is about where the book started to lose its focus. A romance forming out of a menage is conflict enough. There was no need for a large age gap (Mustang's 25, Slade 27) or another man's interest to be thrown into the mix. I guess she intended Chase's attentions to show Slade's attachment and jealousy, but it would have been far less messy to do so with Mustang. As a result, I felt the romantic relationship between Jenna and Slade ended up underdeveloped. I was surprised to find this would not end in a permanent menage. The connection between Slade and Jenna seemed no stronger than between her and Mustang. The tenuous connection between these two meant the ending was more of a HFN than HEA. These two may call it love, but they know so little of each other that they are more accurately infatuated and only beginning their courtship. I wouldn't call the ending unsatisfying, as I'd prefer this to a hasty marriage, but it is far less tied up and neat than your average romance.Overall, I enjoy Johnson's voice and style and found she creates real, multi-faceted characters. Despite this book's flaws, it was still a joy to read and a good story. I'll definitely pick up future books of hers.
