Publishers Weekly

In the Oklahoma Nights Romance series launch, Johnson (Hooked) describes Dr. Rebecca Hart’s worst day: her job as an assistant professor of English at Vassar University is downsized, and she goes home to see her boyfriend moving out. Her sister, Emma, accompanies Becca to Oklahoma State University for a job interview, and the sisters take in a rodeo, where instant attraction sparks between Becca and bull rider Tucker Jenkins. Becca, who’s trying to live in the moment and not overanalyze, has a wild one-night stand with Tucker, who’s gun-shy of relationships after a nasty divorce. They part without exchanging numbers, but when Becca takes the Oklahoma teaching position, she’s introduced to Staff Sgt. Jenkins, who teaches in the ROTC program. Again, sparks fly, but there’s a rule against faculty fraternizing, so Tucker finds a unique solution. Johnson alternates between Tucker’s sex-centric narration and Becca’s more emotion-focused perspective, both of which are convincing and satisfying. (Mar.)