Every year my family and I attend the St Paul Rodeo for the 4th of July here in Oregon and every year after the rodeo I am dying for a cowboy romance! So this was the year that I was like ‘OK I need to read one’ and I reached for the closest cowboy romance I could find. I did a special feature on this book when it was first released and I thought—why not start reading it now?!
I don’t know that this was the cowboy romance that I was hoping for but it was sweet and a quick, easy read for sure. I picked it up just before I hopped on the plane for Arizona and thought it would be a nice little bit of fluff reading and that’s exactly what it was—fluff. But not in a bad way! Sometimes I need fluff to get me through stressful situations like flying with a toddler and being stuck in an airport with said toddler for 7 hours with a delayed flight! This was just the book I needed once I got on the plane!
I haven’t read anything by Dylann Crush before and I thought this was a sweet book that made me want to read more by her, especially in this series. I actually ordered the other two books in this series after reading this one because as much as I wasn’t sure about it at times—by the end I was in love with the characters and the hokey town of Ido Texas!
Summary
Local cowboy Jasper Taylor has to decide if it’s more important to help his hometown of Ido, Texas win a contest or for him to win the heart of the woman he loves.
The little town of Ido, Texas, is up against some big competition. With the state tourism department on a search for the most romantic town in Texas, Ido is pulling out all the stops to win the title. Leading the effort is the newly appointed hospitality host Jasper Taylor. If he can secure the honor for Ido, he’ll be able to hang onto his family’s land.
But when the reigning Miss Lovin’ Texas and celebrity judge, Delilah Stone, rolls into town, she isn’t exactly welcomed with open arms. Delilah’s ready to put her beauty queen days behind her, and the only thing standing in her way is spending the next thirty days in Ido. It should be an easy gig, but someone in town is tired of all of the recent publicity. Somehow everything that ought to go right is suddenly going wrong.
Now it’s up to Jasper to convince Delilah to give Ido another chance by showing her just how romantic the small town can be…without losing his own heart in the process. (summary from Goodreads)
Review
So this book had all the cliches and hokey cheesiness that I didn’t know that I needed. Let’s hit the high points here—-the town of ‘Ido’ (like ‘I do’) Texas is having a romance/wedding competition—-really? And there is a beauty queen with the title of ‘Miss Lovin’ Texas’—–really? Full disclosure for the first chapter I was seriously questioning why I even picked this book up because it was that fluffy. But all hokey-ness aside, this book grew on me and before I knew it, I was dying for my own Jasper. Their chemistry was fantastic and I loved their ‘meet cute’. So adorable—and slightly cheesy too but I still thought it was cute. Before I knew it I was ordering the other books in the series—cheesy or not! This book was well written and heartwarming. I loved the characters and the story was just what I needed to read.
Though I could have gone for a little more heat in this one, it was on the less steamy side and more sweet which was fine but I was expecting a little more heat to be honest. Jasper and Delilah definitely had chemistry so more heat would most likely be expected from readers and in my opinion—welcome. I thought this book would have more of a cowboy feel, but in this book it felt more like Jasper (the cowboy in question) was more of a cowboy by default simply because he was living in Texas. I was thinking bull rider and I got more country boy than anything else. Ultimately it was fine, I still loved his character and enjoyed my time with the characters and the town of Ido.
This was such an unexpected read for me. It took me by surprise and while it wasn’t exactly what I was expecting in a book, it wasn’t bad at all. It was pure escapism and entertainment that was just what I needed to read. There is a happy ending and while predictable, it was charming and a relaxing read. If you love sweet romances with a little country flair then you need to read this book. And while it is part of a series you do not need to read the other books to enjoy this one (even though I am doing just that now!). I picked this one up and was perfectly fine though I am looking forward to returning to Ido and meeting some of the other characters and exploring their romances as well!
Book Info and Rating
Format352 pages, Paperback
PublishedMay 25, 2021 by Berkley Books
ISBN9780593197479 (ISBN10: 059319747X)
Free review copy provided by publisher, Berkley Books, in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and in no way influenced.
Rating: 3 stars
Genre: cowboy romance, contempo romance, romance
The Lit Bitch 