Cowboy (Busy Bean #2) by L.B. Dunbar

Release date: March 1

Cowboy is a super-cute, well-written romance that will have sooo many people go all swoon-y.

It’s also a book that just didn’t click with me.

Objectively, this book has just about every ingredient I crave in a good story; a spunky heroine, a hot hero and some seriously steamy sexytimes. And then there’s the little surprise. Yet, for some reason, I had trouble connecting with the characters.

Synopsis: Cowboy is the story of Scarlett and Bull. Scarlett gets fired from her job the same day she discovers her husband’s been cheating on her. When going off to Vermont to get away from it all, she meets Bull and does something she’s never done before. They both agree it’s only a one-night-stand. But neither of them can forget the other. And when life throws Scarlett a curve-ball, they both decide to take a chance on each other.

The story is set in Sarina Bowen’s True North universe, so this should be an instant hit for me. But as it were, even though I enjoyed the read, it didn’t pull me in and didn’t engage me the way I had expected.

After some pondering, I think I’ve pinpointed why that is.

First, both Scarlett and Bull are over forty. They’re mature individuals with lots of experience below their belts (pun intended). But a large part of the storyline is based on them misunderstanding each other simply because they can’t communicate like adults. They just assume things in the way teenagers might, without trying to clear anything up. And yes, that might be one of my pet peeves. Characters not acting their age.

The second thing is actually just an extension of the first. Dialogue is an extremely important aspect of a read in my opinion. Great dialogue can relay so much more than the actual words being said, and it’s also essential to credibly convey growing infatuation between two characters. But since Scarlett and Bull had massive communication issues… well.

In conclusion, this book unfortunately wasn’t meant for me. It’s such a well-written story that so many people will love but it just didn’t appeal to me personally. But, if you’re a fan of True North, I strongly recommend you give Cowboy a try. You’ll probably adore it.

A free copy of this book was kindly provided by the publisher