Must Love Cowboys (with bonus novel): Two Full Books for the Price of One

Carly Bloom

Apr 2021 · Sold by Forever

About this ebook

In this charming, sexy romance, a bookish beauty needs a fake boyfriend and finds a handsome cowboy who is just the man for the job.  Return to Big Verde, where "Bloom has invented a place we want to hang up our hat and kick up our spurs any time she's got a story to tell" (Entertainment Weekly). Beau Montgomery is living his best life . . . until he's left in charge of Rancho Cañada Verde. With his dyslexia, he'd choose a saddle over spreadsheets any day. His best hope is to ask the town librarian for tutoring. Only he's had a crush on the book-loving beauty since his junior high days—and despite being a smooth talker, he can't help getting tongue-tied every time they meet. Alice Martin doesn't regret putting her career above personal relationships—but when Beau comes to her for help, Alice decides to see what she's been missing. She'll improve Beau's reading skills if the handsome cowboy teaches her how to flirt and agrees to be her date to an upcoming wedding. But when the town's gossip mill gets going, they're forced into a fake romance to keep their deal a secret. Soon Alice is seeing Beau in a whole new way . . . can she turn their imaginary story into a real-life happy-ever-after? Includes the bonus novel Big Bad Cowboy!

Ratings and reviews

Must Love Cowboys is the third book in the Once Upon a Time in Texas series and a great addition. This was an all-around great romance with plenty of swoon-worthy and sweet moments. Alice Martin is the librarian at the Big Verde library. She's cool with being by herself and when she's not at the library, she's content to be at home. Her friend Carmen has recently tried to get her out of her shell more and more into the social scene. At 31, Alice is the complete opposite of Carmen, the blue-haired chef who is always turning people's heads. Beau Montgomery is a foreman at Rancho Canada Verde and he and his twin brother, Bryce, are good-looking and constantly turning heads in their small town. Beau has had a crush on Alice "Allie Cat" since he was a teenager when she used to babysit the brothers. While only three years separate them in age, he feels like the chasm is much larger than that. Beau also suffers from dyslexia and the fact he has never really dealt with the issue is starting to cause problems for him at work. Beau finally makes the decision to approach Alice to see if she can help him with his reading at the suggestion of his brother. He does so begrudgingly, but knows that in the long run it will be the best thing for him. What he doesn't realize is that Alice needs a favor from him in return - a date to her intern Brittany's wedding. The two decide it's a deal, but is that all it's going to be or will feelings end up erupting between the two? There is so much to love about this small town and all of its inhabitants. They are funny, endearing and charming. I'm looking forward to more fun in Big Verde!

I loved this delightful cowboy rom-com! With just a touch of "hot for teacher" sprinkled throughout this romance, Beau and Alice's story was filled with humor, passion, and a deep, shared history that gave these two a solid foundation upon which to build their joint future together. Alice is the quintessential nerd, a bookworm with all the education and factual knowledge a librarian could dream of, but she's seriously lacking in the personal, social side of things. She needs a date for a wedding, and every one of her friends agree that there's no one more highly recommended for a casual date than Beau. Beau has been managing his job with the support of his twin, but Bryce has a new opportunity and Beau is going to be on his own. No problem, since Beau is just as capable in every respect, except for his dyslexia. He needs to finally address his learning disorder so he can stop relying on Bryce, so he turns to the smartest person he knows for help - his former babysitter, Alice, who has always been just a little bit out of his league. There's not much of an age gap here - just four years - significant when she was thirteen and the twins were nine, but not an issue nearly twenty years later. What we do have is a bit of opposites-attract coupled with Beau's long-standing crush and Alice's lifelong awkwardness around men. The writing is absolutely sublime, soaking the reader in all the sights and sounds of the Texas landscape and the small town community that keeps no secrets. The humor is spot-on and had me laughing far more than I expected. There's no skimping on intense emotional depth as we get right to the heart of matter for both Beau and Alice. His response when Claire confronted him towards the end was simply breathtaking and made me love him all the more. I loved Alice's inner battle between her very modern head and her very traditional heart, and how she could balance both to be her unique, authentic self in all situations. The HEA was exactly perfect for the two of them. Carly Bloom has quickly become one of my all-time favorite contemporary cowboy author. I can't recommend her stories highly enough. I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book.

Alice Martin is the town librarian and a few years older than Beau Montgomery, but that hasn’t stopped him from crushing on her, since she was the babysitter for his twin, Bryce, and him. Everyone thinks he’s a player and that suits him just fine, but there’s a secret he’s keeping. Beau suffers from dyslexia. When Bryce decides to leave the Rancho Canada Verde Ranch, where they’re both foremen, Beau decides to ask Allie Cat to help him. She agrees, if he’ll go to Brittany’s wedding with her. What happens when this pretend romance starts to feel a little too real? No spoilers, so grab your copy and see what happens. There’s a few bumps along the way, just sayin’. I received an advanced reader copy of this book from NetGalley and this is my voluntary and honest review.

About the author

Carly Bloom began her writing career as a family humor columnist and blogger, a pursuit she abandoned when her children grew old enough to literally die from embarrassment. To save their delicate lives, Carly turned to penning steamy, contemporary romance. The kind with bare chests on the covers.

Carly and her husband raise their mortified brood of offspring on a cattle ranch in South Texas.

To learn more, visit:
CarlyBloomBooks.com
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