I recevied a complimentary copy of Must Love Cowboys in exchange for an honest review. The book was well written, and followed the traditional trope of "faking a relationship" in echange for something else, the something else being tutoring. I was hoping for more of a cowboy backdrop, but that never really happened in this novel. Overall, good read.

Bloom’s cowboys are among my favorite. Librarians and cowboys and I’m completely hooked. This Beauty and the Beast themed, with a super-hot Halloween encounter was so much fun to read.

I’ve never read a cowboy romance before, but gosh was this the perfect mix of sweet and steamy. This was an easy read where I found myself rooting for the main characters from the beginning. Beau has dyslexia and Alice had multiple degrees in reading/is the town librarian. Alice is four years older and babysat Beau and his twin brother when they were kids. Beau crushed on his babysitter at 12 and pretty much never stopped.

Eh…it was okay. Nothing spectacular but nothing horrible either. The story started off promising but then instead of focusing on the growing romance it focused on purely the physical aspects of their relationship. It seemed like the author forgot about the story line. There was so much more that could have been written about.

There’s also a TON of characters. I was lost on who everyone was and why they were even in the story.

** ARC received from netgalley **

I don’t read a lot of cowboy romances, but I had Book 2 & 3 of the Once Upon a Time in Texas series on my Netgalley shelf and my mood was right so I decided to dive into them. I was immediately drawn into ranch life on Rancho Canada Verde in the small Texas town of Big Verde. This small town and it’s quirky band of citizens stole my heart and I flew through both of these addicting books.

Must Love Cowboys was absolute favorite of the series so far! I loved returning to Big Verde and this sweet fake dating story stole my heart and I could not put it down! Beau is just my type of man and I’m a sucker for a reformed bad boy. Seriously though, if you read one cowboy romance…make it this one!

Carly Bloom writes with so much humor and wit and I constantly find myself laughing and smiling, but there is plenty of heart and steam too! I hope there are more Big Verde books on the horizon!

Thank you so much Forever Pub and Netgalley for the gifted copies of both of these! All opinions are my own!

I feel like Carly Bloom can't go wrong with this series. Beau is adorable, Alice is the sweetest, and putting them together was just the best. I loved their relationship & what they had to overcome, and I loved how Alice helped Beau through so many things. This was a great book, and I can't wait to reread these (and hopefully read more of them in the future).

I never picked up a cowboy romance before I was told I must read Carly Bloom. I trusted my source so I dove in thinking it would not be good. WELLLLLL...I just adore all of these cowboy books by Carly Bloom. Each installment never disappoints me.

I received this arc for an honest review.

A wonderful story that from the beginning has a feel of being real Beau Montgomery along with his twin brother are co foreman of the ranch. Beau has been dealing with dyslexia his entire life and has been able to get by with it by doing different things to hide it. Now though it is hurting the ranch especially the profit and he wants to learn to overcome it. He decides to go to the library hoping that the librarian who he has had a crush on for years will give him the time to listen to him.
Alice Martin is shy and has just put her career ahead of everything else. She is now happy with the fact that she will probably be alone. She does have one problem though her friend who is getting married wants her to bring a date and she doesn't even know how to flirt so how can she even ask someone for a date.
She does not take Beau seriously at first because like others around town she thinks he is not serious about anything and just a trouble maker. Especially after watching him and his brother a little when she was a teen. When she hears he has a problem with dyslexia she agrees to help him if he will help her in who to flirt with and be her date for the wedding, after they each agree you would think everything would be okay. But now as they spend time together and the town thinks they are dating and she goes with it even after she gets past the age thing he thinks he is no good for her. So now you have to read this book to find out what happens. A very good story with very good characters.

This was a really enjoyable, high heat cowboy romance. Bloom did a great job writing a FMC that felt complete as a single person and bringing her a partner that could enhance her life. Bloom did a great job of breaking down virginity as a construct. Bloom also gives what seemed to me like an authentic look at dyslexia. I really enjoyed this series and would recommend it.

This is a cowboy romance, and this is the 3rd book in the Once Upon a Time in Texas series. This is a fake dating turn to real dating romance. I was pulled into this storyline form the beginning, and I have to say I really loved the characters in this book. It has been a long time since I really loved a cowboy romance book, and this book made me not want to stop reading it. I loved it so much. I was kindly provided an e-copy of this book by the publisher (Forever) or author (Carly Bloom) via NetGalley, so I can give honest review about how I feel about this book. I want to send a big Thank you to them for that.

This book is on FIRE!! Why didn’t I read this book sooner?? I must have been living under a rock. Never fear it’s time to “save a horse and ride a cowboy” and Beau is now my ride of choice!! This book has it all, fake relationship to real with a beauty and the beast twist meets sweet, hilarious, and utterly sexy — you simply can’t go wrong!! This was my first book by Carly Bloom and I will definitely be back for more!

5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I read Carly Bloom’s third “Once Upon a Time in Texas” romance, Must Love Cowboys, and the joy and enjoyment of the first, Big Bad Cowboy, still eludes Bloom and me. I absolutely LOVED the first book; though #3 was an improvement on the sleeper-ness of #2, it only sustained my admiration two-thirds of the way through.

Must Love Cowboys had a promising start based on a likeable trope, fake-relationship, and an opposites-attract couple. Small-town librarian heroine, Alice Martin, and cowboy-ranch-manager, Beau Montgomery, couldn’t be more different: she’s books-cat-tea and he’s open-sky-Lothario…except appearances are deceiving where Beau is concerned. Which is what leads to the fake relationship.

There’s history: fourteen-year-old Alice was Beau and his twin brother’s, Bryce’s, babysitter. At 32 and 28 respectively, little does Alice know Beau has been carrying a torch for her since. What’s at stake in this fake relationship beyond Beau’s heart? Beau is dyslexic and has made it through school and work relying on Bryce, who kept his secret all these years. But Bryce is ready to move on from their small-town Texas ranch and takes a job sufficiently far away he can no longer serve as Beau’s reading crutch. To start, while I think Beau should and could have dealt with his reading issue by this point, it is accurate of Bloom to portray the embarrassment that comes of not being able to read in a society that, to a certain extent, still functions on this basis. Nevertheless, I thought Bryce was callous in how he abandoned his brother simply by advising him to ask Alice for help learning to read. Meanwhile, Alice, who has hints of neuro-diversity (though Bloom is never explicit as she is about Beau’s learning challenge), has had neither a date much less a boyfriend “evah”. And she needs a date for her library-intern’s wedding. A bargain is struck: Alice will tutor Beau and Beau will serve as Alice’s wedding escort. That’s pretty much it plot-wise: the obvious is, well, obvious. Beau and Alice get to know each other, respect each other’s vulnerabilities, become friends as Alice teachers Beau to read and Beau helps Alice check off fun boxes on her bucket-list, like riding a horse and going skinny-dipping.

If there’s one area where Bloom continues to succeed, it’s to make me laugh. I had a smile on my face while I was reading the first half of the romance and would even intersperse it with a guffaw or a snort. (Bubba continues to delight!) Beloved characters from the first two books showed up and Bloom also created that utopian small-town feel of eccentricity, humour, gossip, and support evident from Big Bad Cowboy. At the same time, to give her credit, there is nothing toxically masculine about her cowboys: they’re gentle souls with a mass of vulnerabilities, plenty of charm and humour, and little by way of alpha-male posturing. Beau is a likeable character. One of the novel’s strengths is how Alice “teaches” Beau to read, not by rote, but by strategy and giving him audiobooks and eventually physical ones. It’s refreshing to see a hero who loves narrative and it certainly makes it more so because of Beau’s dyslexia. As a teacher, I appreciated his portrayal. Alice is a woman who’s always felt like an outsider in her town by virtue of her bookishness and awkwardness. And yet, as she gets to know Beau, she opens up to friendship with other women in the town and gains a sense of belonging.

What I didn’t enjoy about the romance is how Beau and Alice become lovers, which is all there is to the last third. The love scenes were explicit beyond my comfort level, but that is a personal call and may not impede other readers from enjoying the novel. The love scenes were in keeping with characterization and made consent, agency, and respect their core, even while the um…activities were cringeworthy for yours truly. (Though no fan of purple prose, I prefer love scenes to be suggestive over descriptive, but hey, that’s me.) Aside from personal taste, I thought the extent and scope of the love scenes stalled the novel; in retrospect however, where else could it go? Beau and Alice were friends, in love, and the small matter of the deadline to their fake-relationship could have been dealt with in one conversation. The betrayal when it came had bupkis emotional stakes as a result. Miss Austen and I say of Must Love Cowboys, it offered “tolerable comfort,” Mansfield Park.

Please note I received an e-arc of Bloom’s Must Love Cowboys from Forever romance, via Netgalley, for the purpose of writing this review.

I didn’t really know what to expect from this book. I have to be in the mood for cowboy romance. ( I haven't been feeling it lately) But I was pushed over the edge because the main character is a librarian. I feel like I have to read every librarian romance. This one did NOT disappoint. The characters are real, messy and lovable. Carly Bloom’s writing made me feel like I really traveled to Texas hill country and learned a few things about ranches (sort of). This story contains fake dating, childhood crushes and two people who should have gotten together years ago.

The story is set on a ranch in Big Verde. Alice is a librarian who is smart, doesn’t feel like she fits into small town living, fiercely loyal and willing to help anyone out. Beau is the cowboy, who has a twin (I mean, two hot cowboys…), he works hard, can have any woman he wants, but is dyslexic and tries hard to keep it a secret. Beau and Alice make a deal that she will tutor him and he will take her out to do fun things and give her new experiences (swoon here). They are fun and funny together. They bring out the best in each other and holy smokes, once they finally hook up….things are HOT. I mean, the sex scenes made me a cowboy story convert. I think I like them now. I’m going to recommend this book to every librarian I know (and anyone looking for a great romance). I do want to say that this does not feed into the sexy librarian stereotype. Alice is not perfect and a bit awkward, so I feel like the author did a great job with that. I also feel that a lot of research went into the dyslexia part of the story that felt so real and should speak to anyone working with adult literacy. Again, Bloom must have worked to to not portray things in a negative way and I really appreciate that. A multi-faceted, sexy, steamy, fun romance. I loved this book!

Must Love Cowboys (Once Upon a Time in Texas #3). By Carly Bloom. 2021. Forever (ARC eBook).

I enjoyed Ford and Clare’s story very much so I was looking forward to this book. Although, I wasn’t feeling Alice in Book 1. And while she grew on me and I appreciated her bucket list, Beau is what makes this a must read. I loved the plot and how Beau had to open up to others besides his twin brother who always knew and covered for Beau’s dyslexia. Beau and Alice’s romance is sweet and steamy. And the community of Big Verde brings plenty of shenanigans. Enjoy Must Love Cowboys and the Once Upon a Time in Texas series!

Note: I was sent a copy of this book by the publisher for an honest review.

I devoured this book in one day, only breaking to cook for for my kid and put her to bed and even then it was hard for me to be pulled away. Anyone who likes the hate to love trope in romance will like this book. The slow build chemistry was great (especially that scene in the swimming hole) and the way the characters got to know each other while combatting pre-conceived beliefs about each other was really entertaining. Plus there was some spice.

I liken this book to a large cup of iced Dunkin' Donuts coffee: Not the best quality, but it is so addicting you have to keep going until it is finished.

Carly Bloom is easily one of my favorite cowboy romance authors. I gave the first two books in her series five stars and was really looking forward to Must Love Cowboys. I really enjoyed this one! It wasn’t my favorite of the series, but it was a solid addition. I don’t love age gap but it worked for this story. I liked that the hero was dyslexic, and I thought his character was portrayed well. 4-4.5 stars (rated 4 on netgalley since I can’t decide on my rating)

**this review is also posted on my main netgalley account.

Carly Bloom is easily one of my favorite cowboy romance authors. I gave the first two books in her series five stars and was really looking forward to Must Love Cowboys. I really enjoyed this one! It wasn’t my favorite of the series, but it was a solid addition. I don’t love age gap but it worked for this story. I liked that the hero was dyslexic, and I thought his character was portrayed well. 4-4.5 stars (rated 4 on netgalley since I can’t decide on my rating)

Nothing says summer than a Cowboy! This novel was amazing from start to finish! I loved the characters and their love story. I will definitely be looking into this author and their other novels! Highly recommend!

Must Love Cowboys by Carly Bloom
Publisher: Forever (Grand Central Publishing)
Genre: Romance
Publication Date: April 27, 2021

Must Love Cowboys by Carly Bloom is the third book in the Once Upon a Time in Texas series. I had not read the previous books, but was easily able to read this as a standalone romance. I am hooked on Texas romances so I knew I had to read this book!

This was such a fun book! I loved the fake dating to real romance & friends to lovers theme! The story was great, the characters were likable, and the romance was swoon-worthy!

I definitely recommend reading this book!

I'm so grateful to Carly Bloom, Forever (Grand Central Publishing), and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this ARC ebook in exchange for my honest review.

This book was absolutely amazing. I loved that Beau and Alice were finally able to bring their HEA to our lives. Alice was a hoot, and Beau brought that broody/moody attitude that we all just love.