Hope is a holistic medicine practitioner in a very small town. She has a close knit group of friends and is focused on raising her daughter and growing her business. Her husband died at a very young age of cancer - that hope believes was caught wayyyy to late by the local doctor Dean. Dean is a part of her circle of friends - but is someone she's kept her distance from for many reasons. Dean has been interested in Hope for a long time - even before she met and married her husband - but has never tried for more with her. He's kept a big secret from Hope for a long time as well. That combined with his sociopath of a father have really kept him from moving forward with any kind of a relationship.

This is a solid small town romance with a lot of heart. The characters didn't resonate with me in the way I really wanted them too - and I found Hope to be colder than I like my heroines to be - and Dean felt off to me. His story includes a lot of trauma and emotion - but his relationship with Hope felt jagged and less fully formed than it should have. He went from - I can never have a relationship with anyone to I've loved you forever in like three pages time. I had trouble reconciling those two halves of him. I think he didn't have the growth in between maybe? or maybe the - I can't have a relationship with anyone needed some editing? Either way - it just didn't work for me.

I received this as an ARC via NetGalley, but these opinions are all my own.

Mail Order Cowboy is the story of Hope and Dean, who are both attracted to each other but have plenty they need to get through before they can even think about being together.

I enjoyed this book in parts but in others found it hard to keep going. The characters were both good and had the potential for great chemistry but the spark wasn't quite there for me, though individually I found them to be strong. The secondary characters were good and helped the narrative along well and the book had a satisfying ending.

A sweet love story about family, friendship, trust, secrets, and faith in love. Dean is been in love with Hope since the first time he saw her. But life happened, she got married, lost her husband and blamed Dean for his death. Can they have a chance together with the secret Dean is keeping, their different backgrounds, his father interfering and the guilt Hope feels for replacing her late husband? A second chance at love.

This book was heartbreaking, sweet, funny, sexy & just outright amazing. As we follow Dean & Hope’s story we learn so many sad things about each of them. Both have broken hearts & both are doing their best to be friends as their feelings grow for each other. Both have suffered loss & both are struggling to live up to dreams & promises made. As their relationship slowly grows, secrets come out that are devastating & side track them a time or two but love is the rope the binds them together. I loved Sadie, she was sweet, funny & spunky & wore her love for Dean on her sleeve. Hope was a work in progress as she continued to move forward from her losses, her love for her daughter & family beautiful. Dean was hardworking, dedicated, loyal & loved Hope & Sadie to the depths of his soul, as he proves to her by walking away from his inheritance & his father. Definitely recommend. I voluntarily read this book for an honest review.

I received an arc from NetGalley and this is my honest opinion.

Dr. Dean and Hope deny their attraction and Dean has a secret he has kept from Hope about her dead husband.

As the two grow closer will the secret keep them apart? Will his father change his ways and make amends? Will little Sadie get the Daddy she hopes for or will years of secrets hold it all at bay?

Great storyline and one I would definitely recommend.

Hope needs help on her ranch, to bad there is only one person willing to help and she doesn't like him, but he is stubborn and will not take no for an answer.
I loved and enjoyed this story a lot

A lovely, steamy romance that definitely kept my attention! Loved the story and didn't want the book to end. A hot book to lose yourself in!

Unfortunately, this was just not for me. There was SO MUCH internal dialogue and angst. And for ridiculous reasons. "I'm not hung up on my dead husband but I'm going to bring him up 17 times on the next page and a half. " Honestly, this was one of the most frustrating reads I've had in a while. Nothing really happens. The man is in love with the woman for the last two decades, but still manages to screw his way through the bar scene? And he never really had the opportunity to actually get to know the woman? Just yikes.

Oh My. Dean was such a complex character. No one knew his pains and secrets; not even his best friends. But he has been in love for years. She just never knew it.

This story is deep and offers many layers to not only the story, but to the characters too. Hurt, struggles, and pain comes in many different varieties and so does love. These two slowly build a story to remember until secrets start to come to light. James does a fabulous job crafting a book that has you not only holding your breath but also swooning a bit too!

A clean romance that offers not only a fabulous story but truly a perfect ending! Sighhhhhhh

This was a sweet story. Be warned ahead of time, you will need a box of tissues.

This story was written with so much heart and soul that is just pours right out of the pages. I was moved by the words in this book and roles that the characters portrayed. These characters have been through so much and the journey to healing will be a long one.

Dr. Dean has the perfect life on the outside. He is wealthy, a doctor, a successful rancher and heir to a fortune. Above all Dr. Dean is attractive and oozes charisma. But what others don't see is that he is slowly dying inside. His relationship with his father is strained and he doesn't have contact with his brother. He is miserable.

Hope is a single mother, business owner and now the proud owner of a money pit ranch. She is trying to keep it together, but the struggle is real. She has not dated since her husband passed and doesn't have time either. She is damaged.

This book is all about self healing and finding love again. It was a wonderful book and I loved the characters. Especially sweet Sadie. She is so energetic and smart. Totally adorable.

This book was well written and the author took her time telling this wonderful story. She did not rush it and the timeline was just perfect, leaving the book with readers wondering who is next. A heartfelt read for that cozy night.

I really enjoyed this story. While the title and the cover photo point toward rom-com, this book not a comedy. It has heart and surprising depth. Hope is a single mom struggling to make ends meet after inheriting her late husband's ranch from his parents. Dean is a doctor and the son of the wealthiest rancher in the area. His father is not a good man, but his riches allow him control over quite a bit of the town.

Hope is a strong, capable woman who has too many battles to fight by herself. Dean is carrying a world of guilt. They both have secrets they are keeping. These are very likeable characters with interesting backstories. Even though this is book four in the series, they are written as standalone novels. I haven't read the others, but enough information was given about the other characters to make understanding easy.

This is a clean romance with just a bit of profanity.

Mail order Cowboy is a very sweet read. I think that Dean and Hope were a perfect Match. Hope is a very caring and loving single mom. Dean is a very sweet guy who would do anything for anyone. Their friends can all see how they feel about each other but both of them will not admit out loud how they feel about each other. There was things from their past and present that held them apart. I loved their story. Thanks Net Galley. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

As a small town romance it's not that I liked it all that much, as much as the plot with the secret was well thought out, the book and characters were rather repetitive and the two seemed like restless teenagers rather than adults over 30. I don't think I will repeat the experience of reading this author.

Come small town romance non é che mi sia piaciuto poi tanto, per quanto la trama con il segreto era ben pensata, il libro e i personaggi erano piuttosto ripetitivi e i due sembravano adolescenti inquieti piuttosto che adulti con piú di 30 anni. Non credo che ripeteró l'esperienza di leggere questa autrice.

I received from the Publisher a complimentary digital advanced review copy of the book in exchange for a honest review.

this was a fun easy to read romance, with a happily ever after, read it in two days, really enjoyed it.

I loved the whole troupe and concept of this story,
Hope and Dean are just the it. and Sadie is really just the sweetest.

I had a hard time getting through this book,the writing style just isn't for me.

*I received a free copy of this ebook from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.*

This was a fun, mostly lighthearted romance, and I enjoyed reading it. It’s very much a candy read, though it does also center a lot on forgiveness.

Hope (28) and Dean (34) are both good, caring people, and they were easy to root for. Hope’s obsession with clean, gluten-free, dairy-free, sugar-free, happiness-free food drove me a bit crazy, especially when she kept pushing it on Dean. I get that many health issues can be addressed by diet, but she was pushy about it. She did get better about it, though.

Something I liked about this book was how much the characters trusted each other. I don’t want to give anything away, but there were several times I anticipated certain things to happen just to cause drama and problems, but trust and love didn’t even make those things an option. It also shows a really great circle of supportive and loving friends.

Dean’s father was a little overdone. I’m sure people like him exist, but sometimes he felt just too sleazy. I dunno, maybe that doesn’t make sense.

Was it the best book I’ve ever read? No, but I wanted a pretty easy read with a happy ending, and that’s what I got (come on, you know that’s not a spoiler). And I appreciated that there was no sex!

Note: Some swearing. Some sensuality.

Thank you Entangled Publishing and Netgalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review. (Like, seriously, thank you!) All opinions are my own.


((( might contain spoilers )))

I didn’t know I needed this book until I read it. Single mother Hope Roberts inherited an abandoned ranch and wished to make it into a working land so that her daughter, Sadie, could have her own place and wealth and something of her father when she grew up. Entered Dean Stanton, a doctor slash rancher slash rich cowboy with daddy issues.

Long story short, Hope blamed Dean for diagnosing her late husband’s cancer a year too late, so she treated Dean kinda mean (not that mean, they just traded barbs and all that) and Dean was /heavily implied/ to have mock her for her clean-eating belief (she was a naturopath) and all that. There was no portrayal of these hurtful exchanges, just mentioned as the past.

I don’t actually see how Dean hated or disliked Hope. Everyone could see how he was obviously in love with her… I just. Hmm. That there was one weak point. It seemed out of character for Dean to be purposely hurtful toward the woman he clearly had feelings for (since forever). Because let me tell you, Dean was the perfect man throughout this book. He might have insecurities and all that daddy stuff, but not one scene he was rude or grumpy or an asshole. He was NOT grumpy, just traumatised from his father.

I loved his character. He was hardworking, ambitious and loyal. And he was loving. Very loving. That was why I was confused with how he and Hope were “supposedly” enemies. They weren’t, ‘cause he was… in love… with her….

I got mixed feelings about Hope. I understand her insecurities and apprehension, but sometimes they were repetitive and annoying. Maybe the way those scenes were written. But I also liked the way she was portrayed as a mother. She was a very good mother. I cried a lot reading about her sacrifices.

Their support system (friends) was a nice touch, too. One thing I wish was to have more Sadie scenes. Seriously, that adorable girl had too little show time.

Overall, I give this a 4-star. I wanted to give it 5 stars but I found some of the dialogues were robotic, cliché.

Mail-Order Cowboy comes out 27 December 2022. If you love sweet cowboys, single parent and small town romance, give this a try!

I was browsing through NetGalley and found this book. This would be my first read from the author. I don't know anything about her or her writing style--only the blurb. It really pays to write a compelling blurb, one that lures new readers to get their books.

So that being said...

Ugh... this book was frustrating because it was almost perfect. I mean a cowboy who's a doctor who's inlove with a widow and her child... *sigh*

I'm a huge fan of country romance... infact, 3 of my all time favorite books are in a ranch setting... like I said, almost perfect... one aspect that's missing---the one important and big aspect that's missing was spice... I don't mean erotica... I don't mean graphic sexual encounters... I just... Man, I would've wanted to read about them making love--is all... it didn't have to be a whole chapter about them getting it on and doing the dirty... I just would've wanted to read about them being intimate becausr they were both in love with eachother for a long time... sure, there was making out, but come on... I'm 43years old, reading about a mid 20's widow who hadn't been with someone in years, as with the sexy doctor cowboy who had been celibate for a couple years as well because he realized he's been inlove with her eversince that fateful night... That wasn't too much to ask... Even a couple of pages would have sufficed... books like this one should come with a warning--"clean romance."

But like I said, the author is new to me... her books are probably all clean. This was my first time to read from her. I liked the story, the setting, the plot... the build up... it was going great and I kept waiting for them to finally be together and beat the odds and give in physically...

The momentum slowed down somewhere along 65%-70% in when the widow just kept questioning herself and having all this unnecessary internal monologue. It was redundant and it became exasperating.

*sigh*

This was so promising... but... being physically together is part of romance... it's what most romance readers would've wanted to read. I personally don't know anyone who'd want read a clean romance, but in all fairness, I have not met all the people.

This was not for me. I thought it would be but no... it's like you've been waiting in dire anticipation for something... anxiously and excitedly waiting and then, poof... nothing. Sorry... I just felt bereft thats all. Lol

This book was a quick romantic read. It wasn’t exactly what I’d expected: this was two people desperate pinning after each other, and finally coming together after a series of issues crop up to try and drive them apart. Other than kissing, nothing sexy appears in writing, so it was very, very chaste.

I enjoyed the ranching backdrop and thought that was interesting to me; the Cowboy just lends itself so well to a romance novel. Haha.

What I enjoyed less was the insta-love and perfect love that often encompasses romance novels. I mean, I know it’s fiction, but it’s super unrealistic and sometimes hard to sink into while reading. I had a hard time getting lost in this book for that reason: it was too cheesy.

I will say, I may not have been the right for this one. I was glad to have an opportunity to read it - I was intrigued by the cover and the premise, but the actual novel didn’t do it for me. Thank you for sharing the ARC with me.

I wanted to love this book because it was a cute storyline but it fell a little short for me. I had a hard time getting into it in the beginning. About halfway through, the story picked up and I enjoyed the second half much better than the first. My biggest problem was that conversations would be interrupted with a character’s inner dialogue. It made a lot of the conversations feel disjointed and confusing.

I did enjoy the characters. And Dean’s relationship with Hope’s daughter was so sweet and it definitely enhanced the story.

I also felt like Dean’s backstory was a little too complicated as far as the issues with his dad - there seemed too many to believe he still tolerated his father. And his father’s interference with Hope seemed over the top and we weren’t given a good reason for it.