I had a really fun time with this one! I think the set up was fun, and I liked our cast of characters.
This one was a great blend of sexy and interesting at the same time. I'm anticipating the sequel!

As fun as the cover is, I struggle to connect it with the story itself. Sure, Charly said it to Jaxon at one point (wtf with these names?) but that felt like nothing more than a forced attempt to use the title in the book. But the cover looks like it's going to be a fun, fluffy read, maybe from the 80s? and that's not at all what we get here 🫤

The writing itself is pretty meh, and a good half of the plot seems to be there for plot purposes only, not because it at all makes sense for the characters to be doing/saying. Why would these 3 otherwise seemingly intelligent women move to a small western town, buy the only bar in that town, and proceed to change everything about it without considering what the people of the town actually might be looking for in terms of nightlife until two weeks after their grand opening? (Spoiler alert: they made it cocktails-only--no beer at all--with all kinds of angry women-centered events. As in, not women's events that might also draw in guys, but "congratulations on your divorce" and "he's a cheating scum" kind of nights.) Obviously they did that so Charly would have to work with the former bar owner, Jaxon, to figure out how to make the bar more appealing to locals, because of course. Responsible new business owners never do market research ahead of time. 🙄 But it also had to be done this way so that Jaxon could be overheard saying something early in the book that will later be told to Charly to cause her to break up with him. Because of course she will.

But the worst is the [way the author literally disposes of the ex in order to allow Charly get "closure" and move on from him. First, they've been broken up for months, where exactly is it that she's given as his "next of kin" so the hospital calls her, not any of his actual family members? He was a healthy guy, we're supposed to believe he was so on top of things a year or so ago he had Carly listed as his emergency contact somewhere (his GP, I guess?) and now he's just never bothered removing her from that designation? He has a sister. He has parents. He even has a freaking new girlfriend to sob over his on-life-support self, but yes, call Charly so she can jump on a plane and make her big breakup speech at his bedside. Though it did give us the bonus scenes of Marcel's (seriously, these names!) grieving family giving her new life with Jaxon a thumbs-up, so...yay? (hide spoiler)]

This is a trade paperback book but still just a category romance story. As far as I can tell, the author used the extra page count for...more sex scenes? Maybe? Definitely not enough of it went toward story development. This is really not worth the higher price point.

Really hoping that Willow and Eli's book will be better, but idk.

Rating: 2 1/2 stars / C
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.

If a book has a cowboy in it, i'm gonna read it. This book was spectacular!! It was the first book by this author that I read but it will not be the last. On top of just loving the entire plot and everything, the side characters had me invested just as much. I can't wait to see where this series goes.

Now this was a fun and fast read. I absolutely loved the banter between Charly and Jaxon. She was trying to pick up her broken heart and restart her life. Together with her best friends she's determined to move forward and leave all the heartbreak behind them. And when a gorgeous cowboy crosses her path she wants nothing to with him. But when he offers to help and her bar she understands that she is in no place to turn him down.

Jaxon is still grieving the loss of his father and his beloved bar. The new owners are not what he expected and when he offers his help he didn't think that spending time with the captivating Charly would turn his world inside out. And letting her go soon becomes an impossible task. Because when love comes knocking you need to list and take it and the HEA with both hands and never let go.

These two made me smile, I even shed a few tears and in the end made me love them. They were perfect for each other and I can't wait to see how the next couple overcomes their problems on the road of HEA in this small town.

Now this was a fun and fast read. I absolutely loved the banter between Charly and Jaxon. She was trying to pick up her broken heart and restart her life. Together with her best friends she's determined to move forward and leave all the heartbreak behind them. And when a gorgeous cowboy crosses her path she wants nothing to with him. But when he offers to help and her bar she understands that she is in no place to turn him down.

Jaxon is still grieving the loss of his father and his beloved bar. The new owners are not what he expected and when he offers his help he didn't think that spending time with the captivating Charly would turn his world inside out. And letting her go soon becomes an impossible task. Because when love comes knocking you need to list and take it and the HEA with both hands and never let go.

These two made me smile, I even shed a few tears and in the end made me love them. They were perfect for each other and I can't wait to see how the next couple overcomes their problems on the road of HEA in this small town.

***Review copy requested and reviewed on behalf of OMGReads Blog***

The Devil in Blue Jeans the first book in Stacey Kennedy’s Naked Moose series unfortunately suffered the fate so many first books in a series often do, while it set up the series quite nicely; the romance between the couple in this book got lost in the shuffle and that is a shame.

I’m always on board for a small town, western romance so I was really excited about this series and honestly I still am, I’m looking forward to book two, but for me the plot was a bit thin on this one. Three women just out of college all heading in different directions to fulfill their dreams take a vacation outside of Yellowstone and because of a pact they made at age 13 agree that if in 6 years their lives aren’t what they want, they’ll ditch them and move to the small town of Timber Falls, Montana which bears a striking resemblance to a town they drew on paper at age 13. Surprise, surprise 6 years later they all have trouble in their lives and they sell everything to buy a bar in the town of Timber Falls. They wanted to move to the town because it was charming, rustic, and beautiful but then they take a bar and turn it into a “big city cocktail lounge” that doesn’t sell beer. Seriously, in small town Montana? Suffice it to say that Charly, one of the women, who once owned a bar with her cheating ex-fiancé, is stressing about the lack of enthusiasm from the locals and when Jaxon the former owner offers to give her some advice sparks fly.

Flat out I liked Jaxon and I felt like Charly was hanging all of her baggage with her ex on him which wasn’t fair. While Jaxon had a reputation, he was a single, successful guy and repeatedly said he always made sure women he was with knew he wasn’t looking for more following the death of his father and him having to sell his bar to take over their horse breeding ranch. I wanted to like Charly, but unfortunately I don’t feel we ever got to know her well and when we did she was bashing her ex, comparing Jaxon to her ex, and upset or crying because she didn’t want to like Jaxon or she wasn’t ready to be with anyone again. At one point she mentioned a therapist (which she dearly needed) but never did anything about it.

While I didn’t quite feel a big connection between these two I think that was mainly because when they were together very little meaningful conversations took place. We were told they spent every night together, but we didn’t see it nor were we treated to any conversations they had. My other issue was that so many women seemed to want to warn Charly off, did she ever stop to think they might be jealous that Jaxon was spending so much time with her? I don’t know I just didn’t connect with Charly and that was a big problem.

I’m not sad I read The Devil in Blue Jeans, there were parts I liked but for me it fell a bit flat. As a fan of this author, I feel that book two will be better when we can focus more on the couple than setting up a series.

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Ruthie – ☆☆☆☆
This is a fun take on the cowboy-meets-incoming-townie romance, and as there are three townies running the bar, I am looking forward to their stories being told too. I thought the world building was done well, and I enjoyed the rationale behind the women coming into Timber Falls.

I found the arrogance to think they knew best and lack of research done on what kind of bar the residents of Timber Falls might want, by the three women, a little strange. They were all competent in the hospitality field and had obviously just ignored all the local knowledge and needs. But I get that it sets up the story nicely!

Jaxon had to sell his much-loved bar when his father died and he had to take over running the family horse ranch. At that time, mired in grief, he may have used hook ups to hold his grief at bay, but that time has passed, and he is now concentrating on horse training. His reputation, though, is causing him to strike out with the new co-owner of his much changed bar. The mixture of sadness at the changes and being treated so poorly by Charly cause him to issue her a challenge.

It is great fun watching her taking on cowboy life and slowly understand why her changes are so unpopular, and that maybe her view of Jaxon is bent both by her past experiences and the gossip in town. Once they straighten out those issues, the future should be plain sailing!

I am looking forward to the next installment - it will undoubtedly be amusing!

Stacey Kennedy’s The Devil in Blue Jeans is spectacular. This is the beautifully written love story of Jaxon and Charly. The new series has the majestic background of a Montana small town life with cowboys and ranchers. The chemistry between these wonderfully written characters is sizzling and they have the most amazing banter. I am excited to read more books in this new series.

Charly and her childhood best friends make a pact to move to small town Montana by 28 if they don’t love their lives. Jaxon has also just found himself in a shifting life phase. What can the unlikely pair stir up together with a little heat and banter?

I absolutely loved this book!! It was so good and the banter along with the strong female friendships. This was a total 5 stars for me and I look forward to reaming more.
I just reviewed The Devil in Blue Jeans by Stacey Kennedy. #TheDevilinBlueJeans #NetGalley
[NetGalley URL]

The style of the writing here left a lot to be desired. The characters voices weren’t consistent throughout and much of the structure just felt jumbled to the point of being distracting. The development of the characters was a bit fractured and got repetitive to the point where I thought “didn’t we cover this already?” a lot throughout.

The story was cute and has potential. I’m hopeful there was in progress editing here prior to release!

I was provided a complimentary e-galley on NetGalley by Harlequin - Romance in exchange for an honest review

I wanted to enjoy this one more but it felt a bit flat and the main characters didn’t really grow themselves or as a team. The side characters also didn’t really have much going on for them but being there. I think others might enjoy this one but with so many good cowboy romances out there - this one was just not for me.
I understand the city women come to MT troupe but this one was just a bit much. I will read the series but hope we get a better plot.

open door steam but lower


check TW

𝕄𝕪 𝕋𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕤:
 
There is something about a cowboy and his riding skills. Yes, my mind went there as I read this book. No, I’m not just talking about horse riding either. Jaxon fits the bill for sexy and misunderstood. Don’t get me wrong, he has way more to him than just his good looks and charm.
 
Jaxon has some close friends/colleagues whom he grew up with. They understand him like no one else could. I found it exciting that they all work for him at his ranch. They also fit the cowboy persona. I liked the cowboy attitudes and the respect they showed for all women.
 
Charly is a city girl running scared from a relationship gone wrong. She opens a bar in a small town called Timber Falls with her two best friends Aubrey and Willow. All three of them needed a fresh start. I loved the drive that they had to succeed. There was no room to fail as they had already faced many failures in the past.
 
I admired Charly’s bond with her childhood best friends Willow and Aubrey. She supports them and they support her through the good and bad times. It truly is a rarity to remain best friends from childhood into adulthood. Their bond resonated with me because I’m lucky to have my childhood best friend too. I wish I could live as close to my best friend, but what matters the most is sticking together regardless of distance. Charly and her besties are a great example of that.
 
Charly and Jaxon’s paths meet with a common interest, which happens to be the bar. Jaxon and Charly are immediately attracted to one another, yet Charly isn’t quite ready for this cowboy's charms. I loved their connection and the spicy scenes. I would rate the spice as Medium. It could be a bit more steamier though.
 
Stacey Kennedy did a great job of capturing the authenticity of each character. She captured the essence of a cowboy’s day-to-day life. The message that I took from Charly and Jaxon’s love story is to go after what makes you happy, don’t wait until it’s too late. One may never know how much time they have with those they care about and those who make them the happiest in life.
 
𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎:

❥ Enemies to Lovers
❥ Western Romance
❥ Respectful Cowboys
❥ Small-town Love
❥ Challenging Banter
❥ Enemies to Lovers
❥ Opposites Attract
❥ Female Empowerment
 
Love Always, Catherine

Fun rom-com taking the displaced city folks trope and pushing it to the limit. Nothing surprising, which if you're looking for a solid obstacle-filled, obstinate dominated, rom-com then you've found it. A fun read especially for a weekend brain break.

Charly Henwood thought her life was wonderful until she found out that her fiance, Marcel Boucher, was hooking up with their head bartender at the nightclub that they owned together. Deciding she had had enough she convinced her best friends, Aubrey Hale and Willow Quinn to pack up and move to Timber Falls, Montana to start over. Together they purchased a local bar, The Naked Moose, and turned it into a cocktail lounge. As you can imagine, that did not go over well in the small town and especially with Jaxon Reed, the previous owner. Jaxon tells his best friends, Gunner Woods and Eli Cole that he bets he can change Charly's minds about including beer on their menu. Of course Charly is ready for a fight and agrees to include beer if he will be the grand prize in her charity auction. Jaxon reluctantly agrees but insists Charly go on a date with him. The two of them play this cat and mouse game back and forth and before you know it, sparks are flying. Everything is going great until the past comes back to haunt Charly. After a horrific situation happens, Jaxon does what he can for Charly, just be there. This finally helps Charly see what is right in front of her all along....her love for Jaxon and then these two will finally get their happy ever after.

I really enjoyed this very steamy, cowboy romance story. Jaxon was simply yummy! Charly's past was causing her to not move forward but once she did, everything fell into place. I really liked how these two fit together....they brought out the best in each other. This was a fun start to a new series and I can't wait for Willow's story next.

This wonderful read has an abundance of feels, and plenty of aww moments. I simply adored Jaxon and Charly and their story turned my insides into marshmallows. I have become a huge fan of this author. She writes with so much intensity, passion and emotion. Some lines are quick, witted storylines, and are so perfect and lets you believe you have a front row seat into these characters. So reading this opposite-attract love story didn’t disappoint!

Jaxon Reed and Charly Henwood come alive page after page.

Becoming a third-generation top-notch quarter horse breeder, wasn’t what Jaxon Reed had planned to do so suddenly, but after his father’s passing he couldn’t let his family’s ranch break apart and lose its legacy.

Before his father’s death, Jaxon had owned a bar on Main Street that he had been proud, that he’d brought to the town—a place where the locals felt like they belonged. And tonight his best friends and himself needed to hit up his old bar The Naked Moose’s for its grand opening and see what the new owners had done with it.

When they arrived he was shocked, he felt like he’d stepped into a place that not only didn’t cater to anyone he knew in Timber Falls, but that the bar did not belong in a small rustic town.
And then he saw Charly, and she was not like anyone he’d ever met before.

Charly Henwood and her two best friends Willow and Aubrey has bought The Naked Moose in Timber Falls, Montana. They had called in their backup pact and were all starting over, after all of them had gone through hard times in the last few years. Willow had endured an abusive ex-boyfriend. Aubrey had quit her job because of harassment and Charly caught her fiancé cheating on her. They completely revamped the small town bar into an upscale bar. And since they all were mending broken hearts, themselves, they wanted a place that brought women together and celebrated them, while also providing the town with something it lacked, a higher-end bar.

But what happens when the locals aren’t so happy about what they have done? They have everything invested in their venture. Can they make it here?

I absolutely loved the journey this book took me on! So full of life and love, fire, and passion, angst, and turmoil. I can’t wait for the next book in this series!

I received an early copy, and this is my honest review.

The Devil in Blue Jeans by Stacey Kennedy

This is book one in Naked Moose series. If I had to guess I'd say there will likely be three books, one for each of the women who run The Naked Moose. The author did a good job of setting up the attractions for them already, so we shall see.

Sometimes life doesn't go as planned and having a pact with friends to go back on is the perfect solution. This is how three city girls end up in the middle of nowhere Montana owning a bar. And boy the locals are not happy with their vision of said bar. But making a deal with the hot local horse ranch owner seems to be a good option to correct the oversight.
Charly Henwood just wants to succeed on her own and putting everything on the line means her and her two best friends have to make this move a success. But when reception with the locals isn't great she turns to Jaxon Reed, the former bar owner and local Rancher for guidance. This turns into a give and take, where the stakes just could be their hearts.

THE DEVIL IN BLUE JEANS – Stacey Kenndy
Naked Moose, Book 1
Harlequin Afterglow
ISBN: 978-1-335-04157-9
February 20, 2024
Contemporary Romance

Timber Falls, Montana – Present Day

After the death of his father, Jaxon Reed sold the bar he owned in Timber Falls so that he could run the ranch. After being closed for six weeks, he and his buddies are excited for the reopening of the bar. He knew the buyers were three women, but there was no way that he could have anticipated they would turn it into a cocktail bar. No beer, no pool tables, and no dart boards in sight. How did the women think they could fill it with locals if they catered only to big city types? The three women, Charly, Willow, and Aubrey, seem to think they can shut out the locals. But Jaxon has an idea. If he can’t buy the bar back, then he will charm one of them—Charly—and persuade her to change the bar setup.

Charly had to get out of Arizona after her boyfriend cheated on her. She and her friends Willow and Aubrey had always dreamed of running a bar in Timber Falls after visiting the area a few years ago. They envisioned it as a place where locals and tourists would enjoy the upscale atmosphere. Alas, the locals apparently hate it and rarely come in. Three Cowboys come in on opening night. All three—Jaxon, Eli, and Gunner—appear disappointed at how much the bar has changed, and that there is no beer on the menu. One—Jaxon—seemingly tries to charm Charly. She is not looking for male companionship, so rebuffs him, but he is serious. How long will Charly continue to resist Jaxon?

Welcome to Timber Falls, a quaint town nestled along the river north of Yellowstone National Park. Tourists come through town but it’s the locals that The Naked Moose should be bringing in for steady income. The women soon realize their mistake, but it takes some resistance to change it from a bar where divorce is celebrated, and men enter at their own risk. Each has their reasons for avoiding romance right now, but in THE DEVIL IN BLUE JEANS it’s Charly’s story. Her ex-boyfriend ruined their years of being together by having sex with another woman. Charly just left and now refuses to speak to her ex. It’s over and all her attention is centered on making The Naked Moose profitable. But business is slow because the locals aren’t happy with the makeover. She welcomes Jaxon’s suggestions, but she isn’t interested in being another notch on his bedpost. Too bad her heart has other ideas. Their sizzling chemistry won’t let them deny the inevitable. While neither are looking for a forever kind of love, they may have found it with each other.

There is plenty of heated sensuality and emotional charm in THE DEVIL IN BLUE JEANS. Charly and Jaxon are likable characters and readers will be rooting for them to make it work out. Don’t miss the fun in this enjoyable tale.

Patti Fischer
Romance Reviews Today

I voluntarily reviewed a copy of "THE DEVIL ON BLUE JEANS" I thoroughly enjoyed this amazing well written story with emotional turmoil, heartbreak, intrigue, angst, humor, cheating-ex, steam, enemies to, overs romance a page turner to the end.
Charly Henwood climbing a mountain with two Bf's Willow Quinn & Aubrey Hale who hates hiking complain the whole way but it was something they wanted to do together before their adult lives separated them moving away from each other for their jobs.
Charly pulls a paper with a drawing they once did the similarity to Timber Falls is a bit eerie its so much like the drawing they use to fantasize staying together forever in a small town with rugged cowboys.
Charly suggests a Pact if in six years their not happy they'll meet in Timber Falls & open their own business Charly can handle the Bar, Aubrey can handle the restaurant, Willow can handle the marketing, she it's the Bar off Jaxon Reed he's taking over Timber Falls Ranch after his father passed working it with two Bf's Gunner Woods & Eli Cole.
Jaxon, Gunner & Eli head up town for a beer in new bar that re-opened not what he expected to see three women behind bar new name on T-Shirt The Naked Moose & done serve beer they meet Willow then Aubrey but its the firm sultry voice of Charly that captures Jaxon's interest.
I definitely recommed to get this enemies to lovers romance Charly & Jaxon have I deniable chemistry but she's been badly hurt can he break through that wall she has up, can they agree on what the bar should be for towns people, so much happens you can't miss reading.
I'm so looking forward to book two "LONE WOLF IN LIGHTS" in the Naked Moose Series can't come soon enough.

This was a hard book for me to get into, everything used by the author to move the plot along felt forced.

It’s really hard to believe that three college grads wouldn’t do the market research into a small town bar, and making it a big city cocktail bar. Things like that were hard to suspend belief about.

Part of the story felt pretty repetitive. The FMC got closure with her ex, only to do it multiple times. Same thing with when we got the MMC, it just felt like there wasn’t enough depth.