This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Genres: Contemporary Romance, Western Romance
Published by Berkley
Released on August 4, 2020
Pages: 336
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
The Delight
A newly-elected mayor trying to save her town and redeem her family’s reputation teams up with a deputy sheriff who find themselves in a fake engagement and a bit of small town intrigue. Sassy small town setting and characters are my jam and this author has already proven she can come through with the goods so I said ‘I Do!’ to her latest.
Review
The Cowboy Says I Do introduces determined Lacey Cherish who returned to her old small town in time to see her dad arrested as a disgrace and now she is determined to raise the family’s credit once again by running her small town of Idont, Texas well. One of her first days on the job sees the town in jeopardy and she has to think of something that will bring the economy back. Her big heart won’t let her town die or get incorporated into the commercial next town over. Rebranding and an out of the box idea for tourism sees her going for a whole new image so Idont becomes Ido- a wedding destination. If that wasn’t hard enough, she has to do it in a fake engagement to her older brother’s best friend who is a deputy sheriff and her secret childhood crush. Maybe she should just let herself get carried from fake to real since the attraction is definitely there.
Brodie Phillips’ easy policing job around Idont just got mighty interesting when he backs up Lacey in her efforts to save the town, gets into the public eye by accident when an innocent picture gets out of him and Lacey so he ends up her fiance, stray dogs starting to appear around town, and that really ticklish problem of whether he’ll have to arrest his own dad and uncle for shady dealing. Lacey surprises him all around and he finds himself wishing he could get a different answer than ‘I don’t’ out of her.
As I said in the opening, Dylann Crush writes a frolicking and charming small town romance. The sassy dialogue between the main characters and their sizzle of attraction against a series of dealings all to save their town and stop the trouble that was brewing. The ‘save the town’ theme was as welcome as their fake engagement romance.
Both are sweet, giving, and dedicated people, they’ve know each other since they were kids, and they have to slowly see the other as an adult. I liked everything about them and their romance with one issue. I hated the whole conflict caused by miscommunication. Lacey believes the worst and never talks about it so sees Brodie as untrustworthy. There is enough going on in this one between the marketing campaign to save the town, the issue with Brodie’s family’s factory, the loose dogs, and annoying people trying to see them fail that the internal drama was just annoying to me. But, that said, I was all in for this pair.
In summary, this was a light, charming opening book to the series and I had a good time with Lacey and Brodie in Idont/Ido. I look forward to seeing what comes next for the town. If small town, fake mates, and slowburn are your thing, give this one a go.
My thanks to Berkley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Challenges Met
New Release #107
Romanceopoly #60 Emergency Services
Preview
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Oh this is the kind of romance I love Sophia Rose. Thanks
It was a sweetie, Debbie. 🙂
i’m seeing a lot of cowboys lately. i do enjoy small town romances
sherry @ <a href=”http://www.fundinmental.com/”> fundinmental</a>
Haha, they are pretty popular. In truth, he’s not really a cowboy, but it is a ranch area so I guess that counts. 🙂
Fake relationship is my favorite trope.
I love them and this one had some funny parts. 🙂
omg! this cover is so beautiful!
sorry to hear the conflict dragged but glad you got through it.
I confess I was sold when I spotted the pup. LOL
Yeah, I just did not get her at times. She was so quick to believe the worst and assume things even when she knew what sort of guy he was since they grew up together.
I love seeing a light and charming feel to the beginning of the series. This sounds like such a treat to read. Glad you enjoyed it as you did.
Great review.
It was great for my mood. I didn’t want anything too challenging or dramatic. 🙂
Ido is a perfect name for a wedding destination town. I get annoyed with trouble stemming from non-communication as well.
It was so cute when she rebranded the town like that.
Yes, so annoying to see her jump to conclusions and believe someone that she shouldn’t have and didn’t even try to get his word.
The book sounds good but that puppy on the cover is the cherry on top! So cute!
Oh yes, the stray dogs and his dog ring investigation was a big part of this one. So cute!