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3.64 AVERAGE
3.64 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
medium-paced
A second chance romance, small town charm, and food elements?! Yes, sign me up. A Cowboy to Remember was a good read, but even given all of the aspects I tend to enjoy, I felt a bit underwhelmed by the story overall.
Positively, this is another example of how well Rebekah Weatherspoon can weave a story. From the beginning I was engaged. Evie is a Black, successful chef living in NYC. She has a grief-ridden past and is trying to navigate her successes, given all her losses. To my knowledge, this is my first time reading an amnesia trope, aside from reading Sleeping Beauty as a child. But don't worry, I have watched way too many soap operas so I am all too familiar with the trope in general.
A part of me expected it to go full blown soap opera, but it didn't. Yes, there is the insufferable antagonist, Melanie, who just is hellbent on bothering Evie, but those scenes do not dominate the book. Instead, it opened the door for found family, loving and supportive friendships, a charming community (yes, I am corny), and introspection. The characters felt real, the ranch felt real.
What fell a bit flat for me was the romance, the main reason why I am here. I kept scratching my head when it came to the ten-year gap in Evie and Zach's relationship. I get grief causes people to react in ways that may appear dramatic or intense. So leaving the ranch to pursue her culinary career after being left heartbroken by Zach was understandable. But if Evie was so over Big Rock Ranch and everything it represented, why continue to maintain contact with Zach's family. And why would the family allow all these secret correspondences to continue for so long without at some point being like, ok, enough Zach, get it together and get your girl? Perhaps this is just me not being able to relate, as I have not been in a position to love someone for as many years as the main characters have and then let them go for as many years as Evie and Zach had.
It also did not help that there was a bit of push and pull that could not be easily resolved because of Evie's memory loss. She had to question everything, because she knew next to nothing. As such, it made it harder for me to feel the full extent of the rekindled romance. I will say though, for someone who made some choices that hurt Evie in the past (although be it at the orchestration of Evie's grandmother), Zach did appear to be a nice enough guy!
But it felt like I got to know him more through the lens of everyone else, instead of from him. There were moments where we got his perspective directly, but I couldn't help but wonder if it would have been more impactful and flesh-outed if the book was told in alternating POV (Evie and Zach). Yes, this was about Evie's rediscovery and history, but Zach was a significant part of that and as Evie developed, he did too.
The ending was cute. For me, it was a more of a HFN than a HEA, which worked best given how the story was laid out. I look forward to the next book in the series.
emotional
slow-paced
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
CW: physical assault, near death experience, hospital, amnesia, mention of loss of loved ones and grief, on page sex.
I FINALLY FINISHED A BOOK!!!
I really liked this one, especially the audiobook. The narrator, Lynette L. Freeman, is so good and conveys emotions so effortlessly that I found myself choking up at some parts that got really emotional. This book was good all around, I liked the career aspect of it, the found family aspect, the second chance as well as reconnecting bits, as well as how difficult and different amnesia makes the dynamics. I also liked the romance, but for some reason I can't quite pinpoint, it left me wanting more? I feel like it didn't deliver all that it could have. I wanted more interactions and more time spent together between Evie and Zach. I wanted more of their interactions to fully foot for them, especially from Evie's perspectibe since Zach was for her pretty much a stranger. That being said I still enjoyed my time A LOT reading this and I found myself invested in everything happening.
I FINALLY FINISHED A BOOK!!!
I really liked this one, especially the audiobook. The narrator, Lynette L. Freeman, is so good and conveys emotions so effortlessly that I found myself choking up at some parts that got really emotional. This book was good all around, I liked the career aspect of it, the found family aspect, the second chance as well as reconnecting bits, as well as how difficult and different amnesia makes the dynamics. I also liked the romance, but for some reason I can't quite pinpoint, it left me wanting more? I feel like it didn't deliver all that it could have. I wanted more interactions and more time spent together between Evie and Zach. I wanted more of their interactions to fully foot for them, especially from Evie's perspectibe since Zach was for her pretty much a stranger. That being said I still enjoyed my time A LOT reading this and I found myself invested in everything happening.
medium-paced
Strong character development:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Rep: Black mc, Black li, lesbian side characters, latina side character, biracial (Chinese/white) side character, Black side characters
A Cowboy to Remember is a charming book about a second chance romance between Evie and Zach. I loved getting to know the Pleasant family. Miss Leona was probably my favorite character and I want her to teach me how to cook. I really enjoyed watching Evie relearn how to cook and falling back in love with it. I loved that Zach didn’t try and manipulate the situation in his favor. He let their relationship run naturally and didn’t force or use anything to his advantage. Pleaaaaaase tell me Jesse’s book is next??? I’m really excited to learn more about him.
I received an eArc of this book from Netgalley for a honest review
I received an eArc of this book from Netgalley for a honest review
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
hopeful
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes