Must Love Cowboys is the third book in the Once Upon a Time in Texas series by Carly Bloom. I read this one as a standalone and enjoyed it so much! It will release on April 27th through Forever Publishing.
Not only is this a small town cowboy romance, it is also a very well written, modern Beauty and the Beast retelling with sexy, hilarious, and swoon-worthy moments in abundance.
Alice “Allie” Martin is the librarian at the Big Verde, Texas public library. At 31 years old, Allie is perfectly okay to spend time at the library and at home reading books. If it weren’t for her friend Carmen encouraging her not to be a hermit, Allie would not have much of a social life. Carmen is Allie’s exact opposite; a celebrity chef her blue hair and tight clothing, she turns heads wherever she goes in Big Verde. Carmen is the chef at the local, very popular brunch spot, Chateau Bleu.
Beau Montgomery and his twin Bryce are the handsome, hunky cowboy foreman at Rancho Canada Verde, one of Big Verde’s oldest, family run cattle ranches. Since Beau was 13, he has had a crush on their bookish babysitter, Allie Cat Martin, and now at the age of 28, it hasn’t diminished. Allie is all grown up, with multiple degrees, and a successful career which anyone in town can tell she loves very much. Unfortunately for Beau, his troublesome and embarrassing dyslexia is beginning to cause him some problems in his job at Rancho Canada Verde. His twin Bryce has always helped him in the past, but now Bryce is moving on to a new place and a new career, leaving Beau in a bit of a pickle. Enter the sexy librarian to his rescue. It turns out that Allie needs a bit of help herself, in the form of a plus one to attend her employee Brittany’s wedding in a few weeks. So, Beau and Allie make an agreement – Allie will help Beau with his dyslexia and Beau will escort her to Brittany’s wedding. As it happens in a small town, however, soon they are spotted alone and the rumor mill is chugging away, and the well meaning citizens of Big Verde are assuming Beau and Allie are an item.
But the more time the handsome, charming cowboy and the sexy, brilliant librarian spend together checking things off of her bucket list and reading books, it seems they are only fooling themselves with the “fake relationship” charade. Not to mention what the sound of Beau referring to her as “darlin” does to such a previously inexperienced in the romance department Allie.
If you haven’t noticed, I loved this story. So. Much. There are some pretty steamy scenes, but there’s also a lot of hilarious banter between cowboys and neighbors in a small town. I can assure you that chivalry isn’t dead in Big Verde, Texas, thanks to the Montgomery brothers and their charming cowboy manners. And, let’s be honest here…you had me at librarian main character. Throw in Cowboy Story Time, Stetsons and chaps…sold! This was my first cowboy romance and the story was quick paced and compulsively enjoyable. I couldn’t put it down. Within the first few pages alone, I was already laughing out loud, gasping, cringing (in a good way), and swooning. I can’t wait to read more stories from Big Verde, Texas and Carly Bloom.
Thank you to Estelle at Forever Publishing and Netgalley for providing me with an early digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Librarian Laura 
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