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A review by jackiehorne
A Cowboy to Remember by Rebekah Weatherspoon
3.0
I received a "preview" of this book (the first chapter) via Netgalley; subsequently purchased the full book.
2.5 It was great to see a Black cowboy on the cover, and featured as a protagonist, in Rebekah Weatherspoon's new series. Years ago, Zach Pleasant and Yvonne (Evie) Buchanan (along with Zach's older brother Jesse) grew up together on the Pleasant family's California ranch. Evie (who, like Zach
and his family, is Black) long had a crush on extravert flirt Zach, but Evie's grandmother warned Zach to steer clear, and so Zach never admitted he shared her feelings. The two had a major argument over it (the details of which we aren't privy to) and Evie left, angry, to attend cooking school in Paris.
Flash forward ten years, and Evie is a successful NYC television chef, launched by her win on Supreme Chef (the first Black woman to do so). Evie hasn't seen, or even talked, to Zach in all this time. The novel opens at a party for the show, where a competitor female white chef pushes Evie down the back stairs, which results in a case of romance novel amnesia for Evie. Since Evie's family is all dead, she's listed Jesse as the one to contact in case of emergency; once Jesse hears of her accident (Evie doeesn't remember being pushed), he and Zach rush to NYC, where Zach starts flirting with Evie almost immediately. And since Evie doesn't recall their big fight (or even her past romantic feelings) for Zach, she's open to flirting back, especially once all three return to Big Rock Ranch so that Evie has some time to rest and recuperate.
There's very little tension in the relationship between Evie and Zach, which made for a not-all-that-compelling romance. Fairly early in the book, Evie (even though she has amnesia) says she's interested in sleeping with him, and is just waiting for the doctor to give her an all-clear for sex before she does. And Zach is more than willing too, despite making no effort to fix his previous relationship with Evie. And then they do, and life at the ranch goes on. Nothing really changes or grows in their relationship until Evie's memory returns late in the story, and she remembers the substance of their final argument. Only after this does Zach (with some help from his female cousin) realize what he did wrong before, and learns how not to "fuck up" his relationship with Evie all over again. This last section, which focuses more tightly on Zach and Evie, was the most enjoyable part of the story for me (with the exception of the lovely nutmeg rediscovery scene!)
The focus in this book is more about family dynamics than about life on a ranch (the ranch in question is a luxury resort, not the gritty hard work-type ranch of typical white cowboy novels), or about romance. We meet lots of sequel-bait characters: bad-with-the-ladies older brother Jesse; Evie's roommate Blaire; Pleasant matriarch Miss Leona; Miss Leona's goddaughter Corie; Pleasant cousin Lilah; Evie's nurse Vega; youngest Pleasant brother Sam, an actor like his grandmother. The narrative suggests that some of the minor characters, and even perhaps some of the above-mentioned family members, are queer. The warm family interactions here are the main draw here, not ranching or a strong connection to the land, as is so often the case in conservative white cowboy romances.
This may not bother other readers, but the writing here tripped me up on many occasions, popping me out of the story because I had to work to figure out just what the narrative was saying or because the writing was stylistically clunky (misplaced modifiers, vague pronoun references, repeating words in the same sentence, etc.). When I'm reading for fun, I don't want to have to work! I was also very confused by the opening chapter; the the narrative introduces or mentions 21(!) named characters, and my head was spinning trying to remember who was who, and how they all related to Evie.
Evie as a character is enjoyable, strong and outspoken even while vulnerable because of her injury. It's lovely to see her learning to cook all over again from the matriarch Miss Leona (even though those scenes aren't at all focused on the romance). Zach seems more of an empty character, an idealized smooth-talking charmer without much of his own distinct personality, although the few scenes in the first 2/3 of the book in which Evie and Zach are alone together and bantering are a lot of fun.
2.5 It was great to see a Black cowboy on the cover, and featured as a protagonist, in Rebekah Weatherspoon's new series. Years ago, Zach Pleasant and Yvonne (Evie) Buchanan (along with Zach's older brother Jesse) grew up together on the Pleasant family's California ranch. Evie (who, like Zach
and his family, is Black) long had a crush on extravert flirt Zach, but Evie's grandmother warned Zach to steer clear, and so Zach never admitted he shared her feelings. The two had a major argument over it (the details of which we aren't privy to) and Evie left, angry, to attend cooking school in Paris.
Flash forward ten years, and Evie is a successful NYC television chef, launched by her win on Supreme Chef (the first Black woman to do so). Evie hasn't seen, or even talked, to Zach in all this time. The novel opens at a party for the show, where a competitor female white chef pushes Evie down the back stairs, which results in a case of romance novel amnesia for Evie. Since Evie's family is all dead, she's listed Jesse as the one to contact in case of emergency; once Jesse hears of her accident (Evie doeesn't remember being pushed), he and Zach rush to NYC, where Zach starts flirting with Evie almost immediately. And since Evie doesn't recall their big fight (or even her past romantic feelings) for Zach, she's open to flirting back, especially once all three return to Big Rock Ranch so that Evie has some time to rest and recuperate.
There's very little tension in the relationship between Evie and Zach, which made for a not-all-that-compelling romance. Fairly early in the book, Evie (even though she has amnesia) says she's interested in sleeping with him, and is just waiting for the doctor to give her an all-clear for sex before she does. And Zach is more than willing too, despite making no effort to fix his previous relationship with Evie. And then they do, and life at the ranch goes on. Nothing really changes or grows in their relationship until Evie's memory returns late in the story, and she remembers the substance of their final argument. Only after this does Zach (with some help from his female cousin) realize what he did wrong before, and learns how not to "fuck up" his relationship with Evie all over again. This last section, which focuses more tightly on Zach and Evie, was the most enjoyable part of the story for me (with the exception of the lovely nutmeg rediscovery scene!)
The focus in this book is more about family dynamics than about life on a ranch (the ranch in question is a luxury resort, not the gritty hard work-type ranch of typical white cowboy novels), or about romance. We meet lots of sequel-bait characters: bad-with-the-ladies older brother Jesse; Evie's roommate Blaire; Pleasant matriarch Miss Leona; Miss Leona's goddaughter Corie; Pleasant cousin Lilah; Evie's nurse Vega; youngest Pleasant brother Sam, an actor like his grandmother. The narrative suggests that some of the minor characters, and even perhaps some of the above-mentioned family members, are queer. The warm family interactions here are the main draw here, not ranching or a strong connection to the land, as is so often the case in conservative white cowboy romances.
This may not bother other readers, but the writing here tripped me up on many occasions, popping me out of the story because I had to work to figure out just what the narrative was saying or because the writing was stylistically clunky (misplaced modifiers, vague pronoun references, repeating words in the same sentence, etc.). When I'm reading for fun, I don't want to have to work! I was also very confused by the opening chapter; the the narrative introduces or mentions 21(!) named characters, and my head was spinning trying to remember who was who, and how they all related to Evie.
Evie as a character is enjoyable, strong and outspoken even while vulnerable because of her injury. It's lovely to see her learning to cook all over again from the matriarch Miss Leona (even though those scenes aren't at all focused on the romance). Zach seems more of an empty character, an idealized smooth-talking charmer without much of his own distinct personality, although the few scenes in the first 2/3 of the book in which Evie and Zach are alone together and bantering are a lot of fun.