Reluctant Cowgirl

February 16, 2009
Romance author Lynxwiler (Along Came a Cowboy
) tries to set up a city girl/country boy attraction of opposites in this tale of aspiring actress Crystal McCord, who flees New York for her parents’ ranch in Arkansas after her urban cad of a boyfriend sleeps with her roommate. But since the city girl is from the country, there really isn’t much fish-out-of-water tension, nor a lot of any other kind of plot tension. The titular cowgirl isn’t sufficiently reluctant around her handsome rancher neighbor Jeremy Buchanan, and a dark plot complication—a missing child—resolves itself rather quickly. Crystal’s family history provides another wrinkle, and a smidgen of depth. Clever dialogue flows easily and wittily, almost screenplay-like, the best thing about this romance. Those who like their inspirational romance over easy will be happy to meet the McCord family, with enough siblings and backstories to kick off a series.