REVIEW: Big Bad Cowboy by Carly Bloom

In Big Bad Cowboy (Once Upon a Time in Texas #1) by Carly Bloom, Travis Blake expected to make a brand new start when he finished his time with the Army. He just never expected it to be back in his hometown of Big Verde, Texas. Or that he would become guardian of his five-year-old nephew Henry, who desperately needs stability in his life that Travis himself has never even known. Unsure of how to handle selling off the family ranch, Happy Trails, or how to deal with the bundle of energy known as Henry, he starts landscaping to make ends meet. When his competition in town turns out to be his neighbor, Maggie Mackey, a firecracker of a woman who gives Travis all kinds of naughty thoughts, he can’t wait to get to know her even better. But a run-in with her at a Halloween costume party turns hot and heavy, making their relationship much more complicated. And Travis isn’t sure how it will fit into his plans to leave Big Verde.

“You say lots of bad words,” Henry said.
“Sorry. I’ll work on that.”
“Can I say one?”
…”Just one. Make it good.”
…Henry straightened up–he’d made his decision. “I love you, too, Uncle Travis.”
That wasn’t what Travis had expected. “I’m happy you said that instead of a bad–”
“But sometimes you’re a shit.”
Travis bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing.

Maggie usually doesn’t judge people before she truly gets to know them. Just ask anyone in Big Verde. But there’s something about Travis that gets her feathers all riled up from the word go. It’s not only that she’s pretty sure he’s trying to outbid her on landscaping jobs. Nope. He’s too darn handsome for his own good. And when Maggie realizes there’s even more to Travis than meets the eye, learning about his troubled family and his less than perfect childhood, she starts falling for him little by little. It doesn’t hurt that he dotes on his young nephew. Or that he’s more than willing to pitch in when anyone needs help. Travis brings out feelings and passion in her that Maggie didn’t know existed. And while that scares the dickens out of her, it might also prove to be the best thing that could happen in her life.

“I recognize you,” he whispered.
All he’d said was that he recognized her. But it felt as if he’d said, You’re mine.

A western spin on a contemporary fairy tale-themed romance? Why, yes, please! Especially one where Little Red Riding Hood and her Big Bad Wolf–er, Cowboy had enough smoking hot chemistry to burn up the pages. When they weren’t riling each other up and bickering, that is.

‘What they had was real, and even if it had started off with role playing and a fictitious once upon a time, Travis hoped it would end with a very real happily ever after.’

Who doesn’t love a new take on a classic fairy tale, am I right? This was a killer debut for Carly Bloom. (This is the first book under this pen name, but she’s released one other book under Carol Pavliska.) Big Bad Cowboy was a down home, raucous good time that had me fanning my face from the sexy bantering between Travis and Maggie–and then laughing aloud at Travis and his, ahem, conversations with his adorable nephew Henry. (More like a battle of wills, really!) I just fell in love with, well, pretty much everything here. Bloom’s modern, quick-witted writing style, the absolutely endearing cast, and definitely how she blended a hotter than the sun romance with a touching family saga.

Our hero and heroine were a ridiculously cute pair together. And I loved how they both had changed for the better over the years and were still struggling to be the best version of themselves in a realistic way. Maggie was a pint-sized, sassy woman who could outwork most of the guys she knew. She was kind of a feminist who sometimes jumped to conclusions, but she admitted (eventually) when she was wrong. And talk about funny. Maggie was a hoot. Particularly when it came to Travis, because he threw her completely out of her comfort zone. Unintentionally. Well, usually it was unintentional. Although he couldn’t help but get her wound up sometimes just to see Maggie’s reaction and it was as hot as it was comical.

Travis surprised me with two things. First, his background, coming from a broken home and feeling like an outcast really broke my heart. He went into the Army, something that turned his life around and changed him in a lot of ways, and it was easy to admire the man he was trying to continue to become. Valuing family, friendship and community. *sigh* And the second thing was his relationship with Henry. The cute-as-a-button, feisty, outspoken, grief-stricken little boy who was the reason for not only Travis’s troubles, but also his purpose for building a future on Happy Trails ranch. If that doesn’t make a reader girl smile and sigh happily, I don’t know what will.

Heartwarming, hysterical and completely sexy & charming, Big Bad Cowboy was an outstanding start to the Once Upon a Time in Texas series by Carly Bloom. A series that I expect to be a huge hit with rom-com fans.

Book Info:

Publication: October 30th 2018 | Forever | Once Upon a Time in Texas #1

In the New York Times tradition of Lori Wilde and Carolyn Brown comes the first book in a new western romance series from Forever debut author Carly Bloom about a no-strings cowboy fling with a fairy tale twist.

Who’s afraid of the big, bad cowboy?

After one too many heartbreaks, Travis Blake hung up his cowboy hat and put Big Verde, Texas, behind him. But when he gets the call that his young nephew needs him, he knows he has to return home. His plan is to sell the family ranch and hightail it back to Austin, but there’s a small problem: the one person who stands in his way is the one person he can’t resist.

Maggie is pretty sure she hates Travis Blake. He’s irritating, he’s destroying her business, and . . . and he’s just so frickin’ attractive. But when they’re forced to work together, Maggie discovers that the Most Annoying Man in the World is more than he seems. He’s sweet with his nephew, he helps out in the community, and he makes her heart flutter. Maggie doesn’t want to risk everything on a man who wants to leave, but what if she can convince this wayward cowboy to stay?