In Romantic Hero by Kirsty Greenwood, Romance author Gertie Bickerstaff is at a loss as to how she will ever get her writing mojo back again. Four 
weeks after her long-time boyfriend Henry “put their relationship on pause”, she’s yet to write a single word of her manuscript. You know, the one that’s due in a few weeks. Messages from her editor are increasingly getting more frantic. And Gertie is willing to try just about anything to fix her writer’s block. With help from her lovely neighbor, Mrs. Casablancas, they try a few things–some woo woo might have been involved–with seemingly no results. That is, until Gertie walks into her living room to find a shirtless cowboy sitting there with no clue how he got from Texas to London. The freakiest part? The devastatingly handsome guy’s name is River Oakley. The same as the villain in her Bedlam Creek book series.
“River is just a cowboy in love… Big bruiser like that. It’s quite something to see.”
“A cowboy in love?” I blurt back, confused. “In love with *who*?”
“Well, you, Gertie. You daft duck.”
Gertie is shocked and yet somehow thrilled to see one of her characters in the flesh. And she does mean flesh. Did she mention River is shirtless? He’s every bit as good looking, grumpy, and charming as he seemed to be on the pages of her novels. But his main objective, and rightly so, is to return home to the ranch. River and Gertie come to an agreement. While they figure out a way to get him back to Texas, they’ll also focus on ending her writer’s block and make an attempt at a reunion with Henry. But as they plot, plan, and process everything, Gertie thinks less and less about her former beau. River is all she can see when she closes her eyes. With their futures in limbo until they sort it all out, maybe they can take advantage of their attraction in the meantime, knowing it has an expiration date. Surely Gertie won’t lose her heart to River so quickly. Right?
“No amount of time with you would ever be enough, Gertie.”
It seems weird to say a book about a breakup, writer’s block, ongoing grief, and the unhappy villain of a book series magically appearing in the heroine’s flat is a feel-good romance but that is the beauty of Kirsty Greenwood’s work. Even with her debut, The Love of My Afterlife, she took what should have been a story filled with loss and heartache and somehow infused enough heart, charming characters, and funny predicaments to make a romance reader swoon.
“Love is the point.”
ROMANTIC HERO was every bit as entertaining and heartfelt as its predecessor. And while the cast and the issues at play were very different, this still had the same type of quick-witted dialogue and awkward yet hilarious situations that made Greenwood’s debut a standout.
Our heroine Gertie definitely had things stacked up against her, both in her career and her personal life. I loved how she was typically the stable one who rarely if ever showed any anger–but for whatever reason, her character-come-to-life, River Oakley, frustrated her to no end. (Mostly on purpose on his side!) Their relationship was filled with verbal fireworks and an inconvenient attraction that confused the duo while trying to get River home to Texas and Gertie back in the arms of her former long-time beau, Henry.
TROPES/VIBES:
✨ Magical realism
💘 Fake dating
🛏️ One bed
🖋️ Author heroine
🤠 Not-so-villainous cowboy “villain”
🥚 Previous book Easter eggs
CW: View Spoiler »
Gertie and River made a rather unlikely team. The fake dating part of their plan was ridiculously fun seeing their (very) different personalities mesh quicker than expected and their chemistry go through the roof. The plot twists Greenwood threw in were perfectly timed. And it pushed Gertie and River in a whole different direction that while filled with passion, it made them wish for a way to stay in each other’s lives–once they figured out how River got there in the first place.
ROMANTIC HERO was another imaginative story by Kirsty Greenwood to treasure. The laughs, the tender moments, the tears, and everything in between will be sure to warm readers’ hearts and leave everyone with a lasting smile on their face.
QOTD: Gertie had fun showing River around London. Are there any noteworthy places you’d show someone in your town/city?
Book Info:
Publication: Published: June 16th, 2026 | Berkley |
A heartbroken romance novelist is forced to address her writer’s block when the villainous cowboy character from her books shows up in the real world, desperately in need of his own Happily Ever After. . . from the bestselling author of GMA book club pick The Love of My Afterlife.
Gertie Bickerstaff writes happily-ever-afters for a living. . . . Or she did, until her own love life fell apart. Now her ex is thriving, her deadline is looming, and she can’t write a single word.
The last thing Gertie needs is more drama—like waking up to find a confused and rugged cowboy on her sofa. And not just any cowboy, but River Oakley, the villain from her unfinished novel. Somehow very real . . . and very shirtless.
River wants to go home. Gertie wants her life back. So they strike a deal; he’ll use his cunning ways to help her win back her ex, she’ll finish the novel, and, surely, he’ll return to whatever world he rode in from.
But as River Oakley proves to be so much more than just the bad guy, Gertie has to the ending she thought she wanted . . . or the plot twist she never saw coming.
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