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The Official Blurb
“Sadie Stephens has loved Lincoln Carver since she was a girl, but a family feud involving a runaway bride closed any options for a romance. Lincoln’s only interest in her now is one of obligation and guilt. After all, he’s the one responsible for the lassoing “incident” (don’t ask.) Lincoln is not worried about the lack of women in Stone Ridge, Texas. He’s content earning the occasional buckle as a rodeo champ and working his family’s cattle ranch. In fact, life was perfect until his matchmaking granny stuck her nose in his business. Now, he’s accidentally injured his best friend’s sister, the woman partly responsible for a family feud. It’s anyone’s guess what will happen next …”
Spoiler Alerts
My book for Season 2 Episode 8, Slow Burnin’ Love is Lucky Cowboy by Heatherly Bell. Published in 2021, this was my first Heatherly Bell book and I absolutely enjoyed it. The story is part of Bell’s “Men of Stone Ridge” series and is set in fictional Stone Ridge, Texas.
Let’s Talk About the Author
My podcast co-host, Meghan, and I both adore Heatherly Bell. She is definitely one of our favorites. We have had the honor of interviewing her for the podcast in Season 2 Episode 9.
My Spiciness Ranking
Heatherly Bell’s books reliably fall in the jalapeño category and Lucky Cowboy is no exception. There are some deliciously intimate scenes but they’re gently described for readers.
Now let’s meet our main characters.
The Main Characters
Sadie Stephens is the heroine of our story. She’s an elementary teacher and part-time EMT. I like to describe Sadie as a naturally clutzy, girl next door. She dreams of having a family and would like to have three kids someday.
Lincoln Carver is our hero and Sadie’s teenage crush. He’s a rodeo ropin’ cowboy and rancher. He’s not interested in anything serious in terms of a relationship.
Beau Stephens is Sadie’s brother and Lincoln’s best friend.
Eve Iglesias is Sadie’s best friend and a veterinarian.
Jackson Carver is Lincoln’s brother. He was engaged to marry Eve but she left him hanging at the alter.
Jolette Marie is Lincoln’s “friend with benefits” from time to time. She’s a buckle bunny and ranch heiress.
Judson Grant is a doctor interested in moving to Stone Ridge. He’s also looking to start a family. And he’s definitely a man with a plan.
The Storyline
Sadie Comes Home
Sadie has come back to Stone Ridge to teach at a charter elementary school. (It’s essentially a one-room school house situation where’s she’s teaching multiple grades.) Sadie is at the point in her life where she’s ready to settle down and start a family.
With that in mind, her friends and family are trying to hook up Sadie with the doctor, Judson. And it makes sense at first glance because they’re both at points in their lives where they’re looking to settle down and start families and they ideally both want three kids. So it just seems like a good match.
Making a Match
But it’s really not. He’s way too into his BMW and kind of egotistical. He comes on to Sadie REAL strong. And it doesn’t seem like he actually cares who he’s with, he just wants a wife to produce the three children he already has names for.
And even though it seems like they want the same thing with starting a family, there are some key differences in Sadie’s and Judson’s personalities. For Sadie, having three kids is just a general plan and she understands that in life you need to be flexible and she doesn’t have a set timeline or anything. Judson, on the other hand, has a VERY specific (and almost unrealistic) timeline and plan in mind and a wife just honestly seems like she’ll be an accessory to that vs. a partner.
In the midst of these awkward and sporadic dating moments with Judson, there’s some flames igniting between Lincoln and Sadie. She’s had a crush on him since she was a teenager and now they’re well into adulthood. (He’s 32 and she’s 28.) They find themselves spending more and more time together and even share some steamy kisses here and there. However, Lincoln keeps trying to play it cool.
He often seems like he’s ignoring her on some level and there’s this lingering rift amongst Sadie, Lincoln, Jackson and Evie and all they’re respective families because of Evie leaving Jackson at the altar a few years prior. Sadie and Evie are besties so when Evie was like, I can’t go through with this marriage, Sadie supported her and helped her leave the church. (What else is your best friend supposed to do?) Sadie was just being a solid friend but Lincoln’s held it against her because his brother got his heart broken and she was part of the drama.
Eventually, though, Sadie just can’t see herself getting into a serious relationship with the Doctor, Judson. And she’s always had a thing for Lincoln and those feelings haven’t dissipated. Judson’s personality is pretty lackluster and he seems to have a fragile ego. Not ideal. And Sadie’s father encourages her to focus in finding Mr. Right.
“You have plenty of choices,” her daddy said. “Marry a man because you love him, not because you need him.” Her dad has also given here these words of wisdom, “Don’t settle, baby. Never, ever, settle.”
Falling for Lincoln
Sadie decides to really go for it with Lincoln and hopes they can get past all that old drama. She gets all dolled up and tried to flirt with Lincoln at the townie bar but she’s a naturally shy, clutzy and awkward girl. (Can anyone else relate to this?) Sadie flirts with him but it doesn’t feel like it’s working. So she gets flustered and decides to get honest and real with him. She tells him she likes him and admits she doesn’t know how to flirt. Which I absolutely applaud Sadie’s honesty and straightforwardness. She says, “I don’t have any ready-made plans for this. For us. I’m wide open. I just like you so much and I want to be with you. I want … more kissing.” She looked up shyly. “Is that alright with you?” Lincoln’s response: “Sign me up.”
From there the relationship grows but we see some meddling from Jolette Marie who, as mentioned earlier, was Lincoln’s friend with bennies. She’s jealous of the growing romance between Sadie and Lincoln. Sadie’s past relationship trauma (in the form of a cheating college boyfriend) also presents challenges and hurdles to overcome, especially in conjunction with Lincoln’s lingering feelings about the Jackson/Evie drama.
I’m not going to say anymore about the storyline from there because I don’t want to spoil the book. I think it’s worth the read and a really lovely story.
What I Enjoyed About the Book
I enjoyed sooo much about Lucky Cowboy. Every part of the story is realistic and relatable — from the dialogue to the relationship challenges. There’s great communication from Sadie at various points in the book as she tells Lincoln that she really likes him and what she needs in their relationship. And I really do love when people communicate important things like that.
What Challenged Me About the Book
I had absolutely no challenges with this book.
Final Thoughts
Lucky Cowboy is a lovely Cowboy romp. It’s wholesome with some softly steamy stirrings of love. And Heatherly Bell’s writing is truly fantastic in this book and she created some truly beautiful moments in the story.
If you want to hear more of my thoughts on the book, you can listen to the podcast episode on your favorite podcast streaming service. Or click here for our in-house podcast player. You can find out if I won the episode Boobie Prize. Want to read the book for yourself? See the links below. Want to learn more about Heatherly Bell? Click here to visit her website.
Have you read Lucky Cowboy or one of the Men of Stone Ridge novels? Let me know your thoughts on these books in the comments!
