Saved by the Cowboy

51zulZ0TBCL.SX316.SY316.jpg Title: Saved by the Cowboy
Author: A.J. Pine
Genre: romance; family
Synopsis: (from Goodreads) Once upon a time, Sheriff Cash Hawkins left his simple life for something bigger—and came home with a broken heart. Now he has everything he needs right here in Oak Bluff, California—his job, his dog, and a quiet ranching town best explored on the back of a horse. Olivia Belle believes in fairy tales—just not for herself. So when her boyfriend drops to one knee at his sister’s wedding with a proposal that is more business than romance, she hightails it out of San Francisco in search of the only evidence she knows that true love exists—her grandparents’ lost love letters from fifty years ago. When Olivia speeds into his town like a modern-day Cinderella in her ball gown and glass slippers, Cash’s careful existence is finally thrown for a loop. Maybe the answer Olivia’s looking for is in Oak Bluff, but the life she ran from is more than 200 miles away. As for Cash . . . he knows a thing or two about being left on bended knee. Olivia Belle could be his happily ever after . . . if this runaway bridesmaid doesn’t run off with his heart.

Review: This novella was a quick fling. I was intrigued by the description, but it took me a few chapters to actually get into it. I didn’t realize going in that this was part of a series, and perhaps that’s why it felt like there was too little development in the beginning. Oak Bluff seems to be this special place, but it never really gets the drawn out detail it deserves, especially since it’s Olivia’s first time there. Cash seems to be a feature character, but even he and his dog don’t get that much description. I couldn’t actually picture what he looked like, which for a romance novel, seemed a tragedy indeed.

While I thought generally, the descriptions could have been much, much better, more detailed, and given more time to grow, what I did like was the love story. Cash didn’t expect Olivia to change for him, and she didn’t expect him to change for her. There wasn’t this idea that one had to give anything up for the other. In many romances, the woman (more generally) is asked to give up something to be with the man of her dreams, or, more recently, has had to give up something in order to find the man of her dreams. That wasn’t the case in Saved by the Cowboy. Although the title suggests that Olivia was this woman who needed saving, I would argue that both characters save each other in the end.

I would imagine that someone who’d read the other texts in this series would enjoy this more than I did, but it was sweet and quick, and overall, a fun journey.

*Special thanks to Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.