'Take Me Cowboy' Copper Ridge #6 by Maisey Yates

 

From the BLURB: 

She's just one of the boys, but with a new business in Copper Ridge, Anna Brown needs to change that. Her brothers bet she can't land a date for a fancy charity event. So Anna turns to her best friend—the hottest bachelor in town—for advice. 

Rancher Chase McCormack wants in on that gala. If Anna takes him, he promises to turn her into a lady. But the makeover reveals what he's long suspected—Anna's irresistible! Is his best friend prepared to be taken—heart, body and soul—by her very own cowboy?

I don't even remember when I purchased this little paperback of Maisey Yates's book ... probably from the fab Big-W 'romance reads' section, and knowing that I have a ton of Maisey Yates titles I've accumulated on my Kindle via NetGalley, she's a name I always look out for on those shelves. Because I have always known that I intend to get into reading her one day. She's beloved in the romance genre; a prolific author (with 100+ titles under her belt in a relatively short time considering she came onto the scene in 2010). I also know her background was as a mum of 3 living close to poverty in rural Oregon (where she still sets her stories, and lives) and writing for Mills & Boon basically pulled her and her husband out of hardship, and she's been very vocal about romance-publishing and her writing buying them their first house. Yes! I love a story of the matriarchy and possibility inherent to the romance industry that helps women become entrepreneurial and successful (for more, see 2015 doco 'Love Between the Covers').

So I dug this little paperback out when the need to finally delve into Maisey's backlist became too great, and this book was a great place to start! A point-of-order however; this is classified as both book six in the 'Copper Ridge' series but also the first book in the 'Copper Ridge: Desire' series which I *think* is a slight off-shoot wherein they offered two-for-one Harlequin's (my copy was 'Take Me, Cowboy' and 'Seduce Me, Cowboy' - which is No. 3 in the 'Copper Ridge: Desire' series ... confusingly)

I do want to go back and begin at the beginning of 'Copper Ridge' and for anyone slightly baffled and overwhelmed, Maisy has a helpful guide on her website; 'For New Readers' and she suggests with 'Part Time Cowboy' in the 'Copper Ridge' series.

But, anyway - 'Take Me Cowboy' is a friends-to-lovers AND dating-for-a-bet story of tomboy mechanic Anna, and her best friend (and ladies' man) Chase who both find that they need dates to an upcoming gala event ... Anna to prove to her brothers that even though she's 30 and never been in a relationship, she can most definitely pull a guy - and Chase, because he wants the town to see him as more than a one-and-done stud since he and his brother have an important business venture they intend to put forward. Anna and Chase agree to fake date in the lead-up to the gala, but deep down Anna knows she's playing with fire because she's always had more then just friends feelings for her bestie. And Chase knows he's putting his feet closet to the flames because he's always guarded his heart with empty one-night-stands and no-strings-attachments, and Anna is something very different.

I loved this set-up, it's two tropes in one and both that I love. I will say I was a little *shocked* that Maisey Yates writes steamy sex scenes. I'm not sure why, but I thought she was a 'cut to the billowing curtains' type romance writer? Huh. Pleasantly surprised to discover that's not the case, even if I also found Anna and Chase jumping into bed together a little too soon for my liking, considering all they had on the line with regards to their friendship.

This was a solid intro to Maisey Yates's books, and now I'm looking at the bounty of her backlist and *gleeful* at the idea of jumping in all over the place!

4/5