The Cowboy She Loves to Hate (Four Corners Ranch) – book review

The Cowboy She Loves to Hate
by Maisey Yates
Release Date: December 1, 2021
Publisher: HQN books
Book #0.6 in the Four Corners Ranch series
Number of Pages: 64
Kindle Edition
Source:  Amazon Pre-Order
Contemporary Romance
Ages 16 and up
CW: off page drowning
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She’s finally taking the cowboy’s bet…but at what cost?

When librarian Nelly Foster shows up on Tag McCloud’s doorstep on her thirtieth birthday, the cowboy knows exactly what she’s come for. Prissy, stubborn and downright irresistible Nelly is finally taking him up on the bet he made her years ago—to relieve her of her unwanted virginity.

Nelly can’t believe she’s finally cashing in her chips. But no man has ever gotten under her skin the way irritating and too-charming-for-his-own-good Tag does. Ever since he pulled her pigtails in school, she’s hated him…but he’s still the only cowboy she wants. And one earth-shattering night in Tag’s arms has Nelly realizing they are bound together by something much more intense…and impossible to walk away from!

Another introductory novella to this author’s upcoming new series, Four Corners Ranch. I enjoyed this one much more than the previous. They have their similarities, but I felt the characters connected a lot better with each other and the reader in this one. Maybe because the characters, while never close friends, have known each other most of their lives and lived within each other’s bubbles.

It’s very up front and out there that this is another virgin story. In fact, that’s the premise of the story. A quick “rip off the band aid” way for Nelly to have her first sexual encounter so she’ll stop thinking about it and therefore it will no longer be a big deal. The only problem being that these two characters, who are under the illusion that they dislike one another, actually have deep feelings that have manifested in ways to make it so they are protecting their egos and their hearts.

Since this is a short story, they get right to their issues. No beating around the bush. Yet the author was able to pack in a lot of warm-fuzzies on top of more information about the denizens of Four Corners that will, I’m sure, come into play as this series goes along.

5 stars