Review: The Last True Cowboy (Chestnut Creek #1)

The Last True Cowboy (Chestnut Creek #1)

by Laura Drake

Blurb:

This cowboy's got one last chance to prove himself.

Carly Beauchamp has loved cowboy Austin Davis since first grade. Ask anyone in their dusty, backwater New Mexico town of Unforgiven, and they'll say "Carly and Austin" the way some say "big trucks and country boys." But after years of waiting for a wedding ring, Carly's done with being a rodeo widow . . .

Austin never meant to put his career on the circuit before Carly. She's always been his future, his one and only. But now that she's moved on, he's beginning to see where he went wrong, and he'll do anything to win her back. The only thing is, Carly's suddenly acting differently, and she's definitely hiding a secret-one that will test the depth of their love and open up a whole new world of possibilities.

Themes: Contemporary, YA Romance

Rating: 2.5 stars

Heat Rating: 

Review:

 Well I have to say, I really didn’t enjoy this story much, though the ending when it finally came was pretty decent.  I am all for cowboys usually and stories about growing pains, I was even willing to overlook the secret she was hiding, which is one of my least favorite book tropes, but in the end I had to force myself to finish this one.  Carly has finally decided that she is going move on from the love of her life, her high school sweetheart, because he hasn’t truly committed to her, and breaks up with her.  Apparently this is nothing new though, to the point that it is a running joke with the whole town, and even though she has decided she means it this time, no one but her believes it.  To this point, I was just upset that the story was kind of childish and was hoping it would get better, but then Carly just got stupid and I really began to dislike her.  Austin on the other hand is just a scared kid that hasn’t yet grown up, pushing his girl off again and again despite loving her deeply and being fully committed to her physically if not emotionally.  From there the story when downhill fast, with tons of angst, idiotic decisions and the consequences that inevitably follow, and finally both of them growing-the-fuck up, almost too late. Maybe the problem is just that I am not a fan of YA romances for this very reason, but I can say for sure I was ok with the ending once Carly and Austin owned up to their shit and dealt with it. Carly might have been a good woman, in that she gave of herself to her family and friends, but she was purely selfish in her relationship.  When she was forced to deal with the consequences of her actions and the ways that she had to grow up in order to be what she needed for those around her I began to respect her a lot more and even like her a little bit.  Austin too had a lot of growing up to do and once her finally did and accepted his own errors and responsibility in ruining his relationship, he became the man he always needed to be for Carly.  I learned to like the, both and see that they could be a great couple in the end, but it took way too long to get there and since I already dealt with my own personal growing pains long ago I didn’t really feel up to reading about anyone else’s.  If you are into YA romances, then you will probably enjoy this novel a lot more than I did as it was well written and the issues being dealt with are important for young adults and dealt with well, but it just was not my thing.  I will probably not continue this series, but it was worth the try.

*ebook provided by publisher (via netgalley) for the purpose of an honest and unbiased review.  No compensation was provided.