The Cowboy and the Girl Next Door by Janette Rallison

The Cowboy and the Girl Next Door (Wyle Away Ranch, #1)

by Janette Rallison

She won't lose the ranch without a fight, even if it means fighting him.

Kate Benton has wanted nothing to do with ranchers since she was fifteen and too-hot-for-his-own-good Landon Wyle caught her kissing his little brother during a cattle drive.

Yep, that event pretty much put an end to a lot of things, like her dignity.

But when her grandfather dies, he leaves his ranch to her with one provision: she has to live on Coyote Glen and keep it profitable for a year.

Kate is used to the finer things in life, such as sleeping in past the crack of dawn and fingernails that aren’t broken.

Mucking stables, fixing fences, and avoiding being trampled by angry cows isn’t exactly how she imagined spending the next year, but her family needs the land.

She’s in over her head. However, the man who can best help—Landon—is second in line to inherit if she fails.

And he’s only gotten more handsome. Of course.

Losing the ranch is bad enough, she refuses to fall for the man who wants to take Coyote Glen from her.

Landon’s brothers depend on him to keep their ranch and their family together. To succeed, he’s thrown himself into his work—and ok, maybe he’s avoided relationships. He needs the wells on Coyote Glen to keep his own ranch running and can’t afford to let Kate’s beautiful green eyes distract him.

If he loses his heart to her, he loses everything.

The Cowboy and the Girl Next Door is the first novel of a sweet, feel-good, laugh-out-loud romantic comedy series. If you like heroines with sass and hardworking men who look great in denim, you’ll love this swoon-worthy novel!

We believe in happily ever after, so no cliffhangers are allowed on our ranch.

Reviewed by ladygrey on

3.5 of 5 stars

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Janette Rallison is one of my go-to authors. She's witty and fun and has cute, likable characters pretty consistently. The cover for this one is also pretty much a lock so I had to give it a read.

The Cowboy and the Girl Next Door does not disappoint. Landon and Kate are so sweet and funny. They're both pretty straight forward and honest so the complications don't come from stupid misunderstandings. There were moments where Kate had the potential to be unlikable, but also she was fifteen and her reaction though unreasonable made sense for a fifteen year old girl. I appreciate that she didn't act fifteen the rest of the book when she's grown up, even though she still realistically has some of the same flaws. And I like that she's willing to let them go and continue to grow up. Landon is just pretty fabulous and has a great dry wit.

There were a couple of places where the story stepped back from itself and lost some of the connection with the characters, which is the magic of the story. But pretty much any time it dove into the scene and the dialog and any of the characters interacting (including Landon's brothers and random cops) it's a very sweet, funny read.

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Reading updates

  • 12 June, 2022: Started reading
  • 14 June, 2022: Finished reading
  • 16 June, 2022: Reviewed