Cowboys of California, Book #2
(Review of Cowboys of California, Book #1)
Heat Factor: The characters talk freely and often but the action itself is not so lengthy or involved
Character Chemistry: Very natural and low key
Plot: Cinderella but with an Oscar-winning actor as the prince and a terrible employer as the steps
Overall: It wasn’t really a page turner, but it was very cozy
A Cinderella retelling!
I don’t think I fully realized that this book was a Cinderella retelling when I picked it up, and I’m not entirely sure if that would have influenced me. If you didn’t catch our discussion of Cinderella retellings, I often have a hard time with the contemporary context because I struggle with Cinderella’s victim characterization. So I really liked what Weatherspoon did with this one. Instead of Amanda having a terrible and abusive family, she’s in an abusive work relationship, and because of her (lack of) new job prospects and her feelings of responsibility to her employer (who is also mistreated by her mother), she feels a bit stuck.
Amanda isn’t alone, though. Her best friend (in town at least) is a famous actress who totally has her back, and one way that Amanda allows her bestie to have her back is by accepting an invitation to an Oscars after-party. Amanda just wants to let loose, so when Oscar winner Sam Pleasant catches her eye, they don’t exchange names but do have a G-R-E-A-T night IFyouknowwhatImean.
What I really liked about this book is the way the characters own their decisions and behavior and actually communicate in a pretty emotionally intelligent way. There could have been ALL the drama, but if there had been, I would have rolled my eyes and been super annoyed. So I liked how Amanda and Sam in particular treated each other when the going got tough. That said, the points of the story that weren’t relying on the tension of the Cinderella deception plot were definitely more slow moving than those that were full of that emotional tension. I connected best with probably the last third of the book when everything was really moving along.
Buy Now: Amazon
Looking for something similar?
The Smut Report 