"Lucky Cowboy" by Liz Borino is a contemporary romance set in the world of country music. The book explores the challenges and triumphs of two musicians coming together. While the premise is intriguing, the execution falls short with inconsistent pacing and a lack of chemistry between the main characters. The romance feels rushed, leaving little room for emotional depth. "Lucky Cowboy" may resonate with country music fans, but it may not fully satisfy those seeking a more robust and emotionally charged romance.

Salvatore ‘Sal’ Lewis and Ryder Christensen thought they had a love for all time, but Ryder’s choices brought the relationship to an end. He made the honorable decision to take care of his daughter, and moved to New York City. He had a great job, but he has an addiction to gambling and got caught up with a loan shark. The tragedy that befalls his young daughter leaves Ryder with nothing. Seven years later, Ryder returns to his parents’ farm in Tryon, North Carolina, where he reconnects with old friends—and Sal. Even moving home, though, Ryder finds himself being threatened by the loan shark, Boss. He’s paid his dues and is trying to fight the Boss by himself and the danger, and chaos begins.

Sal works hard to keep his family ranch going, helping his grandparents and younger brother, Jason. Jason helps as much as he can with the horses, but he suffers from seizures from an equestrian accident. Sal has watched Jason go from bad days, when he needs a wheelchair, to good days where he can do without. Jason also has a steady companion in Petey, who’s with him at all times in case he has a seizure. Jason also is hiding a secret from Sal.

Lucky Cowboy is my first time reading Liz Borino, and I have to say she didn’t disappoint. This novel is very well written and touches on subjects such as asexuality and medicinal cannabis. I really liked the relationship she created between Sal and Ryder; their chemistry is not over done, and there’s honesty and understanding between them. Even Sal and Jason’s relationship has some tense moments, but they always bring the brotherly love and talk things out.

This plot was filled with suspense, danger, mystery, humor, and the usual suspects. There are great secondary characters, in Jason especially, as well as Ryder’s parents and Sal’s grandparents and, of course, Elle and Petey. This is a great start to a new series, with solid potential to move on with these entertaining characters. I liked how this novel ended, and all I can say is bring on the sequel!

Reviewed by Maryann

This book started a bit rough for me as Ryder's emotions after his daughters death didn't seem to fit the reality of what was going on. Then there was added suspense onto the story but it didn't feel believable and it felt lacking at times. As well as the self thoughts got a bit tiresome. I know it is hard to portray that as a writer but this seemed a bit much at times. However, once I got over all that it was sweet but not my favorite story as it felt a bit all over.

A brilliant read with a brilliant storyline and characters and I will look forward to reading more from from this author

A great read intriguing keeps your attention was good I enjoyed it can’t wait to read more hope you enjoy it as much as I did recommend it

I like cowboys, and when it's M/M cowboys I get super excited (I mean, Brokeback Mountain is one of my favourite movies of all time.) I started Lucky Cowboy excited to dive into the world of cowboys and ranchers, only to be disappointed.

Lucky Cowboy has potential, but it failed to live up to it. It's difficult to say where it went wrong; writing, editing, or both. It's just a hot mess, because the story tries to go in three different directions without deciding what it is: a romance, a mystery, or a cowboy story. It's a little bit of all, but it felt flat because the characters are extremely one dimensional and nothing is really explained properly. The mystery wasn't engaging and there wasn't much chemistry or tension between Ryder and Sal - mostly because they get back together almost as soon as Ryder returns to Tryon. Everything happened so fast: Ryder buried his daughter and moved to Tryon within ten days of the daughter's death and less than two weeks after that, he was back together with Sal. What bothered me a lot was how Ryder didn't seem to grieve the loss of his daughter at all. His addiction to gambling was also a pretty vague, and it never felt like he truly struggled with it.

Another thing that bothered me was how emotionally distant everything was. I could tell you everything that happened to Ryder, but I couldn't tell how he felt. It was superficial and on top of that, Ryder's character (or anyone else's) was never deepened. I didn't learn who Ryder was or what he liked. Sal was a little bit more fleshed out, but not by much. In short, everyone were one dimensional, which made it hard to care for anyone or what happened to them.

What sealed it all was very abrupt ending that didn't give any closure as it ended in the middle of action, and explained nothing what had been happening. I feel overly critical right now, because the premise had promise and Lucky Cowboy had a lot of potential. I just feel like it wasn't executed well and ended up being a mix of a lot of things, which were either never deepened or explained.

A quick read with a potential, but that's all Lucky Cowboy was for me in the end.

Reviewed for Netgalley

I tried to like this book. I really did, but with an ending like that, I just couldn’t. And I couldn’t write this review without SPOILERS, so here goes.

Ryder Christensen has to return home to his parents’ farm after his daughter’s death, which may or may not have been his fault due to his gambling addiction, but for 90% of the book it is hard to tell because the details of his life prior to returning home are so vague that readers never get too good of a sense of what that life was like.

Once home, he is reunited with Sal, his boyhood boyfriend and the love of his life, whose heart he broke when he maybe knocked up a woman with a drug problem and decided to ditch his boyfriend to become a father. Apparently the story predates paternity tests. But now that his daughter is dead, he’s ready to rekindle the romance, though that will be quite the challenge since he shattered Sal’s heart. Except it isn’t a challenge at all because they are back together almost instantly, thus killing any sexual/romantic tension that might have come of it.

The plot limps along like a 1975 Ford Pinto with a malfunctioning fuel tank. Along the way, it picks up Sal’s brother Jason, who lives with chronic pain since a riding accident, Ryder’s unnecessary-to-the-plot parents, Sal’s maybe drug dealing ex-boyfriend Luke, and the clichéd female bestie and most annoying character, Kat.

Unfortunately, Jason isn’t the only thing with chronic pain in this story. The dialogue is some of the most stilted, unnatural, and painful to read verbal exchanges that I have ever come across. Even when a character is talking to animals, none of the words or phrases come off as easy or natural.

I completely lost interest roughly 65% of the way through the book. By the end, Ryder is beating up some guy who probably killed his daughter, Kat is an undercover cop, Sal’s drug dealer ex is actually an FBI agent, and, though Luke has never spoken a word to him, he’s bringing Jason illegal drugs to help manage his pain. So basically, Lucky Cowboy is a whole lot of bad dialogue with a WTF ending that insures that I will not be reading another book in this series.

If you want to read a book with a gambling addict and some ketamine, go with Cordelia Kingsbridge’s Seven of Spades series. It’s roughly 10,000 times better than this!

Lucky Cowboy is book 1 in the Ace Cowboy series and my first read by Liz Borino. A heartbreaking, healing lovable story with great characters and a well written storyline. I really enjoyed this story and will be looking to read more by this author

This book was decent but not one of my favorites. Ryder returns to his home town after living in the city for several years raising his daughter alone. He is gay but fathered a daughter and chose to help raiser he but the mother ran off leaving him alone. His daughter dies when he is out feeding his gambling addiction and he is racked with debt and guilt and goes home to his parents. His ex lives on the next ranch over and gives him a job. They slowly fall back into their relationship which is nice, but the story really lacks depth and seems like it is missing something. There is a whole subplot going on withe Ryder's neighbor who used to date Sal (his former ex/current boyfriend-employer), their high school friends and someone still trying to get more gambling debt money from Ryder. It is a little confusing and all the ends don't seem to get tied up at the end. The ending kind of left me hanging and confused. From what I can tell, there will be another book featuring the neighbor Luke and Sal's brother Jason but I am not entirely sure. Thanks NG!!

LUCKY COWBOY by LIZ BORINO is a great story! Sal and Ryder are wonderful, smart, sensitive, dynamic characters. This story grabs you at the beginning and doesn't let you go! The story is full of surprises! I'm definitely going to be on the lookout for other stories by Liz Borino!