Although I enjoy a romance with a Black and plus-size heroine, If the Boot Fits is a miss for me. The overall story was interesting, a personal assistant that finds love with an Oscar award-winning actor, but the build-up of the romance and the accompanying drama was a slog to get through with not much pay-off in the end. Despite this, I appreciate Rebekah Weatherspoon's consistency in portraying healthy, communicative relationships. Her heroes are the cinnamon roll type -- warm, sweet, and extremely supportive of the heroine. I did enjoy that that there was not the stereotypical drama that briefly breaks up the couple just so they can pine after each other. It's refreshing that honesty is a major component in Weatherspoon's romances, along with the depictions of supportive friendships and family.

I really enjoyed this. It just flows so beautifully. The two main characters communicate and listen to each other; they don't automatically jump to the wrong conclusions. This is just so refreshing. The entire cast of characters is delightful. The one thing I found a little disappointing is that the book is a little too short. To me the ending was a little abrupt, especially since the couple had spent so little time together.

At first glance, this book might give off Cinderella vibes, where a down on her luck heroine meets her Prince Charming, captivates him, runs from him, and then eventually reunites before they find their HEA. But it’s so much more than that. The second book in Rebekah Weatherspoon’s Cowboys of California series places the focus on the youngest of the Pleasant brothers, Sam. The book opens right on the heels of him winning an Academy Award for acting and celebrating his big win with a night of hot sex with Amanda McQueen, the stranger he meets at an Oscars after-party. And while she knows exactly who Sam is, he has no idea that she’s assistant to rising television star, Dru Anastasia.

One of the things this book does really well is creating the different and somewhat disparate worlds these two characters inhabit from their respective stations within the Hollywood hierarchy to the huge ranch Sam’s wealthy family owns, the backdrop that ties this series together. There are a lot of recognizable faces from book one who reappear in this book and while book one was sort of meant as an introduction to these characters and the ranch they run, book two is delightful because by now, they’re all familiar and reading this book feels like settling in for a comfy visit with old friends and catching up with their lives.

Sam and Amanda are well-drawn characters, each with their own hopes and dreams and fears. I especially liked the nuance of Sam winning an Oscar for playing a historical figure in a movie that feels more about white saviour storytelling as opposed to making it about the Black character he portrays. It’s a pointed reference to our cultural habit of failing to center Black people in their own stories. I also appreciated Amanda’s storyline - her struggle to find her own footing in Hollywood as a woman of color is very much rooted in reality and her relationship with Dru Anastacia, the Black actress she works for is full of unpleasantness and negativity.

Dru, as a villain, is fascinating on her own and I really loved that the author didn’t make her into some caricature as villains sometimes tend to be. There is obviously a meanness to her but, as Amanda is quick to point out, Dru also has her own baggage and issues to deal with. This also leads to one of my other favorite aspects of this book - the supporting characters. Oftentimes, supporting characters are forgettable, usually there to serve the plot or the main characters. The supporting characters in this book are all very well-written, fully formed in their own right and engaging enough that I ended the book wishing they could all have their own books.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and loved catching up with the characters from book one while also following along as Sam and Amanda traveled their sometimes rocky path to true love. I adored the tight knit family, the life they built on the ranch, and I loved seeing how they welcomed Amanda into their fold. I would happily revisit this world as often as possible and I’m thrilled that there is at least one more book planned for this series, featuring Jesse, the eldest Pleasant brother.

Content Warnings:
Fat shaming, reference to eating disorder for a supporting character (off-page), verbally abusive relationship between heroine and employer, dysfunctional mother/daughter relationship between supporting character and her mother

Sam definitely deserves an Oscar for not playing games when it comes to who he wants, he's strong and confident enough to be selfish in his choosing, regardless. They just click instantly, those dance floor scenes are...tantalizing and the songs really drew me into visualizing them. Amanda was just all over the place though, she definitely adds shock factor. I felt sorry for her but couldn't understand her justification of her discouraging job. The pace had an ebb and flow, the spark kind of trickled but did eventually build again. Love the family circle and how supportive they are of one another, the dude ranch made me want to visit one.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

**I adored this story soooo much!** I love the 1st chapter - and all of the following ones. But chapter one starts this romance story with the morning after the couple spent their first night together! Amanda is leaving a hotel room after spending the night with Sam - the most in demand man as he’d just won an Oscar the evening before. She’d been out dancing and taking rare time off, having a Cinderella-like evening that cannot go any further than an anonymous night with Sam. They agreed not to exchange names and numbers, and their plans of just the one night go a bit awry after she accidentally bags his Oscar statue and he really wants to spend a lot more time with her - which they eventually do - on his California Family Ranch.

I adored this story soooo much! We seriously need more Sam Pleasants in real life - genuine, kind, sexy, respectful, fun, smart.

Oh, and Amanda! Seeing her come to life, being herself, living authentically full of joy, was something special. The stark contrasts of her working life for a cruel bully, feeling lonely, and somewhat trapped, really come out when we get to see her happy and take a step towards her dreams - be it having a massage, a weekend away, time with Sam or with his fabulously supportive friends and family.

Knowing that John Boyega and Amber Riley were inspiration for Rebekah’s story, makes me love it even more!

This is book 2 of the series and can definitely be read as a stand-alone. But seriously, why would you want to skip the first book in the series? I’m yet to come across a book by Rebekah that doesn’t make me dive into another one of hers right away!

This book recommendation comes with a content warning for bullying and body shaming. All thoughts and comments are my own as I thank NetGalley and the publisher for letting me dive into this wonderful story before it was officially published.

This book showed me that I definitely need to read more Cowboy focused romances because I just loved the concept. The way the book started off was really engaging and set the atmosphere well. I enjoyed reading the romance between Amanda and Sam, they were very cute and had good chemistry. I liked that Sam was immediately enamored with her and was patient at going at the speed Amanda wanted. He was definitely a respectful king! The family dynamic for The Pleasants was SO sweet. I love to read about big families that are very connected and involved in each others life. I loved Amanda's personality and that she was super nice and polite to everyone she would work with. I just wished she could've stuck up for herself sooner, especially since she seemed to be kind of confident handling other areas of her life. Dru got on my last nerve every time she was mentioned. This book made me giggle and go aaawww but the end of the book felt a bit rushed and the epilogue did give a look into her life but not as much as I wanted to see romance wise. Overall this book was cute and I'd read the other books in this series!

Ahhhh I loved this book SO MUCH! Was literally screaming from the first page (omg what a great way to start a book). THRILLED. Such a fan of Amanda, I was cheering for her the entire book. Also, eff Dru I cannot stand her. I really liked that the family again played such a big role in the story. I love every single one of these characters and can I please end up with Jesse? Lol! Looking forward to the next book, the first two were absolutely fantastic.

I am loving this series so much!

This is the second book in the series following Sam and Amanda and I really loved our couple. It can be read as a standalone but I would recommend reading the first book first since its really fun and gives your more context for the characters and settings. This couple had so much fun banter and chemistry, I was rooting from them from the very beginning. Its low angst, but I didn’t mind because it was so fun. The plot was so engaging and fun as well. This series is full of so many amazing characters and the love they share was so heartwarming.

I am really hoping the next book is Jesse’s book because I need to read more about this grumpy cowboy!

So excited to get an ARC of this from NetGalley. I really thought this was going to be Jesse's story, so for a second I was sad. But then I met Amanda, our heroine-- she is amazing! She's kind and funny. Her banter with Sam is 12 stars.

This was a fun read. Some of the best scenes are amongst the Pleasant family hanging at the ranch. I wasn't too crazy about the crazy bitch bad guy, but that's mostly a personal preference. I like a villan with a little more depth. Is there a Loose End redemption story for her? IDK if I can forgive her verbal abuse and disrespect of boundaries, but if anyone can turn her around it's Rebekah Weatherspoon!

I am so enjoying this series. I feel like every character could have their own story... I would read about Dru the redeemed or Lilah's HEA. While I'm out here fangirling, let's get a 1.5 book of Vega and Corie. Or any of Lilah's 7 brothers we have not met. Is there a fun story about the dogs or horses? Yes, I would read it.

I'm on a roll here, but I love how Rebekah Weatherspoon writes funny modern stories that are not all neatly tied up. I appreciate that every Epilogue is not a proposal or pregnancy. HFNs, I guess.

It's great. Read it!

#NetGalley #IftheBootFits

Full, rich, and engaging story. The beginning hooks you right in when Amanda accidentally steals Sam’s Oscar statue. The entire cast are lovely and supportive of each other, with one very notable exception. Amanda’s boss is the clear villain in this story, going so far as to be verbally abusive. So that part is awful. But I loved Amanda and Sam’s relationship and their clear mutual respect and care for each other.

Thank you Kensington Press and NetGalley for the ARC!

Received an E-ARC from #NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I LOVED EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS BOOK!
*whew*
Now that I've gotten that out of the way...let me tell you all the reasons why.

I loved the first book in the Cowboys of Charming series. Second chance romance with a bit of amnesia plot made it so amazingly Hallmark that I couldn't stand it.
I did not think that I would love the 2nd book in the series more than the first, especially since it wasn't the brother i hoped for, but this proved me wrong.

Where the first book was intense, this book was soft and more chill.

It's very much a Cinderella story only the ball is a glitzy Hollywood party and they have a one night stand and instead of Amanda leaving her shoe behind, she swipes Sam's Oscar statue by accident!
Of course her job as an assistant to a bratty star makes her feel as if their relationship is impossible considering he has just nabbed his first Oscar but they happen to run into each other again and build a romance I truly enjoyed.

I love Amanda & Sam's romance. They fit together so well and it was obvious from jump that they would find their way back to each other no matter what.
I love how tender and patient he was with her and how the backdrop of his family's ranch helped to bring them together.
Their sex was also FIRE. It was hot and sexy while also having a layer of intimacy that I truly enjoyed.

They are intentional about their connection and when they finally get together, it is so very satisfying.
These are characters I would want to spend time IRL and I cannot wait to see how their relationship shows up in the next book in the series.

The All the Books podcast dates have shifted, and this book is no longer eligible for coverage, so I am unable to provide a review/coverage.

5 Cha-Cha Stars!

I must say that this book sucked me and kept me up most of the night as I refused to put it down until I was finished at 2:00 a.m. Hey, I am not a quitter!

Amanda is fun, sassy, confident and beautiful! She was written amazingly to make you adore her! So she works for the evil witch, I mean an upcoming starlet that has found a moment of success and loves to belittle others to make herself feel better. I am not sure how she missed the message that beauty is from within, because this one is tarnished on the inside!

Sam Pleasant- of the Pleasant family I fell in love with during Zach and Evie's story. First of all, the Pleasants
epitomize love and togetherness, mixed with their own brand of quirks! They are fabulous!

Sam of course is sexy- dreamy- and a newly crowned Oscar winner. During the after party celebration, Sam cannot take his eyes off of the beautiful and vivacious Amanda as she dances her way into his heart. There are comments Sam had made in his Vanity Fair interview, yes Ms. Weatherspoon, we did connect those dots that Amanda was his essentially dream girl! Swoon! Loved that!

Sam and Amanda are fun and absolutely silly; sexy and sweet! They have a chemistry that neither can deny, no matter how hard Amanda might try. Read their story for a complete escape of reality for a dose of hope and happiness with this happily ever after couple.

I absolutely loved this -- it's full of humor, sparkle, and heart. Fairytale-inspired romances aren't normally my cup of tea, but the Cinderella elements are done so cleverly here that I didn't even notice most of them until I had already finished the book. Sam is a true gentleman, Amanda is a funny, beautiful firecracker of a heroine, and the supporting characters are second to none. Whether this is your first Rebekah Weatherspoon or your fifteenth, I promise you won't be disappointed.

The only reason we haven't read Rebekah Weatherspoon for romance book club yet? I haven't been able to pick just one of her absolutely stellar books. I think this might be the one.

Rebekah Weatherspoon has become a go-to author for me. I loved this book. It's high on fun, low on angst. The second in a series, it can be read as a standalone, but I actually do suggest reading the first one as well because 1. it's good and 2. there's a lot of characters and world building you'd miss, which I found helpful as I dove into this book.

Amanda is an all around great character, if she was real, I'd want to be friends. From the beginning she was hilarious, and maybe even a little bit of a hot mess. Who doesn't notice they've run off with someone else's Oscar? She has great, believable chemistry with Sam Pleasant, right from the start. Oh, and Sam is a gem too. He's going through some things after his Oscar win, and might not know what to do next, but knows he wants Amanda.

For me, maybe the best part is that Weatherspoon didn't fall into the breakup over a slight miscommunication trope, the most frustrating part of too many books in the genre. 5 stars!

Thanks to NetGalley and Rebekah Weatherspoon for this advance look at this incredibly sweet book.

I recently read Ms. Weatherspoon's Rafe: A Buff Male Nanny, and immediately fell in love with her writing. Her work has a sweetness and charm that makes you want to absolutely devour every page. (Plus, it's damn sexy.)

I heard great things about the first Cowboys of California book, and was over the moon to see If the Boot Fits on NetGalley. From page one, the book makes you love each character. Amanda is someone I know I'd be friends with, an immediately lovable Hollywood assistant with dreams of her own that she's put on hold to take care of a spoiled D-list starlet. Sam is still figuring out what it means to be a star, fresh off his Oscar win. Nothing about either character is straightforward either. Sam has complicated feelings about his role as a Black man in Hollywood, and Amanda wants to provide the kind of love her employer, Dru, hasn't received from her own family, despite Dru's horrible treatment.

I read the book in a night, and immediately ordered the first Cowboys book. Ms. Weatherspoon has rapidly become one of my favorite romance writers, and I can't wait for more.

Black cowboys? Yes please! Rebekah Weatherspoon is the master of her craft. A well-paced, well-plotted romance where the characters build their relationship, before deciding to be together. A heroine who is smart, confident, and competent. Oh and witty banter, plus secondary relationships that feel real. Wonderful!

The conflict in the third act feels realistic and draws the characters together, and does NOT fall into the forced-breakup trope, thankfully.

All in all, the characters don’t grow or change that much throughout the story, with the exception of trust growing as they get to know each other. And that’s fine: not every story needs drastic change. This was a lovely, straightforward story by an expert author that was a joy to read.

This book was, simply, fantastic. I finished it in a day.

The first book had, as first books in a series with a lot of characters and history do, a lot of lifting to introduce the cast and set the scene. While I liked it, I did find it a bit slow at times. This book benefits from that heavy lift and takes off like a rocket. Sam and Amanda make a wonderful couple. Their banter is fun and their chemistry is off the charts from the very beginning. As with the first book, the secondary cast of family members and friends on the ranch makes for a setting and a group anyone would want to be included in.

My one quibble, and it's tiny, is in the villain. Dru is often described by Amanda as having good qualities, but I never saw any of them. On the page, she comes across as vain, spoiled, and bone-deep mean. I don't mind a villain who's out-and-out awful and I don't mind one with a more balanced personality, but to describe one and present another makes for some mental conflict.

Bring on giant, silent Jesse's book!

I was given a free Advance Reader's Copy in exchange for an honest review.

‪If the Boot Fits is a Black romance with a plus size heroine who’s a struggling writer/assistant by day who meets and somewhat reluctantly starts dating a famous actor in the white hot media spotlight after winning an Oscar. The romance is both steamy and sweet if slightly rushed towards the end. These two have a great, multifaceted connection. They like a lot of the same things culturally and even have similar values and compatible temperaments, so the main conflict is really around their differences in status. Sam is at the height of his acting career while Amanda is really struggling and vulnerable. She also faces hostility because of her size. The author does a great job of acknowledging the social hierarchies Amanda has to deal with without ever humiliating her heroine. This novel does many things well including providing a model example of a creative way to do the dark moment or third act conflict without the obligatory breakup and also in how to handle a bigger heroine in a way that is both realistic and respectful. .‬

Let me just start off by saying how much I adore Rebekah's books because of how realistic all the topics are that we're dealing with. <i>If the Boot fits</i> opens up with Amanda waking up to Sam, a newly Oscar winner, after a steamy night together. She accidentally sneaks out with Sam's bag holding the Oscar trophy in it when she actually intended on grabbing her stuff; this sort of plays into the modern Cinderella trope which I thought was really funny. Who the fuck just accidentally leaves with a high profile actor's Oscar? 😭

This book takes place in LA as well as the Pleasant's family ranch in Southern California. I just love how Rebekah goes into a lot of details with the ranch, the horses and the establishment itself. I'm from a big city so the yeehaw life is new to me so it's refreshing to read more about this setting. The Pleasant family is biiiiig; I honestly love each and every single individual and they all seem so fun to be around (well, maybe except for grumpy Jesse). Reading some snippets here and there about Evie and Zach made my heart really happy.

Amanda and Sam's slow burn romance is just top notch. The way Sam was handling the situation in such a respectable way made me really happy. This is how you deal with boundaries the other person has set! Besides, I was really anxious during some parts but I'm glad good communication was involved. Can I just say how much I love Amanda? She's so confident, caring and overall an amazing person I'd absolutely love to hang out with. Dru really does NOT deserve her as an assistant, she's been so horrible to her but Amanda always handled her shitty personality with grace. A QUEEN.

I flew through this story, it was a pleasure to read about these two! GIVE ME THE BOOK ABOUT JESSE ALREADY. I CAN'T WAIT.