Wanting to combine their ranchs' the two best friends decide to have a fake romance. June has never been good at dating so she figures no worries since she thinks Nate only sees her as his best friend. the problem is he sees her as more than that and is in love with her, he just needs her to get past her fears. A really good book.

This is a good book. The two main characters are June and Nate. They have been best friends since second grade. Nate wants to buy him a ranch. He wants one close to June’s ranch. June’s neighbor wants to retire to Florida to be near his daughter and grandchildren. Nate tells him he will buy it. They each have problems it together they work them out and fall in love

This was a nice short and sweet read! This is the second book in a three book series. I c an sertain be read as a stand-alone.

June has lived in her small town on your family ranch her whole life. In second grade she meets her best friend Nate who is also a rancher. Now in their late 20s June is ready to find the man of her dreams and start a family. The problem - she isn’t the best at dating and the pickings a thin in this small town.

They strike a deal! Nate will help her become comfortable dating if she pretends to be engaged to him so he can purchase his own ranch - gee I wonder what will happen!

Thank you to NetGalley for the free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

A cute easy read.
A cowboy with family conflict
A lonely Virginia who is his best friend
A fake relationship and 2 people who really needed to stop denying their feelings a very long time ago
Drama/conflict felt so unnecessary
3.25 stars

That was a very fun quick (in a good way) read. It had a sexy cowboy, what more do you need to know'?
I enjoyed the journey and build up between Nate and June, I cannot wait to read her other books!

A Leslie North novel that delivers yet again. A plot that is promising, characters that are endearing, and the whole setting memorable. This book is a cosy read!

Another short and sweet romance from Leslie north, a best friends to lovers romance that was a quick and easy read. looking forward to the next book in the series

This is the second book of the trilogy. Nate has been best friends with June since second grade. They have always been there for each other and get along superbly. June has had feelings for Nate for a while now but he would never think of her in that way. When they are forced to pretend a relationship for him to be able to purchase the ranch he wants, things start to change for both Nate and June. Will they be able to come out of it with their friendship intact? I was given a copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Very predictable but very cute too and so you don’t mind. Best friends to lovers to uncertain about anything is always a strong tale and this one is told well. A bit of farming, a bit of sustainability of the land and how hard it is to find good land along with the growth of Nate and increase in self esteem of June makes this an easy and pleasant read.

**spoiler alert**


Nate and June have been best friends since the second grade. And despite everyone in town expecting them to eventually get together, they've only ever really thought of the other as a friend - purely so they wouldn't ruin the amazing friendship they have.

But after a huge fight with his brother, Nate appears at June's ranch out of the blue, convinced to finally buy a ranch of his own. He'd finally get to follow through on all of the eco-friendly ideas he's had over the years that his own brother shot down. But the one ranch perfect for everything he wants, and just so happens to be next door to his best friend's ranch, won't be sold to him if he isn't in a relationship with June. June's next-door neighbor has been a surrogate father to her ever since her own father passed away on the ranch five years ago, and he really only wants to make sure she's happy and safe before he moves to Florida to be with his own daughter and grandkids.

Nate is convinced that they can fake a relationship until Jim leaves and then they break up, with nothing changing between the best friends at all. June isn't so convinced . Plus June sucks at dating, so she's hoping her more experienced best friend can teach her a thing or two to help her find her future husband in exchange for lying to basically the entire town. After Nate learns just how bad she really is at dating, he goes along with the plan - what could it hurt if he gets his ranch and June gets a man that isn't a total piece of crap?

***************

Written in a dual POV, "Cowboy's Beautiful Best Friend" follows Nate and June as they struggle to navigate their friendship and the growing romantic relationship while they are fake dating. As a whole, Nate and June don't do much in terms of character development, but they do grow to understand each other a bit better. Even though they were best friends for decades, they didn't know everything about each other and that was a struggle they needed to overcome in order to find their happily ever after.

Of course, the plan they had to get Jim's ranch was a bit stupid and literally anyone could potentially see how problematic it was, most people in town didn't even bat an eyelash when Nate and June said they were engaged. They had basically been a couple from the very beginning - they share food and dishes in the first chapter despite June being on a date with another man literally hours earlier. And it's completely normal for them to do that. Plus the couple had been fighting against their attraction to the other for years. Nate because he felt he wasn't the best man for her and June because she was afraid he'd abandon her if they ever broke up. June had been alone, except for Jim and Nate, for years and she didn't know if she could handle seeing another person leave her behind.

Just when Nate and June finally seem to give in to their romantic feelings for each other, everything falls apart. Nate still believes he's not the man for June and would rather see her with another man than he potentially hurt her. But June's too far gone at this point. He refuses to listen to her when she wants to talk about her feelings and their relationship, and she feels betrayed that he'd go behind her back and attempt to purchase a property an hour away without telling her. In her head, he's already left her.

What follows is a bit of a mediocre attempt at breaking up and forcing conflict into the book. Sure, they had their moments of needing space due to disagreements, but they always solved them not long after anyway. If there was just some communication, they would have been fine. But eventually, Nate gets his head out of his ass when Jim invites him over to the ranch and sells him the ranch (despite knowing Nate and June weren't in a real relationship). Jim knows the truth between Nate and June and hates to see them both hurting themselves and each other because of something he caused. Jim honestly thought he was doing something good for June when he gave the stipulation in the beginning. And so Nate and June finally get their happily ever after (and more) by the end of this short book.

Do I think Nate and June's romance was particularly well done? No. But they were basically a couple anyway from the very beginning. It wasn't necessarily hard to believe that they would eventually get together. It seemed inevitable from what everyone said and thought.

Did I like any point of the conflict between the characters? No. I thought it was stupid. If they talked things through, nothing would have been that big of a deal. But they decided to keep secrets, and waited for the blow-up in order to reveal them. It wasn't even June and Nate that solved their break up for them, but rather Jim, who spilled what June revealed to him. Only then did Nate get a kick in the ass to go after June.

Will I reread this book? No. It was fine to read once. And it did make me cry a few times, even if I didn't particularly like the characters. But I knew exactly how everything would happen in this book, having never read it before. It was predictable - though I'm not saying anything rude or harsh about the author or their writing because despite it being predictable, I kept reading. The way the author described the scenery around Nate and June was probably one of the reasons I kept reading. I could actually imagine it and that made Nate and June seem just a tiny bit real to me.

I know some people love western romances or those who enjoy best friends to lovers, and I'd definitely recommend this book to them.

I received a free copy of this book via Netgalley and am voluntarily leaving a review.

A cute friend's to.lovers and romance fake dating. Great character writing and dialogue.. zI will like to read more from this author

This is the second book in this series and I have read the first one. This book follows Nate, middle brother, and his best friend since second grade, June. They fake an engagement so that her curmudgeonly neighbor will sell his land to Nate and Nate and June can live the rest of their best friend lives next door to each other like they have wanted since childhood. Of course, we all know that one thing will lead to another and feelings will grow and misunderstandings will happen. This book was really good. I liked it SO much better than the first book. Nate is a great guy and June is amazing too. Loved it.

Cowboy’s Beautiful Best Friend by Leslie North.
Anderson Ranch Brothers #2.
It’s tough when you realize you’re wildly attracted to your best friend… Especially after you’ve been friend zoning them in your head for years. But that’s where rancher Nate Anderson finds himself when he asks June to fake a relationship, to help him buy the ranch of his dreams.The ranch’s owner, an old family friend of June’s, wants to merge the properties together. And the only way to do that is if Nate and June are a couple. June agrees, but only if Nate teaches her how to be the perfect girlfriend so she’ll be equipped to find a man who wants a real relationship with her — a man who definitely isn’t Nate…June’s never had much luck with romance, But now, with Nate’s help, she’s confident she can finally avoid any more dating disasters. But as for Nate? He’s out of her league, and has never seen her like that anyway. A fake relationship is the most she could ever get from him…until the “fake” heat between them starts to feel all too real.
Really enjoyed this book. I hope there is more to come. 5*.

This book was just ok. I didn't like how they were supposedly best friends, and had been for years, but knew like nothing about each other. Calling someone your best friend but never having seen them out and around other people? Just not very believable really. Also the whole situation with Trevor was unnecessary and kinda shitty to him. Even if Nate was a complete idiot, June accepting the date when she knew she wasn't into it was just wrong and paints her in a bad light. Also Nate is clearly very selfish. The characters weren't likeable (except for Trevor) or believable.

This is the 2nd book in the “Anderson Ranch Brothers Series”. Nate is a super sexy alpha cowboy rancher. Nate and June have been best friends since grade school. The two have been secretly crushing on each for some time now and neither is the wiser of the others crush. Nate is in the process of buying more property for a merger and things will look much better for him if he is in a relationship. So, who does Nate call, none other than his best friend June. Nate asks June to be in a fake relationship with him and she agrees but she wants Nate to teach her how to be a perfect girlfriend because June wants to be in a real relationship and someday marry.

This is an awesome best friends to lovers romance that will have you rooting for Nate and June to get to the next level.

Will Nate get and merge the property that he wants, will Nate teach June how to be a perfect girlfriend with him being the perfect boyfriend and their relationship going from fake to the real deal?

I received an ARC via NetGalley and Relay Publishing and I am leaving my review voluntarily.

A lovely sweet addition to this series, June and Nate take their friendship to fake romance then realise they were in love all along, and once they both admit it to each other they get their HEA.

A lovely friends to more romance, with no evil villains, but just normal everyday feelings getting in the way. There are some vivid sex scenes in here, so reader beware, but you can just skip those bits as there’s no dialogue in then that adds to the story.

This book was decent, but it really lacked the romantic relationship portion of this friends-to-lovers story. These two enter a fake relationship, kiss twice for show, and then—with no other preamble—sleep together.

The reader misses out on the best part of Friends-to-Lovers: the subtle shifting of feelings from friendship to romance.

𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗔𝗠 𝗟𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗟: Rated R
𝗧𝗥𝗜𝗚𝗚𝗘𝗥𝗦: past death of parent
𝗙𝗘𝗘𝗟𝗦: 2/5 - A bit of drama, but still a pretty light read.

This a good addition to the series. Best friends become lovers after much trials and tribulations.

Nate has had a falling out with his brother and now they are on the path to mend their relationship. June has been his best friend since school. They spend a lot of their time together. June now wants him to teach her how to date and then one thing leads to another. A serious misunderstanding comes between their friendship and the question now is, can it be mended?

It's a good read with some ups and downs, but ends on a beautiful note.

Nate and June have been best friends forever, They love each other with their whole hearts but they have always believed that love is just their friendship and neither one of them wants to do anything that might ruin their friendship. When Nate wants to buy the ranch next door to June's, he convinces her to pretend to be engaged. One thing leads to another and soon they realize that they might have a love that is more than just their friendship. Can they get up the courage to try to make it last forever or will their long history as friends just blow up in their faces?

The author does a good job of showing how Nate is impetuous and June is more grounded. There is a nice balance between them that helps to move the story along. I thought Nate might be a whiny character after reading the first book in this series but he turns out to be a person that has one too many ideas and a real desire to show people that his ideas are good. He needs someone like June to keep him on track. June could have come off as a sad, lonely woman who might be turning a little desperate to find love. Instead, the author created a strong, independent woman who wasn't willing to settle for just okay when she knew she deserved a man who would love her with his everything. This story includes a crotchety neighbor, a family that needs to heal a rift, a small town, and two people on a collision course to love.

I think the one thing that bothered me in the story was that Nate was bordering on being childish at times. The middle child syndrome is strong with this character! I kept thinking June would confront him and he would start to change his ways. Or maybe Nate would realize that it's a part of him but he could work to find ways to improve and not always feel so put upon. I know, that would make this a different sort of book but it kind of rubbed me the wrong way given the fact that in book one there was a huge revelation and start of change for his brother. I had expectations!

This book is a contemporary best-friends-to-lovers romance set in the town of West Heart. It is book two in a series about the Anderson brothers. I will definitely read the next book in this series.