My Bold Texan AUDIO by Dakota Lacroy was a short but sweet Texas romance. Finn’s little sister, Demi Lee, has been dumped and she’s a mess. His friend, Paul, is traveling up to Houston for a conference and he asks him to look in on her. It’s the last thing Paul wants to do. He hates to see a woman cry. But, being the good friend he is, he arrives bearing a pizza, a six pack, and a bag of chocolate. He was right. She’d been crying. He even watched a sappy high school movie with her. But together they came up with a plan to show her ex that she had moved on. That’s when the trouble started.

Sort and sweet with an ending as expected but some interesting things happened along the way. It was an entertaining diversion. One I would recommend to any contemporary romance reader (listener)

Jason Clarke narrated and there could not have been a better choice. He lends an air of gravitas while keeping the who thing as light as it was meant to be. Good as always!

I was invited to listen to My Bold Texan by Dreamscape Select. All thoughts and opinions are mine. #Netgalley #DreamscapeSelect #DakotaLacroy #JasonClarke #MyBoldTexan

fluff. and not the good kind of fluff. just kind of air and i just wanted more. the story line, the characters, the plot, etc. i just wanted more.

I struggled to get through this one. I almost DNF’d multiple times. I’m glad I pushed through because I’d always wonder if it got better, it didn’t BUT I also don’t like books where the men speak the way this MMC did so I think that’s a HUGE reason I didn’t vibe with this book. But just because it’s not my cup of tea doesn’t mean it won’t be yours!

Ok Anytime I get the opportunity to listen to Jason Clarke, I'm there. And in this case, he carried the story which was cute but slow and not very memorable. The characters were nice- Paul helps Demi by pretending to be a love interest to help her. It was slow but a shorter story so quickly finished. Overall, pretty low angst and just overall a sweet story about a brother's best friend romance. The narration by Jason Clarke was the best- but I do still wish that we also got Demi's perspective. 3/5 stars! Thanks to NetGalley for an early listen.

Let me start by explaining why I gave a 3 star. For starters this is very rare for me I always give my honest review. The book was well written I want to put that out for anyone who reads this, she’s a fabulous author don’t doubt that. This narrator could sell me a shelf of gourmet cookbooks and I can’t cook to save my life. 😂 My problem was it just wasn’t my cup of tea, I couldn’t get into the book.

I want to thank NetGalley for the ALC opportunity.
The author did a fabulous job

I enjoyed this story it was short but sweet. The characters had a good build and you really felt for them during the book.

Thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape Select Audiobooks for an advanced readers copy of this book.

He's the gruff and responsible real estate guy who grew up on the ranch... She's his best friend's (not so) little sister.

In typical good-guy cowboy fashion, he does his friend a favor to help cheer up the little sister after getting dumped. (Beer and pizza are the way to any woman's heart, don't let her tell you otherwise.) Sparks fly, tension rises... this can never be.

This was a super short audiobook (topped out a little over 3 hours long) and not my usual type of selection. I figured this might be a good way to dip my toe into the Western world, and it was just that. There's only so much that can be done in such a short story, so it moves quickly without much development. Everything just kinda... happens as it should. There's a little bit of tension, but overall the communication is good and they seem like normal people dealing with normal people relationships. The drama with the brother seemed wildly out of line, but again, time constraints. I like my romances spicy, and this one barely even had sexual tension. (I also don't particularly care for the waiting for marriage ending, but whatever.)

One plus -- this one is narrated by Jason Clarke. IYKYK.

Overall, it was fine. Short, kinda cute, no spice. It was a nice afternoon listen while working on a project for work.

📚Trope(s): Western, Little Sister / Brother's Best Friend, Waiting for Marriage
What you get: 🤠🍕🍝🛼🐴
⭐️Plot: 2/5
🔥Chemistry: 3/5
🌶️Spice: 1/5

Not bad, but I have heard better audiobooks, so only three stars. It is sweet and a bit spicy, and I loved the narrator ( Jason Clark! ). The story is short and it was great to listen to on a short road trip. It was slow burn and lacked a bit of plot/development. Overall its a OK rating for me.
Thank you to the author and publishing house for this ALC.

My Bold Texan by Dakota Lacoy

My Bold Texan is a clean forbidden Texan romance. Demi Lee is suffering from a breakup, so her brother send his best friend Paul to check up on her. But what starts out as just a friend doing her best friend a favor becomes more when he sees Demi Lee as more than just the little girl he remembers.

While I enjoyed the sweet wholesome romance, it irked me that Paul’s best friend and Demi Lees brother thought enough of Paul to ask him a favor to check on his sister, but flipped when it came out they liked one another. Also while I liked Paul for most of the book, I disliked him close to the end and his attitude grated on my nerves.

Overall the book was a four until Paul’s outburst, which brought this down to a three. It was an enjoyable read for the most part. This was a very short story.

Jason Clarke does a great job narrating this romance, and his voice definitely draws you in. The narrator definitely held my attention.

I loved Paul and Demi Lee’s story. Jason Clarke did a fabulous job with the narration.

This was a cute, quick read. I liked the chemistry between Paul and Demi Lee. The dynamic between all the Bradford brothers was also well done . I enjoyed this so much I have gone and found the audiobooks for the rest of the series.

2.75 ⭐️

This (very short) book was decent, but nothing really stuck out for me in the long run. I did like that it was a rare MMC POV throughout the book, versus FMC or dual POV. It was a best friend’s little sister trope, which I generally love for the extra tension of keeping the relationship secret, but it went too far in this one when the best friend told them they couldn’t be physical, as if that was his choice.

I also wish that there was more time spent in the actual relationship between Paul and Demi Lee. They spent more time talking about watching John Tucker Must Die at the beginning of the book than they did talking about their time dating. It went from we’re officially dating to a 5 month time jump and then another 6 month time jump within a few chapters, and that was the end of the book. So we got the build up, which I enjoyed, but never got to see them fall in love.

Jason Clarke did a great job narrating the audiobook. I’ve listened to other books by him and am never disappointed.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Select: Just for Fun Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

oh my goodness, this is exactly what i thought it would be just an overall quick and entertaining small-town read. definitely great for lovers of the brother's best friend trope & closed door romance fans. the dialogue was slightly cringe at certain points, but jason clarke did an amazing job bring the story to life.

My goodness this cowboy falls pretty darn quick for the girl with the broke heart. His friendship with her brothers be damned, he can’t help himself but falling for their little sister. I love how he wanted to take care of her and make her feel better. I mean, he did make her feel better just not how I expected. A little short and a little rushed but other than that this one was alright.

I received an ALC of this book and loved the wonderful job Jason Clarke did narrating.

Paul agrees to check on his best friend’s sister after she had a devastating break-up. Who knew Demi Lee had grown up so much since he last saw her? I enjoyed being in Paul’s head and felt I understood exactly where he came from. He’s a bit of a grump, yet when hearing in thoughts he questions a lot. I loved his internal dialogue and how he decided, with the help of a friend, to give a relationship with Demi Lee a chance.

It’s a sweet romance and a slow burn. Ms. Lacoy wrote a delightful and endearing story. Adding Jason Clarke as narrator made for a very enjoyable listen. He has many voices, and I could hear the subtleties between female and male voices. He’s smooth and refreshing like a cool drink on a warm summer evening.

Thank you NetGalley for the audio ARC in exchange for an honest review

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
No Spice
4⭐️ Narrator

I had never read a romance book that’s only from the MMC’s PoV so I was a little skeptical but also intrigued.

This is a fully “clean” romance with no spicy, steamy, or even kissing scenes. This is not normally the kind of romance I enjoy and wish I knew this ahead of time, but it was still a good palate cleanser between series.

The book was short, sweet, and well written. The romance was cute and had some of the normal problems that come with the “best friend’s little sister” trope, but I did like seeing it mostly from the MMC’s PoV rather than only or mostly the FMC’s.

The book had a surprising amount of plot for how short it was and I did enjoy both the plot and the romance.

Overall, I liked the book but will most likely not read more from the author in the future because I personally need at least a little steaminess in my romances. If fully “clean” romances are your jam, you’d probably love this book/author

This is a very short brother’s best friend romance or more accurately a best friends’ sister romance since this book is written from the MMC’s POV.

I did like that this book was written from the MMC’s perspective in theory, as it’s refreshing for a romance book that is single narration to be written from the male’s perspective. In reality, the author spent more time trying to make him seem ‘super’ male and macho than making him seem likable. Paul, the MMC, was more likable towards the end, but he immediately ruined any chance of me liking him by doing the following:
When Paul shows up unannounced at Demi Lee’s house, she does not look very presentable, as she has just been through a break-up and wallowing in her sadness a little. And again, she is not expecting anyone. So, she opens the door, probably hasn’t showered in a bit and she is obviously wearing pajamas. They sit on the couch together and watch some movies and Demi Lee’s pajamas rise up at some point, so that Paul can see her legs, and he thinks to himself: “When was the last time she shaved?”. WTF, that is unhinged?!? What was the author thinking? Why wasn’t this edited out? Firstly, he has no right to judge her or objectify her. Second of all, having shaved legs is a beauty standard set by society that not every female wants to or should have to subscribe to. It’s a bit like if he was thinking to himself, “why isn’t she wearing make-up?” And third of all, this seems to be an issue that women have far more insecurities about than are actually warranted, as most men wouldn’t even notice or pay attention to this. Especially, if they are just hanging out as friends. It therefore seems very unrealistic that a man would even notice this. The whole thing just came across as very gross and not suited to the situation to me.

My second issue with this couple is that Paul only shows interest in Demi Lee after she has cleaned and glammed up, dismissing her as a female human being completely beforehand. Well that’s not entirely correct, he does objectify her beforehand as well and thinks of her as a se*ual interest. He just dismisses her as a possibility, because she wasn’t up to his standards. That seems very shallow.
The entire brother’s best friend is another theme that I don’t totally agree with, because why would her brother have any say in who Demi Lee is dating? What mellowed it a bit for me, was that the focus was more on Paul and that he is held accountable for his actions and not deemed worthy by the brother, rather than telling Demi Lee who she should date.

Paul does become a bit more likable, once he has realized his attraction to Demi Lee, but unfortunately, I could not forget his first impression. The book is not long enough for me to forget or get many more impressions, either. His reaction to Demi Lee prolonging the s*x ban, was also not the best. I also did not feel the chemistry between the two characters. It seemed like Demi Lee was hyping up Paul as this really great guy, when all he did was the bare minimum, which was not to pressure her to have s*x.

The overall tone of the book is a bit strange to me, because there is a lot of talk about s*x, there is spicy language, but the book is closed door. Everything leads up to their first night together, but this part is actually never shown. The whole thing just felt a bit bland to me, as there were no intense emotions or chemistry involved, this was unfortunately only a two-star read for me. If I had liked Paul more, this might have been a three-star read.

I listened to the audiobook and if you liked the description of this book, I would suggest giving the audiobook a listen. Apparently the narrator is pretty well liked.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Select for gifting me this ALC of the audiobook to review. All opinions are my own. I was not paid to leave this review.

Dakota Lacoy's "My Bold Texan" offers a delightful blend of small-town charm and simmering romance. Set against the backdrop of a Texan countryside, this story weaves together the allure of forbidden love with the familiarity of close-knit communities. The narrative unfolds with palpable tension and heartfelt moments, guided masterfully by Jason Clarke's narration, which captures the essence of each character with depth and charisma. Whether you're drawn to tales of second chances or the magnetism of best friend's little sister tropes, "My Bold Texan" delivers an engaging listening experience that will keep you captivated until the very end.

This was such a cute and fast read. I’ve never really read a cowboy romance but this was, in my opinion, a great way to enter that trope. I was entertained the entire time and had so much anticipation on what would happen next.

One thing that did bother me from how fast paced this story was that we didn’t get more of the on page falling in love from our MCs. I wanted to see a little more romance from them so that I could be convinced of their love because I felt like the little glimpses didn’t sell it enough. Other than that, the book was very good and I’m glad I read it. I would say it’s a good book to cure a book hangover, palette refresher, or just a quick read.

Thank you to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for this e-ARC.

My Bold Texan is a quick and fun introduction to this new town of Honky Tonk. Paul and Demi Lee are a take on brothers best friend and friends to lovers. Demi Lee’s brother asks Paul to check in with her after a nasty break up and Paul begins to see her as a woman and not a little girl anymore. She needs someone to come to a wedding with her where her ex will be and of course Paul volunteers to go. Their friendship begins to deepen and it’s hard to stay away. I loved the moment her brother figures out something is happening between them. I loved this on audio because Jason Clarke can do no wrong - he is the only narrator but I did not miss the female narrator at all with him in my ears. This is a closed door romance with an HEA.

I enjoyed listening to this audiobook, thoroughly due to its characters, which were well drafted and similarly the plotline was penned down in a well maintained pace too.
The characters were penned down in such a wonderful way that they charmed off my heart , right from the starting till the very end chapter of the book. The plotline was well paced and it is written in a very simple and easy narration which made my listening experience of this audiobook more fun and quick. I am definitely going to read rest of the works of this author.