I like how short this book was and the audiobook narrator was great. It was like book candy. Some of the writing and dialogue felt silly. Who says "bajeebies" in real life? I also don't understand the obsession that elder brothers have over their sisters' love lives. Finn was kind of creepy and possessive over Demi Lee. The third act conflict of Demi Lee wanting to wait till marriage was also a little cringey considering Paul's explosive reaction. I'll probably listen to more of these.

I loved the whole my best friends little sister trope. I kept listening because i love the way the characters sounded, this main character Paul wanted nothing to do with checking up on his friends little sister but he did it for him because he said she had a break up and was down.
He was asking her how she was doing and she seemed really down, Their chemistry really hit it off there was teasing and there was a lot of tension between them, you wanted them together although paul said if he got together with her and hurt her his friend would beat him up. He didn't want to sacrifice his friendship with his friend for her.

It was a great little romance book. check it out!

My Bold texan is a quick cowboy read! Anyone looking for a fast best friend's little sister read will love this book.

This book follows Paul who is on his way to a work event who is asked by his friend to check in on his little sister. We meet Demi Lee who is deep in the thick of a horrible break up who just wants to show her ex what he is missing. The tension is great and you root for them to be together. That being said this book felt a little surface level just because it is so short. I think short books are great because they get to the point but when it is a romance I think a little gets lost in the shuffle of the timeline. The way Paul really tried to give her space but stay in her life was sweet and I was rooting for them to be together. I think a couple who didn't have a big obstacle in the way would be a little easier to built a short romance with. I know that this is part of a series and I will definitely be continuing.

I recommend this to anyone looking for a quick romance read. Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this story.

3.25

It was refreshing to have a book all from the males pov. I liked Paul for 85% of the book. However, his little hissy fit when asked to wait to have sex was just so juvenile.
Demi Lee's brother was also a bit over the top. I get the whole protective big brother thing, but dictating if she can have sex is weird.
The narration by Jason Clarke was fantastic. I mostly enjoyed this one. It was a super quick listen.

Wasn’t sure what level of cowboy I was signing up for with this one, but it definitely wasn’t of the closed-door, one-year abstinence variety. 😒

Of course I was into the brother’s best friend trope, but you lost me after the FMC’s big brother (who also happens to be the MMC’s BFF) forbid the two main characters from shmex. And they just went along with it??? And kept abstaining until their wedding night a full year into dating???

Pass. No, thank you.

(Thank you, Dreamscape Select and NetGalley, for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.)

Jason Clark could read me the dictionary and I would be a happy woman. He has a gift with narration. That being said , this book wasn’t what I had hoped it would be. The best friend’s little sister trope is always a good read . This just didn’t real me in. The difference of four years in your 20s doesn’t seem that scandalous to me. After the confrontation and on the book to me was anticlimactic. Thank you to NetGalley for this free advanced copy. I’m leaving this review voluntarily

It was super cute! It was a fast listen, the narrator is actually one of my favorite, and it was really well done.
It was heavy or deep but it was a fantastic palette cleanser if you’re in need of it.
I’ll have to read it on kindle to see but the writing was pretty good
Overall, I would read another one of her books!

So... I opted to read an advance audio copy of this book for two reasons.
1. You know how everyone has their favorite type of fluffy romance? Billionaires, single dads, athletes, even sheiks according to the Harlequin titles I've seen over the years. Well, mine is cowboys. I blame Laura Ingalls Wilder and the Oregon Trail (video game that is). I grew up in suburban Michigan, no where near substantial farms. And never dealt with any kind of livestock. Yet, I've always had a thing for the late 1800s, the west, and cowboys. So, yeah. I tend to pick up romances about cowboys.

2. It was narrated by Jason Clarke. He is one of my absolute favorite narrators.

Now, I almost shied away due to the length. I pretty much abhor novellas. But, for the aforementioned reasons, I gave it a try.

And, I liked it. Trust me- I almost never rank a novella this high.

I do feel like you don't get to know Demi Lee very well. Partly because of the book length, then because it is told from Paul's POV.

I liked it enough to want to continue the series. I just wish they weren't all so short.

2.5 stars. This review is for the audio version given by NetGalley.

A very quick and easy listen. I could listen to Jason Clarke narrate ANYthing as he is one of my favorite male narrators, but I felt like he was wasted on this.

It's a cute story of a rancher (that is also a real estate agent and also getting horse assisted therapy certified) and his best friends little sister.

I think because it was so short I expected it to be super spicy, but it's closed door. I guess it just wasn't what I expected it to be. Lacks any kind of real depth or character development and things move quickly because it's short.

Jason Clarke gets 5 stars, but the story itself is more like 2.

This was an overall enjoyable listen. There was a bit of misogynistic language at the beginning that made me feel a bit uneasy continuing the story but I'm glad I followed through. Demi Lee and Paul were so tooth-rotting cute! And while I enjoyed open-door love scenes, I appreciated that not being a part of the book. There was more focus on the tension and chemistry building between the two characters and that itself was enough spice for me!

Jason Clarke did an amazing job narrating both main characters. I find that it's a hit or miss when male or female narrators try to narrate using a 'boyish' or 'girly' voice but Clarke did both well. Can't wait to listen to more from him!

3.5 stars, rounded up for Jason Clarke's narration. I was curious about listening to a romance told only from the POV of the man. This was cute, and I liked parts of it quite a bit. But there were some traditional gender roles going on that I did not like and had to actively ignore to enjoy the story. There was some slut shaming, comparisons to other women, the strength of their bond being because they weren't having sex, etc. The brother was also controlling, but that's pretty normal for the "best friend's little sister" trope.

Again, this was cute though. The MCs were both pretty nice, the MMC's discomfort made me laugh a few times and the story is short and sweet.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher.

My Bold Texan by Dakota Lacoy
The Bradford Brothers of Honky Tonk, Texas series #1. Best friend’s little sister troupe. Closed door.
Paul is asked by his best friend to check on his little sister while he’s in Houston at a work event. Apparently she was just dumped by her boyfriend. He shows up at her apartment and she’s a crying mess. Paul tries to cheer up Demi Lee by agreeing to attend a wedding as her plus one to make the ex think she’s moved on. That plan goes a little too well and now Paul has a thing for his best friend’s little sister.

🎧 I listened to an audiobook copy of this book, narrated by Jason Clarke. A fantastic performance that had me seeing out of Paul’s eyes, and feeling his panic at Demi Lee’s crying. Jason does have multiple voices for male vs female, but obviously does the best for the male POV which is most of the book. The audiobook drew me in and kept my attention. I listened to the story at 1.5 which is my preferred and standard.

I enjoyed this romance and appreciated Paul’s manners, education and work history. His slightly dirty thoughts are amusing. The Halloween story had me laughing out loud. It’s a small town where it truly is a village raising the children. I was initially worried about the age gap because he sounded older and much more experienced but at 26 and 22 it’s not really a gap.

Cute Texas style romance, low angst, low heat.
Epilogue is not included and has to be manually pulled from the author website.
Rating lowered to 3.5 in part because of this last part.
I received a copy of this from NetGalley and publisher Dreamscape Select.

Thank you NG and Dakota for an alc!

This was my first cowboy romance, and I enjoyed listening to it! I'm such a sucker for the best friend's little sister trope. The characters were good. The narrator did a great job with the story! I just wish it wasn't in third person.

I'm looking forward to listen to the rest of the series!

I definitely recommend!

First thing’s first: thank you Netgalley for the ALC of this book!
My Bold Texan was a best friend’s little sister forbidden romance about Paul and Demi Lee.
Listen. I’m sure someone grandma would have EATEN THIS UP in the 70’s, but I wasn’t super impressed. Everything moved pretty quickly (good) but it also meant big events happened seemingly out of nowhere (bad). The MMC also throws a giant fit when they get engaged and she wants to wait until they’re married to have sex. It really gave me the ick 😬 idk this wasn’t really my cup of tea, though it was very well narrated!
2.5⭐️

cute quick listen - i can see myself listening to the rest in this series when i need something quick and with a cowboy. wish they were not in 3rd person though!

This was a light, fast-paced read that was perfect for a quick afternoon listen!

Jason Clarke is a great narrator for this type of small town cowboy romance.

I very much enjoyed The Bold Texan. It was a short but very enjoyable listen. Deals with the relationship of a brother and sister, brothers, relationship be tween best friend and his sister... The turmoil it causes it highlights the unspoken rules that were in place when they were in high school. What were the rules for this? ManRule#1. You don’t ever date your best friend’s sister under any circumstances upon penalty of death.High school rules maybe but Consenting Adults? Interesting premise for a book to take a look at but and held quite true to already perceived responses everyone has their own view. Narrator’s voice added so much authenticity to the to the male story hmuch on the mark to set the tone of the entire story. I was given an advance copy and have given my own honest opinions in writing this review. Yes I would definitely give this my recommendation for a fun listen. Special thanks to the following for allowing me to listen to an earlyunedited audiobook. Thanks to the following :
#NetGalley
#DakotaLacoy
#MyBoldTexan
Publication Date: June 17, 2024

A very short cowboy romance with a best friends little sister trope. Both MCs were strong characters, the timeline was a bit too vague. Months passed in between the characters meeting that we didn’t get to see their relationship progress. It was there friends now, then they are in a long distance relationship, then they’re getting married. The audiobook narrated with Jason Clarke’s deep voice was very fitting.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Thank you, NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

This was a fun little filler read and it had some great laughs and some great spice. It was short enough to finish in one sitting and was a great palate cleanser from my previous reads that were much heavier.

I loved how it dives right into the story and the narration on this was great. The male narrator had a swoony voice which was enjoyable.

This was overall a fun, flirty read and I will definitely be checking out the rest of the books from this series.

This was a cute and quick story! If you love Jason Clarke, you’ll enjoy listening to this audiobook! It is a closed door romance book.
Tropes include:

Brother’s best friend
Small town
Friends to lovers
Cowboy MMC