The plotting of Make Me Yours, Cowboy is a little convoluted, but Dylann Crush, as always, knows how to win over her audience with ease. The romance she gives us is appealing and charming and makes this one well worth reading.

The amazingly-named Knox Shepler is a country music star stuck performing the kind of songs he doesn’t like. He wants to go back to his trad-country roots, but with his label wanting more of the same-old same-old, his agent convinces him to put forth a another pop-country effort. A frustrated Knox is given an out – this album in trade for a single in the style he likes best. So Knox goes off, posing as a handyman named Nolan, to a remote tropical paradise – literally called Paradise Island – hoping to find the peace, quiet and new muse he needs to write his songs.

Cue Claudia Alvarez, who lives on the island trying to appear inconspicuous in her own way. She works at a bar and small resort called A Cowboy in Paradise and has generally been avoiding society since arriving there. Once upon a time, she was a real estate agent with a thriving relationship with an NFL player. Unfortunately, when she dumped him he blamed his losing season on her, causing Claudia to be stalked and harassed into oblivion by angry fans of his team. Her experience with viral fame has left her distrustful of dating in general and suspicious of Nolan’s sudden attention in particular.

The first time they see one another Claudia stumbles upon Knox while he’s showering, so things are off to a hot start. Her boss hires him to fix the bungalows on the bar’s property (Claudia’s idea) to boost their revenues. Salted nut rolls, rides on ATVs and moonlit nights begin to bind them together. But can they find true love – and can Claudia bear the weight of the spotlight on her shoulders again, when she finds out Knox’s true identity?

Make Me Yours, Cowboy has heat, spice and a fun couple at the very heart of it. The romance between Claudia and Knox makes this one worth reading, even if the plot feels a little contrived.

To wit: for this story to work, Knox has to avoid recognizing Claudia from her megaviral disaster. Possible, I suppose, if you don’t like football. But I can’t buy that he wouldn’t – at minimum – recognize her face. When she mentions why she was famous he does put two and two together, which is not conducive to the notion that he wouldn’t passingly recognize her. Claudia has a better excuse when it comes to Knox’s fame; I’m sure there are plenty of people who don’t know or like country music who can’t recognize some of the genre’s biggest faces if they aren’t megastars or don’t have country hits. But Knox is basically a Garth Brooks-level figure; the paparazzi dog his every step. For the general plot to work she has to not only be unaware of country culture but anything to do with the media. This is only partially explained by what happened to her.

Crush, however, does try to make this make sense, and it works, to a degree. The characters are all good people, and the romance is nice and pleasant, except for Knox’s lying (I found his grovel to be a little too brief. But who can blame Claudia for letting him off the hook so easily?  Most people would crumble if someone wrote a song for them, wouldn’t they?)

Claudia is enormously brave to jump back into the spotlight after what she’s been through, and being with Knox is a huge act of courage – so I couldn’t help but admire her throughout the book. And Knox is a nice guy who’s true to himself and his form of art, and he just plain wants to be happy.

The secondary characters are great here. I liked Claudia’s boss and friend Chick a lot, especially for having her back. And the setting is well-realized.

Make Me Yours, Cowboy does have a few flaws, but the characters and romance carry it through.