Kissing Cowboys

~Meg Cabot

Kissing Cowboys by Meg Cabot gives the fresh start under big skies most girls dream of. Cabot serves up every teenage wince, eye-roll, and reluctant swoon with the timing of an author whose been writing teenage hearts since before most of her readers were born.

Sixteen-year-old Winn’s life starts sliding sideways the moment her genius brother Ian points his IQ at the wrong target. One hacking stunt, a $170,000 phone bill, a federal felony, and an expulsion later, the Riley family runs out of private school options for Ian everywhere but Green Fire Ranch — a working-farm boarding school in Montana for intellectually gifted and troubled teen boys. Mom lands a spot teaching art history. Ian lands his last shot at a diploma. And Winn? Well, she becomes the only girl on a ranch full of cowboys, with no cell service, no internet except the school library, and no easy exit. The welcome wagon rolls in fast as the ranch manager John Cleary and student Zack Cartwright pick them up at the airport. But when Teddy Brightman volunteers to head up the social committee and shows up on her front steps throwing out all his charms before she’s even unpacked, that’s a lot of temptation riding in on horseback.

Cabot points the spotlight on Winn, and she doesn’t disappoint. Her authenticity pulses from the pages — justice-obsessed, career-focused on an FBI future, wired with ADHD, and armored with the kind of cynicism that only guards a soft spot. Her buried trauma makes her both easy to root for and maddening enough that you’ll want to reach through the pages to shake some sense into her. The supporting cast pulls real weight instead of loitering in the background. Zack and Teddy circle with lasso’s waiting in hand, each charming in his own lane. Ian’s autism lands honestly on the page — you ache for him in some moments and want to smack him in others, which is exactly how family works. Cabot’s greatest character strength is refusing to flatten anyone into a type – and that’s a lot of work with a herd of cowboys this large.

The pacing runs steady and slow-burn, building tension the way a Montana morning builds heat in the summer — one degree at a time. Cabot transitions Winn’s culture shock naturally – nobody goes from subway swipe to saddle overnight, and that patience makes the growth believable. The atmosphere does heavy lifting too. Snow-blanketed plains, a kitchen crew blasting music through cleanup — it all reads cinematic, and the clash between city polish and country grit gives even a seasoned reader something fresh to sink into. You don’t just watch this ranch. You feel the cold and smell the hay.

Kissing Cowboys delivers everything the cover promises and then throws in a little extra. This is a clean, feel-good, who-to-choose western romance that young adult readers — and older ones like me — will crack open and refuse to close. Releasing December 8, 2026, with just enough time for Santa to tuck it under the tree, it’s an easy recommendation for anyone hungry for warm characters they’ll miss the second the last page turns. Good news for the smitten: Cabot’s already promising a return trip to the ranch.

I’d like to thank Meg Cabot for the opportunity for an early preview of Kissing Cowboys. As always, all opinions and reviews are of my own volition, Karen Brooks aka The Tx Lit Chic. I have not been promised any compensation, current or future, by the author or publisher for a fair and honest review of Kissing Cowboys.

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