For your information, the "gentleman" on the cover is actually our leading man, Ranger Lockhart, and despite his wrangler heartthrob-iness appearance, he's actually a science geek. Yup. Smart AND sexy...oh, boy. Anyone in the market for their next book boyfriend because he's got "the one" written all over him! Our leading lady Ember Alzate isn't anything to balk at either, and when you combine her beauty with her charm, well it's clear she has more than just a way with words, but she uses it for good, ladies, not evil! The combination of these two is powerful, if they'll only get out of their own way, that is. Their shared history laid the foundation (friends to something more story line...LOVE IT!), the wrong-time-wrong-place obstacles still lingering are being worked on, and in the end, I think we'll all be happy with the results.

I adored our leads and their winsome banter. Ember's plan for making love connections in her small town were inspired, though I do believe her own "love is blind" (or rather some are BLIND to LOVE) scenario may have been part of the sudden pitfalls. When I saw what our naughty professor was doing about halfway through, I could hardly believe he had it in him to pull it off...yet when one sets their mind to something, anything is possible. (That's not as risqué as it sounds, read it and see...) Watching everything fall into place only to explode when you least expected it was a great reminder to cherish the moment and live for today because tomorrow is a present that's never guaranteed.


**copy received for review
( )

Fun friends to lovers story. Ember and Ranger have been best friends since they were kids. Neither one pursued anything deeper on those occasions when the thought occurred, each one afraid to ruin their friendship. Ember is quite the extrovert. She is friendly, bold, and a bit blunt in her speech and actions. Her self-esteem has taken a beating thanks to a failed, but blessedly short, marriage. She came home to Cupid to regroup. Her best buddy, Ranger, was in New Zealand for a year but was due to return soon. Ranger is almost her complete opposite. He is an introvert, happiest when lost in his work, with his head in th
e stars. The only thing that can pull him out is Ember.

Over the past year, while Ranger has been away, both of them have realized how much they miss each other and depend on each other. I loved Ranger's return and the absolute joy of their reunion. I loved Ranger's surprise and confusion as he noticed things about Ember that had previously made no impression on him. It didn't take him long to realize that he wanted more than just friendship from her. Ember also feels the pull, but after her disaster of a marriage has given up on the idea of love for herself. She quickly saw that Ranger needed a wife and decided to put her matchmaking skills to work.

I loved watching the development of the relationship between Ember and Ranger. He had his sights set on her and nothing was going to dissuade him. Unfortunately, he had his work cut out for him because Ember refused to admit what was happening between them. Instead, she was determined to find his perfect match, and her attempts were pretty funny. At the same time, seeing them spend time together made it so obvious that they were made for each other that I just wanted to shake her. Ranger got a little desperate and called on a friend for help. Ember had her own moments of confusion as unexpected feelings of jealousy made their appearance. Things got even more complicated when they shared their first kiss, which was a mind-blowing experience for both of them. It strengthened Ranger's determination, but sent Ember further into denial, with her fears and insecurities convincing her that she wouldn't be right for him anyway. I liked when she finally came to her senses and ached for her when a misunderstanding made her believe it was too late. This was followed by more misfires in communication as Ranger made his case to her, but forgot the most important thing. Ember made some mistakes of her own that she then had to face up to before she could believe in a future for them. I loved her big moment as she took courage in hand, trusted her instincts, and went after what she wanted. Ranger's reaction made it the perfect ending for this book.

The secondary characters in the book were almost as much fun to watch, especially the various subjects of Ember's matchmaking attempts. Though she'd had several earlier successes, in this book, nothing seemed to go right. A good part of it was caused by her desperate attempts to fix Ranger up, leading her to push a couple of unlikely matches. It was fun to watch her subjects resist her maneuverings and end up with the right matches in spite of them. I also liked catching up with both Ember's and Ranger's siblings, and look forward to seeing Rhett's turn on the hotseat. ( )

How the Cowboy Was Won is the 6th installment in the Cupid, Texas series by Lori Wilde, and I will admit, I haven't read all of them yet, but that honestly didn't matter, as the author did a great job at introducing the characters again, and could absolutely be read as a stand-alone.

Now the story is a mixed bag! It is the traditional fall in love with your best friend trope, but add to that is the finding confidence in yourself after being emotionally abused by someone who is supposed to love you! But Lori Wild did an amazing job on the storyline, and it flowed beautifully.

Our two characters are Ember; exuberant redhead real estate agent, who is the life and soul of the party, and happens to make the perfect love matches! Whether it be house or Romance. Then there is Ranger, a mix of Scientist, professor, and stud! And having to make the hard choice between promotion and finally getting the women that he wants.

How the Cowboy Was Won is a great book, with through provoking topics and a steamy first kiss! Which is why I give it 4 stars. ( )

How the Cowboy was Won is a cute, friends-to-lovers romance...and if that's all it was, I'd be giving it a slightly higher rating.

But...

It also has billed itself as "a modern Emma with cowboys"--which it constantly reminds the reader of, with quotes from Austen's Emma at the beginning of each chapter, which do seem to reflect that chapter's events fairly well--but if you know the characters and plot of the original well, you soon realize that this one is more "inspired by" than a true retelling. The characters and plot are more vaguely reminiscent of the original than anything else, and if I'd been allowed to forget that this was "supposed" to be Emma, I would have been able to enjoy it more.

Because there is a lot to enjoy here--the friends-to-lovers trope is popular for a reason, after all. And nerdy heroes? They just can' be beat (but Mr. Knightley, sadly, isn't a nerdy hero. A bit of an antisocial homebody, sure, but not truly nerdy). Bold and brash heroines who like to do everything a bit extra can be a lot of fun too (but that's not at all what Emma was like--she was very much the proper society miss, worried about her image and upholding her place in the world) and you can't deny that Ember and Ranger have that chemistry that will successfully make the shift from besties to HEA nicely just as soon as they get out of their own way. But Ember comes to her realization far too early when compared to Emma's plot, and the whole Ranger-getting-a-new-and-better-job-far-away-from-Ember portion of it doesn't really have a corresponding bit in the original at all (unless it's supposed to go along with Emma thinking Knightley loves Jane? Except we already have several Ranger-in-love red herrings along the way, so that doesn't quite scan...)

So...if you 1) don't know Emma all that well or 2) can manage to put the other book out of your head while reading this one, chances are good that you'll give this book a higher rating than I'm able to. For me, it's going to be a case of "I liked it, but..."

Rating: 3 stars / C

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book. ( )

I found this book to be charming and witty. I enjoyed getting to know Ember and Ranger. Ember is fun and full of personality. I just wished that it was bigger. Well I take that back as it was big but it was not portrayed in this story as larger than life. That is what I was craving. Yet, Ember was still great and someone that I would want to hang out with.

On the other hand, Ranger is more on the reserved side. He is better when it comes to being in the lab or being behind the scenes. In other words, Ranger is not just a pretty face. He has brain smarts as well.

While, both Ranger and Ember liked each other, they did not make any moves towards one another until about the half way mark. Until then, it was just fun but without much of chemistry. Overall, this was an enjoyable read. Which, if you are just checking this series out for the first time, this book may have you wanting to read the other novels in this series. ( )