Unbridled Cowboy by Maisey Yates
My rating: 1 of 5 stars
Thank you to the publisher, Harper Collins, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of Unbridled Cowboy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
The Gist
This is the first book in the Mass Market Romance Summer Reads blog tour. And let me tell you right now, I’m not in a good mood.
My mood wasn’t great to begin with, but now having to deal with Unbridled Cowboy makes me want to mope into my bucket of ice cream and god help the person who tries to talk to me.
I shall explain my rotten mood below.
The Details
It all began with the very first sentence in this story: “It can’t be helped. I need a wife.”
My head almost exploded. No, fictional person, you do not need a wife. You are looking for a maid, cheap labour to help you deal with a mistake you willingly and knowingly made.
You know, years ago I wrote an essay on how women back in the 1800’s were nothing more than cash cows, cheap labour. I argued that wives were treated as unpaid labour around the house/farm under the pretext of it being their wifely duties to pretty much wipe their husbands’ butts.
Fast forward to 2022 and I get to read a new story that begins with “I need a wife”. Yeah, my hackles were raised and I became super defensive.
I really don’t care, if the core message of this story was the “love heals all wounds/love conquers all” cliche. It’s a bad way to start a modern story. Period.
On top of that, the reader has to deal with some atrocious storytelling that is all over the place. It almost reads like stream of consciousness writing, but really badly done.
Thoughts and topics jump all over the place and it’s difficult to follow the narrative.
The writing is pretty mediocre. Run-on sentences galore and just a general lack of effort.
The Verdict
Overall, it’s a big no-no from me.
I mean, if you are looking for a romance story to give you the warm and fuzzy feelings, try anything by Debbie Macomber.
About the Author
Maisey Yates is a New York Times bestselling author of over one hundred romance novels. Whether she’s writing strong, hard working cowboys, dissolute princes or multigenerational family stories, she loves getting lost in fictional worlds. An avid knitter with a dangerous yarn addiction and an aversion to housework, Maisey lives with her husband and three kids in rural Oregon. Check out her website, maiseyyates.com or find her on Facebook.
