Blaire Monroe is the only woman I’ve ever loved, and the only one I’ve let break my heart. It’s been ten years since she ran from this town, chasing a life that didn’t include the cowboy next door who blurred the line between best friend and something more.
Now she’s back. Fresh off a busted engagement and hiding out on her grandmother’s crumbling strawberry farm like the past never happened.
Like she doesn’t still linger in every part of me I’ve spent years trying to erase. But Blaire isn’t the kind of girl you forget. She’s wildfire: reckless, untamed, and impossible to hold without getting scorched.
We collide the second we’re in the same room.
Too much heat. Too much history. Not nearly enough distance. The tension crackles, the pull is impossible, and before long, we’re right back where we swore we’d never be—pressed against the wall, her hands in my hair, my mouth on hers like I’ve been starving for a decade.
I tell myself I can handle it. But the truth is, this cowboy was never meant for casual. Not with her. And sure as hell not again.
Some books hit you right where you need them to, and Cowboy Casual did exactly that. Holly Renee pulled me in from page one and didn’t let go. It’s heartfelt, sexy, and full of the kind of emotion that lingers long after you’ve closed the book.
The first installment in the Calloway Ranch series, Cowboy Casual follows Colt Calloway and Blaire Monroe, two high school sweethearts who never stopped loving each other, even after ten years apart. Blaire returns home to Willow Grove after discovering her fiancé’s betrayal and walking away from a life carefully controlled by her politician father. She’s not looking for love; she’s looking for peace. She just wants a quiet reset on her grandmother’s strawberry farm, but fate has other plans. Peace and quiet is hard to find when your first love lives next door with a little girl who steals your heart the moment you meet her.
“I needed this: the dirt under my fingernails, the sun turning my shoulders pink, and the sweet taste of strawberries in my mouth as I ate them straight off the vine. I craved the purpose of it, to matter again to myself and this place.”
Colt Calloway is a hardworking, fiercely devoted single dad. His hands are callused, his mouth is filthy, and his heart still quietly belongs to Blaire. But he’s built walls around himself for a reason. After Ruby’s mom walked out, he swore no one would ever get close enough to hurt his daughter, or him, again. His focus is his daughter, his ranch, and survival—not reopening old wounds. But even after he tells himself to keep his distance, to keep it casual, we all know none of that applies to Blaire.
Because the heart doesn’t always play by the rules.
When Colt and Blaire cross paths again, it’s like no time has passed at all, but it has. They’ve grown up. They’ve been broken, hardened, and reshaped by life. The years apart haven’t dulled their connection; they’ve deepened it. What once was young and impulsive has turned into something heavier, deeper, and infinitely more consuming. Their attraction burns hotter now, fiercer, like a fire doused in gasoline. It’s possessive, unrelenting, and impossible to ignore. Every touch feels inevitable. Every glance is loaded. Every kiss feels like coming home.
“She was fire, and I was fucking drowning in her.”
They don’t want to want each other. Colt is terrified of letting anyone close to Ruby, terrified of losing again. And Blaire is just as scared of giving her heart to the one man capable of breaking it all over again. But some loves are too strong to stay buried.
“I hated myself for ever letting her believe she was hard to love when loving her had been the easiest thing I’d ever done.”
Cowboy Casual is so much more than just a steamy second chance romance. It’s about forgiveness, healing, and the courage it takes to try again when you’ve been burned before. The tension is delicious, the chemistry explosive, and the emotional connection between Colt and Blaire feels lived-in and deeply earned.
“I want to trace every inch of you with my tongue until we’ve made up for all those sunsets when I was supposed to be kissing you.”
This book had me grinning, blushing, and ugly crying all in one sitting. It’s the perfect blend of sweet and spicy, funny and emotional—a small-town second chance romance done so right.
And let’s not forget the found family element that makes this book shine: Grandma June, with her sass and wisdom; Ruby, who’s pure sunshine and the sweetest little scene-stealer; and the secondary characters, Maggie, Hunter, and McCoy, who already promise future chaos and heartache (in the best way).
“If I were your age, I’d climb him like the last ladder out of hell.” – Grandma June
Cowboy Casual is everything a second-chance romance should be—heartfelt, angsty, and utterly addictive. It’s the kind of story that leaves you smiling, swooning, and just a little bit ruined in the best way possible. If you crave second chances, small-town charm, single-dad tenderness, found family, and that possessive, all-consuming chemistry that feels like fire meeting gasoline, this one’s for you.