Near Misses & Cowboy Kisses by Katrina Emmel

e-Audio, 07:49:43
Narrated by: Ryan Lee Dunlap & Jesse Vilinsky
Release Date: July 23, 2024
Published by: Books on Tape 
Read from: July 24-25, 2024
Stand-Alone 
Source: PRH Audio App (I received a copy of this e-audio from the publisher and their influencer/librarian program in exchange for a just and honest review. This did nothing to influence my review.)
Content Warning: Sexism
For Readers Interested In: Westerns, Cowboy Romances, YA, Great Outdoors, Western plains

   A swoon-worthy YA rivals-to-lovers romance between a Nebraskan cowboy and California girl, thrust together on the Oregon Trail.

     Anything’s possible under a prairie sky…

     Riley Thomas is feeling stuck—she’s moved from California to Nebraska, she’s on a weeklong Oregon Trail family bonding excursion, and her luggage is lost. There’s no one her age on the trip except a tall, dark and irksome cowboy who wrongly assumes she has zero ability to handle the great outdoors. She can’t wait for this misery to end—even though going “home” isn’t even possible anymore.
     Lone wolf Colton Walker loves the simpler life of the plains and his family’s tourism business that helps protect them. He’s a stand-up guy—not a love ‘em and leave ‘em type like his rival, Jake. And he knows better than to take his chances with a prairie princess like Riley.
     But Riley’s got more sense than Colton thinks–and he’s not nearly as inflexible as he seems. And under a wide prairie sky of puffy clouds and bright stars, everything comes into focus–including a cowboy’s heart.
     Katrina Emmel’s Near Misses and Cowboy Kisses will take you on a sweeping journey across the American prairie . . . once you love a boy in a Stetson, you’ll never be the same.

*MY THOUGHTS*

I’m not gonna lie. As someone who hates the great outdoors and who hates everything outside (I’m from Texas and the heat has left me jaded ok lol) I just knew I was going to hate this. But it actually wasn’t bad at all. The focus was more on the characters and that saved it for me.

Ok so what I didn’t like wasn’t much. I didn’t care for the characters because of some of the ways they communicated. There is a lot that could have been solved with them just freaking talking, but they were ridiculous and just kept making assumptions about each other. It really was annoying because it was like why not just ask. And the other thing that really annoyed me was the way he had to mansplain everything. I’m SO GLAD she got onto his ass about that. But it got really weird for a moment there.

The romance was cute tho. After they got their ish together, they were extremely cute. Only to be thwarted by that dingbat of a guy that just assumed he was God’s gift to all women. Especially when he didn’t even know Riley. So basically when we finally see Colton acting right and he shows interest in what Riley is interested in, I loved that for her. I was very happy to see the way the two of them interacted.

I also thought Riley was cool. I am not a huge outdoors person, so whenever I see someone who is I think they’re cool af and I want to know all the things they know. If I tell you all the things that I Googled while I was reading this lol you would think I didn’t know anything. But fr, I learned so much from this. What milkweed was, what the Nebraska prairie looked like etc. I also learned what a scientific illustrator was and what they’re needed for. I had never in my life heard of that lol And I’m an adult. So now I have something else to tell my teens about if they’re interested in art and don’t want to take the traditional path. Thank you Katrina Emmel for this info.

The plot itself had a lot of surprises tho. That almost ending was insane! I was freaking out for her! And I’m sorry, but the dressing up thing? Yeah there’s no way. I would have told my mom its not happening. Idc what she wanted lolol I agreed with Riley in some ways about her moving, but in other ways she just had no choice. I won’t say anything more because of spoilers, but if you’re looking for a big plot thing, you’re going to be upset. There’s something that they argue about as a family, but it’s nothing like huge.

This was a very cute Cowboy romance that I really enjoyed. I really hope there’s more Cowboys to come in YA after this. There’s some, but not many modern, they don’t actually feel like Cowboys, and they seem few and far between. So pick this one up so we can get more!

Overall, I give this