HOLLY JOLLY COWBOY is the seventh book in Jessica Clare’s “Wyoming Cowboys” series. This story is a classic enemies-to-lovers romance. Readers should keep that in mind before starting this book. The story is told from alternating perspectives so that the reader gets the insight into the two main characters that they wish they had when it comes to understanding each other. Local waitress Holly Dawson is a hard worker with dreams of using her love of baking to make a living. Adam Calhoun is a former soldier and current cowboy who has a huge chip on his shoulder due to his cheating ex-wife. These two characters clash in a big way before eventually making peace and falling in love.

Adam is a big bag of unresolved emotional issues and landmines. He doesn’t consider himself to be a jerk, but that’s what he comes across as to Holly. I was initially unsure if I could continue reading this book after seeing how prickly Adam was to Holly. I usually prefer charming heroes or those who are sweet but shy. If part of the story wasn’t told from Adam’s perspective, I wouldn’t have been able to keep reading. His ex-wife sneaky ways and insincerity colors how he views relationships and women like Holly that he may be attracted to. He has a difficult road to self-awareness, but he does realize how unfair he was to Holly. He messes up in an epic way, but he makes good in an equally big way. More importantly, Jessica Clare shows the development in his thought process, his emotional growth, and the genuine pain and guilt he feels for his words and actions while he was under the wrong impression. I hate when a hero is a jerk in a story, has a sudden epiphany late in the book, and expects one grand gesture to make up for everything. That’s not how things work in real life, and that’s not how it works in this story. Apologies without self-awareness and growth ring a little hollow. Thankfully that’s not the case here.

Holly isn’t perfect, and spending time with Adam after they become friendly helps her learn to take time for herself rather than remain always the selfless big sister. Most of Holly’s decisions revolve around helping support her brainy younger sister while she’s at college. Holly is a mother figure to Polly and the weight of that financial and emotional responsibility can be suffocating at times. It’s amusing seeing Adam and Holly’s relationship from the perspective of their friends and fellow citizens of the small town of Painted Barrel, Wyoming. Others are quicker to pick up on the attraction than this couple is. Getting an extra job cooking and cleaning for the cowboys at the Flat C Ranch puts some extra cash in Holly’s pocket. What follows is a battle of wills between Holly and Adam until Adam realizes Holly’s not the woman he thought she was, and tries to make up for his previously horrid behavior. Once they’re feeling more friendly toward each other, sexy times soon follow.

HOLLY JOLLY COWBOY is a complicated love story about two complicated people who have to work for their shot at happiness. It was nice seeing characters from other books in the series. I look forward to Jessica Clare’s next book.