74 books like The Heart of a Texas Cowboy

I am in awe of Diana Gabaldon’s achievements as I relate to her writing while raising three children.

At first daunted by the 850-page length, once I started reading, I became enthralled with the fantasy of Claire’s time-traveling into the past and meeting the love of her life. I fell in love with the beautiful boy-man, Jamie. He reminded me of the love of my life. Gabaldon’s handling of the attraction between Claire and the Scottish highlander is beguiling, especially in the sexual scenes.

Weaving their love story into real history, her descriptions, plots, and prose are exquisitely compelling. I am committed to reading the entire series. In a word, Outlander is un-put-downable! 

There just aren’t enough words to describe how perfectly satisfying this novel is. I started it and couldn’t put it down until the very delicious end.

Natalie and August butt heads from the moment they first meet, constantly throwing jabs at one another, neither giving an inch. When Natalie suggests a marriage of convenience benefiting each of them, she doesn’t anticipate the feelings that bombard her from the moment she says, “I do.”

There is nothing more delectable than a man in uniform and August is a Navy SEAL through and through, but has a heart of gold who wants to help and protect those he loves. When he realizes the depth of his feelings for Natalie, it is like an explosion that only a SEAL can navigate.

Who doesn’t love a hero who fights his attraction and love for a woman until it’s almost too late?

Annabelle requires a husband before she turns twenty-five in just four weeks. A marriage of convenience is all she needs in order to keep her beloved home. When her aunt enlists the help of Quinn who caused Annabelle’s fall from grace six years prior, Annabelle is furious but goes along with the plan albeit reluctantly.

As Quinn sends suitor after suitor away, the time grows short and she still doesn’t have a potential husband outside of Sir Harold who only wants the money that comes with her land. When Quinn finally realizes what he might lose, it could be just a moment too late. A swoon-worthy book everyone should read.

I couldn’t put this book down. I cried, I laughed, and I cheered for Finn and Beth to find their happily ever after.

This novel didn’t have what I would consider a typical marriage of convenience trope, but it developed regardless. No one is forcing them into a relationship but circumstances do push them there and both agree for very different reasons. Each have experienced a significant tragedy but one has fought their way out of the pain and wasn’t going to let it define them, while the other was still struggling.

Their chemistry was off the charts and you could practically feel it oozing off the page. Beth’s insight into Finn’s pain was touching and when Finn finally realized that he could love her, just made my heart burst.

You know this is going to be a great book from the author who treated us to other historical adventures such as The Color of Lightning, Enemy Women, and News of the World. Jiles has the skills to recreate a period in time so tangible, the reader feels like they've been dropped through a time portal, and Stormy Weather is no exception. Set during the darkest years of the depression, a woman and her daughters battle cruel hardships alone on an abandoned farm, relying and setting their hopes on their only legacy—a dangerous, rogue racehorse named Smoky Joe. It is a story of personal strength and desperate dreams, pinned on the back of a horse. I love a story about women with grit, hope, and a tenacious will to succeed. 

The Time It Never Rained tells the grim battle between ranchers and drought in 1950s western Texas.

I grew up on a small Minnesota farm and remember my father’s struggle to keep the farm going, but at least he never faced a seven-year drought. A stubborn rancher who reminded me of my father, refuses to give in or ask for help.

I especially liked the secondary story of illegal immigrants, attitudes of ranchers toward the Feds tasked with arresting and deporting them, and the government programs that backfired in the end. It’s an excellent read that left me thankful for every drop of rain and blade of green grass. Its lessons of racism and kindness are pertinent to today’s world.

Cattle drives although a relatively brief episode in history largely contribute to tales of the cowboy that helped writers and Hollywood to later make him an American icon. Texas Women on the Cattle Trails provides a history of sixteen of the women who contributed to and participated in cattle drives originating from Texas. This edited collection offers individual stories of these women and based on their own accounts which give us an inside glimpse into how this era shaped their lives. Meet real cattlewomen who built ranching empires, who showed courage and spunk, and enjoyed a closeness with nature while viewing buffalo and gazing at the stars along their journeys.

Louise S. O'Connor, a fifth-generation descendant of an early settler of Texas has always loved the stories of the "old timers,” the cowboys and hands who worked the ranch where she grew up. O’Connor spent seventeen years collecting oral histories about ranch life on the Coastal Bend and compiled those stories into Cryin' for Daylight. Though published in 1989, the language of O’Connor’s isolated, rural, mostly elderly subjects rings with 19th Century authenticity.

I treasure O’Connor’s labor of love for its emphasis on the tragically neglected black cowboys. One such cowboy supplied the title by swearing, “We loved to work cattle so much, we’d just be sittin’ around cryin’ for daylight to come.”

Remember that song from Disney's Mulan – "I'll Make a Man Out of You"? Move that to the wild west with an English lady named Sydney disguised as a boy and a ranch owner determined to turn his partner's British fop of a "nephew" into a cowhand worth his salt, and you've got a good idea of the crazy antics awaiting you in Fancy Pants. With a strong supporting cast of characters and a giggle-inducing plot, this book is sure to leave you grinning.

In 1886, the XIT became the largest cattle brand in Texas. They ran 150,000 head of cattle on three million acres—that’s most of the Texas Panhandle. The author, Cordia Duke, was married to one of the division managers. Over the years, she asked the cowboys to write down their memories and experiences, which she eventually published. For me, as a western author, these stories were (and still are) vital for authenticity, and I keep going back for inspiration. The cowboys’ voices are crystal clear, and we get to read firsthand descriptions of cattle roundups, branding, prairie fires, rustlers, fine cowhorses (good horses), spoilt gotch-eared outlaws (bad horses), and even a recipe for “son-of-a-gun stew,” straight from the mouth of a chuckwagon cook.