“Goes for the heart and doesn’t miss.” —Booklist (starred review)
Love is a wild ride. Hold on.
When life lassoes Josie and Shawn back together three years after their dreamy first date, their second chance at love is anything but easy. A big-hearted rodeo romance set in Houston, Texas, by the critically acclaimed Liara Tamani, author of What She Missed, All The Things We Never Knew, and Calling My Name. This bold first-love story is for fans of Nothing Like the Movies and Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute.
This ain’t Josie’s first rodeo. Her parents own several fancy restaurants in Houston, and they just opened a new one right outside the stadium. Josie is expected to stay inside the restaurant and help, and maybe take over their growing empire one day, but that isn’t what Josie wants. She’d rather be at the rodeo. Or eating funnel cakes and Texas-sized corn dogs at the carnival on the grounds. Or better yet, riding her horse at her grandparents’ ranch.
It ain’t Shawn’s first rodeo either. He’s been riding bulls since his mom died, doing everything he can to live up to his rodeo-champion stepfather’s sky-high expectations. But as Shawn’s stardom rises, so do tensions in their relationship. His stepfather’s drinking and gambling problems sure don’t help.
After one unforgettable night leaves Josie and Shawn wanting nothing but each other, their lives become entwined in increasingly complex ways. Can they save Josie’s family land? Or will Shawn’s stepfather and his shady plan be the ranch’s ruin? Will one wrong move cost them everything? Rodeo after rodeo, year after year, can Josie and Shawn keep their hearts open through the secrets, twists, and turns?
This Ain’t Our First Rodeo is a contemporary western love story full of bulls, brawls, and horses. It’s a tender second chance cowboy romance about family, friendship, mistakes, and the blessings of choosing to love anyway. Black cowboys and cowgirls like Josie and Shawn have long helped shape the American West—a legacy that shines in Liara Tamani’s storytelling. Her writing is quick-witted, swoony, and authentic, with characters who are easy to love and hard to forget.
What to expect:
- Dual POV: Alternating chapters allow readers insight into Josie and Shawn’s thoughts in real time.
- Second Chance Romance: Josie and Shawn find their way back to each other three years after their electric first encounter.
- Opposites Attract: She comes from a wealthy family, and he's fought for everything he has.
- Keeping Secrets: Shawn and Josie's love story is full of twists and turns, spurred by family secrets and miscommunication.
- "It's Always Been You:" Through it all, Shawn and Josie keep falling back into each other.
- Rodeo Romance: the Houston Rodeo makes for an action-packed backdrop, full of bulls, brawls, and horses.
- Slow Burn: Josie and Shawn's romance takes time to heat up.
- First Love: This is both character's first experience being head over heels in love.