Overall Grade: A-

Tropes: cowboy; he falls first; friends to lovers; fake dating; small town

I’ve been a member of romancelandia long enough to know that friends-to-lovers is a bit of a fraught trope. Some people absolutely love it, while others detest it. That particular group struggles with the shift in feelings for the main characters, and the credibility of their love is called into question. I’ve read some problematic friends-to-lovers stories, but Jessica Peterson’s Wyatt, the second book of her Lucky River Ranch series, is not one of them. 

Peterson has done well in many aspects of this story. 

• Sally and Wyatt have loved each other from afar for a long time. This is pretend unrequited love: two people avoiding their feelings to protect their friendship. Peterson is strategic in how she maps out their journey. When Wyatt (yes, this is a “he falls first” trope story) recognizes his love for Sally, he decides to keep it to himself so she can succeed in her educational journey. That sacrifice is the heart of this book and one of its pieces that incites her readers’ feelings. In any other book, the intentionality of this choice might have culled feelings of irritation. In Wyatt, it helps you fall in love with Wyatt, the player. The way that Peterson handles their friends-to-lovers relationship is done so well with only a small amount of strife that you leave this book more in love with her characters than you start, and the last ten percent of the book becomes a holiday gift, sown in sweetness. 
• Wyatt is pure perfection. While he falls first for Sally (but not by much), Peterson still drafts him into pure masculinity, not one that oozes toxicity. Instead, he’s masculine while still able to love Sally hard. When he finally admits his feelings, he becomes the PERFECT book boyfriend, and I imagine there will be fights over him in her fan group because of it. 
• While Wyatt’s journey is defined by admitting and encouraging his feelings for Sally, Sally’s journey is about self-discovery. As an only child, she’s lived her life people-pleasing, namely her father, a man who, we find, is living vicariously through her. As the story progresses, she recognizes the key to her happiness: being surrounded by a loving community and, in turn, returning love to that community. Quite frankly, Peterson could have mired herself in a plot hole had she allowed Sally to define herself solely in her “boyfriend’s” love, trading her identity as a skillful veterinarian surgeon for one of Wyatt’s girlfriend. However, what is always special about Peterson’s romances is her insistence on her MMC and FMC aligning themselves equitably. When Wyatt asks his brothers if it is okay for him to follow Sally to New York, his brother responds with the idea that Wyatt could be the one to stay home and watch their children. Each person has a place in Peterson’s romances, and it never seems aligned with gender norms. It isn’t that she does this overtly; instead, it is simply the nature of the worlds she creates. 

It is also why I prefer her romances over many. Jessica Peterson’s Wyatt absolutely put a smile on my face. This isn’t high drama like the first book, Cash. Instead, Sally and Wyatt’s journey is one of acceptance: recognizing their love for each other and leaning into it. Honestly, while it does not have holiday overtones, it feels right for this holiday season. It’s a special gift of love wrapped in a shiny bow of sweetness and spice.

In love and romance.

Professor A