Welcome to Reading Under the Covers, a romance novel podcast, in today’s episode, we’re saddling up to explore cowboy romance — one of the most versatile, trope-rich subgenres in the game. From emotionally repressed ranchers to alien husbands with glowing eyes, cowboy romance delivers everything from small-town sweetness to wild paranormal heat.

We’re breaking down what defines cowboy romance as a subgenre, a character archetype, and a bundled trope cluster — and sharing all the must-read recs across the spectrum, including historical cowboys, queer cowboys, and international settings like Canada and Australia.

Whether you're here for the flannel or the feelings, this episode has a cowboy (or alien, or werewolf) for you.

Books Mentioned

• Must Love Cowboys by Carly Bloom
• Cowboy from the Future by Cassandra Gannon
• Spun Out by Lorelei James
• Heartless by Elsie Silver
• A Second Harvest by Eli Easton
• Eyes of Silver, Eyes of Gold by Ellen O’Connell
• Done and Dusted by Lyla Sage
• Alive and Wells by Bailey Hannah
• Dust Storm by Maggie Gates
• Flawless by Elsie Silver
• Smooth Talking Cowboy by Maisey Yates
• The Rawhide Man by Diana Palmer
• Once a Rancher by Linda Lael Miller
• Long Hard Ride by Lorelei James
• Wild Rain by Beverly Jenkins
• A Cowboy to Remember by Rebekah Weatherspoon
• High Moon by Kati Wilde
• Cowboy Wolf Trouble by Kait Ballenger
• Married to an Alien Rancher by Ursa Dax
• Taming His Princess by Mari Carr & Lexxie Couper
• Rocky Mountain Heat by Vivian Arend
• Caine’s Reckoning by Sarah McCarty

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