If the Boot Fits

Starred review from September 28, 2020
One serendipitous night transforms an aspiring screenwriter’s life in this wonderfully inventive, Cinderella-inspired romance, the second in Weatherspoon’s Cowboys of California series (after A Cowboy to Remember). Assisting the most demanding of Hollywood divas has sucked the joy out of Amanda McQueen’s California dreams. Amanda’s on call for her boss seven days a week and works most nights. But thanks to her friend–turned–fairy godmother, starlet Helene Sawyer, Amanda scores tickets to an A-lister party, where she dances her blues away with Sam Pleasant, a courtly cowboy turned Black Hollywood royalty. Getting footloose on the dance floor transitions into a “mind-blowing” turn in the sheets, which Amanda mistakenly assumes will be a one-night stand. After all, what could a celebrity like Sam want with a woman like her? A lot, it turns out. They like the same pop culture, share similar values, and have amazing chemistry. But issues arise from their differing social statuses: Sam’s at the height of his career while Amanda’s trapped in a job she can’t afford to quit and feels perpetually discounted by the industry. Uniting a heart-stopping hero and a plus-size heroine who knows her own worth, this steamy fairy tale shines by serving realistic conflict alongside swoon-worthy romance. Agent: Holly Root, Root Literary.