One Week Until Cowboy Moon Gallops Into Your Hearts (and Maybe Your Pants?)

An ARC reviewer (bless their honest soul) gave Cowboy Moon five stars but mentioned it "could be more spicy." And you know what? They're absolutely right. I got so distracted making Harper and Jax emotionally destroy each other that I forgot to make them physically destroy each other more often. My bad.

So let's address this with the scientific rigor of someone who definitely didn't just Google "how hot is too hot for romance novels" at 2 AM while eating cottage cheese directly from the package.

The Official Cowboy Moon Spice Scale™

Patent Pending, Results May Vary, Not FDA Approved

THE SPRINGS SCENE (Morning, Seven Years Ago)

Temperature: Morning mist with a 90% chance of nudity

Spice Level: Ghost Pepper (but you're just watching from the bushes)

What Happens: Harper sees EVERYTHING. Jax floats like a Renaissance painting. Nature documentary meets voyeurism.

Reader Reaction: "MA'AM, THIS IS PAGE 3"

THE TEA PARTY DISASTER

Temperature: Lukewarm Earl Grey with a side of sexual tension

Spice Level: Jalapeño poppers at a church picnic

What Happens: Harper wears That Dress. Jax's brain short-circuits. Someone says "petit fours" sexually.

Reader Reaction: "Are they going to kiss or commit murder?"

THE DOORFRAME KISS

Temperature: Blue balls in boot cut jeans

Spice Level: That frustrating medium salsa that makes you angry

What Happens: Jax LEAVES because Harper's drunk and he's a "gentleman"

Reader Reaction: "JAX WALKER GET BACK HERE AND RAIL HER RESPECTFULLY"

THE BARN SCENE (Chapter 27)

Temperature: Hotter than Texas asphalt in August

Spice Level: Carolina Reaper dunked in Tabasco

What Happens: Storm. Wet clothes. Hay. Seven years of tension exploding. Jax asking "You sure?" (Consent is the SPICIEST, fight me)

Reader Reaction: "I need to lie down. Possibly in a barn. For research."

THE SPRINGS SCENE (The Reunion)

Temperature: Full circle storytelling with nudity

Spice Level: Sriracha with emotional growth

What Happens: Harper joins him this time. There are fish concerns. It's weirdly hilarious and hot?

Reader Reaction: "Why am I crying while turned on?"

But Here's The Thing About Spice...

I was too busy writing their emotional foreplay to remember physical foreplay is also a thing. Consider:

• Harper spending SEVEN YEARS thinking about naked Jax
• The "Hi" texts that are basically sexting for emotionally constipated people 
• Jax calling her "Tea Cakes" like it's a degradation kink
• The FENCE POST CINNAMON ROLLS (that's basically third base in Texas)
• Harper wearing Jax's jacket while her dress is see-through (Chapter 26, you're welcome)

Look, some authors write sex scenes. I write "Jax gives CPR to a dying kitten while Harper has an emotional breakdown" and somehow that becomes the most intimate scene in the book. I don't make the rules.

The Actual Truth

Could there be more explicit sex? Probably. Did I get distracted writing about Willie Nelson (the cat) judging everyone's choices? Definitely. Did I spend more time on Harper and Jax's verbal sparring than their physical activities? Guilty as charged.

But here's my defense: The real spice is Harper slapping Jax in a diner and him showing up to deliver kittens anyway. It's leaving Roy's ring on a fence post at dawn. It's "I'll always come when you need me, even when we're in the middle of our best feud performance."

That's the shit that makes me feral. That's the spice that burns.

A Poll For The People

What's your ideal spice level?

• 🌶️ "Fade to black, I have an imagination"
• 🌶️🌶️ "Some steam, but keep it classy"
• 🌶️🌶️🌶️ "Barn scene energy throughout"
• 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ "Every chapter should require a cold shower"
• 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ "I want to be personally victimized by their activities"

To the reviewer who wanted more spice: You're valid. Your feelings are valid. Your desire to see Jax Walker naked more often is extremely valid.

To everyone else: Cowboy Moon has exactly two (2) proper sex scenes, several heavy makeout sessions, one very tense horse ride in wet clothes, and approximately 47 scenes of emotional intimacy that hit harder than any explicit content I could write.

If that's not enough spice for you, imagine what they're doing in all those scene breaks. (Hint: It's not discussing property law.)

One week until launch. I'm going to go lie down and think about whether Chapter 31 needed more nakedness. (It did. Everything needs more nakedness. Especially the legal documents scenes.)

Spicily yours (but like, emotionally),

Hazel

P.S. - Book 2 will have more spice. Solange and Ty deserve it. Their physics tutoring alone requires a warning label.

P.P.S. - "Is that a hickey?" "It's a rash!" "A rash shaped like lips?" lives rent-free in my head and I'm not sorry.

P.P.P.S. - If you wanted more spice, just remember: Jax floats EVERYTHING in the springs. Everything. For seven years, Harper remembered EVERYTHING. You're welcome and I'm sorry.