Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

A troubled Native American pop star retreats to her estranged grandmother’s ranch in Oklahoma and finds unexpected love. Rising star Avery Fox’s record label never believed a Native musician could climb the charts, but now that her song “I Need a Warrior Tonight” has cracked the Billboard Hot 100, all eyes are on her. Everything comes crashing down, however, when she poses for aRolling Stone cover in a feathered warbonnet—she’s officially cancelled by the listening public for being embarrassing at best and offensive to Native Americans at worst. Avery, who was raised as a child star by her single mom, never knew her family back in Oklahoma and didn’t understand that her costume was problematic and racist. Although she’s a descendent of the Muscogee Nation of Oklahoma, she’s not an enrolled citizen, leading to accusations that she’s faking her heritage. Now, her mom (also her manager) decides that Avery’s best option is to go hide out in Oklahoma with the grandmother she’s never met—she can lay low and bond with the community, putting to rest all the rumors that she isn’t really Native. But when Avery shows up in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, she finds a ranch hand named Lucas Iron Eyes who hates her music, a grandmother who threatens people with a shotgun, and a ranch where the horses terrify her (and try to eat her hair). Living at Red Fox Ranch means hard work that Avery isn’t accustomed to—including cooking for ranch hands and caring for animals—and it also means being in close quarters with Lucas. These enemies soon become lovers, but Avery’s complicated career and Lucas’ connection to the ranch mean that they’re destined to be pulled apart—unless Avery can reconcile her dreams with the heritage she’s finally getting the chance to explore. Avery’s fish-out-of-water story leads to plenty of classic rom-com hijinks as she learns to ride a horse, play stickball, and adjust to life on the ranch. Nava balances these lighter moments with depth as Avery learns more about her grandmother and what it means to be Muscogee. A charming rom-com about finding your place and knowing who you are. Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Book list
From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.

Muscogee pop star and actor Avery is canceled after wearing a headdress on the cover of Rolling Stone. Her mom-manager and label wouldn’t let her do the melodic tunes she wants to do, and now she is ridiculed everywhere for her hit about “warriors.” Her mother sends her to Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, to spend time with the grandmother she’s never known and to learn about her heritage. Her grandmother’s abrupt manner and insistence on being called by her first name is a bad sign, but Avery tries to keep up despite mistakes with horse care. Ranch hand Lucas makes his dislike of Avery evident but soon agrees to help her acclimate. Their chemistry sizzles off the page amid humorous banter and interactions. She learns to cook for the staff and finds a way to help her financially struggling grandmother and community. The message about representation is important and timely. Finding yourself when the world knows your mistakes isn’t easy, but this delightful slow burn romance shows why second chances are worthwhile.

Library Journal
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Pop star and actor Avery Fox is on the brink of superstardom when an ill-advised magazine cover, where she's styled in a feathered headdress, incites intense public backlash and accusations of cultural appropriation, despite her Indigenous heritage. Facing cancellation and receiving death threats, she goes to her grandmother's horse ranch in Broken Arrow, OK, to lay low until the controversy dies down. The problem is that Avery has never met anyone in her extended family, and she knows nothing about the Muscogee culture in which her mother was raised. As she begins to connect with her culture and family for the first time, she finds herself fiercely drawn to Lucas Iron Eyes, a handsome but surly ranch hand. But they both know that this is just a temporary stop in her high-profile celebrity life, making a future together seem impossible. This grumpy-sunshine romance is set in a wonderfully scenic small town and offers plenty of laugh-out-loud moments, balanced with tender scenes, and rounded out with a lovable cast of characters. VERDICT Readers will fall hard for Nava's (The Truth According to Ember) steamy rom-com, brimming with themes of family, community, and belonging.—Migdalia Jimenez

Publishers Weekly
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Nava (The Truth According to Ember) pairs a disgraced Native American pop star with a hardworking ranchhand in her appealing sophomore rom-com. Muscogee rising star Avery Fox has been acting and singing since she was a baby, urged on by her mother and manager, Harriett. Now she’s hit it big, albeit with a song she feels no connection to. After an ill-advised Rolling Stone cover featuring her in a war bonnet and little else, the internet turns on her, going so far as to accuse her of faking her Native heritage and even sending credible death threats. As damage control, Harriett ships Avery off to her own childhood home of Broken Arrow, Okla., to stay with the estranged grandmother Avery has never known. There, Avery meets and falls for gorgeous Lucas Iron Eyes, who works on her grandmother’s ranch. The chemistry between them crackles—and only intensifies after an awkward dinner with Lucas’s protective parents reveals that they share similar familial struggles. But once the internet firestorm dies down, Avery has a celebrity life to get back to, while Lucas’s home is on the ranch. Nava approaches her protagonists’ differing relationships to their shared culture with empathy and skill and has a talent for making even the prickliest characters, like Avery’s mother, redeemable. The result is a nuanced and entertaining rom-com with plenty of heart. (July)