This week’s Sapphic Book Bingo category features books that have a sapphic cowgirl or rancher as a main character.
The book can be either historical fiction, e.g., set in the Old West, or a contemporary novel taking place on a ranch.
15 sapphic cowgirl or rancher books
Below, you’ll find 15 recommended sapphic books featuring a cowgirl or rancher main character:
Hidden Truths by Jae
Everyone on the Hamilton ranch seems to be harboring a secret: Luke has been living as a husband and father for the past seventeen years, telling no one but her wife that she’s not the man she appears to be. Nora hides her past as a prostitute, while their daughter Amy is trying to keep her attraction to women secret.
Into this tricky situation arrives Rika Aaldenberg, a mail-order bride who traveled to Oregon to marry the family’s foreman. She, too, has her own secret: she’s not the woman who wrote the letters.
At first, Amy isn’t happy about having to show the newcomer around, but soon, Rika earns her respect…and maybe even her heart.
When hidden truths are revealed, will their family fall apart, or will love keep them together?
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Tipping the Barrel by BA Tortuga
Cowgirl Evie Martin has her ranch, her horses, a bunch of goats, and a million side hustles to make ends meet. So if she misses the one who got away, well, who has time for romance and relationships? At least that’s what she tells herself until that one special woman comes back into her life, needing her help.
Barrel racer Cheyenne DeLongh was rodeo royalty until an accident took her best horse and left her with scars that are both visible and deep-hidden. The only place she can think to go is to the woman she still loves. Evie. If her mother could stop meddling and Evie can believe that Cheyenne wants to stay and be a small town rancher, she might just get her stuff together. But as much as Evie loves Cheyenne, can she ever believe she’ll be enough to make Cheyenne stay?
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Riding the Storm by Franci McMahon
Kate Duncan can’t remember a time when she felt in control. She can’t control her father’s drinking or find or erase the dark place in his past that makes him fix horse races. Someday she wants to take over the racehorse training ranch, but that desire dims from the harsh glare of reality. She has averted disaster one too many times. After her Mother leaves, taking Kate’s little sister with her, she understands what a heavy weight will rest on her shoulders. At least Chogan is there to share the load.
Chogan Hungry Horse, Blackfoot and two-spirit, is the ranch jockey, and the person who leads Kate gently in opening her eyes. For the first time Kate has someone in her life who hears and sees her. Chogan gives her a language to speak about the pain in her family and opens a place in her heart. Danger grows in the beauty of Montana compelling them to discover the driving force.
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Western Blue by Suzie Clarke
In 1868, Caroline Bluebonnet Hutching is forced to leave her Texas home and make a new life in Nevada. But the townsmen are against her, and she can’t get the help she needs. Undaunted, she advertises for female workers, only to find that each woman who answers her ad is as desperate as she is. And she’s entirely unprepared for the one who steals her heart.
When raiders attack Isabel Segura’s horse ranch and slaughter her family, she’s left with nothing—no home, no future, no hope. When she sees Blue’s ad, a new dream sparks to life. Determined to begin again, she sets out on a journey she never could have imagined.
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Cowgirl 101 by Laina Villeneuve
What Jo Harding loves most about the summer is being able to retreat from annoying humans. Though her friends say she’d be happier with someone sleeping by her side, she insists that all she needs to be happy are her mules, her dog, and a trail into the backcountry. She has absolutely no time to teach the incompetent, if attractive, newcomer.
Daisy Lucero is an eager student from the start. Hired for work in the café, her real dream is to explore the High Sierra wilderness on horseback. While she would love to earn the respect of the handsome woman who inspired her adventure, she may have to settle for pestering her with songs and questions.
In the vast classroom of the California wilderness, each woman finds herself tested. Tests of perseverance for Daisy as she learns to ride, and tests of patience as Jo considers whether life is about more than riding alone.
It doesn’t take either of them long, however, to realize that neither one of them needs a lesson in chemistry.
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Secret Sanctuary by Nance Sparks
Alexandria Trenton is tired of living alone, but keeping secrets comes with a steep price. After growing up in witness protection, Alex is now a US deputy marshal specializing in protecting those awaiting trial. It’s a life that she simply can’t share, especially not when omitting the truth feels so wrong.
Alex’s world is turned upside down when her mentor passes away and his granddaughter, Elina Hawkins, shows up at the ranch the marshals are using to hide witnesses. Will the ranch be able to continue the sanctioned work? Or will she get a new assignment and be pulled away from the only place that feels like home? If she stays, can she resist the attraction she feels for Elina?
Even love has to wait when danger threatens everyone at the ranch. It’s the fight of Alex’s life to defend the secret sanctuary, and most importantly, protect Elina.
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The Price of Payback by S.W. Andersen
One year has passed since Sarah Sawyer avenged the death of her parents in a quest that nearly cost her life.
Now the gunslinger is living a life she never imagined. No longer roaming the trails alone, she and Jo Porter, the woman she loves, live in relative peace, working a thriving farm of their own.
But payback comes with a price.
The lingering fear of unsettled debts haunts them both, threatening their newfound peace. When ghosts from the past come to collect, Sarah risks losing herself to the darkness she’d fought so hard to escape.
Can she pull herself back from the depths or will the harsh world of the old west finally break her?
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A Glimpse Into Your Soul by Char Dafoe
1973, Peace River, Alberta, appears to be an idealistic place to live, rich with luscious land and a winding river that flows past the one-horse town where everybody knows everybody. Highschool sweethearts, Emma and Jillian McKinley grew up together in the small town and have loved one another for the past thirty years. Living out on the prairies, surrounded by nature and away from civilization, Emma and Jillian have had the freedom to live their true authentic relationship in peace. When a dark secret from Jillian’s past suddenly returns, threatening her marriage and upsetting the peace, Jillian takes it upon herself to tell her wife what really happened to her all those years ago.
Emma McKinley had always been a woman of action over words. Having lived her whole life in the solitude of her horses and her land, drama and danger never coalesced with her cowgirl lifestyle. When Emma discovers Jillian’s secret, the only thing on the cowgirl’s mind is exacting revenge for her wife using the skills she has honed all her life—aim, shoot, leaving no trail behind.
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Back in the Saddle by Toni Draper
Deep in the heart of Texas ranch and rodeo lands, freelance writer and barrel racer Kendall Greer, a woman with a heart of a poet, finds it broken and herself in a loveless relationship. As soon as she decides to put all thoughts of romance aside and focus on rodeo instead, she crosses paths with roper Deb Mueller. And they soon find themselves falling cowgirl hat over boots, hard and fast, for each other but together learn it takes time to trust and love again.
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Prize Money by Celeste Castro
Eva Angeles is a professional barrel racer headed for her third world title when a competition mishap throws her in the path of an on-the-loose bull. She is saved from impending disaster by a tall, dark, and handsome bullfighter—a woman.Toma Rozene is an equestrian stuntwoman fresh off the set of a blockbuster film when a family emergency calls her home to help run the family business: rescuing fallen rodeo riders before blustering bulls and bucking broncos trample their dreams.Eva and Toma’s shared passions and competitive spirits make friendship easy, but, as their feelings deepen, they must decide if the divergent futures they seek will stand in the way of love.
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Destiny’s Bridge by Carrie Carr
Budding realtor Amanda Cauble is sent on a fool’s errand on a stormy afternoon. When her car is washed into a rising creek, it could be the last thing she does.
Lexington (Lex) Walters has run the Rocking W Ranch for the last ten years, alone except for hired hands and her feisty housekeeper, Martha. She doesn’t have the time or inclination for dating, but when fate drops a beautiful woman into her path, how can she resist?
With the bridge out of service and the weather against them, Lex and Amanda work together to take care of the ranch. When they stumble across a group of rustlers also stranded by the weather, will the stress destroy their budding relationship?
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Two of a Kind by TB Markinson & Miranda MacLeod
Maisie Sullivan is a hard-working marketing assistant from Milwaukee who wants nothing more than to earn a promotion and finally finish her college degree. But when she’s swept off her feet by a charming cowgirl while on a business trip to Las Vegas, she decides there’s no harm in having a little fun.
Drew Campbell is a no-nonsense Wyoming rancher with a talent for horse training. Her only goal in traveling to Las Vegas for a riding competition is to win enough money to pay off her family’s debts. But when a beautiful stranger catches her eye and then some, she figures she might as well let loose for a night on the town.
What takes place after that, neither can recall. But months after parting ways, when both their fortunes have fallen, they discover what happened in Vegas has followed them home. A quickie divorce will solve the problem, but each woman has something the other needs, and neither will budge until she gets her way.
They just want to get on with their lives, but will they end up falling in love with their wives?
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Indigo: Blues by Adrian J. Smith
Taking her best friend’s advice, Sarah travels to Indigo B&B to distract herself from her upcoming tour. Instead, she comes face-to-face with Indigo’s ruggedly alluring owner, Eli. The vision of strength and confidence, Eli evokes Sarah’s envy as well as an undeniable attraction. Sarah wonders if there is more beneath Eli’s façade and how deep both their demons go.
Eli wants nothing more than to fit into her tiny hometown. When singer-songwriter Sadie Bade shows up for two weeks at her new B&B, Eli fights her attraction, playing it off as star struck. As the days wear on, and Eli learns more about the enigmatic Sarah, she finds it impossible to keep up the pretense. But when her ex-girlfriend hints at getting back together, Eli is left with an equally impossible choice…what will she give up for Sarah?
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Back in the Saddle by Ali Spooner
The crew from Cowgirl Up are back in the saddle for more fun.
In their new adventure, Coal, Stormy, and Gene get the chance to be part of something they have always dreamed of—a cattle drive. The beautiful scenery of Montana and the lure of a rodeo is just the start of their journey.
Even without the gang being at the MC2 ranch, there’s still plenty of action going on. A new addition, Doc Bo, brings a hint of jealousy and maybe the start of a new romance.
Pull on your boots and hats, and hold on tight as you ride along with the crew of the MC2.
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Here for You by D. Jackson Leigh
Competitive barrel racer Lacey Bishop has worked her way from homelessness and poverty to needing only a few points to qualify for the National Rodeo Finals when her only horse suffers a career-ending injury. Without the money to buy a new horse, Lacey has no choice but to trust an offer from Double R Ranch to lease one of their best barrel-racing horses.
Horse trainer Wil Rivers is working hard to get her family’s ranch profitable again after the coronavirus pandemic shut them down for more than a year. Her best chance to save the ranch from foreclosure is a half-million-dollar-plus offer to buy the mare she’s promised to the bewitching Lacey Bishop.
When Lacey discovers Wil’s plan to sell the Double R’s “money” horse to her fiercest competitor, she sees their chance for a future together and her chance to qualify for the finals disappearing in the rodeo arena dust.
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Leave a comment
Leave a comment and let us know what book you’ll be reading for the “sapphic cowgirl or rancher” category!
Riding the Storm by Franci McMahon is not just a “cowgirl” romance. It is a nuanced portrait of a young woman discovering that history, present, and future have been impacted by family alcoholism and the secrets and lies around hiding the reality of its impact. It also follows the path of a unexpected romance between her and her closest ally – a two-spirit Blackfoot jockey. It brings us into the world of horse training, horse racing, and ranch living in a way that will make you want to be a part of that life.
I read Hidden Truth by Jae