Lynn Painter Reveals Her Next Romance Novel, Cowboy Like Me

It’s a big year for Lynn Painter — and for fans of her romance oeuvre. In addition to releasing two new books (First and Forever is out now, with Trust Fall arriving on Sept. 29), she announced that film adaptations of both Fake Skating and Better than the Movies are both in the works. And today, Bustle can exclusively share that even more is on the way.

The best-selling author’s next romance novel is Cowboy Like Me. (Yes, Painter is a Swiftie! More on that below.) Out April 13, 2027, the book follows columnist Mia Hollister, who chronicles daily life on her ranch for her passionate followers — only, it’s all a facade. Mia really lives in a city apartment, and the ranch in question belongs to her friend, Hannah.

When a camera crew comes knocking, Mia heads to the country to embark upon her pretend life — where Hannah’s cowboy brother, Dane, is there to show her the ropes. Between production arriving early and a visit from her boss and Dane’s family, Mia is tested again and again. “When you watch the old cinematic rom-coms, there’s always something being thrown at the characters,” Painter tells me over Zoom. “They think they’ve got it figured out, and then they’re like, Oh, wait a second. So I really liked playing with that. It was a lot of fun.”

Below, Painter opens up about the spark that led to Cowboy Like Me, researching farm life, and an exciting update on her upcoming film adaptations.

Where did the idea for Cowboy Like Me come from?

Honestly, I think the spark came from a super old movie, Christmas in Connecticut.

I was getting that vibe! That’s amazing.

There are certain movies where I’ll go to bed with them on, because I need that noise, usually things I’ve seen a million times. And Christmas in Connecticut, the beginning always gets me. The whole movie is great, but I love the beginning when she’s sitting in her apartment, looking out at her radiator, and writing, like: “The plains in front of me...” I was like, That’s a great idea. I would love to play with that.

I also wanted to ask about the title, because I know you’re a Swiftie. Is that an intentional nod to Taylor Swift’s Evermore song?

It is, but it’s funny — I’m the worst at titles. Like, Better than the Movies I think I titled, All Is Fair in Love and Parking. I’m just not good at titles. So we were brainstorming, and I liked a bunch of them, and then somebody said “Cowboy like Me,” and I was like, Oh my god, of course. Any time I open the document, I’ve got the song stuck in my head all day.

Ranching, reality TV — what intrigued you about those worlds?

The first book I ever wrote — that was terrible — was a[n unpublished] cowboy romance called Beyond Texas. I was reading a lot of old Diana Palmer and Nora Roberts, a lot of the sweeping cowboy books. I’ve never been on a ranch in my life, and I’m allergic to everything with fur, so I’ve never even been on a horse. I don’t know why I wrote it. But then, when I was brainstorming book ideas, and I thought of Christmas in Connecticut and putting them on a ranch, I’m like, What a funny full circle for me. To write a book that’s not your stereotypical cowboy book, it’s more of the city girl’s story set on a ranch. So it’s kind of like turning it on its head.

Was there any special research that you had to do?

I did have to do lots of little things, because I know nothing about that world. I even for a while watched — and then I was like, OK, this is not research — one of those Bravo shows, The McBee Dynasty. It sucked me into watching the entire two seasons, immersed in ranching that’s not really normal ranching. But the joy of writing a fish-out-of-water story is that anytime it’s from her point of view, she doesn’t have to have a handle on it. She’s living through it. For him, I had to do a little bit of work — like, what does a rancher do? I know he mends fences, but there’s got to be more to his job than just fixing a fence all day, right?

Is there a specific anecdote that surprised you?

So many little things crack me up. That cows are super nosy — like when you’re working, they all come over to see what you’re doing. I’ve lived my whole life thinking, Don’t get close to a cow, it’ll trample you. And these guys are like, “I have to check on them every single day.” I didn’t realize that a huge part of their job on a cattle ranch is literally making sure they’re accounted for.

You have two adaptations in the works right now — that’s so exciting! What can you tease right now?

The whole process has been mind-boggling. Better than the Movies, it’s amazing, because Julia Hart is the director, and her husband, Jordan Horowitz, is the producer, and they are such delightful humans. They are so protective of the fact that it belonged to readers first. When they were working on the scripts, they would text me, like, “So in this flashback for Wes and Liz, were you picturing this when you wrote it?” It’s gonna film in Chicago, and I think they’re shooting for end of August. So now everything is happening really fast. I’m like, Do I get to go to a film set?!

And then Fake Skating, I think they’re finishing up the script, and that’s going to be a theatrical release [directed by Will Gluck]. Everybody I’ve spoken with on the team so far, it’s a bunch of women, they’re so collaborative and lovely. I can send them an email and they all respond right away — it just feels like you and your friends are gonna do this thing. I’m just thrilled. I feel so lucky.

Preorder Cowboy Like Me, out April 13, 2027.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.