First of all a big thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publishers for sending me a copy of this book to read and review.

I think I am slowly but surely moving away from the contemporary genre. It just doesn’t excite me the way that it used to. Our tastes do change so maybe that’s why I’m not enjoying them as much as I used to.

This was an entertaining read but seemed to be a slow read and I just couldn’t lose myself in the story and I had to keep reminding myself to pick it up.

Funny and relatable characters and a good storyline to follow. Once you start you can't put it down. Great read.

A funny and endearing book. I was drawn in by the cover. I loved the cows and all their individual personalities that shine through.

Thank you to the publisher for my eARC copy of this book. Unfortunately I didn’t love this book and therefore didn’t finish, I just didn’t connect with this one. Not for me, sorry.

A laugh-out-loud funny story set in the unequivocally charming countryside.

Billie puts her life and career on hold when she moves back in with her family at their farm to help out while her father undergoes a health scare. We follow her journey as she tries to navigate the intricacies of running a farm and having a love life at the same time.

For me, the best part of this book was the cows. Who knew they could have such personality without ever uttering a word! I found Billie to be a bit of a mess, which is not uncommon in this genre but was frustrating when it came to the romance element. She was hung up on one relationship for so long that the enemies to lovers relationship seemed rushed and cut short. I wanted more time to enjoy this!

I had a few issues with terminology used when describing transgender people, and some of the characters were no more than a blatant stereotype. You could perhaps get away with that if it was only one or two of them as, after all, stereotypes exist for a reason. It rather seemed that there was a lack of original thought put into the creation of some of the side characters which really could have transformed this from a 3 to a 4 star book.

For a debut novel this was a great attempt and I look forward to reading more from the author in the future.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the review copy!

Unfortunately I had to purchase a new Kindle device and could no longer access this book. I will come back and review if I read this in the future.

I love the down-to-earth nature of dairy farms and the chaotic nature of their business. It hurts to think that the subject of this fictional story is actually the real lives of thousands of dairy farmers.
I love the relationship between all the characters; the love and compassion they showed for each other as well as for the cows!
One cannot help but love the powerful heroine, who must fight against the homophobia that resonates in her country of origin while fighting internally against her own feelings confused with another object. Billie is a determined and unwavering young woman, thrown into the world of "men" and who emerges as the winner.
The story centers on Billie, who is forced to leave her city life to help out on the family farm when her father falls ill.
This is an incredible read that I really enjoyed. I love it when a romantic movie admits its readers have brains and that movie definitely hits the mark of happiness between smart, fun, sassy, ​​and of course, great romance.

I have featured this book in the following videos
Book Haul https://youtu.be/-f39yG4sDLE
Reading Vlog https://youtu.be/feZTb99kIUk
Reading Wrap Up https://youtu.be/6LepkP5XHi8

I enjoyed this book and appreciated seeing a female/female romance in a setting like this. It was refreshing! Unfortunately I found the romance quite rushed, which took away from my enjoyment.

I didn't enjoy this book. I really struggled to get into this story. I didn't feel connected with the main character and although the book is 400 pages long it felt that very little actually happened. Sadly this book was really not for me.

I adored everything about this book!.
The storyline was hilarious and witty, the characters were wonderful, and the plot all came together perfectly.
An absolute must read for all of us rom-com lovers.

I thought this book was fantastic, it was wonderfully written and hilarious with fantastic characters and a vivid image in my mind! Would definitely recommend!

Thank you to the publisher for the opportunity to read a free advance copy of this book. Unfortunately I hadn't found time during the year to read this book, and so I will be picking up a paid copy in 2021 to support the author instead as an apology.

I might be biased as a farmer's daughter myself, but I think Cow Girl is a very entertaining comedy novel. After a slow start I was fully invested in Billy's life, the problems and heartache she was facing, her past experiences and hopes for the future, I wanted to know it all!
It's a very detailed novel that doesn't shy away from the nitty gritty of farming, the highs as well as the lows. It demonstrated an even balance between city and country life.
With the added romantic escapades, Cow Girl is a fun and flirty comedy novel about a lesbian farmer's daughter knee high in sh*t... in more ways than one!

At first, I wasn't entirely convinced by this book - but Cow Girl really picked up in the second half, and I had an excellent time reading it from that point on. I'm not sure how objective my enjoyment is - I found a lot to empathise with in Billie, and as someone who has lived in and misses both London and Sheffield, I found myself getting very nostalgic when places were namechecked. Cow Girl doesn't shy at chronicling the rural North, warts and all - but it is also treated with great tenderness (the ribbing is the mocking of someone who loves it, I think). There are some absolutely cracking one liners sprinkled throughout as well - it made me snort aloud a few times. A fun, touching read that made me feel less alone having moved back to my hometown from the Big Smoke.
4.5 rounded up to 5.

Cow Girl is different and in a very good way!

Billie is a farmer's daughter and when her dad takes ill she inherits all the responsibilities of a working-class farm. On reading this previous statement you'd think "is that it?" No, it's so much more! Yes, there is lots of talk about cattle farming, but when it's added with humour, compassion and issues surrounding homophobia you know it's serious and through-provoking. The topics were dealt with in the right way and highlight that things need to change.

I liked Billie's character as she was relatable, funny and dare I say it, normal (well as normal as normal can be!). She did have her tendencies of self-pity, but don't we all?

For a debut novel, 10/10! I'm very much looking forward to what Kirsty brings out next!

Kirsty Eyre’s Cow Girl is the wonderfully warm and witty debut novel from the winner of last year’s inaugural Comedy Women in Print Prize.

Putting your dreams on hold while leaving behind your friends and an exciting new love interest to head north to the family dairy farm when your father becomes ill might not sound like the most promising start to a comic novel but Kirsty Eyre makes it work incredibly well here. She teases out the humour in Billie’s sudden change of circumstances, balancing it against all the tears and frustration that go alongside it.

Kirsty Eyre strikes a deft balance throughout Cow Girl while dealing with such issues as misogyny and homophobia, the loss of one parent, the illness of another, and the very real challenges facing dairy farmers. And it’s one achieved in large part thanks to her likeable protagonist Billie and the way in which she navigates each obstacle and setback she comes up against. You can’t help but warm to Billie and wish her success in her endeavours, while wondering how she’s going to square her academic life in London with working out what to do with the family farm and having a relationship.

The secondary characters in Cow Girl are well drawn. I especially warmed to Billie’s dad and gran; their relationships with each other are something special. As are those with her circle of London friends who support and care for her in the best way they know how. I also loved the sparring between Billie and the vet, and their pantomime cow obstacle race was one of my favourite funny moments in the entire book. I still giggle when I think about it, even now months since first reading Cow Girl.

There are less likeable figures at play here too: Billie has to do battle against the local landowner and with some of the other dairy farmers and farm hands if she’s ever to find her voice and earn their respect and her title. All while suffering from her own feelings of inadequacy and failure.

No review of Cow Girl would be complete without mentioning a very special group of ladies—the herd of dairy cows which Billie rushes home to look after. They are quite the characters. It was such fun getting to know them all, their names and individual personalities, how that played into and affected herd life, as well as deciding which of them would go to Leeds, and why. One of my personal favourites surprised me with her weakness for Dorothy Perkins, which, let’s face it, we’ve all had at some point in our lives.

For something refreshingly different, balancing serious subjects with funny situations, I can recommend Cow Girl. Unsurprisingly, it’s a worthy, witty winner from CWIP 2019 and a good debut novel from Kirsty Eyre.

This is a mooooving read that I truly enjoyed. I like it when a romcom acknowledges that its readers have brains and this one definitely hit that happy mark between clever, fun, sassy-tactic and, of course, wonderfully romantic. Yeeehaw!

The story focuses on Billie who is forced to leave her city life behind in order to help at the family farm when her dad falls ill.
You can’t help but love the strong female protagonist who has to fight the homophobia that resonates in her home town whilst also internally fighting her own confused feelings for a number of other characters. Billie is a determined and unphased young woman who is thrown into a “man’s” world and comes out on top.
I loved the realistic nature of the dairy farms and the turbulent nature of their business. It’s heartbreaking to think that the subject of this fictional story is actually real life for thousands of dairy farmers.

I adored the relationships between all of the characters; the love and compassion they showed each other as well as the cows!
I would definitely recommend this book when you are in need of a feel good, comedy - it did after all win the Comedy Women in Print Prize!

*Thanks to Netgalley and Harper Collins for the advanced reader copy of Cow Girl in exchange for this review.


This contemporary comedic story follows Billie, a lesbian biochemist who is forced to upsticks and move back from her lab-life in London, to the British countryside to help run her family farm. It’s in the middle of nowhere, there’s over 100 cows and it’s put a spanner in the works of her PHD aspirations.

The basis of the plot centres around Billie’s life which now consists of a Dad in recovery from a tumour, an interfering Grandma, dairy farming and relationship drama including a hot french scientist, an ex girlfriend and a love/hate relationship with a bovine vet. There’s a strong family and community element to the story, and homophobia and prejudice is tackled head on by Billie by those in the Yorkshire village she now calls home. She’s surrounded by a host of charming secondary characters like her friends from London, and the villagers.

The “leaving London for country life” reminded me a little of Sophie Kinsella’s My Not So Perfect Life, and whilst this book does have some charm, it didn’t quite hit the same as the usual chick flicks I like to read. It’s a great debut novel from the author, and the farm / cow puns were spot on humour - I just felt a bit of a disconnect and couldn’t fully emerge into the story.

This book did absolutely nothing wrong and I will probably revisit it at some point in the future, but I haven’t been inclined to pick the book back up at all. I think I’m just not connecting with this story. Hate not finishing books, and I can’t criticise this one for any reason, it just isn’t working for me. Sorry. Thank you so much for sending me the e-galley. I really appreciate it. Will not be reviewing on Instagram since I DNFed but will post about it in my stories.