Love is a War Song is a fun sunshine/grumpy/fish out of water romance with a New Adult feel. While the romance is fun, the cultural representation is what sets this novel apart from others.

Here’s the publisher’s plot description:

Pop singer Avery Fox has become a national joke after posing scantily clad on the cover of Rolling Stone in a feather warbonnet. What was meant to be a statement of her success as a Native American singer has turned her into a social pariah and dubbed her a fake. With threats coming from every direction and her career at a standstill, she escapes to her estranged grandmother Lottie’s ranch in Oklahoma. Living on the rez is new to Avery—not only does she have to work in the blazing summer heat to earn her keep, but the man who runs Lottie’s horse ranch despises her and wants her gone.

Red Fox Ranch has been home to Lucas Iron Eyes since he was sixteen years old. He has lived by three rules to keep himself out of trouble: 1) preserve the culture, 2) respect the horses, and 3) stick to himself. When he is tasked with picking up Lottie’s granddaughter at the bus station, the last person he expected to see is the Avery Fox. Lucas can’t stand what she represents, but when he’s forced to work with her on the ranch, he can’t get her out of his sight—or his head. He reminds himself to keep to his rules, especially after he finds out the ranch is under threat of being shut down.

It’s clear Avery doesn’t belong here, but they form a tentative truce and make a deal. Avery will help raise funds to save the ranch, and in exchange, Lucas will show her what it really means to be an Indian. It’s purely transactional, absolutely no horsing around…but where’s the fun in that?

Carrie: This is told from Avery’s point of view, and she’s a funny, engaging heroine, if one who is almost shockingly naive given her profession. Avery is in her early 20s and has spent her life being ‘managed’ by her mother. Her mother has controlled Avery’s personal and professional life since Avery became a child actor, and signed her up with an agent and label that refuses to allow Avery to release her own music (she is a songwriter). A lot of this book is about Avery’s journey to find her own self and claim both responsibility for and agency over her own life.

Shana: Avery is marketed as a Native American pop star, but her mother refuses to tell her much about her culture. After Avery is forced to release the single “I Need a Warrior” instead of her own music she agrees to dress in offensive outfits for her music video and her Rolling Stone cover because she thinks she is doing something subversive – ironically reclaiming American Indian stereotypes by wearing a leather bikini and cultural artifacts. What made Avery likable is that when her mistakes are made clear, she quickly regrets them, even if some of the claims against her—like being a Pretendian—aren’t true.

Carrie: Unfortunately she lacks the common sense, the independence, or the knowledge required to see why her artistic choices were a problem. One thing that speaks in Avery’s favor immediately is that she is only defensive about this when confronted by a man she’s never met before who mocks her the second she gets off a miserable bus ride from Los Angeles to Oklahoma. The rest of the time, Avery is ready to learn, whether it’s about her culture, her family history, or how to clean a horse stall.

The man who makes fun of her is, of course, Lucas, and of course they fall in love over the course of the book. There’s a trend lately to have romances with only one point-of-view character, and it works fine if we think of the books as a novel about the POV character with a strong romantic element. Taken as a Romance Novel ™, I dislike this trend because I find that the non-POV character ends up being less well-developed leading to a less well-balanced romance. Lucas is an interesting person. He’s been through a lot and he has a generous and loyal heart and big but also realistic and well-thought out plans. But his character arc is from “I don’t like her” to “I love her”. I would have loved to have some time from his POV, and for him to have had a more developed story.

Shana: I usually grumble about single-POV romances, but I didn’t mind it so much here. Enemies to Lovers isn’t my favorite trope, and at first it felt like Lucas was negging Avery so I was happy not to be inside his head for that nonsense. I was overjoyed when Lucas and Avery’s animosity simmered down and the two of them started working together on the ranch.

I liked uncovering the mystery of Lucas’s backstory alongside Avery…and there were quite a few surprises to unpack along the way. One of my favorite moments was when Lucas, a seemingly solipsistic small town boy who has never left Oklahoma, admits that he’d love to visit Machu Picchu to see something built by Indigenous people that hasn’t been destroyed. My man had layers. And the more I learned about him, the more he seemed right for Avery.

Even though Lucas is also in his 20s, he seemed much older than Avery. He steps in to rescue her when she can’t cook, drive a truck, or fix a songwriting problem. I think readers who enjoy a slight age gap with a wiser hero and younger heroine might like Lucas and Avery’s dynamic. For me, Avery seemed emotionally immature at times.

Avery has a lot to learn about Muscogee culture and rural life. She makes hilarious mistakes and Lucas is a gentle teacher, even when he’s teasing her.  Early on Lucas nearly convinces Avery that the tribe can tell time down to the minute based on the color of the sunrise. He quickly fesses up, and warns her not to be as naive around tribal elders who like to joke around. As someone who has repeatedly fallen for the tall tales of uncles, I can confirm this is sound advice. What keeps Avery from TSTL territory is that she’s a quick learner around the ranch and a fantastic musician. She’s a Fish out of Water but not totally incompetent. And that leads to plenty of fun banter between her and her new ranch family.

Carrie: I wanted to see a LOT more about the relationship between Avery’s mother and her grandmother, Lottie. There’s some discussion that maybe Lottie wasn’t such a great mom, and there’s discussion that her mother might go through some redemption once Avery stands up to her, but it’s barely touched upon.

Shana: Totally. I kept thinking the story would dig into generational trauma but there’s a lot that’s left unspoken between the lines. Avery learns to set boundaries, but the adults in her life don’t magically change into healed, excellent communicators.  I ultimately enjoyed that the book doesn’t dwell on Bad Mom behavior and kept the tone lighthearted, but I would have liked a real showdown between Avery’s mom and grandma.

Carrie: This book works because it’s wonderful to see the Muscogee Cree people represented not as some sort of mythical figures but as fully modern day people with a strong sense of heritage and culture. It’s also lovely to see a story in which Native American communities have challenges, but are also depicted as places of strong community and joy.

It also works as a coming-of-age story: Avery is able to develop a strong sense of independence and integrity as well as a sense of being surrounded by a community that cares about her as a person, not her as a performer. While I thought she and Lucas were a great pairing and I very much enjoyed their scenes together, it doesn’t work fully as a Romance Novel ™ for me because we never get Lucas’ POV. Overall, however, I found this book to be highly enjoyable.

Shana: I have a soft spot for untraditional cowboy romances, and this is the best one I’ve read in years. It has all the texture I love in a ranch setting, softly worn work shirts, a sweeping big sky, buttery biscuits, and a slow smile under a tipped hat. But my favorite part is how Avery isn’t forced to choose between her dreams and love. She doesn’t have to make herself small to appreciate small town life.

Readers who are fans of enemies to lovers stories, or books where celebrities learn to live like regular people might like this a lot, but it’s especially welcoming to readers who want more romances with Indigenous characters crafted by Indigenous writers. The tropes are familiar, but the characters and their community make this book very, very special.