This review was first posted on http://www.rubysreads.com. 
 It feels like just yesterday that I heard about this book and squealed over the prospect of a "hot neighbor cowboy" and trying to get Small to run away to Texas with me in pursuit of same. Now, here I am, writing my review for it. Life is good. Well, not as good as it could be. Small has thus far elected to stay with her fiance. Ah, well. More hot neighbor cowboys for me. 
 Texas Gothic tells the story of Amy Goodnight and her sister, Phin. Amy and Phin are ranch-sitting for their aunt during the summer after Amy's high school graduation. All Amy wants is to survive until she gets to college, where she hopes to live a normal, non-magical life. You see, Amy's family sees ghosts and makes potions. Amy is the self-appointed "normalizer" of her family. She's the one that tries to control the crazy, and she looks forward to college as a time away from being the one that holds everything together. 
 Unfortunately, the summer at the Goodnight Ranch is going to make that impossible for her. It's also going to force her to realize that she isn't as normal and non-magical as she thought. Even if Amy doesn't actively practice magic, she uses it. And she has powers she's refused to acknowledge for many years. When she meets Ben McCulloch, she finds herself defending the very things she's spent so many years deriding herself. It doesn't help that Ben's got a chip on his shoulder regarding Amy, her family, and ghost stories. You may safely assume that their romance isn't a tale of love at first sight. 
 Amy is a likable heroine. She's both funny and perceptive. Her story is one of my favorites--I like when a heroine makes a journey to self-discovery and thereby develops a sense of self-worth. I don't think that Amy began the story with low self-esteem, but rather that she didn't have the confidence to stand up for what she knew to be true if it meant risking others' opinion of her. I probably like this storyline because it's something I know I'll be working on probably until I die. But I digress. 
 I also really enjoyed Amy's sister, Phin, who reminded me of Merlin from Laura Kinsale's Midsummer Moon. All too cerebral and often failing to understand humans, human interaction and human emotion, but being adorably wonderful and lovable all the same. And, of course, completely frustrating to deal with in reality. Especially for Amy, whose dearest wish is that no one should find out how truly bizarre her family is. 
 Finally, there is the hot cowboy neighbor, Ben. Amy's first meeting with Ben doesn't go well. Neither does her second, third, fourth or fifth. I'm not usually one for best enemies to lovers relationships because they generally become silly in their attempt to maintain the bad blood. Or, at least, the characters come off as silly. And don't even get me started on the whole "I HATE you/But your pecs/abs/beautiful face/I MUST suck your face" phenomenon. Amy, while attracted to Ben, is completely aware of his jerkiness, and calls him on it. Even once she knows the true source of his irritation, she doesn't melt into a puddle of understanding. She knows that whatever frustrations life has thrown at him, that doesn't excuse bad behavior. Clement-Moore did a fantastic job with Ben in that she really made him seem like a nineteen or twenty-year old boy. Unfortunately, she did such a wonderful job that I can't crush on him. He needs another ten years to mature. It happens. 
 Over all, I really enjoyed this book. It's not too heavy on the ghost stuff, but it's there, and I like the idea of all the Goodnight products that "work like magic" because they actually contain magic. That was awesome, and I wish it were true in real life. Amy is a character--and this is a world--I wouldn't mind revisiting. I think there's room for Amy to explore her talents, and for Amy and Ben's relationship to grow and stretch, and for an added bonus, there would be more Phin (and her hot Latin love interest, Marc). So, yeah, highly recommended. Preorder this title, if you haven't already.