Kissing Cowboys by Meg Cabot: What We Know Before 8 December
Meg Cabot has a new book out in December. If you read that sentence and thought “Princess Diaries,” it is not that. There is no Genovia in it.
Here is the truth: Kissing Cowboys is the first book of a brand-new YA series about a New York girl at a working-farm school in Montana. The dates differ between the US and the UK, and some of the basic story details differ between listings.
The Reader’s Truth: “A new book from an author you grew up on is a promise you want to check before you keep. Here is what the listings actually say.”
What it is
Kissing Cowboys is a contemporary YA romance and the first book in a new series. It is a paperback, 336 pages in the listings we found.
According to the agency that sold the UK rights, Cabot describes it as her first YA series in more than a decade. That is her own framing, passed on in a rights announcement, so we are quoting it as hers and not as a fact we have counted.
The dates are not the same everywhere
| Publisher | Date | |
|---|---|---|
| US | HarperCollins | 8 December 2026 |
| UK | Simon & Schuster Children’s Books | 3 or 4 December 2026 |
The US date comes from a US book listing and a roundup of December releases. For the UK, the rights announcement says 4 December and a Blackwell’s listing says 3 December. We have not been able to tell which is right, so if you are buying from a UK shop, check the date on the page you order from.
What the listings say happens
Winn Riley is sixteen and from New York. She ends up at a working-farm school in Montana, where the students are boys, and she is the only girl. She does cattle work and classes. Two boys are named in the listings, Zack and Teddy, and one UK listing calls it a love triangle.
Here is where the sources disagree. One description says she is sent there after her brother is expelled. Another says her mother takes a teaching job at the ranch. We do not know which is closer to the book, and we are not going to pick one. The same UK listing says Winn’s story continues the following summer, so it is a series that is planned to keep going.
The listings do not give the series a name or a number of books.
What it is not
It is not The Princess Diaries, and it is not part of it. Here is a guide to everything else Cabot has written.
If The Princess Diaries is what you were hoping for, there is separate news on the film. We have the latest in the “who is” post.
What we do not know
We have not read Kissing Cowboys, and we have not found any reviews yet. This is not a review.
We do not know the series name, how many books it will run to, or whether a hardcover is planned. We will update this when the publishers say.
Should you preorder?
If you read Cabot as a teenager and want a fresh YA from her: yes. It is a paperback, so it is a small commitment.
If you want a cowboy romance with a fish-out-of-water heroine: this is exactly that premise.
If you want to start with her older books first: that guide is here, and it has a short list of places to begin.
If you are here for something else coming out in December: Adrienne Young’s Chosen Son is out on 15 December.
The short version
- Kissing Cowboys by Meg Cabot: US 8 December 2026, HarperCollins; UK 3 or 4 December, Simon & Schuster Children’s
- 336 pages, paperback
- First book of a new YA series, Cabot’s first YA series in more than a decade, per her UK agent
- Winn Riley, 16, from New York, at a working-farm school in Montana; the listings disagree about why she goes
- Zack and Teddy are named as love interests
- Not part of The Princess Diaries
- Series name and length: not announced
Are you reading this for the cowboys or because Meg Cabot was your whole fifteenth year? I think the second group is the larger one.
Sources: Hardman & Swainson, Simon & Schuster acquire Kissing Cowboys · Bookishelf, Kissing Cowboys · Blackwell’s, Kissing Cowboys · Beyond the Bookends, Most Anticipated December 2026 Book Releases
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