Reagan Wilson blames her father’s love of riding bulls for his death and she was not going to stay around and watch her girlfriend do the same thing. Leaving Asher Evans was the hardest decision she ever made until she decided to return home many years later.

Asher’s dream is to become the first female World Champion Rodeo Rider and she is almost there. Reagan is hoping for a second chance with Asher if Asher would only open her heart.

The first third of the book had me. It is exciting and moving forward until Asher forgives Reagan. After this, there are communications mishaps which has Reagan teary eyed and begging forgiveness over and over again.

I must say that the rodeo scenes are very well written to place you in the stands watching and feeling the excitement of this sport. Vali also utilizes her epilogue for maximum effect to end the story on the right note.

I received a free advance review copy from Bold Strokes Books through NetGalley. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

A reader can tell that either a tremendous amount of research went into writing this book about cattle farming and rodeo life or the author has a background in these topics. But I would have liked to see more balance with those subjects and the romance. The romance between Asher and Reagan fell flat for me and the second half of the book was tedious. 2 stars

I received an ARC from Bold Strokes Books and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a story about rodeo rider Asher Evans and physical therapist Reagan Wilson. Asher and Reagan grew up together as kids on a ranch in Louisiana. At 18 they got into a huge misunderstanding and fight. Reagan left to go away to college and Asher was broken-hearted.

Asher is a bull rider and is in line to win the national championship when she gets injured. Reagan has come back to New Orleans to start a new job. Asher and Reagan meet up in a restaurant and neither is happy about it.

The second half of the book is filled with angst and constant miss communication. Asher doesn’t trust Reagan and Reagan is filled with regret.

I liked the first half of the book. I always enjoy Vali’s writing style and enjoyed seeing old her characters brought into this story. The second half was very repetitive with the constant angst and poor communication.
I liked learning about the Dutch milk cows that look like Oreo cookies.

ARC received from NetGalley for an honest and voluntary review.

A lot of my reviews come down to me loving a story and writing, but being disappointed in the author's world-building or research. I am happy to say this author knew the world she was writing in. I may not be an expert, but I am decently familiar with cattle and rodeo from childhood summers on my grandparents' farm and very detail Vali included about Asher's ranching and riding felt authentic and true. This is no small feat. I wouldn't be surprised at all if Vali lives or has lived with cowboy culture before.

However, for me, the writing and story fell a little flat. There was no clear definition between Asher and Reagan's viewpoint, and they often switched back and forth on the same page with no warning. That gets confusing quickly, especially in LGBTQ romance where all partners involved use she/her.

SPOILERS BELOW

Likewise, for me, the story resolved itself little over halfway through when Reagan and Asher got back together and agreed to forgive each other. Then the action just kept dragging out with episodic problems that in a lot of instances, like Steph's sudden appearance in Vegas, felt very deus ex machina.

To me, this story had a lot of things going for it, but Vali's execution let me down.

I am really on the fence with this one (and not as a pun since this takes place mostly on a ranch). I love Ms. Vali's stories and the rich in depth characters she gives us (see the Devil series) . I was anticipating this one to grab me and hold on, but (yeah I hate typing that), this story and it's characters felt just a bit lacking and in truth this plot felt a lot like Harry and Desi's story (One More Chance-school sweethearts, one left, hurts the other, find their way back with a lot of anger).

I was not very taken with Reagan, she just jumped to conclusions so fast and for someone who supposedly hated ranching and Asher for choosing bull riding over her, she go pretty cozy with her in that cabin without really clearing a lot up. Now I did love that Jacqueline made an appearance (read Calling The Dead) and was sassy as ever-I hate to say it but I would have loved to have seen Jacqueline get her HEA with Asher-fingers crossed one day she will, with a woman hopefully.

As I said earlier, this story takes place mainly on a ranch or rodeo, and the description of the environments was just wonderful. Ms. Vali always writes with such vivid details I always feel like I could be right there, and in most cases has me wanting to travel to New Orleans again-you can just tell the love she has for that city and state.

Overall, this book just didn't grab and hold me unfortunately. I didn't dislike it, it was more the feeling of I read this plot before so lacked holding my attention and I just wasn't feeling the connection with the MCs. There was just to much misunderstandings and no communication, just anger and run instead sitting down and talking.

I don't know, like I said I am on the fence with this one, I give it a soft 3 and maybe I am just to spoiled with Ms. Vali's other stories/characters, It's not bad but not one of her better ones (sorry).

The premise sounded interesting but the actual execution fell flat. The plot took quite a while to actually begin and even then it lacked substance.

This story has gone from more to less, which has been a shame, because the interest in the story has been decreasing to the point of wanting it to end and that is not a good sign.

The two protagonists have a relationship since childhood, but one of them, Reagan, left the ranch where they lived to escape the fears that the surrounding environment caused her, she believed that moving away would not suffer, but she did not get it that way either. She went to the other end of the country to start a physiotherapist and already established in that, she decides to return to her origins, little by little, gradually, as if trying to acclimatize again to the old environment.

The other protagonist, Asher, stayed and followed in the footsteps of her adopted uncle and Reagan's father, the world of rodeos. She has managed to reach almost the top, but she still has one last step to go. Parallel to her career in rodeos, she has taken care of the ranch and has increased its capacity and its objectives, apparently that aspect is the one she prefers to follow after retiring from competition, cattle breeding.

The reunion between Asher and Reagan cannot be easy, they have issues of the past to resolve and above all they have lost trust between them, but circumstances will bring them back together and they will be given a second chance.

Well, all that happens in a third of the book or in half of it, so the rest of the story is a little lacking in topic and the author has stretched them too much and that is what has caused the decrease in interest.

Reagan Wilson and Asher Evans grew up together on Louisiana cattle ranches. They were each others first loves. Asher has been successfully growing the ranch she inherited from her father. Prize money from being a top bull rider on the rodeo circuit has helped. She also managed to go to college to understand the business side of her work and get an MBA. Currently she is a top contender nationally and wants the title in the National Rodeo Finals in Las Vegas.

Reagan hates bull riding. She blames the heart attack that kills her father on the many, many years that he gave to bull riding. Reagan left for college at 18 and is now a sports physical therapist. She returns to Louisiana after years in Washington to be near her uncle. He is running the ranch that was half left to her by her dad. Of course it means seeing Asher again.

The big break between the two women happens because Reagan didn’t want Asher to be a bull rider. They fall back together quickly which works because they already have long history together. But what is harder for me is that Reagan has to continually be wrong for her past choice. Some situations are grayer or there is miscommunications. But this one feels like Reagan has to continually apologize for her viewpoint and leaving. And I didn’t love that. Somehow the situation is very cut and dry and Asher isn’t responsible in the least. It felt simple plot wise instead of the usual deep, rich characters and stories I normally read from Ali Vali.

It is a good story with lots of heat. It just didn’t blow my socks off. Thank you to NetGalley and Bold Strokes Book for the ARC and I’m leaving a voluntary review.

Romance has not been hitting for me lately but this one was fine! I was torn between disinterest and curiosity of the rodeo riding background, but I thought it was really well researched and felt like a well developed world. I didn't feel strongly about either of the leads or their romance, but the writing was solid and it was enjoyable overall.

I do love Ali Vali, she has written some excellent books. I wanted to love this but I only liked it. As a story it has great promise but I found the execution unconvincing. Asher is a bull rider and ranch owner. She lives alone although she has a girlfriend. Neither of them are committed to the relationship. Asher won’t commit again after having her heart broken by Reagan when they were both young.

Reagan had left the area but comes back and as a physiotherapist treats Asher when she has an accident. The relationship is developing but the speed and the sexual aspects didn’t gel with me. Asher is hurt but forgiving and doesn’t know the whole story of why Reagan left.

There are some excellent ancillary characters and the bull riding parts are well written and feel ‘real’. I’m looking forward to what Ms Vali comes up with next.

I was given a copy of this book by Netgalley

Another great story by Ali Vali. In Never Kiss A Cowgirl Asher is a champion bull rider as well as savvy businesswoman but love has alluded her since her childhood sweetheart up and left her.
Now that girl Reagan has come back but doesn’t appear to be in a hurry to see Asher again.
Reagan left all those years ago because she couldn’t handle the possibility of losing Asher to a bull like she did her father. Is it possible that love is greater than fear?
There will be roadblocks fir these two and we’ll hope they can work things out but…..?
I’ve read many of Ms. Vali’s books and enjoy the crossover of characters from some of those.
This story did not disappoint

Thank you #NetGalley. #BoldStrokesBooks for this ARC

I received an ARC copy of this book from the Publisher via Netgalley and voluntarily leaving my review.

Reagan and Asher were best friends sort of adopted siblings who fell in love while growing up they planned a life together. When Reagan father dies from the very thing Asher wants to do she couldn’t handle it and left. Years later Asher is becoming bull riding champion while running a ranch and Reagan has become physiotherapist who moves back into town. Asher and Reagan has a lot to get through if they want a second chance together but it’s few bumps ahead with Asher having a friends with benefits with Jacqueline who I really like and Reagan who continue to have dinner with her ex Stephanie who I love when she said to Reagan it’s ok for you to love what you do but not anyone else I mean I get it with Reagan who wants to be with someone who could died just like her father did. Even though Reagan did act self-center I was tire of hearing her apologize all the time. Overall ok read I really hope the author will write another story with Sept and Keegan they are my favorite characters I enjoy all the authors books but I reread Sept and Keegan story often.

It starts promising. Asher is on track to be a bull riding champion. Her ex girlfriend, bff and somewhat step sister Reagan is a PT who moved from back home. The reason for Reagan leaving- Asher’s determination to be a bull rider- is still there so we have an ongoing conflict of feelings. There’s the expectation that Asher will become Reagan’s patient but there’s quite some reading until we get to that point, almost half the book and in that time Reagan dine’s with her ex a lot and Asher is having a friends with benefits situation. And then, suddenly, the bygones become bygones and bam, second chance romance. Some plot twisters are getting thrown in quite quickly but I think they miss the mark. And then we have the ending when yet another senseless twist is thrown in in the shape of Reagan’s ex. But it all ends well and the 3 years later epilogue is the epitome of a HEA.
Free ARC via NetGalley

➥ 2 Stars *:･ﾟ✧

“I’m with you because you’re beautiful and understand the importance of a good steak.”

━━━━━━━━━━━ ♡ ━━━━━━━━━━━


Although this had a strong and interesting premise, the execution sadly fell flat for me. This is a story about Reagan (h) and Asher (h) who used to be childhood friends/lovers, but when Asher decided to pursue what killed Reagan's dad, Reagan couldn't take it and fled. Years later, Reagan is back in town and the two cross each other once again.

The blurb establishes a premise where Asher gets injured while bull riding, and Reagan, who is now a physiotherapist, is assigned to help her recover. But this part of the synopsis does not occur until 40%! In looking through my Goodreads friend's reviews for other books by this author, Leah mentioned that this seems to be a common occurrence.

I would be inclined to place this 'blame' on the editor or publisher who decides the blurb, however, everything leading up until that plotpoint was boring and lacked substance, so I instead think it would have been better for the author to have introduced this aspect sooner.

In the same vein, in that first 40%, we still see Asher having sex and relations with another woman, as well as being fed some dense backstory. This is detrimental, as it is essential to intrigue and grip the reader from the beginning of a novel, and at least stay true to the synopsis they were sold.

Because it took so long for the main plotpoint to begin, once it does occur, Asher and Reagan go from zero to a hundred extremely quickly. Suddenly everything was forgiven, they were going on dates again, and having sex together. The "I love you" was said as early on as the 65% mark!

I think that, because the plotpoint was introduced so late, it was not used as a facilitator for romantic development. I would have liked to see a more gradual, augmenting growth in the characters feelings as they worked together towards Asher's recovery, but sadly that is not what we got.

Since their relationship was pretty much established by 65%, the remainder of the book was purely conflict. In second-chance romance, it's common to expect for there to have been a conflict to separate characters in the first place, and there was a miscommunication then. But to add to this by later on breaking the characters' trust again and making the same character (Reagan) apologise again was more than grating. The conflict was about (view spoiler). Overall very melodramatic, and did absolutely nothing to further romantic development between the characters, which should undeniably be the focus of a romance.

Then, could you believe it, there was another conflict introduced. A secondary character suddenly shows up like a cartoon villain and wreaks havoc (view spoiler). Not entertaining in the least, and again added nothing to the story. It felt like a cheap addition.

And then, you guessed it, there was another conflict (that means there were 3 third-act conflicts). Another side character randomly shows up claiming to love Reagan, and that drama is further pursued by the author. Not compelling whatsoever.

Naturally, all these cheap inclusions of more conflicts and the slow start at the beginning, resulted in this being ultimately a pretty long book, unnecessarily. I personally do not mind a longer book, when it's length is used for the sake of emphasising the gradual romantic development between characters, the well-beloved slowburn. But that was not the case here at all. The combination of barely any romantic development, and the longer length of the book made this an unenjoyable read for me.

Once Asher and Reagan had gotten back together, almost instantaneously, there were a few sex scenes, but they were not very well written in my opinion.

“You’re good at cows, honey, but sometimes you need a hint when it comes to other things.” Asher laughed again. “I bought this for you.” She lifted Asher’s hand and placed it on her right breast. “Feel free to unwrap it.”


They were very short, sometimes lasting only two paragraphs, and the dialogue itself was quite basic and unmoving. There was even one moment where there was a strange emphasis placed on Reagan's feet...

“Let me finish,” Reagan said, already in her bare feet. If the nightgown the night before wasn’t enough to make Asher nuts, the dark red toenail polish might tip her over the edge. “Want anything?” Reagan smiled when she caught her staring at her feet.


In terms of characters themselves, I found Reagan to be quite annoying. At first, I was defensive of her, because I don't think it's criminal for her to have been too scared and grieving to romantically involve herself with someone who wants to pursue what already killed someone she loved. But, she just kept having to apologise for things, desperate for Asher's forgiveness, and would continuously repeat phrases like "thank you for forgiving me, I know I don't deserve it", which also being grating over time.

Asher was also quite arrogant and substanceless. Her dialogue wasn't anything extremely well-characterised and I just did not find her charming at all. Not only would she say things like the quote above, but she even later says this (while she's in an established relationship with Reagan) about the other woman we see her engage with earlier on.

If anyone could’ve made her forget Reagan, it would’ve been Jacqueline. There wasn’t a woman alive who could erase Reagan completely, but Jacqueline was in a category all by herself when it came to enjoying the hell out of life.


In the end, Asher wins her final rodeo and *dusts hands* everything is tied in a nice bow. Generally, I sadly felt this book severely lacked depth and development, no matter how much I was intrigued by the original premise and no matter how much I wanted to enjoy this one. I this with a more thorough editing job, plot reconstruction, and more nuanced dialogue and character development, this could have been a bit more successful.

Thank you Netgalley and Bold Strokes Books for a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

━━━━━━━━━━━ ♡ ━━━━━━━━━━━

Another great story from Ali Vali. It took me a while to warm to Reagan. She seemed initially to be a rather self-absorbed brat. I really felt Asher should stick with Jacqueline. However the heart wants what the heart wants. Enjoyed reading about Asher and Reagan’s second chance romance. Interspersed with Asher’s bull riding competitions and the further plans she had for her ranch. It’s also good how AV includes characters from her other books. (Which I’ve also read and enjoyed). Not to give away any spoilers but Reagan did seem a nicer person by the end!