Holding the Reins is a book outside of my usual reading genres, however I thoroughly enjoyed it. The chemistry between the characters along with the twists and turns really made this book hard to put down. I felt that this book was well paced, with it's short chapters it made it easy to binge which helped me get through it quite quickly. This is great for anyone who likes a spicy cowboy romance with banter.

Love this book! I loved how the story evolved and the little twists and turns along the way. A great read and didn't end how I expected it to. Would definitely recommend!

i fell in LOVE with this book, i’ve been recommending to literally everyone because the spice, the plot, the timing everything was bang on!!!

The chemistry between them was so real and addicting. I couldn't stop reading. The short chapters and the pace were perfection.
Reading about the trauma Nash suffered and how it still affected him years, decades after it happened was so heartbreaking. And CeCe was so patient and tried to be there for him. What an amazing family they have (including all the friends). He was the perfect combination of dominant and giving. And the maneven has tattoos!

I just don't think cowboy romances are for me. It felt like it could be a good story but I just personally didn't enjoy it and felt it was quire misogonistic, I don't enjoy reading books like this when thats not meant to be the theme or point of the story.

Holding the Reins by Paisley Hope

I received an advance review copy for free thanks to NetGalley and Penguin and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Blurb

Cecilia “CeCe” Ashby is finally escaping the toxic relationship that has consumed her entire adult life.. She returns to her hometown of Laurel Creek, Kentucky and her family’s equestrian ranch unsure of what the future holds. It’s time to move on, she just has no idea where to start.

Nash Carter is the newly retired superstar of the Dallas Stars, Laurel Creek’s hometown hero, local business owner and notorious bachelor. He’s also the unofficial fourth sibling in the Ashby clan.

It’s been years since his days of tormenting and protecting CeCe with her older brothers Wade and Cole, but when CeCe returns to town unexpectedly and needs a job, he knows he has to have her and not entirely for business.

In fact, Nash can’t seem to take his eyes off of his best friend’s much younger, vulnerable little sister and it seems she’s been staring right back.

My Opinion

Holding the Reins was a fun read with a lot of spice. With short chapters this book was easy to keep reading.

Rating 4/5

It is the story of CeCe who after finding out her fiancé Andrew cheated on her, comes back to her hometown and build a new life. She lives amongst her family and Nash who is her older brother’s best friend that she has always found gorgeous. As Nash is quite involved in town, she will have to work with/for him.

This book had all the tropes I liked but I didn’t love it. I thought it was fine. I think I didn’t click with the writing. I also felt like there were too many spicy scenes.

CeCe is a powerful main character and I liked her. I thought Mabel was such a cute character and the mixed media was a great addition!

You know that moment when you start reading a book and you just click with the writing style and story immediately and know you are going to love it? well I got that feeling at about page 3 in this book. I just knew I was going to devour this book and fall instantly in love with all of the characters.

I simply adored every single element of this book. Nash was by far one of the best MMCs I've read about in a while, I'm a huge lover of the MMCs who have trauma from their past and have to find a way to work past it or the FMC helps them deal with it so they can be together and this book hit the spot for that so well. Nash is dealing with a lot of trauma from when his parents died and watching him and CeCe fall in love and him open up to her about it was one of my favourite parts of the book!

What more do you need in a book than a protective, caring MMC who is a retired Hockey player, owns a bar and is also a part time cowboy??? We love cowboys in this house and ones who play Hockey... well we love them 1000% more. I loved the little moments in this book showing how much Nash cared for CeCe, especially in the beginning. The little moments will always be what make or break a book for me and this story was absolutely incredible, it has everything I needed it to and I am jumping immediately into book two of this series!

This was a great fun small town read. Nash and Cece are a hot couple! If you love small town cowboy romances like Lyla Sage & Elsie Silver then you'll really enjoy this one!

- small town romance
- Hot and sassy FMC
- possessive cowboy ММС
- No third act breakup
- flirty banter
- spice 🌶️
- brother's best friend
- reformed playboy

Unfortunately this didn’t work for me. It felt like tropes glued together for the sake of it, but I didn’t manage to connect with the characters and the story.
Also there were a lot of spicy scenes that didn’t really help with the character development.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my copy of this e-arc!

Once I started reading I could not stop! I devoured this book in mere hours because I was just obsessed with the two main characters. I needed more of them and to know how their story would end. I still want more from this now and that’s when you know it’s an amazing read that you’ll constantly recommend!

I loved how it was ex-nhl/part time cowboy feel to it! It worked so perfectly and the romance built up before anything physically happened!

A small town, (very) steamy, cowboy romance.

She’s a beautiful young woman returning to her hometown after breaking up with her narcissistic partner.
He’s her brothers’ gorgeous friend, former ice hockey professional, part time cowboy, bar owner and town benefactor.
They met back up and sparks fly!

❤️ a fun easy read
🚩 possessiveness and controlling behaviour

Thanks to cornerstone and netgalley for the chance to read this ARC

4.5⭐️
I became OBSSESSED with this book even to the point I stayed up most the night to finish it! Which is absolutely unheard off or me. The writing is so easy to read and I lived the dual POV. I fell so in love with this world and the characters I can not wait to read the rest of the series!!

4.25⭐️


Thank you negalley and penguin for the arc.

✨Nash the man that you are✨

This book gave me the same vibes I had when reading the chestnut spring series. I loved the found family element and the snippets we got for future books in the series.

I cannot wait to read the rest of this series. The Ashby brothers and the not angels are just iconic and I cannot wait for their books💖💖

Also the ending and the epilogue was just so cute 💗💗

I really really wanted to love this book but there was just too much spice for me that I think it took away from the actual story.

I absolutely loved this book!

We start with Cece, who’s moving back home after a tough breakup, hoping for a fresh start. Enter Nash, a retired hockey player turned part-time cowboy. As Cece settles back into life in her small hometown, she keeps running into Nash – whether he’s helping out at the family ranch or becoming her new boss.

Their connection is undeniable, but there’s one major problem: Cece is Nash’s best friend’s sister, which makes her off-limits. Or does it?

This book had everything I love in a small-town romance – a steamy love story, loveable characters, and the perfect balance of tension and sweetness. I think this might be my new favourite in the genre! If you’re a fan of small-town cowboy romances, look no further. I can’t wait to devour everything Paisley Hope has written, and I’m excited to read the next book.

5 stars – perfection!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I liked the main female character but overall I found the story to be very boring.

Look, we all know that cowboy romance is in and Paisley simply does not disappoint! This book is very much a comfort read for those in their Cowboy Roland era and I, for one, thoroughly enjoyed it

I loved this, it was a nice fluffy, spicy fun read, perfect as a palette cleanser, i always love the cowboys element I highly recommend to anyone and everyone go and read this

CeeCee returns home as her life as she knows is basically falling apart. She finds her Fiancée has been cheating on her and she has had enough packs her bags as returns home to the comfort of her family ranch to get her life back on track. When she gets there she gets there she realises her brother’s best friend is there after retiring from being a pro iice hockey player and now part time cowboy . There is chemistry between them-and he has part of her family since his parents died when he was young. A well written quick enjoyable read with interesting characters , humour the odd bit of steamy under current for good measure.