CeCe leaves her toxic fiancé and moves back home to her family’s ranch where she re-meets Nash Carter, her brothers’s best friend and unofficial third older brother. Except neither CeCe or Nash see themselves as family and what starts out as a one night stand with rules quickly turns into something more but a lot of trauma stands in the way of a relationship.

This (almost) perfectly mixed the workplace romance, sports romance, and the cowboy romance genres. I would have liked a little more of the workplace romance as this trope kind of disappeared after their first night together. I absolutely adored this book and it got better as it went on and I became so invested. I am so excited for Wade and Ivy’s book and I loved that it was being gently set up in this novel. I really hope the other stories centre around the same time as CeCe and Nash’s and you get to read the other characters POVs and their stories from that time. The book has complex topics talked in a relatively lighthearted way which I enjoyed and it gave the characters some depth without being heavy or emotionally draining which is exactly what I wanted from this. This book is open door and the spice was definitely spicing 🌶️, I could not for the life of me read the last s*x scene with a straight face. Nash for sure has a filthy mouth and I can’t say I was mad about it 👀.

Knocking off a star for over repetition of things like CeCe smelling like strawberries, her v*gina being abused, his massive p*nis but this was mostly confined to the first half of the book. I didn’t really like Ginger and Liv at the beginning, I didn’t feel like there was any depth there and basically all they talked about was s*x. From the way it’s written I’m assuming they get their own books in the series and I’ll definitely read them as they do grow on you. I also found CeCe a little immature at times and there were a couple of instances where I was almost screaming just talk to each other at the book but I’m trying to have more grace with characters so this definitely didn’t bother me too much. It was a little lust based for me and I would have preferred more soft moments like when Nash is taking care of a hungover CeCe but again I’m only knocking one star off because the shear enjoyment of reading this book is worth 4 alone.

Overall this was a great start to a series and I’m so invested I will definitely read the rest of the books as they are written. I will for sure purchase my own copy of Holding the Reins and reread. Honestly to say this is a debut it was great. Reminded me of a Tessa Bailey x Elsie Silver novel.

Tropes
💗 Forced Proximity
💗 ‘Forbidden’ Love
💗 Small Town Romance
💗 Alpha Hero
💗 Age Gap (8 years)

MINOR SPOILERS:
There were also some really cute lines in this and although I did find the very ending a bit cringey I was so here for it.
I appreciated Nash ‘manning up’ and telling the family but I can’t lie I did gag a little at the cringe.
I absolutely loved how much of the book was left after the third act (sort of) breakup. I hate third act break ups but I especially hate it when they resolve things and there’s only like 5 pages left. This book had multiple chapters after and I was delighted.

🌟 4 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC.

Book comes with a pre trope/trigger warning.

Super, Summer, Spicy Read! If you like Cowboy/Rocky Player/Rugged Bar owner, slow burn, this is for you.
It's a story to fall in love with. All of the characters have their own vibrant personalities. Mamma Jo is a Power House with her nurturing, CeCe is a pocket Rocket, Nash is just gorgeous but is fighting his own deamonds and Andrew.....just Yuk!
I'll leave you to work out the others, but I loved this small town, Community, ranch life.

There's a sneaky peak of book two which I can't wait for!

I am grateful to the author for the content warning and dedication at the start of the book, which I have copied below. Because of her honesty, I realised this book was not for me!
Thank you to Netgalley and Random House UK, Cornerstone for the review copy.

Content Warning & Dedication:
This book is intended for people 18 +. It includes, but is not limited to, open door sexual content, minor breath play, alcohol consumption, talk of a cheating and manipulative ex, death of family members through dream sequence/ flashbacks, talk of therapy, trauma and dealing with tragedy. Please proceed with this knowledge. I trust you know what you’re comfortable with. To all my babes that know they can be a strong, modern woman, yet still shamelessly drop to their knees like the good fucking girl they are the moment their cowboy tells them to.


#HoldingTheReins #NetGalley

This was a fun, spicy read!

CeCe returns to her small town, looking to get her life back on track. Along the way, she finds herself reconnecting with her brothers' best friend, and unofficial extra member of her family, Nash. Their chemistry is INSANE and spice really does spice. Oof!

Really enjoyed this! It was a light, easy read. Classic small town, brother's best friend romance.

I started this book thinking it was a lovely summer romance I could suggest to my nan to pick up. This is not the sort of book most people would reccomend to their relatives, although im sure nan would enjoy it.
Really its a book of two halfs, the first is storyline, blossoming romance and a little emotion, then we move to the more x rated pages that sometimes take over the story a little. Personally I dont need that amount of conent, in that much detail, all the time. Although it didnt stop me loving the story, and the characters.

Holding the Reins has CeCe returning to her family’s horse ranch in Kentucky after a bad break up with her cheating ex. Here she reconnects with Nash her two brothers best friend and now a retired NHL player with his own businesses. She is given a job as financial advisor to Nash so they start working closely together.
Nash has a tragic history that prevents him from wanting to form any lasting relationship with a woman but is totally smitten with CeCe and the feeling is definitely mutual.
A good easy read entertaining romance as they navigate the relationship, and with a cast of characters that add depth and humour.
There are however pages and pages of their sexual activities which are well described but do tend to occur long and frequently, I found myself starting to skip pages as it felt very similar and more like padding out the story than adding to it. That said a very enjoyable read and I would certainly like to catch up with CeCe’s brothers stories in the future.
My thanks to net galley and publisher for the opportunity to review this book honestly.

"Holding the Reins" by Paisley Hope is an emotional rollercoaster that follows CeCe and Nash's journey. I found their story to be incredibly relatable and life-affirming. The way they slowly tear down their walls and learn to love again is nothing short of beautiful. The supporting characters, including the Ashby family, are equally well-developed and add a sense of community and acceptance that's hard to find. My only criticisms are that I would have liked to see more depth in certain areas, such as Nash's daily life and the backstories of some of the secondary characters. Overall, "Holding the Reins" is for anyone looking for a poignant and uplifting romance.

I loved this book! It was easy and quick to read, the story conpletely sucked me in. The chemistry between CeCe and Nash was insane, the open door scenes were scorching hot. I loved how CeCe found her way back to herself. Nash was just simply a swoonworthy hockey player slash almost cowboy. I really liked all the minor characters as well and how tight-knit the Ashby family was. I can’t wait to read Wade’s story.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me a copy of the book.

CeCe moves back to her family home in Kentucky after a horrible break up.
Nash is a long time family friend who has grown up with the family after losing his mum and dad at a young age. He is a retired ice hockey player and now has a couple of local businesses. He also helps CeCes brothers on the ranch with the horses.
Nash and CeCe become close very quickly as she settles back into her life in Kentucky.

The story moves at a fast pace. It’s very spicy for quite a bit of the book.
I’m not quite sure what I made of Nate’s character. At times I really liked him and others he was giving me red flag vibes. He did have a lot of trauma from his past though.
I really loved CeCe’s character she was feisty, smart, sweet & knew what she wanted.

If you like cowboys, ice hockey and a lot of spice this book is for you!

I give this book ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Thank you to Random House UK, Cornerstone & Netgalley for the ARC of this book.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for the advance copy.

This is a super sweet cowboy romance. Nash and Cece are full of steamy lust for each other.

The writing throughout was good although the plot was very familiar to other cowboy romances. The love between the characters felt pretty shallow too. It went for zero to one hundred with no real depth.

Overall it's a nice little read but I probably won't remember it.

You know a book is going to be good when its dedication makes your jaw drop. Holding the Reins is an emotional, romantic and hopeful story of grief, trust, and new beginnings.

CeCe and Nash grew up together under the wise eye of Wyatt Ashby, CeCe’s father. Following his death, Nash’s retirement from the NHL and CeCe leaving her awful fiancé, both characters find themselves back in their hometown, trying to build a life and, more than that, a future. They aren’t kids any more, and their attraction is obvious from the start.

Both CeCe and Nash have been hurt and, frankly, traumatised in their lives. Holding the Reins explores the difficulty that comes with wanting to break down the walls that you have built for yourself, while being utterly terrified to do so. Holding the Reins teaches you that just because something awful happened once doesn’t mean it will happen again.

Holding the Reins is life-affirming: “if you’re struggling, you’re living.” Nash experienced the worst possible thing that could happen to somebody as a fifteen-year-old, making him terrified to love or let anybody into his heart. CeCe’s acceptance of his fears and will to offer him whatever comfort she can, while so importantly understanding that she may not always be able to, was gorgeous, and is everything somebody needs in a support system when living with their trauma.

Aside from the love story, Holding the Reins features a gorgeous family and a beautiful community, one that is wholly accepting of everybody and just wants to love. CeCe’s mother holds a Monday night dinner each week so that, even if your week has started badly, you still have something to look forward to. That aspect of love, comfort and community is everything you could hope for, and so many of my favourite scenes in this book featured the entire Ashby family (and their found family). I adore a story in which we come to learn about each of the side characters and build relationships with them too. I hope we can learn more about these characters as the series continues, and that they all get their happy ever after.

Nash maintains perfect control of the thin line between possessive and protective. Flags that may appear red quickly become clear to show that his actions have always been made with CeCe’s best intentions in mind. He never seeked recognition for this and, in fact, actively allowed CeCe to believe that he was being cruel and territorial in order to save her feelings.

Watching CeCe learn to accept the love that she deserves is another big positive of Holding the Reins. From her father to her brothers to Nash, she enables herself to recognise real love and stops allowing herself to be mistreated by her long-term partner. Even through his emotional abuse and enforced control of her, CeCe uses the words of her family and her respect for herself to maintain boundaries and protect herself, something that is not easy to do. She is an inspiration to victims of toxic relationships everywhere. In turn, she also teaches readers that just because you can do something alone doesn’t mean you have to. You can set boundaries and maintain control of your own life while accepting help from others, a very important life lesson that many of us need to learn.

Elements I would have liked to explore more with Holding the Reins were Nash’s day-to-day when he is on his own, more backstory about Olivia and Ginger and how they and CeCe grew up, as well as more of CeCe’s relationship with her brothers. We dip into all of this, but I’d like to have explored them in more depth. There were also a couple of scenes/plot lines that I felt were slightly rushed, e.g. CeCe’s return to Seattle and what happened after that in relation to her condo.

Cowboy romance is a real favourite of mine. I really enjoyed this, its a little fast burn but the two main characters have tons of history so you know wheres probably been some build up to this over the years and its just finally reaching its turning point.

Nash is hot, successful but considered a womaniser and hes also best friends with Cece’s brothers. Cece has returned home after a toxic relationship and she’s here to stay, which is a recipe for trouble for Nash.

This book is spicy fun throughout!

A captivating contemporary cowboy romance that's beautifully written! The author skillfully intertwines rugged landscapes with tender emotions, creating a heartfelt story that lingers. Highly recommending!

a fun and cute read. cece and nash had good banter and i loved hearing about their history. everyone in the town was unserious and silly i loved it. the set up for the future books/couples have a lot of potential i’ll definitely come back for the rest of the series

I liked some parts of this book and it was fairly well-written for what it is – but the patronising, overprotective alpha men did not do it for me. The story was also kinda boring and overall I wanted more. Three stars because I did enjoy the first half.

I flew through this. But while I did enjoy this and the characters I definitely see some red flags with Nash. It's the type of relationship I don't see lasting. Which is totally fine. But I do wish some of his issues were addressed in the book instead of seen as a great thing for a boyfriend to be like.
Overall this is a cute book. I'll definitely be picking up future books

I think this had a lot of potential to be a good, strong story, however it just lacked a connection for me.

It didn’t grip me from the start, it felt very flat and unfortunately I ended up DNFing around the 15% mark (which is unusual for me).

I’d be interest to see what else the author writes, as I think their writing style could be good, this story just wasn’t for me I’m afraid :(

I loved loved loved this book! What a fantastic debut. Nash and Cece were amazing characters that I couldn’t get enough of. I really hope we get books for Cece’s brothers too.

After breaking up with her fiancé, Cecilia returns to her family's ranch in their hometown in Kentucky. Nash, a long-time friend of Cece’s family, has transitioned from a hockey career to managing a few local businesses. He also lends a hand with the horses on Cece’s brother Wade’s property—a bit of a part-time cowboy, if you will. The longstanding relationship between Cece and Nash brings a depth of trust and care that’s evident even before their relationship deepens. I appreciated how the story realistically addressed grief and trauma, making the characters feel like real people.
Cecilia 's a bit of a free spirit, fiercely protective, and unyielding. She's also grappling with the loss of her father, who was the cornerstone of their family. I admired how she balanced considering others’ perspectives while still prioritizing her own needs. Her close relationships with her family and the way she supported Nash were incredibly touching—my heart melted for them.
Known for his fierce protectiveness, Nash is the type who would say, “Touch her again, and you’ll regret it.” His loyalty and protective nature, especially towards Cece, made me adore him. He has been looking out for Cece for years, and his struggles with his own family and the grief over losing Cece’s dad were heart-wrenching. Watching him overcome his fears to build a life with Cece was truly heartwarming.
Another highlight of the book was how the characters handled their conflicts. They might react impulsively at first, but they communicate openly when ready, which made it easy to root for them. I also enjoyed the dynamics with Cece’s brothers, Wade and Cole, and her friends Ginger and Olivia. I’m excited for the next books in this series, especially with the hints we got here.
As for drawbacks, it took me quite a while to stay fully engaged with the story—it wasn't a quick read for me. And, being someone who isn't fond of epilogues, that part didn’t do much for me either. Despite these minor issues, I still enjoyed the book overall!

The story features plenty of banter and chemistry, along with moments of heartfelt grief that tug at the heartstrings. If you’re seeking an all-consuming, sweet, and spicy romance set in a small-town ranch, with the brother’s best friend dynamic and the perfect blend of a hockey player and cowboy, this is the book for you.

3.5/5.