I wasn’t sure how I would feel about this book, I haven’t read a cowboy romance before and had seen everywhere about Holding the Reins.

I absolutely loved this book! It has a lovely story and everyone needs a Nash Carter in their lives! The build up of Nash and CeCe makes you want more.

The book has you laughing, emotional and it’s spicy 🌶️ where I found myself blushing!

This is a must read for those wanting an easy read with a lot of spice! I can’t wait to read Wade and Ivy’s story!!

In Holding The Reins we follow CeCe who returns to her Kentucky hometown after leaving her cheating fiancé. She is reunited with the hero Nash who is a retired hockey player and part time cowboy. CeCe thinks he’s still a bit of player but in reality Nash has seemingly always only ever had eyes for her.

I really enjoyed this and I believe this is the authors debut and for that I think they did a really good job. The small town setting had the perfect vibes but I felt once the characters realised how they felt there was much more than smut for a big portion of the books. For some people this would make them pick it up immediately haha so I’m not saying it was bad but for me personally it felt we slightly lost some potential as it seemed to go for more smut over storyline. But overall I did like this story and would love to read more from the author in the future!

It was set up well for other books to follow in a series following Ceces friends and family and I’d love to see where they all end up.
Thank you to NetGalley for sending me a copy to review.

4.5 stars 🌟

Well I think I'm a cowboy romance reader now!

The spice and dirty talk in this book is *chef's kiss*. In fact most of this book is just incredible. I whizzed through it because it was so good. It's just so easy and enjoyable to read. I love the set up of the Ashby family and Silver Pines ranch, you can't help but fall in love with them all.

Huge thanks to Penguin Random House for the ARC

3.25 ⭐️

I thoroughly enjoyed the first 75% of this but the final quarter of this book just lost me unfortunately.

I loved the setting, and the dynamic between characters. Also ex hockey player turned cowboy? Yes please!

I’m never normally one to be critical of a book for the sex scenes or smut, but I did find there was just A LOT in this book.

Towards the end of the book I found Nash slightly too possessive, boarding on stalkerish? And I just felt that the conflict with the ex came out of nowhere when it could have been handled much better.

Overall though and enjoyable read and it has made me want to pick up the next in the series!

I really wasn’t sure what to expect with this one but I absolutely loved it. I loved the characters, the plot, the spice! Everything about this was so enjoyable and I’m so glad I requested the second so I can dive straight in to that!

Okay this was sooo cute I LOVED ITTT!!! A mixture of cowboys & hockey players - sign me up babes!!!

The spice in this is IMPECCABLE, there is sort of a miscommunication trope but it’s not as bad as they usually are so I’d still recommend reading tbh!!!

Holding The Reins

I always see ‘spicy’ books on social media - and the snippets of spice never seem to outweigh the terrible writing and ridiculous story…so I was really excited that I actually liked this book! I wasn’t a fan of the first chapter - it was a bit meh - but once we started to get to know CeCe - back in her small Kentucky hometown of Laurel Creek after leaving her cheating fiancé in Seattle - I started to get swept up in the small town southern charm running through this story. I liked Nash too - an old family friend of CeCe’s and on hand to take care of her (in more ways than one) as she finds her feet starting her life over. Lots of fun characters, a love story and the spicy scenes…well! Looking forward to reading the next in the series & finding out more about CeCe’s big brother Wade.

A less raunchy book but still a great story, this is more about the relationship then the sex although there is plenty of X-Rated content in there still

DNF at 47%

Small town romances with a family at the centre are my favourite so it was no surprise that that’s what drew me to this book. The small town of Laurel Creek ticked the boxes, a close knit community in rural Kentucky, centred around the Ashby family ranch.

Unfortunately, though, I couldn’t get into the story. The storyline was a fun concept, and the first 30% percent was okay-ish. Cecilia and Nash and the Ashby family could have been more, however the writing was a little immature for my liking which took me out of the reading experience. It also felt at times like a repetition of many popular books from the same genre. The pacing was the main reason I DNF’d — it was a little quick and insta-lovey for me (i prefer a slow burn). Though, notwithstanding that, if you like cheesiness/ clicheness within a romance novel, you might like it better than I did.

Thank you to the publishers for sending me an arc copy.

Read this book whilst on holiday and it was the perfect choice! Such a moreish read. I kept turning page after page. The chemistry between CeCe and Nash was just too good - can’t wait to see what this author writes next!

A cute romantic story, with the added spice extra.
It was not to my normal liking, but it wasn't bad either. The characters were lovely, and it is a nice and easy read.
Thank you to the author, publisher and netgalley for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Absolutely loved this and the follow up - the characters are well structured and nuanced and underpinned by a great story and lots of sneaking around. Thoroughly wholesome, it’s like a warm hug of a book that I couldn’t put down.

3* entertainment for a rainy afternoon

A fun book if you've not read anything like this before. If you have, well, it's same old, same old.

After breaking off her engagement, CeCe returns to her small home town, meets her teenage crush who's an ex-hockey player and her brother's best friend. He's attracted to her but circumstances don't allow them to get together, also she suspects he's too much like her two-timing ex. Most of what you expect to happen, does. Spicy and sweary, but it got to the point when I just didn't care what happened to the main characters.

I neither loved nor hated the book. Light entertainment, with an emphasis on light.

eARC generously supplied by Random House and NetGalley, this review is my personal, unbiased opinion.

cowboy romance here we are.

After reading elsie silver i am so down for those.
They are just super easy and I love them no shame.

📖Book Review📖

#adprproduct

I want to thank Netgalley for approving me for an ARC of this book. Special thank you to my mini cowboy squad for the buddy read.

🏡Found family
👦🏻Brother's Best Friend
💞He Falls First
😜 Protective MMC

I have now found a new series to obsess over! This has everything you would hope from a small-town romance. I love the Ashby clan and can't wait to see how the other characters develop in the following books. Can we all agree that Nash is so swoon-worthy 😍

⭐⭐⭐⭐💫

This was my first cowboy romance and I was not disappointed. I loved the dynamic between Nash and Cece from the beginning and I can't wait until the next book to dive into the life of Cece's brother Wade!

This was an unfortunate DNF for me, around the 30% mark.

I really struggled to get into the characters and find them likable.
One of the characters actually called someone 'a frigid bitch' which is just disgusting to me. Honestly we're in 2024 that term is so outdated.

Omg Nash and Ceces story is the cutest! I loved this book and found it so easy to read and couldn’t put it down!
I need ginger and coles story 100% I knew what the second book was gonna be after o read about wade meeting the new trainer and im living for it! 🥺💖🫶
such a cute heartwarming book!

This was a well-written, fun and quick read. It was a cute romance and I really liked the two main characters. I’d definitely be interested in continuing the series once the next book comes out.

Holy, hot, part-time cowboys, folks!

This is set to be a fabulous series, with wit, humour, and much much sexiness. It all starts with a stray vibrator, and a return to her home town for Cecelia Rae after the end of a disatrous relationship. And so begin the shenanigans.
Many things have changed since she's been gone, and hardest to avoid is Nash Carter, ex hockey player, family friend, new-boss, and irresistible part time cowboy and fulltime heartthrob.

"Wranglers, white t-shirt, cowboy hat on his knee, dusty and dirty from his morning with Wade in the barns, sitting at my kitchen table with a coffee in one hand and my heart in the other."

And that says it all - I cannot wait for the next book, the hilarity, the spice and the small town setting.