I am like the many, many others who can’t stop devouring cowboy romance right now, and will continue to do so until I’m on my death bed.
I really liked Cece, but I did think of new girl every damn time I read her name! I liked Nash but he was definitely veering into the too much side of over protective. Not controlling but it was close to the line for me which I didn’t like! I also found some of what they were saying extremely cringey! I think I’ve reached the point with romance reading where nothing really embarrasses me and I can really take it all in my stride, but I was full on grimacing and just trying to skip past some bits.
I recently read Done and Dusted and this just felt so similar! Girl comes home to her family’s ranch and gets together with her brother’s best friend. Even some set ups for future books felt way too similar - and I totally get that these books have come out around the same time and it’s totally my fault for reading them almost back to back!! But it did mean I wasn’t as enthused about the storyline as I probably would have been ordinarily.
I still really enjoyed it, of course, and am so excited for future books - especially Ginger and Cole, I need it right now!

My cowboy romance era shows no signs of slowing down and I’m completely fine with that, but I am still relatively fussy. I need strong writing, a swoonworthy romance, a strong sense of place and characters that I can get behind.

Paisley Hope’s ‘Holding the Reins’ had all of that and I’m so happy to have a new cowboy romance series to fall in love with. I pre-ordered book two before I even finished this one!


CeCe Ashby is looking for a fresh start after escaping the toxic relationship that has consumed her adult life.

Unsure of what the future holds, she returns to the small town of Laurel Creek and her family’s ranch.

Nash Carter is the recently retired hockey superstar of the Dallas Stars, Laurel Creek’s hometown hero, and notorious bachelor.

He may look good in a cowboy hat, but he is also CeCe's brother’s best friend. . .and therefore off limits.

When CeCe reappears in her hometown in need of a job, Nash knows he must have her, and not entirely for business.

As ‘just one night’ turns into many, Nash learns that where CeCe Ashby is concerned his typical rules do not apply. Now he has to figure out if he can push his past trauma aside to live the life he never dared dream of.

All he has to do? Take a deep breath and let go of the reins. . .


I really loved being in the world of Silver Pines and I devoured this book in two sittings.


This novel holds so many of my favourite tropes: returning to a small town, brother’s best friend, evil ex, and a hockey player turned part-time cowboy. I mean, come on. What more does a romance need than that.

One of the romance tropes that annoys me the most, however, is miscommunication, or just a complete failure to communicate, and that is present in ‘Holding the Reins’ but it’s short lived enough that it didn’t prove too much of an issue for me. Luckily, CeCe and Nash have friends and family around them to bash their heads together and encourage them to sort themselves out asap at the big point of conflict at the end of the novel.

The dual POV between Nash and CeCe meant that we as the reader get to know about their real feelings for each a lot sooner than they tell each other, or even they realise themselves, and get to grips with what motivates them. It’s a format I really love, especially in a fast-moving romance as it really heightens the tension between the couple, and Nash and CeCe had that in spades to begin with! Their back and forth is electric and I felt every shred of chemistry between them.

‘Holding the Reins’ is a squeal and kick-your- feet romance with a wonderful cast of characters, a vivid setting and a whole lot of heart. I’ve already recommended it to several cowboy romance-loving friends of mine and I can’t wait to read Wade and Ivy’s story in ‘Training the Heart’.


Thank you to Penguin and NetGalley for the review copy.

‘Holding the Reins’ is available in ebook now, and will be released in paperback on 15 August 2024.

Written by Sophie

Thank you NetGalley and Cornerstone for an e-ARC of this book.

Cece was finally able to leave the toxic relationship she had with her fiancé behind. Back at the ranch she calls home, she gets close with Nash, her oldest's brother best friend. The two never really got along growing up, but the more time they pass together the more their romantic feelings develop. And when Cece starts working for Nash, all bets are off.

I didn't enjoy this title. It's an identical story to Done and Dusted by Lyla Sage, just with a name change for the characters.

My Third outing into a world of Cowboy Romances and I loved reading this one. I loved the friendships, family & relationships dynamic throughout!
I would genuinely recommend this to anyone without a doubt!

I am an absolute sucker for a cowboy romance.

Imagine this: Cece returns to her hometown after breaking things off with her fiancée, to find Nash, a part-time cowboy, part-time business owner, and noticing more about him than before. Nash has been best friends with her brothers for the longest time, and practically is a member of her family, but not by blood. When looking for jobs, she signs up to an accountancy job, without realising that her boss will be none other than Nash. She accepts, realising the sheer amount of work that needs doing, thinking that it will be a challenge to work alongside him. Little does she know, he has been mad about her for years.

The narrative follows the ups, downs, lefts and rights of her learning about Nash's quirks, individuality and how much he purely cares out her. From scaring off guys in bars, to fighting an ex-fiancee, he will not settle for any less.

This narrative was romantic, engaging and very spicy at times. I found the spicy to be quite heavy throughout the book and, although I normally enjoy a lot, I found it to sometimes take away from the character development slightly. This being said, I enjoyed the journey they embarked on as they realised their feelings for each other was beginning to develop even stronger.

A good book, full of spice and action, to fulfil all your romance needs.

Steamy, spicy love story.

I’m not normally a romance reader so it was nice to step out of my usual genres. CeCe Rae Ashby has just got out of an awful relationship and gone back to her hometown. Nash Carter is her brother’s best friend, a former ice hockey star, bar owner, and part-time cowboy, working on her family ranch.

The narrative flips between the points of view of the two main characters, holding your interest as they each try to hold themselves back, unsure if they both feel the same way.

I feel like you have to look past the fact that Nash was like a brother to CeCe, with her parents taking him in when his parents were killed in a terrible car crash. But the thing that really had me rolling my eyes was the controlling manner that Nash took. Ok, I know the tragic back-story and that means he likes to be in control for fear of getting hurt, but it’s not for me
.
“My brain tells me to protest his controlling tone, but my traitorous pussy forces me to do exactly as he wants” “What even is feminism when I’m naked with Nash Carter?” Gah!

I understand the next book is about CeCe’s brother Wade. I look forward to meeting the side characters again, Ginger and Liv: the not Angels, Mama Jolene, and CeCe’s niece Mabel.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Holding the Reins is a fun cowboy romance. I enjoyed the storyline of Cece and Nash and particularly enjoyed the input from the side characters. The group of friends was very entertaining and I can definitely see myself potentially enjoying some of the other books in the series more!
There's quite a bit of spice in these books and at points I felt like this went on a little bit too long and I would have like to see a bit more of an emotional connection between the characters. I also felt there was a missed opportunity for Cece to demonstrate her new found independence at the end of the book without Nash running in to save the day. However it is an enjoyable cowboy romance that follows the found family/small town/cowboy romance really well. I will definitely pick up the other books in the series at some point.

I will start by saying I am not a cowboy romance girly...i've read them and I have enjoyed them but I do not have a favourite and I'm not comparing this one to any other fan favourite!

This is a brothers best friend romance,small town, spicy romance (a trope i adore)


I loved Cece and Nash and their chemistry was through the roof, the banter was top notch and Nash had me giggling and kicking my feet like a teenager.

If you like cowboy romances, this is definitely one to add to your list!

✨Holding The Reins ✨by Paisley Hope

“He’s a dark horse. But can she tame him?”

If you can’t decide between a hockey romance or a small town cowboy romance, get yourself a copy of Holding the Reins because it’s got both!

Holding the Reins is book one of the Silver Pines series (*screams* as I’ve just found out this is going to be five books!) set in the Kentucky town of Laurel Creek when Cecelia ‘CeCe’ Rae Ashby, the feisty beautiful blonde, arrives back in town after a breakup. As she moves back home and reconnects with her family, she also can’t help but connect with Nash Carter, the handsome tattooed NHL legend and part-time cowboy, who can’t keep his hands away from her, or her away from his heart.

Holding the Reins is a solid brother’s (there’s two of them btw) best friend romance that had my toes curling and me laughing throughout. This book is entertaining, sexy and has some truly heart racing spicy scenes that are in abundance and wrapped within a well written story. This book had it all for me a strong knows what she wants MFC, a sexy struggling MMC, a bold ‘gang of lady friends’, unhinged group chats, a rain scene, a bar scene and a fantastic declaration of love!

I always know a book that starts with a playlist is going to be fun! Holding the Reins not only starts with a playlist, but has music weaved throughout and has had me listening to Shania Twain on repeat!

I can’t wait to start reading Training the Heart, the second book in the Silver Pines Series, that I am lucky enough to have an ARC for already 🙌! After reading this I look forward to reading basically anything Paisley writes next!!

⭐️ 4/5
🌶️ 4/5

🩷 Brothers best friend
🩷 Hockey & cowboy romance
🩷 He falls first
🩷 Amazing girl group
🩷 Small town romance
🩷 Obsessed with her
🩷 Dual POV

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC!

Now I love me a cowboy romance. However I don't know if I just had high hopes for this or what but for me it just flopped a little bit. It felt like every other cowboy romance ive read before. There was nothing unique about it to make it stand out from all the rest. Don't get me wrong the spice was great. But apart from that I wasn't a fan unfortunately.

Overall, it was an easy, enjoyable read. There was some plot outside of the romance, but it was heavily focused on Cece and Nash’s story. I would have liked some more scenes with the rest of the family, and some of it felt a bit predictable / robotic, but it was still enjoyable to read. There were possibly too many sex scenes, it started to feel a bit repetitive with no addition to the story, and there were times that I didn’t like how the characters behaved, but no one is perfect.

The book sounds right up my street but unfortunately there were too many errors in the book, like 'ff' being changed to "#" etc, that it made the book unreadable. Formatting really needs to be looked at on this one, a shame.

Loved it, hot spicy, enjoyable read. An easy read with a story that keeps you turning the page. Holding the Reins has continued the love of cowboy romances.

A huge thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Random House for this ARC.

Let just say, save a horse and ride a cowboy definitely come to mind - even if he is a part time cowboy/ice hockey player. We definitely got the best of both worlds with this book!
We follow CeCe who has moved back to her hometown after discovering her fiancé is cheating on her, and Nash, a recently retired professional ice hockey player, turned part time cowboy.
What I really loved about this book was that HE FELL FIRST! Which I absolutely love, and due to his playboy history, CeCe takes some major convincing from Nash to prove he’s completely head over heels for her.
Nash is definitely your typical ‘golden retriever’ vibes on the outside… but get him alone and my goodness, FERAL!!!

My love of small town, cowboy romances isn’t going away and this book helped to scratch that itch.

Great characters - Nash is a an absolute sweetheart of a man. CeCe is a great character to read as well. The relationship between them felt authentic and honest and I loved that there was a lot of history which just helped it all to feel so real.

Strong family vibes and all the best tropes. A thoroughly enjoyable read.

This is definitely the book for you if you enjoy spicy fiction and cowboy stories...I was definitely blushing at multiple points whilst reading this🌶🌶🌶🌶

CeCe has returned home to the family ranch in Kentucky after discovering that her controlling, low-life fiance of eight years has been cheating on her.
Planning on making a fresh start, she doesn't see any harm in having a little fun along the way. She just doesn't expect that fun to be with Nash Carter, the part-time cowboy/ex-hockey star she's known for most of her life, and who happens to be best friends with her two very protective older brothers.

Nash has a heartbreaking history of his own. Having lost both of his parents in a tragic accident when he was young, an accident he partly blames himself for. So Nash has a strict rule: he doesn't do relationships, to save his heart from any further pain.
But with CeCe swooping back into his life and affecting him in ways he never expected, he has to tread carefully, fearing that he could lose the only family he's known since losing his parents.

This story plays heavily on the Found Family trope, my absolute favourite, but there were also plenty of laugh out loud moments, thanks mostly to CeCe's friends Ginger & Olivia AKA "The No-Angels"

I also loved all of the song mentions and the playlist at the start of the book.
I've definitely found some new favourites for my Spotify playlist 🎶

I've been wanting to enter my cowboy era for a while, so thank you to Isabella @penguinrandomhouse for getting in touch, and to @netgalley and the @authorpaisleyhope for the #gifted e-arc.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this and already have the next book in the series on my tbr.

After discovering her fiancé has been cheating CeCe moves back to her hometown where she starts a journey of healing and self discovery.
This was an easy read with some great tropes weaved in; found family, brothers best friend, former NHL player, he falls first.
The small town aspect was cosy and the tension, angst and chemistry was delicious.

Only marking now as I know it was a proof I read but it was so difficult to read. Symbols in place of some letter etc which just made the whole story lose its flow sometimes.
I will however be reading the next in the series


Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the arc in exchange for a review

I knew what to expect from this book from the outset and it did what it said on the tin. The two main characters, CeCe and Nash have known each other for most of their lives and should feel like brother and sister. However, Cupid has other ideas. When CeCe returns home after the breakup of her 8 year relationship she is hoping for some no strings fun. What she gets instead is the best ride of her life, on every sense! The book is spicy and not everyone’s cup of tea but there is also a lot of humour, courtesy of the supporting cast of CeCe’s older brothers (who happen to be Nash’s best friends) and Ginger & Olivia, the other No Angels and CeCe’s best friends. There are some laugh out loud moments and some breathtaking ones. Be aware some of the language used is raw and coarse but fits where it is used

A definite must read cowboy/(ex) hockey player romance from this debut author. The story had it's comedy moments and the two main characters certainly had chemistry. There is a decent amount of spice with our romance.
A small town, so everyone knows your business, brothers best friend, so he's off limits, older MMC, so he should stay away story full of all sorts of romance tropes but they do all come together well. I think there is probably going to be more to this series and with it an evolving and maturing of writing style. Whilst it wasn't bad, there were just small elements that detracted from it being a 5 star

I received this book as an ARC and provide my honest review.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC, unfortunately it wasn’t for me, I liked the leads, and CeCe’s family but, I hoped for more of an emotional connection between the two amongst the spicy banter.