This started off cute but honestly died off fairly quickly for me. It was a bit slow and I just didn't feel like I connected much to the romance. There were no major big issues aside from pacing and the chemistry though even that may just be more of a me thing than a failure of the book.

Thanks to Netgalley and Bold Strokes Books, Inc for an arc in exchange for an honest review!

Whilst I did enjoy this book it felt really really slow. I did want to finish it but I wasn’t rushing to pick it up to find out what happened next. I loved both of the MC and wished we could have got to know Tom - maybe through a flashback. I r really love that we saw more of Tom through Norman though.

Jenna Jarvis’s *Ride It Out* is a heartfelt and deeply resonant romance that explores grief, self-discovery, and unexpected connection in the face of uncertainty. When doctor Mick McVey takes a much-needed break to settle her grandfather’s estate, she doesn’t expect to find solace—or attraction—in her new neighbor, Katy. Katy, reeling from personal losses and the struggles of keeping her small-town cinema afloat, sees Mick’s arrival as the perfect chance for a distraction. What begins as a temporary entanglement between two women at crossroads slowly evolves into something more profound, as they navigate their past wounds and the growing tension between what’s temporary and what’s truly meaningful.

Jarvis beautifully captures the emotional weight of isolation and forced reflection during the COVID-19 lockdown, making *Ride It Out* both timely and universally relatable. The novel shines in its rich character development, witty yet tender dialogue, and the slow-burn romance that unfolds against a backdrop of change and uncertainty. As Mick and Katy confront their fears and desires, their chemistry becomes undeniable, drawing readers into a love story that feels both raw and hopeful. With its compelling emotional depth and well-crafted romance, *Ride It Out* is a poignant, rewarding read that lingers long after the final page.

In the sequel to Ride With Me (which i haven't read) Mick McVey is driving down to claim her Grandfather Tom's house, which she has inherited.
Katy, a young woman and Tom's friend, is less than happy to see her swooping in to lay claim. But she still is friendly when Mick asks about Tom...
As bad as Tom's death is, Mick is also dreading her Mother coming back, as she abandoned Mick and Emma as children.
Fairly solid read. I liked Mick and Katy, and the romance mostly worked. The movie theater subplot just kind of... goes away, oddly. I assume the theater was saved and Katy made up with hef boss, but it's not shown.

Good read. The character development was really good. The story was believable, and the main characters seemed to work very well together, even though they are very opposite in personalities. I really liked all the movie references in this book, one of the characters is a movie buff. The pandemic was not as intense in this book as some I have read, wasn't sure if I wanted to revisit it in this book, but it wasn't the main focus of this book. The romance was sweet between the main characters, and they really worked well together. I would recommend this book, and I look forward to what's next from this author.

Intriguing premise. However the story was slow paced. I felt that a lot of info was just being dumped. I will recommend as In sure this will appeal to other audiences.


Thank You NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this book

have to say this one wasnt for me.....i did try but alas

sorry but life would be boring if we were all the same

This was a different read for me but it felt like a genuine discovery of self and what we deserve, especially through times that make us question our choices.

I was intrigued with the premise of but found the book slow going. Mick inherits her grandfather's home in the midwest. She never knew him and has plans to fix it up to sell. She meets Katy who lives a few houses away with her mother. Evidently she and the grandfather were the closest of friends bonding over their love of movies. Katy manages a cinema that shows classic movies. The book is set in 2020 and as the world shuts down because of Covid Mick invites Katy to live with her as a roommate.

Mick is on leave from being a doctor and struggling with her mental health. She welcomes Katy’s friendship. Katy's first love is movies. And so many get mentioned in this book I lost count. It was almost like everything in life relates to a movie. She has had her own hard knocks in life. This is a slow burn romance. I wished for flirting or longing glances but this isn’t that type of story. Overall this to me was a very slow moving romance during a unique time period. And I was not captivated by either of the main characters. I think I was in the mood for something lighter. There is nothing wrong with the story, I just didn’t connect with it personally.

I was intrigued by the elements of this - forced proximity romance between ice queen doctor and the cinophile friend of her grandfather's who watch movies together during covid lockdowns, casual fling turns into something more with lots of spice - but the romance didn't work for me.

There was a lot of info-dumping and expository, which made this a drag to read for me from the start. I didn't care for the dynamic between Mick and Katy; they only had chemistry as a casual fling. And the pandemic was a great opportunity to add lots of tension but it hardly seemed to factor into the plot at all. It was treated as just a flu that everyone was freaking out about and closed everything down. I found these two characters unlikable from the start and that didn't change. It would have worked better as forced proximity for any other reason. But this is definitely a lot of people's experiences of the pandemic; I just can't relate to them.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance review copy. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

4⭐️

**Thank you to Bold Strokes Books, Inc. and NetGalley for the eARC**

TW: this story does deal with the setting of the Covid pandemic. There are also characters dealing with grief, anxiety, and depression.

Ride It Out follows Mick and Katey, two very different women who find themselves in an Ohio town. Mick is dealing with anxiety and some fall out with her job and Katey is home helping her recovering mother. Katey loves movies and introduces Mick to what brings her joy. Both women are thrown together in the pandemic and become unlikely roommates, just trying to figure themselves out and make it through.

I enjoyed this story. There were some nerves going into reading because I was worried the aspect of the pandemic would be too much. It surely was not. I feel like Jarvis did a beautiful job of incorporating it but not making it override the overall story. It felt like part of the setting and not an all consuming part of the narrative. Thank you! I enjoyed observing Mick’s growth and acceptance of her self and mistakes. Beautifully written story.

I liked this book a lot! The plot was relatable and the characters were quirky and likeable. I especially loved how accurately the book painted what it was like during lockdown.

My favorite part about this book was how real the characters felt. They both had their own issues and family drama that made them seem like such normal people. Also RIP to the cake that Mick tried to make. She did her best! I also really liked how they actually became each other’s people before they officially got together. It felt more like they built and earned the relationship that way.

This was a really good book and I’d recommend it to anyone looking for an opposites attract, roommate romance.

Mick just learn she inherited a house from her grandfather that she hasn’t met it’s comes a great time because she is recovering from a mental crisis. Mick meets Katy who is mourning Tom who is Mick grandfather she also dealing with her the reality of her job at the theater. Mick and Katy get stuck together with Covid crisis hits and while they get to know each other they take a look at themselves and realize they may have to make a change in their lives if they want to be happy. I like that it’s was a friendship first and that eventually turn into more with its ups and down and that it’s deal with mental health and empathy.


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

There are a lot of reasons people can pick up a book, escape into a exciting magical place, witness daring action or attempting to solve a deadly murder before the secret is revealed but sometimes its just abou Review of Ride It Out, a friends-to-lovers contemporary queer romance by Jenna Jarvis

There are a lot of reasons people can pick up a book, escape into an exciting magical place, witness daring action, or attempt to solve a deadly murder before the secret is revealed. Still, sometimes, it’s just about hanging out with two well-developed characters and watching them fall in love. Now, I had previously read Digging for Destiny by Jenna Jarvis, and I knew she could spin a tale of a far-off fantasy land, so I was curious to see how she would handle a story set in the “real world.” She does not disappoint.

Ride it Out is the story of two women at a crossroads in their lives. Mick is a doctor who has inherited a house from a grandfather she never met and sees it as an opportunity to recover from a mental health crisis. Katy is her new neighbor who is still mourning Tom, Mick’s grandfather, as well as dealing with the fact that the independent theater she is working at is facing financial hardships. Their lives are further complicated when COVID strikes and forces them to take a hard look at their lives and what they want from them.

While the book does not have dragons, it does have a lot of what I look for in books. The characters are well developed, especially Mick and Katy, who are fully formed and could walk right off the page. Their first date ends with a spicy lovemaking encounter, and while they fight shortly after eventually gather together into a close and wonderful friendship. A friendship that is so precious to them that they struggle to take the next steps to become a couple for fear of what they may lose. The book displays their struggles with mental health realistically and with empathy, which I found refreshing.

If I had any reservations about the book, I would say that I wish the subplots could have been developed a bit more. I think there was more story waiting to be told, but that did not detract from the focus of the book on the two main characters and their love story.

If you are a fan of friends-to-lovers romance, then this book belongs on your bookshelf (or Kindle, I guess, since this is 2025).

t hanging out with two well developed characters and watching them fall in love. Now I had previously read Digging for Destiny from Jenna Jarvis and I knew she could spin a tale of a far off fantasy land so I was curious to see how she would handle a story set in the “real world”. She does not disappoint.

Ride it out is the story of two woman at crossroads in their life. Mick is a doctor who has inherited a house from a grandfather she never met and sees it as an opportunity to recover from a mental health crisis. Katy is her new neighbor who is still mourning Tom, Mick’s grandfather, as well as dealing with the fact that the independent theater she is working at is facing financial hardships. Their lives are further complicated when covid strikes and forces them to take hard looks at their lives and what they want from them.

While the book does not have dragons it does have a lot of what I look for in books. The characters are well developed especially Mick and Katy who are fully formed and could walk right off the page. There first date ends with a spicy lovemaking encounter and while they have a fight shortly after eventually gather together info a close and wonderful friendship. A friendship so precious that both of them struggle to take the next steps to become a couple for fear of what they may lose. The book displays their struggles with mental health realistically and with a empathy that I found refreshing.

If I had any reservations about the book I would say that I wish the subplots could have been developed a bit more. I think there was more story that waiting to be told but that did not detract from the focus of the book on the two main characters and their love story.

If you are a fan of friends to lovers romance then this belongs on your bookshelf (or kindle I guess since this is 2025).

Available Feb 1st at

https://www.boldstrokesbooks.com/books/ride-it-out-by-jenna-jarvis-4630-b

I really enjoyed this book. The romance was on point and it was like you were watching a movie with how well written the story was.

I liked the book better than the first book in this universe, but I still felt as thought it was lacking some things.

The whole COVID storyline didn’t hit for me. I felt like the severity of the situation wasn’t really portrayed well - and only some facets of the pandemic were touched upon. But then again, everyone’s experience with the pandemic was different, and I spent my quarantine in what was considered the epicenter at the time.

I also wish the B-plot surrounding Tom/his old lover was explored more, I think that could’ve been a really heart warming edition and instead felt like an afterthought.

The story was good and the characters had pretty good chemistry and development, but I honestly didn’t really love Katy. I felt like every time Mick vented, Katy took it as an opportunity to talk about herself or a movie. She was not a good listener to Mick or her mother.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

enjoyed the plot of this book, I thought it was nice to show the reality of lockdown and how much some people struggled especially when it comes to asking for help.

The characters were lovable but I wish we’d of got more information on Tom like who he was really like if they’d of found a diary of something would have been perfect

I did find the flow abit off like the start and end were good but the middle just seemed to drag a little, in a few of the chapters it was like the same thing just a little different if that makes sense

Overall a good read :)

Thank you NetGalley and Publisher for allowing me to read and review this book.

I very much enjoyed this book. The writing was great and the characters were well developed. I hope to read more from this author in the future.

I love Mick and Katy. Was a lovely story set in Covid times - wasn’t sure where it would go with that but it was not as intense as I imagined it would be. It was actually a pretty cozy read. I liked witnessing them learn they didn’t have to earn love or food etc. That they could be taken care of. Seeing Mick melt was pretty cute. I loved reading all the film references and side storylines. It was really cool to get all that queer film insight. There’s a few things I’m not sure about but it had a happy ending.

This was a really delightful read. I sometimes feel the phrase 'cozy romance' used too much these days but I'm not sure how else to explain it. Although Mick and Katy remain roommates for most of the book, everything about them screams well-adjusted couple. They just fit together beautifully.

This is the 2nd book about the mcVey sisters, but I don't think you need to have read the first to enjoy this. There are some references to the first book, but nothing that would make this story hard to understand.

At the start, I didn't like Mick much, but as the story progressed, I began to like her a bit more. Katy definitely brought out the best in her

What I enjoyed a lot about this book was how chill it was. That's not to say nothing happened, but it is set mostly during the main part of the COVID pandemic, so the characters are restricted in what they can do and where they can go. Which actually makes the story more impressive, as they find ways to entertain themselves and others without breaking any mandates..

Overall, this is a sweet story about two people coming together in unexpected circumstances and realising who they really are and what they really want out of life. And it's just a delightful read.