I am so impressed by this debut novel from H. Mitchel. She did a wonderful job making the characters seem real and authentic, giving them experiences that didn't feel like she was just trying to grab at something to further the plot along. Colton is a dream boat, the way he thinks and talks ...my god. The story was easy to follow and flowed together really well, it was a fast read but not quick. it's a great weekend read or palate cleanser for anybody to sink their teeth into. super excited to see what comes next ❤️

what's inside:
-grumpy sunshine
-friends to lovers
-mental health rep
-he falls first
-slow burn
-found family

CW/TW:
-abuse from a parent, both physical and emotional
-depression/anxiety
-explicit sex scenes ( 3/5 )

I found this author through Threads and was given an ARC and was pleasantly surprised by this debut novel.

I truly loved all the characters in this book, except Ellie's mom, who can go to hell. Ellie was the highlight of this book for me, though. I loved how she grew throughout the story and learned to stand up for herself with the help of our handsome cowboy, Colton!

The romance builds slowly, from enemies to friends to lovers, and reaches a satisfying climax, pun intended.

I was sobbing by the end of this novel, and a book that can make me cry is five stars in my eyes!

https://www.instagram.com/p/DE-zB9kSrEN/?igsh=MTY3OXJ6czEwc2V0ZQ==

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7226995010

Reviews published on January 18, 2025


𝙼𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ || 🌶️🌶️

I devoured this book in less than 24 hours! I mean…a book about a cowboy named Colton? Sign me up! ✍🏼

Ellie is a dressage rider who wants to be an Olympian, but feels like a constant disappointment to her overbearing and negative mother. Colton is a retired rodeo rider who moves to England for the summer to help train two boys in barrel racing. They are both staying at the same estate and form an unlikely friendship that evolves from there. Ugh I loved their relationship so much and I want more of them!

I will definitely keep my eyes peeled for more novels by H Mitchell!

Wow, oh wow! I found this book and author via threads and Instagram and it did not disappoint. I love a slow burn and the tasteful spice is amazing. The mental health representation of anxiety and depression is one of the best representations I’ve read recently - truly she treated these topics with such care and respect.

Colton, an American cowboy, goes over the pond to teach a Lord’s sons to be cowboys. The Lord is also hosting a group of young adults who are hoping to make Olympic trials. Ellie is one of the hopefuls who is staying on the grounds. This is a forbidden romance, found family story with *amazing* mental health rep, healthy communication and great plot. A fantastic debut!

Side note: if Meemaw’s desserts are based on any real recipes please share because they sounded amazing :)

“𝐈 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐄𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐞, 𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭”

•••••

“𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐈 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐭𝐨𝐧. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐈’𝐝 𝐠𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞, 𝐚𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮.”

☁️☁️☁️

𝚆𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚏𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚐𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚋𝚞𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚜 🦋🦋🦋

𝙵𝚘𝚛 𝚊 𝚍𝚎𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚗𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚕, 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚘𝚘𝚘 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍. 𝙸’𝚟𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚝 𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚛𝚎 𝚍𝚊𝚢, 𝚒 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖. 𝙼𝚢 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚔𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝙴𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝙸’𝚖 𝚜𝚘 𝚐𝚕𝚊𝚍 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝙲𝚘𝚕𝚝𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚎𝚌𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚒𝚜.


𝙷𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝙲𝚘𝚕𝚝𝚘𝚗 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚎𝚌𝚝. 𝙷𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚘 𝚜𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚜 𝙴𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚎, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚖𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛, 𝚖𝚢 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚗’𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚒𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛. 𝙷𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚕𝚢, 𝙷 𝚋𝚕𝚎𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚕 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛. 𝙸𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠 𝚊𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚒𝚗 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜. 𝙸 𝚌𝚊𝚗’𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚒𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚎𝚕𝚜𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚎! 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚋𝚎𝚝 𝙸 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎 𝚛𝚞𝚗𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚞𝚝𝚜 𝚘𝚞𝚝.