Swift and Saddled Review

By author Lyla Sage

Rebel Blue Ranch Book 2

Star rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Spice rating: 🌶️🌶️🌶️

Blurb

 She’s the city girl who refuses to be saddled with a man. He’s the cowboy who wants her anyway.

The last thing Ada Hart needs is a man to take care of her. Not anymore. After failing out of her interior design program and the disaster that was her short-lived marriage, Ada clawed her way up from her rock bottom. Now, the only person she trusts is herself, and that has gotten her further than ever before. She has her own business, and one of the largest ranches in Wyoming just hired her for the most important project of her career.

When Ada arrives in Meadowlark, she finds herself in a dive bar where she can’t seem to shake the eyes of a handsome cowboy. When she leads him to the back of the bar, he leaves her with a kiss that most people can only fantasize about. She almost regrets that she’ll never see him again . . . except it turns out he’s her new boss.

Weston Ryder is a happy guy. Even happier now that the mystery woman from the bar is the interior designer for his dream project on his family’s ranch. He feels like he hit the jackpot. It’s too bad she wants absolutely nothing to do with him outside of work. Ada is convinced the pull she feels toward Wes will go away, but Wes can’t stop thinking about her. Even though walls are coming down around Rebel Blue, Ada’s walls are firmly in place.

Can they make it through this project without giving in? Or will they both put their dreams on the line for a chance at love?

Genre: Contemporary Romance

 

Read if you Like:

🐴 Forced proximity

🐴 Cowboy MC

🐴 Cinnamon roll hero

🐴 Instalust

🐴 Small town

My Thoughts:

I loved Done and Dusted so I was super excited to read the sequel! This one started off good and I was hooked! I read it in one night.

I really liked Ada and Wes. I liked that he listened to her and taught her the skills she needed to feel comfortable. Also bonding over saving a baby calf? 100% perfect rancher romance bonding. I want to see it in every cowboy romance from now on.

I did have mixed feelings about Wes's depression diagnosis. Unlike Emmy's ADHD in the previous book I didn't really feel like it was particularly authentic representation. It felt a little more like Wes needed something to be vulnerable about and having a diagnosis did the trick. I do understand that he was in remission at the time of the story, but depression is a lot more than feeling sad and I don't think the story really captured that.

I also would have liked some more details about Ada's past and to learn more about why her ex left. I felt that story line was a little incomplete. I also was a little torn about her having a career that wouldn't work in his town.

Overall I really loved this book and would highly recommend it. I just had a few things that I wished were a little different so I could love it even more.

🌶️🌶️🌶️ - This book has several open-door steamy scenes that are detailed.

Thanks to Netgalley and Dial Press for providing me with an eARC of this book. All opinions are my own.