Emmy's (main character from Done and Dusted) brother Weston is the main character in this one. Along with Ada, a designer who's coming from out of state to help make Wes's dream a reality. I loved the mental health representation shared by Wes. Ada has her own background she's needing to overcome. The way they connect and are so vulnerable with each other was precious. It was like getting a warm, much-needed hug. Additionally, loved getting to see more of Emmy, Luke, and the rest of the Rebel Blue ranch and Ryder family.

Audio review: This is a dual point of view (alternating chapters), dual narrator books. The narrators did an excellent job of capturing the characters and the stories. Often I will switch from print to audio, and I didn't for this one. The audio was just too good! It was right around seven hours, which was the perfect length for me.

The next book comes out in November. I'm counting down!

Thanks to the publisher for sharing a copy with me. All opinions are my own.

The long-awaited sequel to Done and Dusted is FINALLY here!

Right off the bat: I LOVED this. Adored this. I preferred this to the first book in the series!

Gosh, I love this family and this ranch so much. I love seeing the relationship between all of the family members and how they merge with the new characters on the ranch. I thought that the FMC was truly relatable and I found myself rooting for her very sincerely.

I wanted to see and know more about Wes and the things he's going through on his journey. I loved that this book represented male mental health and medication, but I wanted to see more of it!

I am already itching to get my hands on the next one. so, so, SO good!

Swift and Saddled is a sweet romance full of longing, and second chances! There was so much I LOVED about this book, I needed just a little bit more of everything from it. I especially needed more character development between the two considering they were facing some serious real life issues, I was really confused and unsatisfied with the ending.. It almost felt like I just skipped a few chapters at the end. I am a huge Lyla Sage fan and I love the fictional world she has created at Rebel Blue Ranch. Even though I did not feel personally connected to the two main characters like I did with the first book in this series I still really enjoyed myself and I can not wait for the next book.

I received a digital ARC copy of this book via NetGalley and publisher in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I CAN’T WITH THIS BOOK!!

“Hey siri, play Forever and Ever, Amen by Randy Travis.”

This is the absolute best cowboy romance!! I didn’t think it could get better than “Done and Dusted” but somehow Lyla did.

Wes was a wonderful representation of what it is like to live with mental illnesses such as depression. I could relate to him so much. It wasn’t over done or exaggerated. It was perfect. Wes said it best when he said, “That’s what I meant when I said that my brain didn’t feel like my own sometimes. It felt like it belonged to my mental illness instead.”

Ada was a wonderful representation of dealing with past trauma. Her backstory was so sad (though I wish we knew why Chance called her). I hope maybe Lyla addresses that in “Lost and Lassoed” and Wes kicks some serious city ass.

Both characters were super relatable and easy to cheer for. Of course, I already loved Wes from Emmy and Brooks story and I loved how Sage threw in some of their story without taking away from Wes and Ada’s but integrating it (THAT EPILOGUE???).

I cannot recommend this book enough. It will stay with me just like “Done and Dusted” did. I will be on pins and needles waiting for the next one! Enemies to lovers???? FUCK YES.

Swift and Saddled By Lyla Sage
Comes out on March 5, 2024
3/5 Stars

“I see you, Ada. I always see you, even when you won’t look at me.”

Ada is an interior designer with her own business. Wes lives on one of the largest ranches in Wyoming. When Ada comes to town for a business venture, she first stops at a dive bar for a fun night out before going to do her job the next day. She runs into a cute boy and they have a good and steamy moment together until they get interrupted. He ends up just being a mystery man when she leaves the bar. Next day, she realizes she doesn’t have her iPad which has all of her work on it because she accidentally left it at the bar. She goes to the ranch for her first day of work and realizes it is Wes’ farm. He also has her bag luckily. Through this weird meeting and a coincidence of her working for him and his family, they start to grow fond of each other. Will this be more than a work relationship? Could it end it a chance of loving each other?

First off, I liked this one way more than Lyla’s first book. Her first book was good, but it just didn’t have what I wanted from that story line. This one was so much better and you can tell that the editing was much better as well as Lyla’s writing has improved a lot.

I loved Ada as a character! She is a strong, independent woman who has gone through love and lost it which made her grow more. I feel like she is an ideal woman who struggles and knows that it is going to be okay in the end. I loved her relationship with the other characters and how I feel like she could fit in anywhere she went. She also seems like she really is good at what she does, even if she failed at getting her degree.

Wes is your DREAM book boyfriend. He has the cute golden retriever boy energy and just seems like the sweetest person. The way that he would be there for Ada or his family just seemed so sweet to me. And I loved how he even helped her do her job. The ending when he had a name for the ranch all built up in his head was my favorite. I feel like it showed how much he really did care for the project.

Overall, this book wasn’t terrible. I really enjoyed it for the most part and I am super excited to continue the series once Lyla comes out with book 3! Thank you Lyla Sage, the publisher, and Netgalley for allowing me to read this before it came out for an honest review! Be sure to check it out!

Book review: Swift and Saddled by Lyla Sage

5 ✨

What to expect:

♡ cowboys
♡ boss x employee
♡ found family
♡ he falls first
♡ small town
♡ black cat x golden retriever
♡ “sweetheart”
♡ mental health rep

WHATEVER IS IN THESE BOOKS KEEP IT GOING CAUSE OMGGGGG. I’m literally screaming on the top of my lungs just thinking how could this series get even better when I finished Done and Dusted earlier this week but Swift and Saddled swooped in, stole my heart in more ways than one and said let me show you how honey!!!!

Usually in books where the main characters meet without realizing who each other were, the story will one way or another always have with that moment where they both realize who the other person is and that creates a true OMG moment for the reader. In Swift and Saddled that’s exactly what happens with Ada Hart and Weston Ryder.

Ada is suppose to be working on the Rebel Blue Guest Ranch project with Wes and the night before it all starts, Ada stumbles into Devil’s Boot and hits it off with one particular very handsome cowboy, who’s in reality none other than her new boss Wes. They have a makeup session but are interrupted before they can get each other’s names. Next day when Ada shows up to the ranch for her first day, she’s met with that same guy she encountered the night before and the both of them are now forced to work together while having the biggest attraction towards each other.

That whole trope where they try to resist each other and keep lying about their feelings until one night where all “hell” breaks loose, is one of my favorite parts of said book. In Swift and Saddled it’s clear that Wes falls first, but once Ada falls she falls HARD. The thing I love most about these two are the way they try to be completely honest about themselves to each other and feel safe enough to open up about the things they struggle with.
Ada is very shy in the beginning because of past relationship trauma and therefore doesn’t believe she’s good enough and Wes has his own struggles with mental health and is victim to the middle child syndrome. But both of them are so brutally honest and goes through an extreme amount of growth throughout the book together and that made me tear up once or twice just because of how dear I hold them to my heart. 🥲

Swift & Saddled By @authorlylasage

The city girl and country boy trope will never not bring me copious amounts of serotonin. So excited to have returned to Rebel Blue Ranch!

“I think I might have been homesick for Rebel Blue before I knew it existed.”

Ada is city girl afraid of commitment. Weston is a shy cowboy who just wants to prove himself. These two meet at a local bar, and there is instant attraction. But unknowingly to them they’ll be working alongside each other for a huge project at Rebel Blue.

The way my heart genuinely resonated with both Wes and Ada on completely different levels was amazing. You know what they say.. Opposites certainly do attract. And let me tell you I would’ve been on my knees immediately every time Wes Ryder looked at me and said “sweetheart”.

Honorable mentions: THE FUCKING MIRROR SCENE. LYLA SAGE that scene will forever be Ingrained into my frontal lobe.

I can’t wait for Teddy Gus’s story! That cliff hanger during the sneak peak had me in tears!

“You’re the moon,” he said. “And I’m the tides. You pull me in without even trying, and I come to you willingly. I always will.”

Thank you @netgalley and @authorlylasage for this e-ARC of Swift and Saddled

Release Date 03.05.2024 💜

Honestly, I’m just excited for Gus & Teddy. Like I this book was just a stop I had to make to get to their book. Wes and Ada were fine, I didn’t feel that we got to know them very well. I also didn’t buy the dirty talk from Wes because he’s such a sweet little summer child and it kind of icked me! But it was a quick and relatively cute read. I’d give this a 3.5, most because I liked all the other characters. Give me Gus and Teddy’!

SWIFT AND SADDLED • Lyla Sage • Pub Date: March 5, 2024

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Abridged Goodreads Synopsis: After failing out of her interior design program and the disaster that was her short-lived marriage, Ada Hart clawed her way up from her rock bottom. She now has her own business, and one of the largest ranches in Wyoming just hired her for the most important project of her career. The last thing Ada Hart needs is a man to take care of her, so naturally, when Ada arrives in town to begin her very important project, 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 makes her almost regret that she’ll never see him again. She definitely isn’t expecting him to be her new boss. And that cowboy? Well, it was none other than Weston Ryder. Wes feels like he hit the jackpot when the mystery woman from the bar is the interior designer for his dream project on his family's ranch. Too bad she wants absolutely nothing to do with him. It looks like this project is about to get interesting!

Sage is my first dip into the cowboy romance sub-genre, and I have to say I am a fan! Like many, I am now fully invested in the Ryder Family. While I was hoping that Done and Dusted would be followed by the true enemies-to-lovers story that will inevitably be Teddy and Gus's love story (don't worry y'all; that's Book 3!), I was pleasantly surprised by Ada and Wes's story. It was the quintessential black cat/golden retriever trope, and from chapter one, readers can feel the tension between these two! Along with excellent relationship development (and spice), readers also get to experience Ada find where she belongs.

TL;DR: This story was equal parts fun and heartwarming. I cannot wait for the next book in the Rebel Blue Ranch series!

I thought nothing could surpass Done and Dusted, but Lyla managed to improve her already amazing writing style. The way the MC’s depression was described really touched me and I’m so glad we got to see a male lead take healthy steps to deal with mental issues. I absolutely adored Ada. I love a “black cat” character, especially when we get to see their inner thoughts and feelings. Definitely on the edge of my seat to continue this series.

I really enjoyed this second installment of the Rebel Blue series. The relationship development between Ada and Weston was spot on, and I love a “black cat” and “golden retriever” duo. While reading I could picture the ranch. The family dynamic is also very heartwarming.

I was hooked from the very beginning! Wes is a sweetheart, so loving, and has the personality of a golden retriever! THE PASSION, THE TENSION AND THE PATIENCE! Weston Rhodes Ryder captured my heart in Done and Dusted and continued to take it all in Swift and Saddled. Ada is someone who I deeply connected with based on how people have made her feel about herself. I saw myself in her so many times that I just wanted to give her a huge hug. We were able to see her grow and fall in love with the perfect man. ALSO, the other characters such as Teddy, Emmy, and Brooks made the book so much better. 🥹 Lyla Sage keeps giving me characters that will live rent free in my mind. Booking a trip to Wyoming right now!

This was my first cowboy romance and let me say that I am not disappointed. This book has everything you would want from a small town romance and there is such a great build up behind the main characters’ relationship (the tension is chef’s kiss). The main female character is hired by our main male character to help redesign the farm where the story takes place. But little does she know that her new boss is the guy with whom she had a hot make-out session with at the local bar the night before. Swift and Saddled was such a fun read and I would recommend it without a doubt. To justify my 3 star rating despite my undeniable appreciation for this book, I did think that the story was a bit dragged on, but I was also going through a reading slump at the time which may have biased my appreciation of the book. So don’t mind me and go read this book right now!!

This romance was amazing. I loved Wes and Ava. They were great together. There were some fun and funny moments. But mostly, I loved all the characters as a whole. The setting and growth of the relationship really drag you into the story. I didn’t read Dust and Dusted first, but I definitely am now. Not only that, but I will be following along with all future books in this series. I so want to find out what happens with Gus and Teddy and Dusty and Cam. And I just would freak for an age-gap romance with Amos. Let’s make that happen!

Someone stop me before I pack my things and move to Wyoming. I’m serious. This series has me in a chokehold. I loved Done and Dusted and didn’t think Swift and Saddled could top it but I was so so wrong! I loved Ada so much and related to her and Wes on so many different topics. I loved the mental health representation in this book! It was done so well and was so relatable. I was truly laughing out loud at so many things in this book and I was fully not expecting that! I am BEYOND ready for Gus and Teddy’s book now. The banter between those two is so insane and cracks me up. I laughed for a solid 15 minutes when she removed him from the group chat 💀 Please don’t sleep on this series if you like small town romance!

This is my new favorite comfort book! I fell in love with Wes & Ada and was able to relate to them so much. I devoured this book in one sitting and can’t wait to read about Teddy and Gus’ story. Every single character feels like part of my family now. Lyla nailed it with side characters and creating this little world that I feel like exists :) You need to read all of Lyla Sage’s books!!

Loved this one and also the first one in the series. I can't wait for the next one. If someone would have told me I would be spending my Saturday morning looking up other small-town western romance book titles, authors and series, I would have laughed at them. But, here I am. The Ryder family has my heart.

You know a book is good when it has me contemplating getting out into nature! I loved this story about interior deisgner Ada using a job at Rebel Blue Ranch to find herself after a disastrous marriage - and obviously falling in love with kind, hot Wes along the way! It's tender and vulnerable, and I love the way Wes supported Ada and her career every step of the way.

This was so cute!!!! Such a sweet and spicy romance. I only wish it was longer, or that I got to see the relationship develop on the page more. We need more sexual and romantic tension.

3.5 - 4 ☆

i wasn’t really sure how i felt about this book for the first half, i kind of felt bored and the whole avoidance thing felt extra long. the second half howeverrr was much better in my opinion.

i could understand where ada came from but i couldn’t really connect with her character. BUT THE RYDERS??? amazing 10/10. i’m a sucker for small town families like them so it was so easy to fall for wes and the rest of thw family. wes is an absolute sweetheart and i lived for his super cute comments (the moon & tide one nearly did me in) 💕💕

overall it was a cute short read but it was just missing something for me 🫶🏼

thank you netgalley & lyla sage for the arc!