Molly has wanted to start her own wedding planning company ever since she was a little girl. But, that dream has remained out of reach since she works full-time as a barista and part-time at a call center to pay her student loans. When her estranged aunt passes away, Molly inherits her horse property, making her life even more complicated than ever. There’s also this cute girl Shani that lives on the property as a farrier. Should Molly stay and try her hand at the horse business or sell and start up her own wedding planning company?

Horse enthusiasts will love this enemies to lovers sapphic novel! I am not a horse enthusiast, but I did enjoy this one. Although, the constant miscommunication between the main characters bothered me a bit. It left me a little frustrated. I also would have loved an epilogue. Overall, it was a quick and easy read with a nice setting. I give it 3/5 stars.

Thanks to NetGalley and Avon for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Wear the hat, ride the cowgirl!

The Ride of Her Life is the first Jennifer Dugan book I have read, and I loved every. single. moment. Molly and Shani represent the best of the grumpy/sunshine trope!

Molly is down on her luck, working multiple jobs, and drowning in student loan debt, when she learns she has inherited her estranged aunt’s farm. Molly doesn’t have the money to fix up the place, so she feels like she has no choice but to sell. The only problem is, Molly doesn’t expect to fall in love the boarders, the animals, and the grumpy farrier that lives on the property.

Shani is fiercely protective of those she loves. (I also think it’s worth mentioning that Shani is likened to Kristen Stewart at one point.) There is as much sexual tension between this pair as there is interpersonal conflict.

This novel had me giggling, crying, blushing, and staying up past my bedtime to read! If you enjoy LGBTQ+ romance, cowboy romance, grumpy/sunshine, and found family, you should pick up this novel when it releases on May 28th, 2024.

Romantic big city girl meets down-home country girl in The Ride of Her Life. It’s a sweet, spirited read that’s fun and enjoyable, but the miscommunication level between the leads is annoyingly high.

Molly is a romantic who has fantasies of falling in love. She’s been planning her wedding since she was a child, but the next best thing is running her own wedding planning business.

Unfortunately, a stack of debt and a series of failed careers have made it a non-starter. When the universe does her a solid, it’s via an inheritance from her dead aunt. Though the horse barn is struggling, it at least provides Molly a possible leg up. She didn’t know it also comes with employees and a passel of horses.

Shani developed a bond with Molly’s aunt in her dying days, and she’s horrified that Molly might sell the business. It’s clear that Molly has no idea what she’s doing as she tries to whip the place into shape in order to sell it. Shani starts out doing what she can to keep a full out disaster from happening, but soon those little moments add up to something big.

The problem here is the Big Mis. Molly and Shani have the worst possible impressions of one another and those impressions continue for pages and pages until they are talked out - only for another to arrive. This is annoying.

I liked Shani’s crustiness and Molly’s can’t-get-her-stuff-together ways; neither of them are perfect people but their adventures are enjoyable. The feeling of the farm and country are quite charmingly written. But the tension rings falsely and that was enough to cause me to mark down The Ride of Her Life to a low-grade B. But it’s still a charming novel, even with its tedious moments.

This review is based on an advanced galley sent by the publisher. (NOTE: After requesting the Netgalley ARC, I recieved a physical ARC; this review is based on the physical galley.)

The only reason this broke the three star barrier is because I am desperate for masc cowboy sapphic love interests. Otherwise it would have maybe scraped by with 2.5 stars.

ONE: THE PLOT
The plot is fine, for the most part. Molly struggling to decide how she wants to handle the enormous responsibility of getting a huge property dumped on her is realistic; she's under an immense amount of stress and struggling to make a decision about how to handle this situation she's been thrust into without consent. Molly weighs her needs against other folk's needs against the reality of money and debt. When she has conversations about this with characters like JJ, Aiyana, Lochlin, or Lita, whether or not she will keep or sell is actually an interesting drama.

The romance part of the plot is a mess of miscommunications and people contriving to keep information away from Molly for no reason. She is constantly saying that she doesn't understand things or asking for clarification and the only reason it's not given to her is to drag the plot out longer or to cause a dumb fight between her and the love interest, Shani.

Though it was a bit silly that no one <spoiler>made the very obvious connection that the land is a beautiful event space and would be a perfect start for Molly to both begin her event company (side note: Immaculate Events is a terrible name) while not evicting her aunt's boarders. Like rub those brain cells together, girl, I know you've got at least two of them rattling around in there.</spoiler>

Speaking of Molly.

TWO: THE MAIN CHARACTER
Molly feels like a character whose entire character is "relateable."

She fulfills every stereotype about a mid-20s bi white woman romance MC. She likes Taylor Swift. She reads romance novels. She likes iced coffee. She's drowning in student debt. She's working part time after being unable to chase her dreams. She's a little clumsy. She's Totally Not Gorgeous (100% absolutely beautiful, insert One Direction lyrics here).

(Also, sorry for being a petty bitch, but <spoiler>I cannot stand her Taylor Swift obsession. I understand why it's there because contemporary romance readers go gaga for her but I just Don't Care About Her and I'm sick of seeing her everywhere.</spoiler>)

The few parts of her that seem unique and really interesting either don't get fully developed (her toxic relationship with her mother) or only shine briefly at the end (her passion for event planning). As a result, she's just kind of boring as a main character.

Also, why is she labeled "sunshine"? Because she bakes and is a lil clumsy and likes the most popular singer of the modern day??? Please.

When she's stressed out about trying to get things done or taking care of the horses (aka actually engaging with the plot) I like her! I love my protagonists being anxious or upset or angry. What I don't love is when the book doesn't seem aware of how _fucking awful_ she is being to other people (see: her being labeled as "sunshine," her being right in the end _vis a vis_ Nat) or just slaps #relateable characteristics on her to appeal to (a very specific type of) The Gays.

And, look, again, maybe this relateability is just a genre convention and it is just Not For Me. In that case, mea culpa. But, in my humble opinion, Molly _sucks._

THREE: MOLLY AND SHARI
You seriously expect me to believe that two characters that can’t go 24 hours without miscommunicating, fighting, or crying are going to get an HEA?

Please.

Also I’m sick of chemistry between characters entirely relying on physical attraction and calling it good enough. For example, personality. (And while Shari is undeniably a catch, Molly has the personality of a modern day Wattpad Y/N, so I don’t understand why Shari likes her.)

Their conversations were uninteresting because half the time they were fighting over something contrived or were acting like children about finances. The entire book I was just thinking “Jesus Christ, someone get an adult in here.”

And then they would get an adult—Nat—in there. And I regretted it. Immediately. <spoiler>Starting a petition to get Nat into a better book because she does not deserve the vilification she gets.</spoiler>

FOUR: NAT
<spoiler> Nat has always been there for Molly. She comes whenever Molly asks for help or calls her in tears over every minor inconvenience (seriously, Molly couldn't even _look at a list of repairs on her own_ and dragged Nat and her girlfriend KiKi two hours out of town every weekend to do free labor for her.)

Nat has missed so many opportunities to pick up the pieces for Molly and has seen Molly’s unhealthy attachment pattern to her partners and how many times she’s been emotionally and financially ruined by moving too fast in a relationship. So when she says that Molly is exhibiting unhealthy attachment to Shari, or expresses concern that Molly is basically willing to throw her entire life and savings into a risky debt-laden project, or tries to get her to return to the city, the novel tries to paint her as the villain, or in the wrong, for doing that.

_But Nat is fucking right._

And what I also think is interesting is that… we never see her (or hear mentioned) that Molly had ever tried to support Nat like Nat does Molly. Molly never runs lines with Nat, she never drops everything to comfort her when she doesn’t get a role she wants.

Not only does Molly never reciprocate the support she’s given by Nat in any way, she’s got a pattern of treating Nat like her emotional sponge, and never considers Nat’s life or needs. Hell, Molly abandons Nat, a lesbian, alone in a bar in the middle of nowhere, without her car, in a building full of men, with two men Nat _does not know_. Molly accepts that was a bad thing to do but all she does is be like “wow I’m Weally Weally Sowwy 🥺” and Nat forgives her pretty much immediately. Molly treats Nat terribly throughout the entire book, and, I’m sorry, but as a reader I just am not on Molly’s side at all, even though the book absolutely expects us to take it.

Molly assumes Nat will prioritize her, and gives lip service that she doesn’t _really_ want that, but relies on Nat throughout the entire book to figure out her life for her.

I also hated the ending. No, obviously, Nat shouldn’t have thrown away the letter. But like… her concerns about Molly are _right._ Molly has shown herself, again and again, to rush into relationships, to overcommit, to worsen her financial situation.

Molly pitches a fit and claims that she’s just Nat’s project and that Nat doesn’t see her as an equal, and dismisses her, and we’re meant to see that as a big moment? My sister in Christ, you are in the wrong! See my discussion of Nat and Shari’s relationship!!!! Look at your history!!! You need therapy!!!!!! You do not know how to treat other people (unless, I guess, you’re attracted to them)!!!!!!!

Molly ends the book by hoping that Nat will realize she was “in the wrong” and that she’ll apologize, but I ended it hoping that Nat never speaks to her again so that way when Molly and Shari end up in a toxic miscommunication/argument cycle about money or renovations or whatever (because they will) she and Kiki don’t have to get caught up in it.</spoiler>

And, finally, my niche gripe that no one else probably cares about: <spoiler>I was really excited seeing the word lesbian on the very first page to refer to Nat! But then ||she’s the """"bad guy"""" (again, like I said earlier, fuck Molly, Nat was right). It’s just Inch Resting to me that the only character that gets labeled as a lesbian is the Bad Guy, while love interest and every other sapphic character are either bi or unlabeled. Do I think it was intentional? No. Does that make it any less annoying? No.</spoiler>

This was my last hurrah for contemporary romance. I’m hanging up my hat. This game just isn’t for me.

What a fun book! I instantly like Molly and how earnest and flawed she was. I don't know much about horses at all and I LOVED every single aspect of learning about them as animals, and also the different horse competitions and barn life and just everything about them. The side characters were just fabulous and really enhanced the story, giving it such a found family feeling. Shani took a minute to grow on me because communication was NOT one of her skills, but I love her and Molly together and of course the enemies to lovers aspect was entertaining and steamy. I raced through the ending once a lot of drama hit the fan and was absolutely cheering by both the events and also Molly really coming into her own and learning how to be herself. I recommend this fun romcom!

The plot of this book was pretty good. The whole inheriting something you know nothing about to learning to love a whole new lifestyle pipeline is great. I loved all of the side characters in this story. Lochlin and Tyler? Love. Lita? LOVE. The horses? Incredible. Did not so much love Molly (our narrator). She was a complete disaster until about 80% where suddenly she had everything together and she was a fully functioning, miracle working human.

For the romance: I really wasn’t feeling it. I was trying to give it the benefit of the doubt and say I wasn’t getting it because I, as a painfully straight person, don’t understand queer tension… but that was not the issue. These two characters hated each other and had spoken twice (while everyone else kept joking about them being in love with each other with absolutely no evidence that was visible to us as readers to back it up) then suddenly the next chapter they were fully committed to each other. I felt more chemistry between Molly and Lochlin in the 2 conversations they had when they first met than I did between her and Shani the ENTIRE book.

Like good for them for working it all out but godDAMN did we really need so much miscommunication????????

Shani seemed like a cool love interest and I think there’s could’ve been a lot of depth there that we just missed out on.

Overall, the plot was good but the romance wasn’t

ARC from NetGalley & Avon and Harper Voyager

So good! I loved this sapphic love story about a farrier and a city girl who fall in love while trying to save the family business. With horses! Thoughtful and sweet with a light amount of spice, it left me wanting to visit Dugan‘s world more and hoping for another book set here-Lochlan and Tyler‘s perhaps? And how great is that cover?!

I've read a few books by Jennifer Dugan and have enjoyed all of them. 'The Ride of Her Life' is a fun story of Molly's journey figuring out what she is going to do with her life post-college once she inherited a horse farm from her Aunt Christina. The romance between Shani and Molly is great but the relationships with Molly and her mother, her best-friend, and the other community members are interesting and unique.

The Ride of Her Life by Jennifer Dugan follows the story of Molly McDaniels after she receives an unexpected inheritance after her estranged aunts passing. Molly has no idea how to handle running a barn... luckily there is a sexy farrier named Shani living on property.

This was a very entertaining read, I do love a good enemies to lovers story. I think that Molly's complicated relationships with her friends and her mother made the story very realistic and even more interesting. I would have liked to see what happened next regarding her relationship with her mother and the mystery behind what really happened between sisters back in the day.

Overall, I zipped through this one and had a great time reading it! I know a lot more about horses than I did before but I definitely wouldn't be equipped to handle a barn!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

I’m torn between 3.5 and 4 stars.

My thoughts on this were so strong in the beginning and then they went down as the story progressed. I was soooo tired of the back and forth with Molly and Shani. Like it was so annoying. I see why people hate the misunderstanding trope because I was feeling it here. I was so invested in the first half of the book when it was just enemies to lovers but then it kinda crashed and burned. And then the ending felt super rushed.

I really liked Lochlin and Tyler and the rest of the crew. They all seemed so open and ready to help and be friends with Molly.

I did NOT like Nat and Kiki. Like come on. This had all the makings of such a toxic friendship. I also didn’t like Molly’s mom but I think that was intentional. I understand exactly where Molly is coming from in this story. Feeling stuck and like you don’t know what your purpose is and where you’re supposed to be.

I don’t quite understand Aunt Christina, but I liked her character even if we don’t see too much of her. This was a solid book with a lot of sweet moments. If there was less back and forth I would have loved it.

I’ve never considered myself close to a horse girl but if it meant I could have a story like Molly and Shani’s then I’m sold. I was immediately invested in Molly's journey as someone who also falls a little to hard all the time. I thought I knew right where this book was going, a cute rom-com but instead got two MC on intense emotional journeys to better themselves and honor a lost relative. Molly's story and journey to try and achieve her dreams is compelling because everything does not always go her way and she has real emotional reactions to it. This story could totally stand without romance but the romance just makes it so much better. All the pinning and will they won't they had me at the edge of my seat and made it nearly impossible to put down.
This story is a wonderful romance and journey to better yourself and life. The real emotions and actions of the MC's as they go on this journey together makes it so much more real and all the more enjoyable!
I highly recommend!

Love to see a queer romantic comedy with a country setting. You don’t see a lot of queer western romances. The grumpy/sunshine trope was done well here.

I'm really bummed, but this one wasn't a win for me. I had a hard time with the writing on this one. It felt like some aspects weren't consistent all the way through, and that made it jarring and pulled me out of the story. I was so excited to!
With that said, it was still a fun concept overall, and I did enjoy it. I was just disappointed.

3 Stars

The Ride of Her Life is about Molly, a city girl who inherits a horse farm after her aunts passing. Will she sell the farm to start her own event planning company or keep the farm?

I LOVE the concept and always enjoy a Grumpy/Sunshine trope. The horse farm setting made my small town heart very happy especially with the giant grass puppies.

The biggest issue for me was closure. I felt there needed to be more of a conclusion to the story. A simple epilogue a year later could have encompassed how Molly and Shani's relationship is, how the business is doing, and if Molly and her mother where able to remedy their relationship as well as Molly's relationship with her best friend that honestly was kind of shitty toward her throughout the book. I was just left with a lot of questions where I would rather have a nice little package tied with a bow.

Overall I enjoyed the read and would recommend anyone who enjoys a little country in their romance.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

I've been a long time fan of Jennifer Dugan and have read almost all of her YA books, but this was my first time reading her adult romance. The Ride of Her Life follows Molly who inherits her estranged aunt Christine's home and barn after she passes. This comes as a huge shock to Molly as well as Shani, Christine's (essentially) adopted daughter and the woman who took care of Christine while she was ill. And this sets up Molly and Shani for an enemies to lovers romance set around horses, rodeos, and found family.

The one thing I truly love about Jennifer Dugan's books is she knows how to write a bisexual disaster. Molly fits this trope perfectly and starts out the story feeling pretty lost and trying to find her place in the world. She has a job she hates, she lives with her mom who is very co-dependent, and finds herself falling into relationships where she often takes on the personality of whoever she's dating. While I think Molly's struggles and personality can come off a bit immature at the beginning of the story, it was nice to watch her grow throughout.

Shani is a great grumpy love interest, and I almost wish we got to learn more about her. I would have loves some chapters in her point of view, especially whenever her and Molly were having miscommunications, because it would have been nice to better understand how Shani was really feeling and not just what Molly assumed she was feeling.

While I wouldn't say everything worked for me in this book, I do feel like I genuinely cared about the characters, which Dugan is fantastic at. I think some of the bi-disaster aspects work slightly better in her YA books through because you can forgive some of the messiness because they're teens. But since Molly is in her mid-twenties, I often had to remind myself that most of us don't have it all together at that age, so it did help me give her some grace in the end.

Overall I think this was a good book and there's potential to build on this universe. I would love to see a book about Shani's brother because he was one of my favorite parts of the book. And I loved this little town, but wish we were able to see more of it.

Thank you to Avon and NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

*Received as a free ARC*
Other than a totally foreseeable third act break up, I have nothing but good things to say about this book! Jennifer Dugan is always a hit. Queer Hallmark in book form is also always going to be a yes for me. And the middle schooler that was a horse girl in me was very excited for that bit. Absolutely would recommend this as a lighter spring/summer read.

Overall, decent read but I will say that I had a tough time getting into the book at the beginning and I hated that throughout the book the main character just seemed to hate everyone and make them an enemy based on decisions she chose for herself. And while Molly and Shani had a good dynamic, their conflicts were a bit frustrating at times.

Rounded up from 2.5 stars.

Molly McDaniel is an aspiring event planner and current barista when she inherits her estranged aunt’s horse farm out in the country. Knowing nothing about how to run a farm, Molly plans on selling the estate for seed money to start her dream event planning business, until she meets grumpy farrier, Shani. Although, Molly and Shani seem to butt heads at first, soon feelings start to develop as Molly moves in to sort out the estate.

The Ride of Her Life was a quick and entertaining read, but ultimately it fell flat for me. Molly was an incredibly hard character to root for and was constantly describing a history of toxic relationships that seemed incredibly similar to the budding romance we were reading. At one point, she invited her best friend over for a girl’s night only to leave her alone at a bar abruptly to go see Shani. And we were meant to see her friend in a negative light. Likewise, Shani seemed to have toxic behaviors as well, often switching from anger to love quickly, and struggling to communicate.

The main issues I found in this book were in the pacing and ending. Throughout the book, conflict arises. Molly ends up having a fight with her mom over why she was estranged with her aunt. She has a major fight with her best friend right at the very end of the book. Her and Shani aren’t even on speaking terms until the last 10 pages or so. It seemed to end abruptly without addressing a lot of the conflict that occurred at the end of the story. I wish there was more focus on Molly’s personal growth, but the ending seemed to disregard all of the issues she was having with her friends and family, all because she got the girl in the end. I wish the issues that we saw arise were resolved with a few more chapters and maybe an epilogue detailing how the farm faired in the future.

Overall, it was an okay read for a quick romance, but there were elements of the story that could have been expanded.

The Ride of Her Life comes out May 28th, 2024. Thank you to NetGalley for an Advanced Reader Copy in Exchange for an honest review.

I had a lot of mixed feelings while I was reassign this book. The beginning was rough, but once Molly (our narrator) got on her feet, it was a lot more interesting. Overall, the characters were likable, and I did enjoy Shani and Molly’s dynamic. However, their nearly constant conflict was a little frustrating. I would have liked more of the previous plot points/characters to have been elaborated on, but overall, this was a very enjoyable read.

thank you for the opportunity to arc read, while this book had the potential to be everything i adore... i could not get past the fact i do not like the main character. I think there is so many unhealthy relationships in her life, I would hav truly enjoyed seeing growth through out her story. it fell a little flat because it felt very 2D. there were moments when the tropes were believeable and moments when they just so strongly missed their marks. I think this story is a win for the gay horse girls. but it was only mid for me sadly.