The Ride of Her Life follows Molly, an aspiring event planner turned barista, and her journey to achieve her dreams after she inherits a horse ranch from her estranged aunt.

The characters are great, the premise is fun, and the romance is very sweet. It was chock full of miscommunication, which was a big turnoff for me, but your mileage may vary. I also felt like the ending was really rushed and the book could have benefited from expanding on the last few chapters instead of the montage style we got.

Overall, this was a fun and lighthearted read! I would recommend this to someone who loves the classic Hallmark movie style with some spice sprinkled in.

Thank you Avon and Harper Voyager and NetGalley for the ARC!

This is probably my favorite Jennifer Dugan book to date! Cowboy books are having their moment right now and I really enjoyed this one. I was a quasi-horse girlie growing up so I was excited to relearn things as Molly learned them. All of the characters played their part, although many of the side characters did not get fully fleshed out until the second half of the book. I am a sucker for a grumpy x sunshine and this definitely delivered.

I am not a huge fan of Dugan’s other books, but I was excited to read this one and I am glad I did. My only real gripe is that the ending felt very rushed. I wasn’t ready for it to be over and it felt like there were still some loose ends to be taken care of. I think one more chapter or an epilogue could have really rounded everything out and made this a 5-star for me.

Thank you, NetGalley and Avon HarperVoyager for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a classic RomCom through and through. A grumpy/sunshine classic. Shani and Mollys story was fun to follow. You will be on a roller coaster of emotions with this book. There is a lot of miss communication in this book which is very relatable to real life.


I did struggle a bit to relate to the characters. Molly the MC i had time relating to. The back and forth wore on me at times reading the book.


Thank you to Avon/Harper Voyager and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This cute story followed Molly, the main character, and her journey in inheriting a horse farm from her estranged aunt. If a Hallmark movie could be a book it would be this one. I found the story to be enjoyable and I liked the pace if romantic devolpment. It was a quick but well written read that I really enjoyed. Some of the storylines were left a little underdeveloped, I was left wanting more between Molly's relationships with her mom and Nat. This book also contained a few spicy scenes and had a point where the couple had a discussion regarding consent that I thought was really important. As a lesbian in the agriculture community I thiught this story was really cute and would recommend it to others!

The Ride of Her Life is my first Jennifer Dugan read and I am hooked. We ride along with Molly as she inherits a horse stable and the prickly farrier who lives there, along with the friendly animals and quirky folks who board them. She knows nothing of horses or her estranged aunt who bequeathed her this little surprise. Her initial intention to sell is derailed by the unexpected happiness she finds while repairing the dilapidated property. A city girl fish out of water story with a predictable plot; it did have a bit of suspense and angst despite the formulaic miscommunication trope and third-act breakup. I didn't mind the first-person perspective and being in the MCs head for her story. At times frustrating, but overall, I found the characters relatable and the conflict believable. Pop culture references and style of speaking made me comfortable and immersed. I laughed a bit and felt like this one was an accurately tagged romcom. Good queer and BIPOC rep. The main character is bi. Competency and consent are sexy in this novel. And though our two love interests have a lot of baggage to work through, we are given a happy ending. It wasn't perfect but it was well-written and despite the predictability, this feel-good sapphic romance held my interest and kept me entertained. It was a quick read and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The Ride of Her Life by Jennifer Dugan follows Molly, a young barista/call center employee who is trying to figure out how to make her dreams work when she suddenly finds herself inheriting a small farm from an estranged aunt. Seeing it as a way to make some money to kick start her career, Molly quickly moves out to the farm to start to get some work done in the hopes that she can sell it within the next few months. But this is of course a romance novel, so things do not go to plan! Enter a small found family of horse riders, boarders, and a grumpy ( and hot) farrier, Molly must figure out herself and her future.
Molly is a 24-year-old disaster, and I loved her as I, myself, am a 24-year-old disaster. I really loved Molly and the journey she goes through to figure herself and her relationships out, and this is where I feel like this book was strongest. The relationships felt so real and focused on the idea that things need work.
SPOILERS AHEAD.
I loved that in the end, there wasn’t a big romantic reason around Molly inheriting the farm and that Molly didn’t just automatically make up with Shani, Nat and her mother and she sees where she herself needs to put in more work, but also where she deserves others to put in work too. I am really happy about the way that Molly and Shani ended, especially since I honestly wasn’t fully rooting for them the whole time. As a personal preference, lack of communication between characters annoys me to know end (its dramatic irony I know but still!!), and them both realizing where they were in the wrong and starting to figure out how to move forward felt so good!
My only real gripe with the book is that I think that the second half of the book is much stronger than the first half. The side characters really didn’t feel full and come into their own until the second half and only then could I really fall in love with them. I loved everyone in the little family at the farm and would have loved to see more of them in the first half.
Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins for providing this ARC!

Sapphic cowboy romance a bit of a disappointment.

I was really excited to read The Ride of Her Life because I've been loving western/cowboy/cowgirl romances lately but sadly this one just did not hit the mark for me. I didn't connect with the first few chapters almost immediately and I was left feeling uninterested in what happened next. This one wasn't for me but if you liked Dugan's first book maybe check it out?

This isn't your typical city girl meets country girl. This book is more than just a romance novel. It's about finding happiness within yourself. Going after your dreams, even changing them when your needs change. Not relying on anyone else and pursing different career paths. Standing up for yourself when you know the decision is the right decision in your heart. I absolutely loved this book. Probably one of her best novels yet. Molly, a barista living in the city with her mother since her student loans are eating up her monthly salary (I mean, we all can understand that nowadays) is notified that her aunt Christina passed away and left her the house and whole farm. Intending to sell the place, she moves to the farm to fix things up until she meets Shani. Shani, a former barrell rider? whatever that means works and lives on the farm. When things don't necessarily go as planned, Molly and herself not seeing eye to eye, Molly's best friend Nat has more than enough to say. Nat is someone that is a dreamer when it comes to acting but doesn't agree with Molly's choice on keeping the farm. Things get intense between the two friends and between Molly and Shani, which keeps the story interesting. I was pulled in from the start and couldn't wait to see how this book ended. Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an ARC. I throughouly enjoyed reading this book.

I am the leader of the Jennifer Dugan cult. If Jennifer Dugan had 100 fans I am one of them. If Jennifer Dugan has 10 fans I am one of them. If Jennifer Dugan has 1 fan it’s me. If Jennifer Dugan has no fans I’m dead. Anyways the ride of her life is now added to the wonderful list of sapphic adult books to recommend and I absolutely adored it and I can’t wait for more Jennifer Dugan books!

Let me preface this by saying I am not a horse girl. When I first picked up this book i felt a little like Molly did. I wasn't really sure about the setting or the characters, but what I love about Jennifer Dugan's books is that I knew if I stuck with it I would fall in love with everything about it. And fall in love I did.
I was completely wrapped up in how Otis was doing, and how Molly could pull this off. More than that though I fell completely in love with Shani and Molly's relationship. These two beautifully flawed people found themselves and each other in the process.

I could not put this down once i really got into the story. I had to know what happened to the barn and its entire cast of misfit characters. The story was great, their relationship was messy and chaotic, but hot and perfect in it's own little misfit way. Pick this one up, you will love it.

Initially, I had a hard time getting into it. The miscommunication was frustrating. It was a quick read with some spice.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

I really really enjoyed this. I loved the grumpy x sunshine clumsy girl trope I really adored that goals were allowed to change. I could not stand the sabotaging best friend and I wanted to punch her. I loved that everyone was a fully fleshed out character that stood outside of the core romance. Dugan does not miss and I will be reccomending this to everyone that walks in my store

I think this might be my favorite book I've read so far from this author. I really enjoyed the way Molly was able to find community, love, and make a home for herself by the end of the story. Although the solution to all of her problems seemed obvious to me from the get-go, I was still satisfied to see how it panned out. I admit I was a little bit annoyed by the way some of the characters acted at times, such as Nat insisting she knew what was best for Molly, and Molly's mom acting the way she was, as well as Molly and Shani constantly pulling away and coming back together. Overall though, I enjoyed seeing Molly and Shani's story play out, and watching Molly figure out what she wanted for her future. I'd give it a solid 4/5 stars.

Molly's lifelong dream of starting her own wedding planning company remains elusive amid barista and call center jobs and the burden of student loans. Unexpectedly inheriting a dilapidated horse barn from her late aunt, Molly finds herself unprepared to run it. However, as she contemplates selling the land for much-needed seed money, she discovers the potential for a business miracle. Despite initial struggles, Molly forms a bond with the barn's unique makeshift family and develops a connection with the aunt she never truly knew.

This sapphic romance caters to horse enthusiasts, delivering genuine farm vibes with a well-executed sunshine/grump and enemies-to-lovers dynamic. While the plot follows a predictable trajectory, communication challenges among characters may be a source of frustration for some readers. Despite initial reservations about Molly's character, her growth and confrontation of toxic influences add depth to the narrative.

Special thanks to Avon and Harper Voyager and NetGalley.

Thank you to NetGalley & Avon Books for the ARC in exchange for my review.

Molly has always dreamed of starting her own wedding planning company. But that’s all it is– a dream. By day she works as a barista in the city and by night, a call center worker. She’s doing everything she can to scrape by and save for her future business, but it’s not looking good. Then suddenly, she receives word that her estranged aunt has passed away and she’s named in the will. Molly heads to the memorial, thinking she must have inherited a new pair of boots and that it’ll be good to get out of the city for a few hours. Instead, she’s handed the keys to her aunt’s horse farm. And it comes with a stunning farrier named Shani who is very upset with this turn of events. Obviously the best (and only) thing to do in this situation is sell the farm, use the money to jumpstart her business, and get far away from the extremely beautiful Shani. Because Molly doesn’t know the first thing about horses or running a farm and although she’s attracted to Shani from the moment they first meet, Shani hates her. Right?

As Molly spends time at the farm to fix it up to sell, she grows closer to the barn boarders who rallied around her aunt in her final months. She starts to like them a lot and learns more about horses and, as time goes on, Shani starts to open up to her. In fact, Molly almost thinks Shani is flirting with her…

I loved this story. As a somewhat country girl who studied agriculture before moving to the city, this book brought me back to good times. I’m such a fan of the way Molly and Shani’s relationship developed. I loved the found family that Molly found at the barn and how they helped her truly find herself. I was waiting for most of the book for Molly to realize she could have her wedding business and the farm by turning it into an event space, but she got there in the end. No thanks to Nat, of course. My favorite character of all though, was Shani. I’m obsessed with her hard-working cowgirl personality and I lived for the moments when she got jealous!

I’d definitely recommend The Ride of Her Life to someone looking for a fun & easy sapphic country girl-city girl romance with a lovely cast of characters.

I really liked the premise of this, because I always enjoy a good fish out of water story. I just kinda felt like I was reading about a ping pong match with how much Molly kept changing her mind during the course of the book. Plus the miscommunication with Shani throughout was pretty frustrating. I found myself wishing to read more about Lochlin and Tyler’s love story instead.

Thanks as always to NetGalley for the ARC.

This was a fast and enjoyable read, though I found myself enjoying the moments about finding yourself and event planning more that the actual relationship. The miscommunication was pretty exhausting with how often it came up and how much it directed the story and I didn't feel like there was any strong chemistry. However, the hat moment was everything to me, and I will be thinking about it forever.

Thanks for the ARC NetGalley! Title alone made me want to read this. This is a city girl who inherits a farm and falls in love with it. There’s lots of sweetness and it was tons of fun!

Thank you so much to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for an early copy of this book.
Rating- 3.75

I had a lot of fun with this book! I was in the mood for a country romance, and this certainly delivered. The opposites-attract, enemies-to-lovers plot is always enjoyable, and I think the author did a good job capturing that angst and tension.

The character development between Molly and Shani was there and touched on, there just seemed to be some moments that I wished we got a little more exploration and showing, rather than telling. There were conversations and situations that could have been really beautiful if they were shown just a little more, but overall, their impact was still effective.

I truly loved the aspect of found family, and the barn crew was such a loveable group of people from all backgrounds and orientations. It was refreshing and fun and one of my favorite aspects of the book. While there were moments when I wish we got a little more exploration into the relationships and conflict- specifically Nat and Kiki- I do think that there were some really beautiful moments of friendship and connection.

Reading Molly and Shani's relationship unfold was relatable at times, slightly frustrating at others. I am never really a fan of miscommunication, and that was a minor trope between the two that wasn't my cup of tea, but others might really enjoy!

Overall, this was a quick and fun romance read that I think fans of Delilah Green Doesn't Care and One Last Stop would enjoy. Aside from a few plot points that could have been explored more, I liked this book and am eager to check out more by the author.

A cute sapphic rom com by Jennifer Dugan, who often writes cute sapphic rom coms. I don’t think this is a life changing one for me, but it was genuinely a pretty good time and I’d recommend it to others. I don’t think I’m a cowboy rom-com person. But if you’ve liked Jennifer Dugan in the past, you’ll like this just as much! I think my favorite Jennifer Dugan has been her horror/thriller.

Quirky, light, and entertaining, Jennifer Dugan brings another fun queer rom com to the shelves. Great for fans of cowboy / western romances.