Holding the Reins ✨️
Paisley Hope

"Just don’t settle, baby. Find a man that will move heaven and earth for you. A man that knows your worth. You should be his entire heart, always."

I listened to this in audio yesterday and this book had me blushing and kicking my feet all at the same time. The story, the banter, the spice.. just perfection.

I was invested in the story long before, but when he brought her coffee for the first time.. SWOON. Those small, quiet moments of love are definetly my love language.

I love a book when you finish it and it is so good that you immediately want to reread it again. I love Small Town Romances and Holding the Reins is absolutely now one of my favorites. 🩷

Love everything about this series thus far. Love this small town. I read it when she indie published and I had the opportunity to arc read her traditionally published version of Holding the Reins and the next two books in this series.

Love love love it.

Steamy. Cowboys. Girl gang. Light-hearted moments and found family are in these books if you are interested.

This book had me in an absolute CHOKEHOLD the entire time. The characters, the tropes, the funny parts and especially the tension these two had.

4 ⭐️s
3/5 spice 🌶️

Now I see all the complaints that the author tried to throw “too many” tropes in this one and I have to disagree. Because she literally threw in all my favorites 🤣

We have:
- small town
- cowboy
- hockey player
- forbidden love
- brother’s best friend
- funny banter
- work romance… I think that’s it??

This did feel like an Elise Silver book to me with the family aspects and the big dinners they hold and the funny grandpa who says weird stuff. Not to mention the next books are her brothers finding love (which I’m pumped for)


🚨MINOR SPOILER NEXT PARAGRAPH ONLY🚨

The ONLY thing that had me about to quit the entire damn thing was when they hit us with an uno reverse card on the “crawl to me” trope … and that’s when I discovered that’s an ick for me personally. I can’t imagine a giant hockey player crawling for a woman to be sexy in anyway.

🚨MINOR SPOILER OVER🚨



But I did FLY through this one trying to figure out how Cece and Nash were gonna break it to her brothers and I was just waiting for Andrew to show up and get his ass kicked. Now the scenes between Nash and Andrew did give me ~very slight~ dark romance vibes with how possessive he was. And I LOVED this for her.

I’ll definitely be checking out the next two in the series. I already have the next one on hold on Libby.

Big thanks to Paisley Hope, Dell and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinions!

I LOVED this book! I was so excited for Ginger and Cole and nothing about it felt forced! I felt their connection through the first two and I think they set up the relationship perfectly for this book. Usually, I don't think I'd prefer the "oops we drunkenly got married' storyline but it worked out well. The only critique I could possibly offer would be, it doesn't make sense how they couldn't annul their marriage, the reasoning seemed weak. BUT I'm happy that they couldn't, they obviously needed to stay together! I'm so hopeful that Paisley Hope will continue this series, I've loved all of them!

4.5 ⭐️

Thank you NetGalley, the publisher and Paisley Hope for providing me this ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts!

“She’s just creeping into the crevices of my otherwise closed off should and lighting it up like the fucking fourth of July” Nash Carter, the man that you are !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If you’re looking for cute romance read with a good amount of scenes that will have you kicking your feet, Holding the Reins is the one for you! ALL of the characters in this were so lovable and will definitely read more of Paisley Hope’s books!



Tropes:
- Age Gap
- Brother’s Best Friend
- Cowboy Romance
- Found Family

Very cute book, and obviously I loved the MMC Nash. I got annoyed by some of the repetitiveness, but still enjoyed the book as a whole. The love story was cute and I liked the plot as a whole.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group- Ballantine for this ARC!

3.75 stars

"I would love her with my whole heart every day until death took me." NASH CARTER

This was a fun, sweet, and steamy read. A brother's best friend trope is typically a favorite of mine. I love that these two characters had a past in their childhood as well. I loved the premise of the story, but in some instances, I found the plot to fall flat for me or that there was too much going on.

Holding the Reins has:
- Brother's best friend
- Cowboy romance
- Found family
- Small town
- Dual pov

Genuinely enjoyed this book, the characters and storyline. I finished it in a day and a half. And I really really liked Paisleys writing style. I always love the grumpy men who have a little bit of their own issues to work through and I love a good forced proximity situation. Definitely recommend this book

This is a really solid classic cowboy romance. I enjoyed it, but by no means was it life changing. If you love a good small town love story, I think you'll enjoy Hold the Reins and Paisley Hope's writing style.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC opportunity!

This was a quick, fun read. The pace was good, and the vibes were exactly right for this type of book. You found yourself rooting for the couple, and the FMC in the story. The undertone is about moving past the past and letting go. I can appreciate that and felt it was well executed.

Unfortunately, i had to remove some stars because of all of the ick inducing moments. There were quite a few moments that gave me the ick and secondhand embarrassment, and honestly, most of them felt unnecessary to the larger point of the story, so i couldn't look past them. I really had to push through those pieces of the story and get through it.

I think if you expect some of that awkwardness, you will be fine, but the story itself is strong outside of those moments.

This book was a quick read and I had fun while reading it, but there were a lot of things that I didn't love. The vibes were immaculate and you can't really go wrong with a cowboy romance 🤠

I loved this story SO MUCH! Cece returns home to Kentucky after breaking off an engagement with a truly heinous man. She’s reunited with Nash, who lost his parents at a young age and was taken in by Cece’s parents. He was like a brother to her, yet everything is different now that they’re adults.

Cece and Nash’s love story is so hilarious, spicy, and beautiful. Their community and family truly shine through in every scene, and the big feelings that are expressed are so beautifully written. This may be one of my favorite books in 2025, and it’s only February!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Ballentine for this early copy!

Giving this a 3/5 is so sad because I loved this couple and the vibes of the book.

I did almost DNF multiple times towards the beginning of the book because of the awkward conversations this family had about sex and sex toys…
Our FMC’s vibrator fell out of her suitcase and her bff’s GRANDMA told the whole town… Excuse me…

Just weird things like that gave me horrible second hand embarrassment and I almost couldn’t finish it. I’m glad I did continue and finish this book because I loved our couple and their discovery of love.

Thank you to the publisher for the arc through NetGalley! All opinions are my own honest opinions.

cowboy romance? say less.
I really enjoyed this book from this new to me author. I have been enjoying cowboy romances for a bit now, which started with Elsie Silver books. Fans of those books will thoroughly enjoy this series.
This book follows CeeCee, who moves back to her family ranch after a breakup with her fiancée. Upon coming home, she decides that she needs to start her life over and gets a job at the local sports arena who is owned by no other than her brother's best friend, ex-NHL star Nash Carter. They don't hate each other per se but they aren't bffs. Not going to say too much because I want you to read it but we have workplace romance, brother's best friend, forced proximity(ish), cowboy romance
Defiantly will be reading more from this author

First book in the Silver Pines Ranch series - A woman returns to her familys ranch after a broken engagement and finds herself falling for her brothers best friend.

Thank you to Dell, NetGalley, and Paisley Hope for allowing me to be an early reader. All thoughts are my own.

I wanted so badly to like this book but I think Elsie Silver has truly ruined me for all others when it comes to cowboy romances. Maybe I just have too high of expectations? Overall this was boring and lackluster for me and I’m super bummed about it.

DNF.

I love everything about this.

Hot ex-hockey player - Check
Part time Cowboy - Check
Brothers best friend - Check

I absolutely ate this whole book up. Fans of Elsie Solver will love everything in this book.

I can’t wait to read the rest of this series.

Oh yeah, this book was just what I was hoping it would be! Fun, swoony, with characters who were relatable and great to read. Adored this one!

This book got me out of a reading slump!

I loved the chemistry between the characters and I pretty much devoured the book in a weekend. Highly recommend!!

My current genre obsession is cowboy/western romance. This one was absolutely perfect for me. I'm a huge fan of Lyla Sage's Rebel Blue series and I'm happy to report that this read very similarly to those books. I can't wait to dive into the other two books in this series! Thank you NetGalley for the arc.

This book is the start to a perfect small town romance book that will make you feel like at the end of the series, you were there. Paisley has a way of pulling you in and captivating you.