I'm a massive "cowboy" romance lover and I couldn't connect to the characters in this one. I do respect the character progression this one just didn't hit home on the range for me. Thank you for the gifted earc!

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for this ARC. Unfortunately, this one was DNF for me at around 35%. The writing style was not my cup of tea, and I felt like it was trying too hard to be Elsie Silver. The characters were shallow and seemed slightly off for an "American cowboy". Spice scenes felt almost mechanical? Overall, not a well-rounded story, and I would not recommend it.

A cute cowboy romance that was enjoyable for me, but it just didn’t hit the way I wanted it to. The amount of miscommunication made me a little put off.

Sadly DNF'd, it wasn't for me :( I'd never read a cowboy romance before but saw this hyped up a lot so thought I'd give it a go. Not sure if the genre is wrong for me or just this specific book.

Don’t let the cover fool you! I DNF about 40% into the book. The writing style had zero depth. I did not connect to either of the characters. You can tell the author isn’t from the US as she uses “you all” instead of “y’all. Hunter’s character just seems off for an American cowboy. The spicy scenes were from a medical textbook.

This was a cute cowboy romance that I wanted to love more than I did and that was unfortunately a me problem as I'm not used to reading them in the third POV. Although it took me a minute to get into it, I did really enjoy the characters and the chemistry between the MC's.

Not a big fan of this. I finished it feeling unsatisfied. There were lots of parts that were just boring and flat. The characters were uninteresting and the book didn't feel like a true cowboy romance. The book has some potential, it just needs a lot of reworking.

I originally picked this one up because it was marketed for readers of Lyla Sage and Paisley Hope but this just wasn't it for me. I didn't like the aspect of her being with someone while she was still married. I know they were supposed to be getting divorced but they hadn't even started the divorce process and that make it feel icky to me.I also wasn't prepared for how sad this book was. I felt like the sadness of their situations pretty much overshadowed any light from their relationship. It also became clear that this is written from a UK perspective and not really US so it doesn't lean as cowboy heavy as I was expecting. I did however like the Scottish aspects of the story and the ending. Overall, I'm giving this one 2.5 stars.

2.5 Caroline was a doctor in Scotland. She moved to the US to work on cancer research. She meets Hunter, a local cowboy, at a bar. They run into each other again, and spark up a casual relationship.

There was a lot of trauma and sadness in this book. I feel like most of the conversations between the main characters revolved around each of their pasts and traumas. I didn’t feel much chemistry or tension between them, which caused the romance to fall flat over all. 

The cover is beautiful, and I really wanted to love it. But unfortunately, I felt bored most of the time. 

ARC review

Dual 3rd person POV

The cover and a tag line for fans of lyla sage, paisley hope, and elsie silver, of course I was going to be all in. Forever in my cowboy romance era.

This was a quick read, though much heavier content than anticipated. When Caroline runs from Scotland to Oklahoma (which feels like a very out of the blue location despite the family connection) she quickly connects with Hunter and the chemistry is undeniable as we jump from sparks to fireworks between them. The romance was believable. But there was a LOT of heavy content on both sides and I dont know that those story lines were handled with as much care towards to the two MCs as one would expect. It detracted from the romance a bit, prior to the third act that, on his end you knew was coming but on hers felt like just, I hate to say it, was a little [lot] extra drama. And by the time we hit the reconciliation, it was very rushed and felt so out of character for what we know of the MMC. While I enjoyed the book it was a bit too much while not being enough at all. I wanted to see more growth at the end and how each of the characters got to their ending, together, because what was there was so rushed that it didn't feel like anything was resolved.

The writing style was fine but it felt like the author was putting so much of Scotland into a book that took place in Oklahoma, that it was hard to imererse myself in the setting.

All that to say this book was fine. I would try another book by this author (heck maybe we need an interconnected sequel with her bestie finding love??) But for a quick pass the time read, you cant go wrong with this.



Thank you Netgalley and Avon Books UK
for the ARC in exchange for my review!

Cowboy romances are my absolute go to and the second I saw this cover (which is absolutely STUNNING by the way) I knew I had to read it. I wanted SO BADLY to love it, really I did. But I couldn’t get through the third person POV. It made all of the dialogue and interactions super awkward and almost forced? Even their initial meet cute at the bar was just spark-less. It was just ok for me. Didn’t love it, didn’t hate it but truthfully I couldn’t connect with it, it felt a bit all over the place. Reluctantly 2.75/5 stars for me.

I have been in a serious cowboy romance phase this year and was so excited to receive this arc. It took a little while for me to get into this one and see the chemistry between the characters but once it was there it was very entertaining and I loved the self reflection and changes they made for each other in order for their love to grow and blossom.

Unfortunately I tried reading this so many times and did not love it. I’m thankful to the publisher for letting me have an eARC in exchange for an honest review though!!

3.5 🌟
I really enjoyed Back in the Saddle by Maggie Eckersley. Thank you Net Galley for the ARC



Back in the Saddle had me feeling all the emotions. Such a sweet love story with a whole loads of emotions thrown in.

Tropes:
- Small Town Romance
- Slow Burn

Whilst on the whole I did enjoy Caroline and Hunters story, I did struggle not to cringe in a certain spicy scene where all the technical language was used. Gave me the ick! Also, the time jumps in the story sometimes gave me whiplash.

2.5⭐️

I really hate to say this, but Back in the Saddle just wasn’t for me. I’ve enjoyed Elsie Silver’s cowboy romances in the past so I thought I’d give this a go, but it just didn’t work for me. If I’d known cancer featured so heavily in this story, I probably wouldn’t have picked it up in the first place. I read romances like this for an escape, and the subject material here does not work with that.

I appreciate that the story took place across a year/two years, it made the love story a little more believable. However, it meant there were loads of time jumps between chapters where a month or more would pass and we would just get told what happened, which is never a fun way of viewing a developing relationship.

I wasn’t a massive fan of Caroline’s backstory with her ex-husband. I really can’t underhand how you could be with someone for so long while literally knowing that you’re completely incompatible.

Miscommunication is my least favourite thing in the world and I hate when books use it, especially with charters who are a little bit older and should know better.

To be completely honest, I just found the story a little boring. It took me almost a month to finish it because nothing was making me want to pick it up. I could see where the story was going, and I didn’t care enough about the characters to see them get there. Also not a fan of the ending, sorry. It was over too quickly and didn’t feel satisfying at all.

And I don’t know how other people feel about this, but I hate the continued use of the title being used in the text. I think it happened 6 times in this book and it just completely took me out of the moment each time.

It's my fault for thinking I would've liked a Cowboy romance like this one. I wasn't overall bad, I was just bored. Like so bored.

I love me a cowboy romance! They can do no wrong in my eyes, though I'm not a huge fan of a miscommunication trope. I still loved this book and enjoyed disappearing into it! Would definitely recommend it to fellow cowboy romance fans.

An okay cowboy romance.
I went through a bit of a cowboy romance phase last month, and read five different cowboy romances and this one was probably my least favourite.
This was just okay, but I felt like it was missing something.
Overall, an okay read if you are in the mood for this kind of romance, but I will probably forget all about it in a month or so.

obviously this cover immediately drew me in, but the story did not keep me interested. sadly it’s a DNF at around 70%

Caroline needs some time. Time away from her failed marriage. Time away for emergency medicine. She needs to get some distance between herself and all that she knows is over. So she leaves Scotland and moves to Oklahoma for a year to do cancer research with her aunt. It's exactly what she hoped for. Although, she didn't plan on meeting a rancher with a cowboy hat and a smooth attitude. But maybe a fling is what she needs to move on and really live for the first time...

This is a cute little western/STEM romance. The FMC and MMC are both really likeable characters. You definitely cheer for them to get together. Some of the "drama" in the book is a bit childish and unnecessary. There are a lot of side characters and none of them are very likeable except for the aunt's wife. One note that really stuck out to me was how many times the title of the book appeared in the pages. I love a good "title Easter egg" in a book, but this was overkill x 100. Someone must have thought or said "back in the saddle" in every single chapter. It was truly ridiculous. But all in all, I had fun so read it if you want. No regrets here.