2.5 Stars

'Back in the Saddle' follows a 32 year old woman, Caroline, who leaves Scotland for a year in Oklahoma following the end of her marriage. Staying with her aunts and taking a year off from being a doctor to be a researcher, she hopes she will find herself in America. Instead... she finds Hunter, a dashing cowboy.

Whilst drinking at a bar, she has a perfect kiss with a stranger she will never see again. Until he turns up at the hospital where she works with his ill father. They begin a whirlwind no-strings attached relationship knowing that Caroline has to return to Scotland in a year. But when they both begin to fall in love, they know the split will tear them apart.

This book was a nice, quick read. It was cute and wholesome in parts and deep and heartbreaking in others. Overall, I think the first 2 thirds were too slow. I found myself reluctant to pick up the book. However, the last third or so was gripping and I really enjoyed it. The ending felt quite rushed and several points of the book could have been fleshed out to allow for further story and character development. Some parts were also quite 'tell don't show' and some of the spicy scenes felt too 'anatomical'.

Overall though, this was a cute read and I loved the fact there was a British FMC!

TWs for the book: Grief, Death of a parent, Cancer

Thank you NetGalley for the Advanced Reader Copy.

This book made me laugh, cry, and feel all the emotions. It's written with such empathy and care, while also being an incredibly hot and sexy romance. My favorite romance reads are ones where the love interests grow/develop separately beyond merely falling in love, so I appreciated that both Caroline and Hunter grapple with their careers, grief, and past relationships with fully realized arcs of their own. I never considered myself a cowboy fan before this book, but by the end I was head over heels for Hunter!

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

Smart, heartfelt and healing!

This debut cowboy romance is filled with a deep emotional journey for both the main characters and is packed with sizzling chemistry.

It explores grief, starting a new chapter, and the challenges of life unexpectedly changing course.

Caroline is smart, endearing and relatable, and Hunter is swoon-worthy, loyal and better yet, he knows how to admit to his mistakes.

I loved this story and experiencing different parts of the world through Caroline and Hunter’s eyes. It also made me want to start drinking whisky!

I’m missing the ranch already and can’t wait to see what comes next in this series!

3.5 ⭐️ Can we take a moment for the cover of this book yall! 10/10!

This story was cute and the characters stories were definitely heart wrenching but I just felt like this book was missing something. It was a cute and easy read but something about it just fell a little flat for me.

This book was so great! It was well written and the characters were so relatable. I really enjoyed it and will definitely recommend it to others!

A charming cowboy romance with the classic themes of opposites attract.

While it’s a quick and easy read, it didn’t grip me like some of the big titles (Lyla Sage, Elsie Silver etc.)

Appreciate the arc and the chance to read this book!

A decent read! I love cowboy romances usually & really enjoyed reading it alongside a fmc with a scientific background/job.
However I struggled with the terminology used in the intimate scenes. Felt very technical, even though correct it just seemed to not fit the story. A little off putting.
I found it had the potential to talk about some really deep issues & emotions, however it lacked in those areas.
But enjoy the story over all!
3⭐️

I was actually really excited to read this book, based on the marketing by the author, but when I started to read this book, I realized that it's really not for me.

Part of it I think is the writing style - I feel like I tend to enjoy longer, more complex sentence structures, whereas these are shorter. I also felt like the book was missing a lot of depth, and I had troubles connecting to the characters. I don't get too much of a sense of personality from either of them most of the time - they feel a little too cookie cutter? But not in a stereotypically way - Hunter actually doesn't even seem like an American cowboy as I'm reading, as a lot of his thoughts and dialogue just feels... off for a born and raised man from the Midwest.

The timeline is a little confusing for me, and the level of communication leaves me feeling like I've got whiplash - sometimes there are very adult conversations going on, other times Caroline is running off with some excuse because she can't face whatever is happening.

I'll be honest, I tried to hang in there, but I DNF'd once I got halfway through and got to the part where we learn Finn's "secret", which very much left a bad taste in my mouth, and I just lost the desire to keep reading.

With Caroline's marriage in shambles, she decides that the perfect thing for her to do is throw herself into her work. When the opportunity to join a medical center in Oklahoma pops up, she hops on a plane and moves there from Scotland. That decision throws her into a passionate fling with a gorgeous cowboy named Hunter, who is more than happy to keep things casual. Unfortunately for their plans, no-strings is a bit more difficult than they anticipated.

This book was sweet! I love a cowboy, and while a big city main character isn't original I think Caroline having small town background made it a bit more realistic that she'd fit in to Hunter's vibe. I will say though, I wasn't the biggest fan of Caroline. She talked a lot about how she was older than Hunt, but shut down constantly and refused to talk about the root of her issues until forced to. The conflict between Caroline and her ex-husband was also kind of set up to seem like something bigger than what it actually was.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for the eARC. Projected publishing date: July 3rd, 2025

I think I'm in my cowboy romance era!

Back in the Saddle was just perfect.

Entertaining from start to finish.

With a great mix of emotion, saucy moments and humour, this is a love story with a difference.

Spoiler Alert

I really like the fact the protagonist didn't want children. Showing it's ok to not want to go down the children route of marriage and kids.

The age gap between the characters was a great add too.

Refreshing.

I will definitely be reading more books by this author!

First of all, that cover! It was the first thing that pulled me in, so eye-catching. And a cowboy romance? I’m always there for that. Add in romance, a STEM female protagonist, and a small town, and it’s even better.

I must admit, at some points, I did think the book went a bit too slow for my liking. But overall, it was a cute and cosy read, and I would definitely recommend it to other readers looking for a cowboy romance.

Overall, "Back in the Saddle" was a good book. I struggled with the European spelling of words when the story was based in the US.

⭐️⭐️

This book's description really appealed to me as a lover of cowboy romance, and the cover looked great. I really wanted to like it, but this book just wasn't for me.

The story had potential and dealt with emotional issues, but the actual emotion wasn't there for me, and the story just fell a bit flat.

I couldn't connect with the characters, and Caroline was getting on my nerves and just came across boring.
Even the spice scenes made me cringe. A sure-fire way to ruin the mood in a spicy scene is hearing 'clitoral hood' and 'labia majora'. I am aware these are the correct names, but it just made it feel clinical and gave me major ick.

Thank you to Avon books UK and Netgalley, for the arc of this book.

Thanks Netgalley for the arc.
This was so enjoyable! I love a cowboy romance and of course this one I loved.

Caroline is on an exchange program from Scotland for one year to study at a cancer research center in Oklahoma, when she meets a handsome stranger in a bar and dares him to kiss her. Hunter more than lives up to the challenge and wants more, but what he doesn't know is that Caroline is still married, even though she plans to sign the divorce papers as soon as she gets back to Scotland. They kiss is seared into both of their brains and they keep thinking about each other, and Hunter even returns to the bar a few times hoping for another chance encounter with Caroline. Finally, he runs into her at the cancer center where she works and his father is a patient.. Then when Caroline's aunt takes her for horse riding lessons, Hunter is the instructor and sparks fly all over again. She helps hims navigate his grief as he deals with his father cancer. Small town rowmane and cowboy lovers, this one is for you.

Back in the Saddle was such a fun surprise! If you're like me and in your cowboy romance era, this one totally hits the spot. Caroline, a doctor starting over in small town Oklahoma, and Hunter, the hot cowboy with a guarded heart, have instant chemistry that pulls you in from the beginning. You can feel the tension between them, but what I really liked was how they each brought their own emotional baggage into the mix because it gave their connection depth.

The story has a great balance of steamy moments (yes, it definitely gets spicy 🔥), sweet interactions, and just the right touch of drama without going overboard. It’s one of those feel good reads that’s easy to follow and leaves you smiling. Plus, horses. That’s always a win.

If you’re a fan of Elsie Silver or Lyla Sage, you’ll definitely want to give this one a go. It’s a little lighter, more heartwarming than angsty, and just perfect for when you want a story about second chances, healing, and cowboy charm.

Would absolutely read more from Maggie Eckersley!

Thank you to NetGalley, Maggie Eckersley, and Avon for the eARC of this book.

I really wanted to love this one. I haven’t read a cute cowboy romance in a love time. I’m all for a book with a deeper connection but I feel like this suffered from something a lot of new books do… needing to fit a ton of tropes into one. You couldn’t even get invested into one thing before it jumped into the next without resolving anything (MC switching careers?). The emotional story lines would’ve hit harder if they were trimmed down to a few less. This does have great potential though!

I’d describe this as a cozy read with heart. It was very cute and enjoyable. Maybe not anything new but it would be a nice book to pass the weekend with.

This book offers a sweet, small-town romance with a cozy, down-to-earth charm. The setting is warm and inviting, and there’s an easygoing rhythm to the story that makes it a light, pleasant read. The dialogue and scenery, and the chemistry between the leads has its moments.

That said, the plot is fairly predictable and follows a well-trodden path, with few surprises along the way. Some character arcs could have used more depth, and the emotional stakes never quite hit as hard as they could have.

It’s a solid comfort read, perfect for fans of feel-good romance, but not especially memorable.

A more modern western romance with a bit more depth to it. It drew me in more than I thought it would considering it's old-fashioned cover. Loved the main characters and their history. A good read.