Thank you NetGalley for allowing to read this book. First I had to read icebound which I had actually rated a four star.I felt like a storyline was really good and cannot wait to read homebound. Which I rated a five star!! One of my favorite tropes is grumpy meets sunshine! Typically it is grumpy MMC, but this time it was FMC and I love that twist. One of my favorite phrases in the book was “ You’re not a flower that needs to be watered with validation, your a cactus, darlin prickly enough to thrive in a desert of doubt” I devoured this book in one day. I absolutely love the characters. This book made me laugh cry had me on my feelings. The dynamic between Dakota and Wyatt was the best. I think I smiled through most of this book. I’m definitely reading this five stars. I cannot wait for her next book.

I am not sure I was the right public since there was A LOT of focus on Wyatt being a single dad and Dakota repeatedly saying how she was impatient to be a mom. This was a bit overdone in my opinion and almost made me dnf. Also, Dakota's attitude toward Wyatt bothered me for the first half of the book. Although I am somewhat happy I pushed through since their relationship (and Dakota's attitude) change and evolve after 40%. And I started to actually enjoy it.

Once the tension and chemistry picked up, it made me forget the little things I wasn't enjoying as much. I loved Wyatt and I really felt his longing. Really enjoyed the rodeo and bull riding scenes, and all the cute two-stepping moments. Overall, cute read but all the baby references just weren't for me.

Thank you Netgalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest opinion 🫶🏽

3.75⭐️

Tropes:
Childhood friends to lovers, Dislike to lovers, It’s always been you, Single Dad, Golden Retriever/Black Cat

I enjoyed this book! It’s somewhat of a classic single dad, forced proximity, cheesy romance.

🌪️BOOK REVIEW🌪️
Homebound by Meredith Trapp (Boundless Players #2) is a second-chance, friends-to-lovers western hockey romance that grabbed my heart, stomped it in a rodeo ring, then offered me a cowboy hat and a cold drink while I cried. 😭💔🔥

Dakota is a total badass bull rider with a no-nonsense attitude and a reputation as the Cowboy Killer. Wyatt? The golden-boy hockey star turned single dad who comes waltzing back into town (and into her barn 😏) after vanishing years ago—with a baby on his hip and a mission to win her back.

This book gave me:
🐎 Childhood summers and stargazing
🏒 Forced proximity in a barn
🍼 A sweet baby girl that melted my heart
💥 Tension, longing, and that outdoor shower scene
🩶 A deeply emotional backstory and earned forgiveness

If you love small-town romance, spicy reunions, and heroes who fight for their second chance, Homebound is a must-read. Wyatt and Dakota's story was messy, swoony, and full of Texas heart. I felt every ache, every kiss, every secret that unraveled. 🤠

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5

#Homebound #MeredithTrapp #BoundlessPlayers #SecondChanceRomance #FriendsToLovers #HockeyRomance #CowgirlEnergy #RomanceBookReview #Bookstagram #SpicyReads #SmallTownRomance #RomanceReadersOfIG #ForcedProximity #WesternRomance #BookLoversUnite

I ended up DNFing this one. I usually enjoy cowboy/girl romances, and I really wanted to love this, but the writing is not great at all. It felt flat and boring, there are a lot of repetitive dialogue/phrases, and it often felt disjointed. The main characters felt like caricatures and the chemistry between was...not there. I tried, but this wasn't for me. I really do appreciate the ARC!

This was a 4 star cute cow girl romance, very fast paced, but I do feel that there was to much dialogue and there needed to be more depth and descriptions , and had amazing tropes like single parent etc. a wonderful slow burn

This was a fairly decent cowboy romance, but unfortunately it’s nothing special. Feels boring at times when the plot is lagging due to nothing happening, and honestly all the characters were just ok. I wanted to at 90 pages as I was bored but pushed through and sadly it still felt mid.

Honestly, I wasn't a fan of this one! As much as I love cowboy romances, this fell extremely flat, and the prose almost felt immature, YA-like. The characters weren't intriguing. I wish that the plot development had more complexity and depth, but ultimately, the story didn't excite me overall.

Thank you to NetGalley and Meredith Trapp for granting me an ARC to Homebound.

I LOVED this book. Also, I am adding ‘nun’ to my resume because this was a slowburn and if there is no kissing until beyond 50% it’s basically religious literature. But all jokes aside, this was one of the most worthwhile slow burns ever. The build-up was *chefs kiss*.
Obvs the star of the show was Vienna because that little devil was cuter than a baby longhorn. Wyatt certainly softened our bull riding badass, and in this case, the good guy won. AND HE’S SUCH A GOOD DAD! I wanted to punch Dakota at times for not seeing what was right in front of her, but like Daddy Colt said - she needed to take the back roads to get to him. Now, I need some enemies to lovers with Lana and Willie!

I was so intrigued by Homebound just from reading the blurb. The heroine, Dakota, being a bull rider seemed so interesting. This friends to lovers, opposites attract, single dad romance was indeed so good!

The start of the book was a little bit slow and I wasn't sure I liked Dakota, but I gradually was completely sold on this multifaceted heroine. She seems cold and detached at times, but inside she has a kind and fragile heart. I loved how Wyatt was such a gentleman, so protective and caring, but he could also be alpha and commanding. I loved this couple together so much! And what can I say about Wyatt's baby girl, Vienna? It was so beautiful to witness Dakota falling for father and daughter.

The supporting characters also brought entertainment in this story. I enjoyed all of them and hope the author will publish a novel about a certain "Sasquatch" grumpy bartender and a "Barbie". Homebound was a lovely surprise!

This book is titled "Homebound" and its written by Meredith Trapp. This book is scheduled to be released on June 17, 2025. This book has the childhood friends to lovers, forced proximity, small town romance and sports romance all in one!

*4.5 Stars

I absolutely adored this book! It may be the ultimate cowgirl romance, with the perfect amount of sweet to spicy (which is perfectly depicted in the gorgeous cover!).

Dakota and Wyatt were so well developed and worked perfectly together. I also loved the relationship that they both had with baby Vi, especially Wyatt’s single dad vibes…my heart!

Honestly my only complaint was that it was maybe a bit too smooth going. I think the conflict with Boone was hinted at a lot throughout the book so I was expected a bit of a bang with it (maybe adding a bit more to the emotional blow up between him and Dakota considering how much he impacted her confidence, or more of a reaction from Wyatt at her having the jacket) but it ended up fizzling. It could have been played on more to create a bit more of a climax and tension, That being said, maybe the slow and smooth ride was what Meredith was looking to do and if thats the case, mission complete!

The premise of this book was a seller and there were parts that had me laughing out loud, but others had be wondering why it felt so sudden and rushed.

I wish the FMC didn’t make it sound and feel like she only started wanting the MMC, her longtime friend, because he had a glow-up. It felt like attraction only started or was noticed once his eight-pack of abs was on display and the tension became purely physical. If the friendship hadn’t been there previously, I don’t know if she would’ve developed that romance with him because it felt like a flip of a switch.

Overall, it was a fun read between romantasy novels for some fluff.

Thank you Meredith Trapp for a copy of this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

oh man i enjoyed this way more than i thought i would! my issue is i love the idea of cowboy romance books but i feel like the execution falls flat/every cowboy romance book is a replica of another
this was one of the better friends to lovers romance books i've read & as someone who doesn't usually love single dad tropes this was done SO WELL!!! the FMC's character was written so well, she was real and raw and she felt like a relatable girlie pop. the chemistry between them felt real and the pacing was chefs kiss.
i did have a question though!!!- the synopsis made it seem like our FMC was this pretty well known bull rider but its written into the story like she is an amateur just starting out so i was wee bit confused on that.

you can always count me in when it comes to a cowboy romance. i also love the fmc as the cowgirl/bull rider roll, that was such a fun dynamic that i haven’t read before. really enjoyed the friends to lovers/second chance aspect. throughly enjoyed this book!

So this was really interesting . I am not usually a fan of friends to lovers but it worked here because the mmc has been down bad for years BUT the FMC always friend zoned him ( she is older so I totally get it when they were teens ) then she got engaged to another man and even though they were bffs , the hero obviously was sad about that .. so he took off for the NHL , didn’t talk to her for years and got another woman pregnant. Now she’s not engaged anymore and hockey daddy is back and is like “ we’re not friends” and even though she doesn’t like blondes she does end up falling for him. He takes her out two stepping which is my fav microtrope . For release day I’m making banana pancakes and this prickly pear margarita ( there’s a recipe in the book ). FMC is also a bull rider so I thought that was cool. 😎



Thank you for this arc !

Thanks to NetGalley for the free ARC!

✨️ Childhood friends to lovers
✨️ Dual POV
✨️ Soprts Romance - Bull Riding & Hockey
✨️ He falls first
✨️ Single Dad
✨️ Grumpy/sunshine
✨️ Small Town
✨️ No Third Act Breakup
✨️ Forced Proximity
✨️ High Spice

Dakota "Kodie" Cutler is a fiery, independent woman trying to make it in professional bull riding. Wyatt has been in love with Dakota since they met as kids when his family would come down to their flower farm in Texas for the summers. Dakota, however, has only seen two years younger Wyatt as a friend. Dakota ended her engagement to another bull rider, and after trying to stay away from her, Wyatt comes back to Texas with his baby daughter to try to convince Dakota they are meant to be together.

Honestly, I can't think of anything I disliked about this book. Both of the main characters were strong and loyal. They knew what they wanted and went after it. At the same time, they had insecurities that they struggled with and had to be vulnerable and lean on each other. I liked that the story focused on them coming together and did not have a third act breakup.

I did not read the first story in this series, but I really liked this one, so now I'd like to go back and read it. Other characters were introduced in this story, and I'm interested to see if they come to be the main characters in future stories. I'd definitely recommend this book to any romance reader or anyone looking for a fun, quick read.

There were parts of this I really loved, but it was not my favorite read as a whole.

Some things I loved:
- I loved Dakota's gradual warm up to and eventual love for Wyatt. It was a nice progression and felt very natural. It was also great to see her warm up to Vienna, Wyatt's daughter. She liked her from the beginning, but truly grew to love her as her own.
- There was also a great progression in Dakota's bull riding career. She was really struggling in the beginning had to overcome some hurdles to get where she wanted in the end.
- Dakota's friend, Lana was so fun! I can definitely see her getting her own book with Willie. But there was also lots of mention of Wyatt's teammate from Nashville so maybe he's getting a book as well!

Some things I struggled with:
- The writing wasn't my favorite. There was a lot of explaining of the two main characters background with each other, their sports, their thoughts and the why behind their actions. I think it could have been better if there was more showing instead of telling. Parts of their background could have been revealed slowly so I wasn't bogged down with so much information at one time. It was consistently not my favorite writing, but I pushed through.
- Wyatt's character changes quite a bit from around the mid-point mark. He's super blushy and nice at the beginning, so Dakota isn't interested and then does almost a 180. I know the author tried to make it seem like it was just him finally going for what he wanted, but it felt like a total personality change. It would have made more sense to start the book with him going for it, instead of changing him as a person halfway through. Plus, if Dakota was going to like fall for him, she should have fallen for the man he's always been, not the one he became to get her attention.

Overall, this wasn't totally my cup of tea, but had some redeeming moments.

thanks to Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for a review

this was so cute!

i’m obsessed with how obsessed with her wyatt was. i love when a man is pathetically in love and isn’t afraid to show it.

western romances are quickly becoming a favorite genre of mine and this one was a nice twist, with a cowgirl lead and bull riding instead of horses. so creative!

the romance was great and they communicated beautifully.

i’m not a huge fan of kids in books but vienna wasn’t super imposing so that helped a lot

This was a cute cowboy romance! The storyline was quite predictable, but I didn't have a problem with that - sometimes you need those predictable and cute romances to escape into. I thought the single dad trope was done well and LOVED the PBR references.