Thank you so much to the author, Atria Books, and Netgalley for the advanced reader copy of Homebound!

Initially, I gave this 4.5 stars. But as I've had time to digest, I’m rounding up to 5 stars. The vibes were immaculate. I ate this up and left not a single crumb. It was cowboy romance perfection.

What to expect:
- black cat, professional bull rider FMC
- cinnamon roll, NHL hockey player MMC
- single dad
- childhood friends to lovers
- YEARNING
- no third act breakup

Dakota "Kodie" Cutler is a bada** bull rider who is better known as the "cowboy killer". She is a quintessential black cat FMC with a secret ooey-gooey interior that she doesn't let anyone see. She's hiding a whole lot of hurt underneath it all that all stems from her best friend Wyatt leaving her 3 years ago without an explanation. As a result, she's still harboring a lot of resentment and anger towards him which bleeds over into her day to day life. She's also still healing from the heartbreak of a broken engagement and confidence in herself that has been shaken. She's struggling at work and at home but doesn't know how to dig herself out.

But then, Wyatt shows back up in Texas, ready to work his way back into Dakota's life. He has his reasons as to why he left 3 years ago without an explanation. But now, he's got an adorable daughter and is a professional hockey player in Nashville. He has always been in love with Dakota - even though she has always only seen him as a friend. He is desperate to get out of the friend zone and prove to Dakota that he's not just her "summer boy" anymore. He is all man now (which he proves time and time again - iykyk).

Homebound was truly so much more than I was expecting. It had so many things I love - a hockey player, single dad, cowboy vibes but with a strong and sassy FMC who is defying gender norms in her profession, top tier yearning, and tension so thick you could cut it with a knife. Despite the fact that Wyatt has clearly been obsessed with Dakota for years, she refuses to see it and genuinely believes he is just her friend. But he makes it his mission to prove to her that he's all grown up and has more to bring to the table than she ever imagined.

This book had SO MUCH TENSION I felt like my kindle was going to light on fire. The lead up to their first kiss was electric and I was panting by the time we got to it. And everything that happened afterwards??? Chef's kiss.

I loved all of the supporting characters in this story, too. Particularly Lana (I am rooting for her own story with Willie DO). I also loved Wyatt's mothers and how involved they were.

If you need any additional convincing, know that I highlighted 55 passages on my kindle while reading.

Thank you so much to Atria for the advance copy of this!

This book will be out on June 17th.

This has been on my radar for well over a year when it was a little ole indie book that took over the book community. And I just had never gotten around to reading it until now thanks to Atria. And boy was it a fun time!

Wyatt has been in love with Dakota since they were kids but the timing had never been right and they had always just been friends. But Wyatt made himself pretty obvious how he was feeling towards Dakota very much since he came back home. "It might make me old-fashioned, but I want her to fall for me naturally because falling for her was the most natural thing in the world for me." I mean come on!!!! You know I love forced proximity so him staying at his parent's second home on their property was the perfect tension filled fire that I needed.

The beginning was a little slow for me. I was getting frustrated with Dakota because she just was not making it easy on Wyatt and as a reading I just was silently screaming at her. But then once things started to heat up, then I couldn't stop reading. I absolutely loved Dakota's relationship with Wyatt's little girl Vienna (whose name has a story behind it). Dakota was vocal throughout the book how she wanted to be a mother so she was very maternal to Vienna. Wyatt loves his daughter more than anything and is doing everything he can to be the best parent which was so lovely to see.

"That boy was always a pit stop, and she knows it. You're her destination. It just took her a little longer since she took the backroads to get to you."
"She should've taken the highway."
"Yeah, but the scenic route always makes for a better story."

I love when we actually see the sports on page and we know Wyatt is a hockey player but its the off season so we do not get to see any on page hockey. BUT what we do get to see which I was excited about, is Dakota's bull riding! I never watched bull riding and I certainly never read any books with bull riding so I was looking forward to reading that. You are definitely pulled into the action and I felt like I could picture what was happening on page in my head. There was one bull ride (not by Dakota) that I gasped at while I was reading because it just sounded so incredibly painful. And then the moment between Dakota and Wyatt after that incident was so beautiful! Wyatt was such a stand up guy and I"m so glad that Dakota realized that (and yes I know its a romance).

This book is part of a series but I did not feel like I missed out on anything by not reading the first. And I looked there is only a brief mention of the MMC from the first book in this one so it's totally safe to not read the first.

4.5

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC.

While I love a good cowboy romance, this one was not for me. It felt very surface level, and I just felt like some parts were randomly quick with time jumps.

This truly is such a cute story but sadly I feel like the charters lacked depth and some of their story did too.

i didnt read the first one in the series, but it made no difference to the enjoyment of the story. i loved Wyatt and Dakota story, everything felt so precious, real and heart-warming, i loved it, will for sure check out the rest of the authors works.

Thank you to Meredith Trapp, Atria Books, and NetGalley for giving me an eARC of Homebound in exchange for my honest review.

I loved this book a lot. The trope of friends-to-lovers has grown on me significantly in the past 6 months, and this book highlights why. Dakota and Wyatt have been best friends their entire lives. Even though they have not spoken in three years, it is still evident just how close they are. I loved watching the two of them grow from friends into something more throughout the book. The pacing was perfect. Dakota did not forgive Wyatt easily, and Wyatt did not push Dakota to forgive him, though he could tell that she was angry and beyond that, hurt. Watching Dakota put that aside to help Wyatt and his daughter was beautiful to watch. Beyond that, watching Wyatt help Dakota to overcome her self-doubt and push through it. As a couple, they just made sense. Wyatt has a conversation with someone in the book that flips this switch for him, where he decides that even if Dakota has not shown signs of being interested in him, he is still going to go for it. I loved that confidence and how he chose to show Dakota that she is not the only one who has changed in the past three years. This story was not necessarily about the plot. Yes, there were subplots to the romance and Dakota trying to go pro, but that did not take the center stage. Instead, their journey as a couple took center stage, and I loved it. While I love a good character development-based story, at times, they can feel painfully slow. This story was nearly impossible to put down, and I was smiling, laughing, and crying right alongside the characters. I highly recommend this book to all my fellow romance lovers. Oh, and you do not have to read the first book in this series; I did not even realize it was a series until I finished the book. Though I can guarantee I will go back and read that first book at some point and continue on with what I hope is going to be another book or two, because the side characters, yes please, I want their stories.

I DNF’d this book at 18%

The writing was absolutely not for me. There were so many instances of just unnecessary over-explanation. You know how in a book they’ll casually mention some background info so that the reader is informed? In this book it wasn’t casual at all and really takes the reader out of the story. A LOT of information is being thrown at the reader in a short amount of time. Overall, the writing is just plain bad. The dialogue had me cringing multiple times. I couldn’t keep going, it had to be a dnf for me.

Though this is a negative review, I am still SO thankful to Atria books and NetGalley for this ARC.

ARC Review - Huge thanks to Meredith Trapp and Atria Books for the opportunity to receive a review copy of Homebound!

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 - I had conflicted feelings about whether I enjoyed this book or not (for reasons completely unrelated to the above discussion). Here’s why:

- I found some of the writing to be lacking - both in terms of structure and a handful of plot holes. I was surprised to find this to be the case when this is a new trad edition (I’m not familiar with the ins and outs of indie books being acquired, but I would have imagined it would go through some further revision?).

- The first half of the book felt like it went by very slow- Wyatt felt like a puppy dog with no backbone, so no wonder Dakota didn’t see him in a romantic way. He undergoes a major shift around the midway point, which adds a bit of an edge to his personality while still maintaining his sweet, sweet golden retriever ways, but then I wondered if this was the “true” him, or if it was something he felt he had to put on to keep Dakota’s interest.

- I enjoy watching bull riding and am quite familiar PBR. There are currently no women in the PBR, and while I read an article from a few years ago about a teen who hopes to be the first, this just feels kind of unrealistic to me as a core plot point.

On the other hand, some of the scenes in the latter half of the book were giving me all of the feels - Wyatt finally having some cocky and confident moments and his secret setup with the fiddle player to get Dakota to kiss him 😭 Dakota’s growing relationship with Vi 🥹 The shower and hay bale scenes 🥵 Lots of redeeming moments in the second half of the book - I just wish it had given these vibes from the start!

ARC Review

-Dual POV
-Small Town Romance
-He Falls First
-Single Dad
-Friends to Lovers
-Slow Burn

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spicy: 🌶️ 🌶️

This book was chefs kiss! Wyatt is so gone for Dakota, his childhood friend! He’s been friend-zoned for so long, poor man! I loved seeing him finally come out of his shell and show her that he’s the man she needs!

I think it was nice easy read.
It didnt really wow me much but I did enjoy a female bullrider for a change.
Same as the first book of this series it felt bit surface level for me. Like it was nice that they had history when they were younger but i would have wanted bit more to teuly believe the teenage crush to lovers arc truly

This book just wasn’t for me. I felt like there were too many red flags that I couldn’t ignore.

Wyatt hasn’t spoken to his former best friend, Dakota, since he left town and had a child with another woman. He’s back in town and assumes that he and Dakota can pick up where they left off, as best friends. Wyatt doesn’t just want to be friends with Dakota, he wants to be more, but Dakota is hesitant because she has only ever seen him as a brother.

I found myself not really rooting for Wyatt and Dakota to get together. I was absolutely rooting for them to rekindle their friendship, but the book felt rushed in terms of their transition from friendship to dating.

Thank you to Atria and NetGalley for the ARC.

Female bull rider x NHL player romance? Sign me up! Homebound is an easy and quick HEA romance following Dakota and Wyatt. During the NHL offseason Wyatt returns to Texas, where he spent each of his childhood summers, with the plan of finally winning over Dakota after her engagement to another man left them estranged.

Overall I enjoyed this read - Wyatt's 1 year old daughter had everyone wrapped around her finger, including me! This was a very sweet friends to lovers romance and the characters had great chemistry and banter. There is very little mention of hockey since it takes place during the offseason, so go into this knowing it leans more heavily on the western romance side. I really enjoyed that the FMC was the bull rider as it is often a male in that profession. The side characters were also great and I felt they added just the right amount to the story.

I do wish there was a little more insight into their childhood to give a more complete picture of their history. I also wanted a little more of Dakota's training progress on bulls in between competitions, instead of just her in the gym, as it seemed to jump from failure to success without much middle ground.

Some of the dialogue in the first half of the book felt a little unnatural and was sometimes repetitive - but that might just bother me and I don't think it necessarily takes away from the story.

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review!

I did enjoy this one, but unfortunately it fell a little flat for me. This is falling around 3.25-3.5 stars for me.

Let's start with what I really enjoyed in it! I looved every scene Vienna was in. Both Wyatt and Dakota being wrapped around her little finger and having the utmost dedication and love for her was so cute. I ate it UP! I also loved the setting, and I enjoyed that SHE was the cowgirl since most of these books are either both or just the MMC is. Dakota really was a badass and I liked that she was portrayed as someone who is a little cold, rude, etc which we don't always see with our FMCs. The spice once it happened was also great.

Where this fell short for me: I wasn't getting the tension I expected between childhood friends - strangers/dislike - lovers. As down bad as Wyatt was I didn't feel the yearning from him. I also feel like we didn't get enough background on their childhood portion - their story really could have benefitted from some flashback chapters to build up that tension for us. I felt their chemistry during the spicy scenes, but otherwise that didn't come through the pages for me. I also felt like Wyatt's reason for disappearing on her ended up being a bit.. lackluster. I was just expecting more from that as well.

Overall, I still enjoyed this book and would recommend to others and I would pick up the next book in the series. It's a quick read and felt pretty low stakes so I would encourage anyone to read it when the mood strikes!

2.5 ⭐️

I really wanted to love this but I felt like it fell a little flat for me. I enjoyed Wyatt but felt like he was a bit cringy a lot of the time. Would have loved to see more from Dakota’s point of view and her journey with the bull riding. Felt like the whole book was a bit rushed and there wasn’t a proper build up. Also would have loved to see some flashback chapters to what life was like for them growing up. Would have loved to see a bit more of the enemies to lovers plot line. I felt like it was there at the beginning but was quickly moved past. Overall a cute read and would recommend if you are looking for a fluffy cowboy romance.

“You’re not a flower that needs to be watered with validation, you’re a cactus, darlin’, prickly enough to thrive in a desert of doubt.”

Childhood friends to lovers isn’t normally my thing. I feel like it’s doing whoever they end up with first dirty as hell however. Dakota aka Kodie the Cowboy Killer is a bull rider and Wyatt is in the NHL and a single dad 🥺 This gives boy obsessed, always been you, he helps her train for the PBR. And again the cover hello. Kodie wasn’t my favorite FMC but the quotes had me swooning. 3.5/5⭐️

“I’m just saying, if you ever get tired of sleeping with assholes… my bedroom’s only a few steps away from yours.”

This is a second chance romance where he falls first and he falls harder. I can never get enough of that trope! I’m not a fan of the single parent trope however, and while this book didn’t win me over, I did appreciate how the FMC interacted with the MMC’s daughter!

Homebound (guilty as sin) ⭐️⭐️⭐️.25
- Doctorate in Pining
- Skeletons start a runway in your clothes
- Sexy showers brings naughty hour
- From no chance to second chance

Hockey romance and cowboy romance collide in a fun summer read! These two tropes happen to be some of my favorite in the romance genre right now and this was such a fun representation of that. I WISH the writing was a bit stronger, but overall it was a very easy, quick read.

Homebound is a second chance romance between Dakota, a bull riding cowgirl, and Wyatt, a professional hockey player. Dakota and Wyatt grew up spending their summers together when Wyatt's family was back managing their flower farm. However, three years ago Dakota got engaged and Wyatt went silent. At the beginning of the book, Wyatt has returned and now he has a little girl.

Dakota and Wyatt work together to help her train to be able to try out for PBR and Dakota cannot help but fall for Wyatt and his daughter Vienna.

The book takes place in Texas Hill Country.

I enjoyed this book- Wyatt and Dakota's characters are both well developed and I enjoyed reading their story unfold. However- the sugars, darlins, honeys and extreme southernisms were a bit much for someone who lives in the south. I also thought it was funny that they acted like Nashville wasn't in the south(it's a city vs country situation).

If you love a cowboy romance with a sunshine MMC and a black cat FMC that loves hard you will enjoy this! I also did enjoy the supporting cast of characters including Dakota's dad and Wyatt's moms. I am hoping that Meredith is thinking of writing an enemies to lovers for Willie and Alanna because their banter was 💯

Thank you NetGalley and Atria for the ARC!

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

It was as if Meredith Trapp heard the phrase “men who yearn, earn” and decided to bundle that up into the most perfect MMC! Homebound features Wyatt, a hockey player who’s had his sights set on Dakota since they were eight. He finally comes home to Texas with one goal in mind; break out of the friend zone and make Dakota his.

Wyatt was such a lovable, golden retriever of a man and won me over from the start. He was the perfect southern gentleman and the fact that he’s a single girl dad made him even better. His sunny demeanor played well with Dakota, who was a tough go-getter chasing her dreams of becoming a pro bull rider. Their chemistry was off the charts and I loved every minute of their relationship unfolding. Seeing Dakota soften over time and regain her confidence just from being loved right was sweet.

What I loved most about this book was that there was no third act breakup. I enjoyed that Trapp let the slow burn of friends to lovers be the whole story. There wasn’t any conflicts late in the book to take away from the beautiful relationship they built.

What would have brought this from four to five stars for me would have been including more hockey into the story. Making Wyatt a hockey player almost felt like an afterthought. I kept waiting for Dakota to admit she watched all his games or throw on his jersey or even for them to go skating together. Just something to drill in the fact that he’s a hockey player more.

Overall, this was a great read and I really hope we get a book about Alanna and Willie! I plan to read more by this author, 100%. Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for this eARC in exchange for my honest review!

This was such a fun and spicy book that I couldn’t put down! Our mmc Wyatt falls for our fmc Dakota when they’re kids, but she always sees him as her “summer boy” and best friend, not as someone who could be a boyfriend. Wyatt is determined to make Dakota his once and for all, but this time he’s a package deal with his baby girl Vienna.
This was an amazing he falls first romance where he is pining for her the entire time. The yearning is done so well and makes you root for them the entire time!
I don’t usually like the inclusion of children, especially babies, in books, but this was so well done and Vienna just fell naturally into the plot.
I also loved that our fmc is a bull rider and is shown as a strong woman, who can let her guard down for the right person.