I am so in my cowboy era and this book just absolutely melted me!! If you’re looking for a sweet, and sexy story, this is it! Absolutely fantastic.

⚡🔥 Book Review: The Brave and the Reckless by Dilan Dyer 🔥⚡

A fierce, emotional rollercoaster of a romance that’s as raw and powerful as it is unforgettable. The Brave and the Reckless dives deep into love, loss, and the courage it takes to risk everything for a second chance.

What it’s about:
After a devastating betrayal, Calla and Riley are forced back into each other’s worlds. But with secrets, danger, and their own reckless hearts on the line, can they overcome the past and fight for a future together?

Tropes You’ll Love:
🔥 Second chance romance
💔 Emotional angst
⚡ Fierce chemistry & slow burn
🌪️ Dark pasts & redemption
💥 Strong, complex characters

If you’re drawn to passionate, gritty romances with heart and heat, Dilan Dyer’s novel will captivate you from start to finish.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

#TheBraveAndTheReckless #DilanDyer #SecondChanceRomance #DarkRomance #SlowBurn #Bookstagram #EmotionalReads #BookReview

I loved this! It was so cute and heartfelt! I like the main plot and both of the characters' evolution of within and together.

it’s an enemies to lovers, brother’s best friend romance, pardner 🤠

Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary ARC. All opinions provided are my own.

I’m going to be honest: The Brave & the Reckless is one of those books that I would ordinarily have some sizable quibbles with, & yet, somehow I really enjoyed this book. Problems & all.

The leads feel somewhat immature, there’s some 🔥 that had me raising my eyebrows, etc. but Dilan Dyer’s book also has a sense of vim & physicality that’s hard to ignore.

This workplace romance set in a Wild West amusement park has an enemies to lovers, brother’s best friend arc that doesn’t dilly dally. Esra & Noah are fun to watch, even if (partially because?) their actions are unpredictable & dramatic, too.

4 ⭐️, out 07/29.

📖 what’s your favorite food or drink at an amusement park? I’m all about the ice cream.

[ID: Jess holds the book in front of pink & white flowers.]

This book is a fun, romantic romp through an Old West theme park, with lots of humor and spice interspersed throughout. I appreciated the diversity and representation found in this novel. Our FMC, Esra, is of Turkish descent and is a chronic illness rep while her brother is deaf. When Esra finds herself needing a job at the start of summer, and a place to land, her brother suggests that she joins him in Tennessee at Bravetown - a wild west theme park. Such is the setting for our novel, and it made it fun and unique for a romance novel. To be honest, I didn't really enjoy Esra as our female lead at first (her behavior and reasoning was a bit off-putting to me), she evolves as the novel progresses and becomes much more likeable. The story is told through dual POV of Esra and our MMC Noah, and it makes the setting and their interactions so much richer through the added details. The banter in the novel is quick witted, and Noah's dirty talk is 10/10 - perfect score.

Slight Spoilers ahead!!!!

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.While it was one of the hottest sex scenes I think I may have ever read - the scene where Esra and Noah have sex, for the first time ever, in the middle of a mud puddle in the rain was possibly one of the least realistic sex scenes I've ever read (and I once read a book where the male love interest was a dragon that had two penises). This girl was a virgin until just a few months ago, and that's the only excuse I can give for her being down with this, she just didn't know better. If sex on sand is supposed to be one of the most uncomfortable experiences on the planet, then bestie, I don't know how they're doing it in literal standing mud. A Noah is written as extremely 'gifted' if you get my drift, so I don't see how they're coordinating all the logistics without at some point touching their genitals with those muddy hands. And since it takes some enthusiasm on his part to fit such a large member into his paramour, I don't see how mud wasn't splashing up into their business and causing dirt to rub like sandpaper. Also, there is no way in hades I would kiss the face of someone that I had rubbed barnyard dirt into the beard of. The germsssss. Like I said, despite these things it was a really well written and hot scene, but it made me cringe when I thought about how this would go down outside of a romance novel.

This book was a fun summer read, and I look forward to seeing where Dilan Dyer takes us in Bravetown next. There are characters with future book potential just radiating from them. I can't wait to see who we learn more about next.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine (Dell) and Dilan Dyer for an eARC of this novel to review.

This one giving Elsie silver and all the small town romance all into one. I felt it also was a slow burn ❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥 upto the spicy chapters. It gave all cowboy 🤠 vibes. He called her "princess". That was cutest nickname. They was also same place/workplace romance that brew up. It also gave grumpy/sunshine vibes. I eat this one book up.i loved it.💗

Cute, enjoyable, spicy. Loved the unique setting (Western theme park & our MCs play theme park characters!). Took me a bit to get into, and for me, the second half is where I really got into this story. Overall, it's a fun cowboy romance with a unique twist & sets up hopefully a series where we get to see some of the supporting characters again (I want an Adriana book!)

💖 Enemies to Lovers
🛏️ Roommates
🤠 Western Theme Park Setting
🏡 Small Town Country Boy x City Girl
❤️‍🩹 Chronic Illness Rep
✌🏻 Dual POV

This was fun & spicy! Binged it. This book was such a fun concept. A theme park similar to Disney but Western? How fun is that?!

I really enjoyed the setting of the book. I thought it was unique and refreshing. Plus it provided a lot of scenarios for our characters to be in (while in character themselves). The side characters were a hoot.

If you are a fan of the hate to love trope, Esra and Noah are your couple. The chemistry between them was hot and ready to boil over. The spicy scenes certainly reflected that! This was hot & steamy! So many great spice scenes. While spicy, this also had a great romance between Esra and Noah too. I liked all the little moments between them and watching them get past their first impressions of each other. I would also say this is a bit of opposites attract (city girl x small town boy).

I thought the author did a good job with representing chronic illness too.

A very fun, spicy and bingeable book! I couldn't put it down. Highly recommend!

4.5 stars

Thank you to Ballantine & Dell, and NetGalley for an ARC of this book, in exchange for my honest opinion.

This book was so unique and I think did an amazing job resenting chronic illness and doing it well. I love the theme parking setting it was so unique as a setting.

Noah and Esra were a true hate to love and brother's best friend (two of my favorites). They were both so rawr and realistic as characteristics. I loved watching their relationship transform on the page. Their spice was amazing and so well done, the mask and prop gun play, was hooooooootttttttt!! My only real struggle was the miscommunication in the end but amazing over all.

Thanks to NetGally, Ballantine and the author for this ARC.

This was a mixed bag for me.

I loved the premise. While some of the details felt meh ... I loved this cute idea of a theme park crew living mostly onsite.

I did enjoy Ezra as the lead. I see how her sheltered life caused her to feel overly protected but something was missing. She did seem sheltered but really she was very immature. I believe a little more depth to her character might have cleared that aspect up.

Noah was fantastic. I loved his character and can appreciated how hard he is working to set his life up.

There was some disconnect between he and Ezra for me. While there was an attraction, they felt more like a fling to me instead of a HEA. That depth that was missing for Ezra applies here too.

I did like this story and look forward to any possible sequels.

Thank you to Ballantine & Dell, and NetGalley for an ARC of this book, in exchange for my honest opinion.

“She was everywhere. In my veins. In my lungs. Behind closed lids.“

This book was so much fun, and had such a unique storyline that I really enjoyed.

Noah and Esra felt so real and raw, that they were so refreshing to read about. They were a true hate to love trope, and it hit so deliciously perfect. I loved watching them go from fighting, to tolerating each other, to sneaking kisses in the break room during their performances. Their spice was offffff the charts, the mask and prop gun play, will literally live rent free in my head for the rest of time.

I didn’t love the miscommunication trope at the end, but I also understood how it kind of needed to happen for Esra and Noah to have some difficult conversations. Overall, I really enjoyed this book, and think all of my Cowboy Romance girlies will love it too!

Tropes:
💜Brothers best friend
💜Theme park setting
💜Spicy
💜Chronic Illness Rep
💜Forced Proximity

Enemies to lovers. Chefs freaking kiss. This book was so much fun to read! It was also my first read on my kindle!! Enemies to lovers is my favorite trope and man did she do good. The tension from Noah and Esra is so “juicy” GET IT! There chemistry was so goood I was giggling on my couch. Not only is Noah young a cowboy at heart but he’s also a villain at best! I had so much respect for esra for going against everything she was made to believe what was right for her growing up. What I loved the most about this book was how they both gave the other a sense of freedom. Esra made Noah have fun, which he told himself he wasn’t able to do. And Noah gave Esra that sense of finding herself with no pressure that everybody has put on her her whole life. I loved it!

A bit slow to start, but turned out to be a great read! In the end, I loved this book and would love to see it turn into a series.

Thank you Dilan Dyer for allowing me to read this book in return for my honest review. If you know me at all, you know I love cowboy romances. This book was so good! I ate it up!

This book was an adventure from the get go. I loved the spin on the FMC having a physical disability - it showed her resistance and drive while not taking away from the story. The enemies to lovers arc was incredibly well done

The Brave and the Reckless is a delightful enemies-to-lovers romance that blends humor, tension, and undeniable chemistry. Esra Tanner, having left medical school, finds herself at Bravetown, a Wild West-themed amusement park, where she unexpectedly becomes the damsel in distress in staged abductions. Enter Noah Young, the brooding cowboy behind the scenes, who seems to harbor disdain for Esra from the start. Their on-stage bickering soon spills over into real life, and what begins as mutual annoyance gradually evolves into a deeper connection.

Dyer's writing is engaging, capturing the essence of small-town charm and the thrill of unexpected romance. The dynamic between Esra and Noah is both entertaining and heartwarming, with their banter adding a delightful layer to the story. The setting of Bravetown provides a unique backdrop, adding to the charm and allure of the narrative.

I really hope this book is going to be part of a series. I loved learning the backstory of the theme park and characters. I want to know more about Adriana and Brooke's. I want to hear about the wedding. I need the backstory.

I loved the EDS representation, even not saying exactly what her diagnosis was until the very end I got the point and the frustration she felt at being "bubblewrapped" with overbearing family.

I think the "dicktionary" page should be listed in the front, not the last page of the book, but it was a great addition for those who want to avoid spicy bits.

I thought I was going to like this one, but I was bored. I didn’t feel a connection between the main characters. This book felt very repetitive. I also found the main character characters a little childish. Also a lot of people said this book was spicy. Yeah this spice level of this one was pretty basic and I didn’t really get a whole lot of spice. So I don’t agree with the people that said that. This is the first book I have read by this author and I might read more in the future.

This felt like if Elsie Silver and Lauren Asher's books had a baby! It was beyond adorable and the perfect amount of angst. Read this in a day no problem. I've loved all of Dilan's FMCs, but both Esra and Noah were the perfect loveable MCs and Noah will turn you into a puddle! As an equestrian, I appreciate all the accuracy around the horse world. This is like the Dreamland Billionaires meets a western and it's wonderful!

Cowboy take me away!

I was gifted this ARC from NetGalley and Random House Publishing and I was so grateful to be able to read it!

The setting of a western theme park immediately drew me in as it brought up fun childhood memories of my own visiting western parks. The one I visited definitely didn’t have hot cowboys though and I was more than happy to dive into the Brave Town world with Ace. Ace Ryder is the villain of the town, played by Noah Young. He is broody, doesn’t trust many people or have the desire to make lasting relationships. That is until the tornado of a woman, Esra, comes into to town. Esra is an in your face, loud, quirky girl ready to start a new life and get away from her perfectly planned out life back home. Esra and Noah butt heads immediately but find themselves forced to work together.

I did feel like it took about 50% for the story to really move forward and that there was a lot of unnecessary side plot. Once the story really started moving I couldn’t put it down. There is internal struggles in both Noah and Esra from their past that they both work through during the story and show true growth as their relationship blooms. It really captured the essence of a romcom with the angry banter and tension building and then finally a hot romance with two people that can’t get enough of each other. The steam was so steamy and I loved every second of it!

Thank you Dilan Dyer for this book. I had so much fun being immersed into a western world of cowboys and romance!

Review posted June 14,2025