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4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
emotional
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Boone & Wylie. A cookie & a cowboy! V cute. Felt short but sweet and I liked the communication between the two
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
What an absolutely stunning story! So sweet and with all the good gooey feels!
Wylie arrives at Rainbow Ranch, ready to stay a short while and move on, like he always does. But when he meets Boone, the cook for the ranch, he knows something is different and special about him. As much as he doesn’t want to believe it.
These two have such a sweet and easy connection, lots of flirting and just general cuteness. After things get more heated, Wylie knows he isn’t going to want to leave.
Adorable, loved reading this. It just gives all the good happy reading vibes - with great heat in there too! Go read it!
“𝒴ℴ𝓊 𝓌𝒶𝓃𝓃𝒶 𝓇𝒾𝒹ℯ 𝒶 𝒸ℴ𝓌𝒷ℴ𝓎?”
“𝒮ℴ𝓂ℯ𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓁𝒾𝓀ℯ 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉.”
🐎MM
🐎Grumpy/Sunshine
🐎Found Family
🐎Save a horse
🐎Ride a Cowboy
🐎HEA
adventurous
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
So cute! I loved this. The cowboy and the cook. What an amazing combination. Plus i loved all the quirky country sayings. This was just so cute and fun!
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
ARC kindly provided in exchange for an honest review
This book was much sweeter than I expected. I LOVED Boone & Wyle's love story because it melted my heart in the sweetest way. Their constant flirting made me fall in love, and I really enjoyed getting to know the Adamses and the people who are part of the Rainbow Ranch family.
Boone is the cook at Rainbow Ranch, , and I loved reading about his love for cooking (I also got hungry more than once reading M.A. Wardell's descriptions of his dishes and baking), and how this is a bond he still shares with his mom, as well as a way for him to show his siblings and the people on the ranch how important they are to him. I think that was one of the things I loved most about this character: how much he cares for those he loves. Also, reading about him with his siblings, especially Beau, his twin, made me love this family even more because the unity and bond between them is truly beautiful and adorable.
Wylie is the new cowboy at Rainbow Ranch, a man just passing through, with a serious, quiet personality, who finds what he wasn't even looking for in this wonderful place. I think Wylie was a bit more my favorite because learning his personal story broke my heart, especially after reading him being vulnerable with Boone, but it helped me see even more the way he opened his heart when he came to the ranch, plus, the bond he creates with Noodles is one of the most beautiful things I've ever read.
Boone & Wylie made me fall in love throughout Stirring Spurs! I think everything about their relationship moves at a perfect pace, especially considering this is a short story, and I loved that NOTHING in their love story feels rushed and the author gives me all the feelings these characters experience throughout their journey. I also really enjoyed reading the way Boone & Wylie's personalities complement each other, how they flirt in the most innocent yet sexy ways, and the double meaning this couple handled were just delicious (I'm Mexican so it was one of the funniest things in the story), plus I loved that they were both always honest with their feelings and that gave me the ending these two deserved.
🍳Boone: 5/5
🐴Wylie: 5/5
🍳Pot: 4/5
🐴Love story: 5/5
🍳Secondary characters: 5/5
🐴Cover: 5/5
🌶️: 3/5
ARC amablemente proporcionada a cambio de una reseña honesta
Este libro fue mucho más lindo de lo que esperaba, AMÉ mucho la historia de amor de Boone & Wyleporque me derritió el corazón de la manera más dulce, su coqueteo constante me enamoró y disfruté mucho conociendo a los Adams y a las personas que forman parte de la familia de Rainbow Ranch.
Boone es el cocinero de Rainbow Ranch, yo yo amé leer su amor por la cocina (también me dio hambre más de una vez leyendo las descripciones de M.A. Wardell sobre sus platillos y repostería), y como esto es un vinculo que aún comparte con su mamá, además de una manera de demostrarle a sus hermanos, y personas en el rancho, lo importantes que son para él, y es que creo que esa fue una de las cosas que más me gustó de este personaje: lo mucho que cuida de los que ama. Además, leerlo con sus hermanos, especialmente con Beau, su gemelo, me hizo amar a esta familia mucho más porque la unión y el vinculo que hay entre ellos es realmente hermoso y adorable.
Wylie es el nuevo vaquero en Rainbow Ranch, un hombre que está de pasó , con una personalidad serie, callada y que encuentra lo que ni siquiera estaba buscando en este lugar maravilloso. Creo que Wylie fue un poco más mi favorito porque conocer su historia personal me rompio el corazón, especialmente después de leerlo ser vulnerable con Boone, pero eso me ayudó a ver mucho más la manera en la que abrió su corazón al llegar al rancho, además, el vinculo que crea con Noodles es una de las cosas más hermosas que he leído.
Boone & Wylie me enamoraron a lo largo de Stirring Spurs! Creo que todo en su relación pasa al ritmo perfecto, sobre todo teniendo en cuenta que esta es una historia corta, y amé que NADA en su historia de amor se sienta apresurado y el autor me de todos los sentimientos que estos personajes experimentan a lo largo de su viaje. También disfruté mucho leyendo la manera en la que las personalidades de Boone & Wylie se complementan, como coquetean de las maneras más inocentes pero también sexys, y el doble sentido que esta pareja manejó fue simplemente delicioso (soy mexicana, así que fue una de las cosas más divertidas de la historia), además, me encantó que ambos fueran siempre honestos con sus sentimientos y eso me dio el final que estos dos merecían.
🍳Boone: 5/5
🐴Wylie: 5/5
🍳Trama: 4/5
🐴Historia de amor: 5/5
🍳Personajes secundarios: 5/5
🐴Portada: 5/5
🌶️: 3/5
This book was much sweeter than I expected. I LOVED Boone & Wyle's love story because it melted my heart in the sweetest way. Their constant flirting made me fall in love, and I really enjoyed getting to know the Adamses and the people who are part of the Rainbow Ranch family.
Boone is the cook at Rainbow Ranch, , and I loved reading about his love for cooking (I also got hungry more than once reading M.A. Wardell's descriptions of his dishes and baking), and how this is a bond he still shares with his mom, as well as a way for him to show his siblings and the people on the ranch how important they are to him. I think that was one of the things I loved most about this character: how much he cares for those he loves. Also, reading about him with his siblings, especially Beau, his twin, made me love this family even more because the unity and bond between them is truly beautiful and adorable.
Wylie is the new cowboy at Rainbow Ranch, a man just passing through, with a serious, quiet personality, who finds what he wasn't even looking for in this wonderful place. I think Wylie was a bit more my favorite because learning his personal story broke my heart, especially after reading him being vulnerable with Boone, but it helped me see even more the way he opened his heart when he came to the ranch, plus, the bond he creates with Noodles is one of the most beautiful things I've ever read.
Boone & Wylie made me fall in love throughout Stirring Spurs! I think everything about their relationship moves at a perfect pace, especially considering this is a short story, and I loved that NOTHING in their love story feels rushed and the author gives me all the feelings these characters experience throughout their journey. I also really enjoyed reading the way Boone & Wylie's personalities complement each other, how they flirt in the most innocent yet sexy ways, and the double meaning this couple handled were just delicious (I'm Mexican so it was one of the funniest things in the story), plus I loved that they were both always honest with their feelings and that gave me the ending these two deserved.
🍳Boone: 5/5
🐴Wylie: 5/5
🍳Pot: 4/5
🐴Love story: 5/5
🍳Secondary characters: 5/5
🐴Cover: 5/5
🌶️: 3/5
ARC amablemente proporcionada a cambio de una reseña honesta
Este libro fue mucho más lindo de lo que esperaba, AMÉ mucho la historia de amor de Boone & Wyleporque me derritió el corazón de la manera más dulce, su coqueteo constante me enamoró y disfruté mucho conociendo a los Adams y a las personas que forman parte de la familia de Rainbow Ranch.
Boone es el cocinero de Rainbow Ranch, yo yo amé leer su amor por la cocina (también me dio hambre más de una vez leyendo las descripciones de M.A. Wardell sobre sus platillos y repostería), y como esto es un vinculo que aún comparte con su mamá, además de una manera de demostrarle a sus hermanos, y personas en el rancho, lo importantes que son para él, y es que creo que esa fue una de las cosas que más me gustó de este personaje: lo mucho que cuida de los que ama. Además, leerlo con sus hermanos, especialmente con Beau, su gemelo, me hizo amar a esta familia mucho más porque la unión y el vinculo que hay entre ellos es realmente hermoso y adorable.
Wylie es el nuevo vaquero en Rainbow Ranch, un hombre que está de pasó , con una personalidad serie, callada y que encuentra lo que ni siquiera estaba buscando en este lugar maravilloso. Creo que Wylie fue un poco más mi favorito porque conocer su historia personal me rompio el corazón, especialmente después de leerlo ser vulnerable con Boone, pero eso me ayudó a ver mucho más la manera en la que abrió su corazón al llegar al rancho, además, el vinculo que crea con Noodles es una de las cosas más hermosas que he leído.
Boone & Wylie me enamoraron a lo largo de Stirring Spurs! Creo que todo en su relación pasa al ritmo perfecto, sobre todo teniendo en cuenta que esta es una historia corta, y amé que NADA en su historia de amor se sienta apresurado y el autor me de todos los sentimientos que estos personajes experimentan a lo largo de su viaje. También disfruté mucho leyendo la manera en la que las personalidades de Boone & Wylie se complementan, como coquetean de las maneras más inocentes pero también sexys, y el doble sentido que esta pareja manejó fue simplemente delicioso (soy mexicana, así que fue una de las cosas más divertidas de la historia), además, me encantó que ambos fueran siempre honestos con sus sentimientos y eso me dio el final que estos dos merecían.
🍳Boone: 5/5
🐴Wylie: 5/5
🍳Trama: 4/5
🐴Historia de amor: 5/5
🍳Personajes secundarios: 5/5
🐴Portada: 5/5
🌶️: 3/5
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Yes
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Stirring Spurs by M.A. Wardell
Rainbow Ranch Book #1
Length: 180 pages
Rainbow Ranch Book #1
Length: 180 pages
Source: Grey's Promotions eARC
Publication date: July 1, 2025
4 ⭐
2 🌶
What to expect with Wylie and Boone:
🤠 MM cowboy romance
🤠 Horse whisperer x ranch cook
🤠 Grumpy/sunshine
🤠 Found family
🤠 Cake and ... caaaaake
🤠 Pickup truck spice
🤠 Low-angst HEA
"For anyone searching for a home, there's a place for you." – dedication
🤠 Horse whisperer x ranch cook
🤠 Grumpy/sunshine
🤠 Found family
🤠 Cake and ... caaaaake
🤠 Pickup truck spice
🤠 Low-angst HEA
"For anyone searching for a home, there's a place for you." – dedication
Summary
Boone is the cook at Rainbow Ranch, a queer-positive ranch that he started with his siblings on their family homestead following their parents' deaths. Wylie's a wandering cowboy who's also a bit of a horse whisperer, and he's been hired by Boone's twin brother, Beau, to help work with Noodles, a skittish horse that nobody else at the ranch has been able to bond with. From the moment Wylie walks in, he and Boone are enamored with one other, and it's obvious to everyone. But Boone has been hurt in the past by other cowboys just passing through, and Wylie's no different. But what if he stayed? What if he took a chance to put down roots?
My thoughts
Ahhhhhh, what a great start to this new multi-author series! As sweet as a vanilla sheet cake, Wylie and Boone are swoony, low angst, and all-around adorable. For as short as this novella is, Matt packs a LOT of sentiment and lyricism into the pages, and he creates a place that I’d actually love to visit because of the people there. As Wylie says, “Rainbow Ranch has a way of pulling folks–and animals–in, giving them a place when they’ve got nowhere else to go.” And Matt writes in the author's note: "...on Rainbow Ranch, queerness isn't just accepted, it's celebrated. This queer-normative bubble offers a reminder: love is love, in all its complexity, joy, and tenderness." Sign. Me. Up. The world he has started here is the kind of world I wish we could live in, where the queer community doesn't have to fear for its physical safety or be attacked by the ignorant.
Boone's siblings and the other found-family members on the ranch are all hilarious. You can feel the love and affection between all of these people; it pops off the page in their teasing and quiet checking in with each other. They extend that kindness and warmth to Wylie without hesitation, and seeing him realize that it's OK to stop running, take a breath, and stay in one place...so lovely. He's quickly captivated by Boone's cooking, too. Food is definitely Boone's love language, and the meals in the book could practically be another character. His cooking bonds this group together, much like the premise of the ranch: to foster human connection. Boone does that through orange cinnamon buns, French onion soup, and cake. LOTS of cake. (As it stands, I really want a Rainbow Ranch cookbook.)
Ahhhhhh, what a great start to this new multi-author series! As sweet as a vanilla sheet cake, Wylie and Boone are swoony, low angst, and all-around adorable. For as short as this novella is, Matt packs a LOT of sentiment and lyricism into the pages, and he creates a place that I’d actually love to visit because of the people there. As Wylie says, “Rainbow Ranch has a way of pulling folks–and animals–in, giving them a place when they’ve got nowhere else to go.” And Matt writes in the author's note: "...on Rainbow Ranch, queerness isn't just accepted, it's celebrated. This queer-normative bubble offers a reminder: love is love, in all its complexity, joy, and tenderness." Sign. Me. Up. The world he has started here is the kind of world I wish we could live in, where the queer community doesn't have to fear for its physical safety or be attacked by the ignorant.
Boone's siblings and the other found-family members on the ranch are all hilarious. You can feel the love and affection between all of these people; it pops off the page in their teasing and quiet checking in with each other. They extend that kindness and warmth to Wylie without hesitation, and seeing him realize that it's OK to stop running, take a breath, and stay in one place...so lovely. He's quickly captivated by Boone's cooking, too. Food is definitely Boone's love language, and the meals in the book could practically be another character. His cooking bonds this group together, much like the premise of the ranch: to foster human connection. Boone does that through orange cinnamon buns, French onion soup, and cake. LOTS of cake. (As it stands, I really want a Rainbow Ranch cookbook.)
Bottom line
Now that I’ve finished Stirring Spurs, the other books in the series are all automatically going on my TBR. This one should definitely be on yours.
— A
Thanks to Grey's Promotions and M.A. Wardell for an eARC of this book. All opinions are mine. Reviews posted regularly on StoryGraph, Instagram, BlueSky, and BookBub.
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
I have been wanting to read M.A. Wardell’s work for a minute now and I’m very glad I got to read Stirring Spurs!
This novella is as described and I enjoyed it way more than I thought I was going to. I was sold on the gay cowboys then there was no coming back once I learned about Rainbow Ranch.
It was so refreshing to read a story set in a rural/country setting that is explicitly queer affirming and ‘low angst’. I was always excited to pick the book back up and get to keep finding out how Boone and Wylie’s relationship was going to grow. And, of course, the relationship between Wylie and Noodles as well. There is such a great mix of serious moments, humor, affirmations, and love.
I was surprised as to how open and physically affectionate the siblings are with each other but I’m an only child with most of my sibling knowledge comes from popular media.
Now it’s time to pick up other M.A. Wardell and Radinbow Ranch books!
*Honest ARC review. Thank you M.A. Wardell and Grey’s Promotions
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Minor: Alcoholism, Death, Grief, Death of parent
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
🌈 Flirtation, Flapjacks & Found Family at the Gayest Ranch in the West! 🤠🍰
If you like your cowboys sweet and spicy, with a side of homemade vanilla cake and enough pining to make a prairie dog blush—Stirring Spurs is your next must-read.
Tropes:
🐎 Cowboy x Chef
🍰 M/M Romance
🐎 Grumpy Standoff Cowboy
🍰 Cinnamon Roll Fluffy Cowboy
🐎 Forced Proximity
🍰 Animal Sidekicks (🐎🐴)
🐎 Country Small Town
🍰 Grumpy x Sunshine
🐎 Low Angst
🍰 No 3rd Act Breakup
🐎 Novella (less than 200 pages)
🍰 Found Family
🐎 Close Siblings
🍰 Queer Positivity
🐎 Rainbow Ranch Book 1 (Multi Author Series)
🍰 So Much Delicious Food
Rating: 🥞🥞🥞.🍳(3.75 rounded to 4 ⭐️)
Spice: (self pleasure, praise, dirty talk, 🥗 tossing, 🍑 play, public play)
Boone is the heart of Rainbow Ranch—a cinnamon roll of a chef who cooks with love and low-key flirts through soup. Wylie is the new horse trainer in town, closed-off and passing through until one too many baked goods make him question his exit strategy. What starts as shared glances over biscuits turns into a cozy, flirty tumble into something real, warm, and so very swoony.
This novella is low angst, high comfort, and full of queer joy. I adored the gentle caretaking, the mutual respect, and the steamy moments that somehow felt soft and delicious too. And can we talk about the food?! Boone’s cooking made me legitimately hungry—my only complaint is that there were zerorecipes at the back. (Justice for that vanilla cake, y’all.)
This was a quick, feel-good read that left me smiling like I just got kissed under a wide open sky. Can’t wait for the next Rainbow Ranch novella—I’ll be there with boots on and a fork in hand.
🥘 Final Thought: Come for the cowboys, stay for the cake (and the kissing).
I received an ARC copy and wanted to leave an honest review.
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
These two were so cute. I always enjoy MA Wardell’s writing and I enjoyed this foray into the cowboy world. It’s nice to sometimes just read a story about how two people meet and god things happen. No big drama, just getting to know each other and falling in love. With a fun family ranch, some horses in need of love and attention, and lots of cowboy hats.