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4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
Thanks to M.A. Wardell for an ARC! All opinions are my own.
This was a short but very cute cowboy romance! The main characters were precious and I liked that there was very little drama. At times it drifted a bit too much into Brokeback Mountain fanfic territory (“I can’t quit you”, etc.) and the drawl seemed to come and go, thus the dropped star, but overall enjoyable!!
POV: dual first person
You can expect: opposites attract, forced proximity, family, ranch, horses.
Rep: queer side characters, gay main characters.
Spice: 3/5
CW: death of parents in a car accident (past), death of parent from heart attack (past), death of a sibling (past)
This was a short but very cute cowboy romance! The main characters were precious and I liked that there was very little drama. At times it drifted a bit too much into Brokeback Mountain fanfic territory (“I can’t quit you”, etc.) and the drawl seemed to come and go, thus the dropped star, but overall enjoyable!!
POV: dual first person
You can expect: opposites attract, forced proximity, family, ranch, horses.
Rep: queer side characters, gay main characters.
Spice: 3/5
CW: death of parents in a car accident (past), death of parent from heart attack (past), death of a sibling (past)
hopeful
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
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
emotional
funny
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
Stirring Spurs a sweet, low angst novella. There are great found family vibes and delicious food being served.
Wylie doesn’t think well of himself. He calls himself a coward multiple times, that he runs when things get difficult. Much of his character development centers around him finding the courage to fight for what he wants and to create a home.
Boone is a caretaker. He’s fallen in the habit of putting others wants/needs ahead of his own. He has to relearn to how important self care is.
Boone and Wylie are sweet together. They spend the first part of the book circling around each other and their mutual attraction. They support each other and provide a place to be themselves.
Thank you M.A Wardell and Grey’s Promotions for this ARC and the opportunity to leave an honest review.
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
emotional
funny
hopeful
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
“Alexa, play ‘All Your’n” by Tyler Childers.”
Ohhh this story is sweet. When M.A. Wardell sent out a request to his email list to see who’d be interested in reading an arc of his newest novella in exchange for a review, of course I immediately threw my name in the pot. I was shocked that I got selected though because at the time I had, like, 84 Instagram followers or something like that. 😆
But I was excited because I have loved everything I’ve ever read from M.A. Wardell. What I like about his books is that they’re often described as “low-angst” and, frankly, I’d give anything to have less angst in my life. I just want to hear about two cowboys finding love on an Oklahoma ranch—is that too much to ask?! No. It’s not.
So the story is the Boone lives on Rainbow Ranch—a horse ranch owned and operated by his family. In a world dominated by conservativeism, Rainbow Ranch is one of the only places in the cowboy community that is welcoming of all types of people. Boone is the cook at the ranch. He makes all his mama’s old recipes and even talks like her sometimes. He believes his whole life is right here on the ranch, scrounging up grub for the cowpokes that work on the ranch. And he’s happy with that! Until Wylie Anderson walks onto the ranch—tasked with breaking a tough, guarded horse, Noodles out of his shell.
I think you know where this is going.
I want to make sure I’m clear. A “low-angst” romance does not mean that it’s a closed door romance. The love scenes in this book leave the door (when there *is*a door 👀) wiiiide open. Low angst just means there’s not toooo much of the “will they, won’t they” and it’s a novella so there isn’t much room for that anyway.
If I had to come up with a complaint (the thing that knocked it down to a 4.5 for me)—it’s so minor that it’s probably not worth mentioning, but the way these siblings engage with one another is…
Look, it’s fine, maybe some siblings are very casual talking about one another’s sex lives while also smacking each other on the butt and kissing each other in greeting. Thats just not the relationship *I* have with *my* siblings and I found it very jarring. There’s one sibling wrestling scene that’s described in so much detail and with so much affection, it felt a lot like reading a love scene. That was a liiiiiittle much for me. But not enough to make me put the book down or anything.
Ohhh this story is sweet. When M.A. Wardell sent out a request to his email list to see who’d be interested in reading an arc of his newest novella in exchange for a review, of course I immediately threw my name in the pot. I was shocked that I got selected though because at the time I had, like, 84 Instagram followers or something like that. 😆
But I was excited because I have loved everything I’ve ever read from M.A. Wardell. What I like about his books is that they’re often described as “low-angst” and, frankly, I’d give anything to have less angst in my life. I just want to hear about two cowboys finding love on an Oklahoma ranch—is that too much to ask?! No. It’s not.
So the story is the Boone lives on Rainbow Ranch—a horse ranch owned and operated by his family. In a world dominated by conservativeism, Rainbow Ranch is one of the only places in the cowboy community that is welcoming of all types of people. Boone is the cook at the ranch. He makes all his mama’s old recipes and even talks like her sometimes. He believes his whole life is right here on the ranch, scrounging up grub for the cowpokes that work on the ranch. And he’s happy with that! Until Wylie Anderson walks onto the ranch—tasked with breaking a tough, guarded horse, Noodles out of his shell.
I think you know where this is going.
I want to make sure I’m clear. A “low-angst” romance does not mean that it’s a closed door romance. The love scenes in this book leave the door (when there *is*a door 👀) wiiiide open. Low angst just means there’s not toooo much of the “will they, won’t they” and it’s a novella so there isn’t much room for that anyway.
If I had to come up with a complaint (the thing that knocked it down to a 4.5 for me)—it’s so minor that it’s probably not worth mentioning, but the way these siblings engage with one another is…
Look, it’s fine, maybe some siblings are very casual talking about one another’s sex lives while also smacking each other on the butt and kissing each other in greeting. Thats just not the relationship *I* have with *my* siblings and I found it very jarring. There’s one sibling wrestling scene that’s described in so much detail and with so much affection, it felt a lot like reading a love scene. That was a liiiiiittle much for me. But not enough to make me put the book down or anything.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Minor: Grief, Death of parent
emotional
funny
reflective
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
My thoughts on Stirring Spurs by M.A. Wardell
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Thank you @mawardellauthor and @greyspromo for the e-arc copy of Stirring Spurs. All opinions in this review are my own.
I’m absolutely swooning over Wylie and Boone’s love story in Stirring Spurs! These two felt so real and genuine—like I was right there with them, falling in love alongside them. M.A. Wardell’s writing is just that good: heartfelt, fun, and completely immersive.
You’re in for such a treat diving into their world. And the side characters? Total gems—especially Boone’s siblings. They add so much charm and help nudge our two characters closer together. Trust me, you won’t want to put this one down. The relationships and storyline totally hook you—and once you start, good luck putting it down! You’ll be flipping pages just to find out what happens next.
This is the first book in the series by M.A. Wardell, and I’m already excited to see what the other authors bring to the table. More love stories? Yes, please! You definitely don’t want to miss out on the heartfelt, swoony goodness that Wardell crafted in this one. It’s the perfect start to a series that’s shaping up to be full of heart, heat, and cowboy charm. 🤠💘
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Thank you @mawardellauthor and @greyspromo for the e-arc copy of Stirring Spurs. All opinions in this review are my own.
I’m absolutely swooning over Wylie and Boone’s love story in Stirring Spurs! These two felt so real and genuine—like I was right there with them, falling in love alongside them. M.A. Wardell’s writing is just that good: heartfelt, fun, and completely immersive.
You’re in for such a treat diving into their world. And the side characters? Total gems—especially Boone’s siblings. They add so much charm and help nudge our two characters closer together. Trust me, you won’t want to put this one down. The relationships and storyline totally hook you—and once you start, good luck putting it down! You’ll be flipping pages just to find out what happens next.
This is the first book in the series by M.A. Wardell, and I’m already excited to see what the other authors bring to the table. More love stories? Yes, please! You definitely don’t want to miss out on the heartfelt, swoony goodness that Wardell crafted in this one. It’s the perfect start to a series that’s shaping up to be full of heart, heat, and cowboy charm. 🤠💘
𝚂𝚝𝚒𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚂𝚙𝚞𝚛𝚜
🄰🅁🄲 🅁🄴🅅🄸🄴🅆
3.5/5 ⭐️
2/5 🌶️
↓↓
I want to start by saying that I normally love books by this author, add in cowboys, a inclusive ranch and I jumped right in head first. Unfortunately this one missed the mark for me quite a bit.
While it was super cute and extremely low angst. The word choice in alot of this book made me cringe, roll my eyes and double check that an adult wrote it. It seemed extremely childish and just odd.
Boone was sunshine wrapped in an apron but I felt like that's all he was. There wasn't much more to him but I feel like there could have been, if that makes sense. I felt no connection to Wylie, he didn't pique my interest with his mysteriousness, he just seemed aloof and broody.
Now I know that this is just a novella, and you're probably like, come on it's a short read, you're not going to get everything you get like in a full length novel. I get that, I really do, buuutttt it just lacked overall depth and development for me, which is something that can still happen in a novella.
I loved loved loved the inclusive ranch idea though. Honestly, we need more of that in the world.
𝕋𝕣𝕠𝕡𝕖𝕤 / 𝕎𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝔼𝕩𝕡𝕖𝕔𝕥
🌈 Forced Proximity
🤠 Cowboy Romance
🌈 Grumpy x Sunshine
🤠 Found Family
🄰🅁🄲 🅁🄴🅅🄸🄴🅆
3.5/5 ⭐️
2/5 🌶️
↓↓
I want to start by saying that I normally love books by this author, add in cowboys, a inclusive ranch and I jumped right in head first. Unfortunately this one missed the mark for me quite a bit.
While it was super cute and extremely low angst. The word choice in alot of this book made me cringe, roll my eyes and double check that an adult wrote it. It seemed extremely childish and just odd.
Boone was sunshine wrapped in an apron but I felt like that's all he was. There wasn't much more to him but I feel like there could have been, if that makes sense. I felt no connection to Wylie, he didn't pique my interest with his mysteriousness, he just seemed aloof and broody.
Now I know that this is just a novella, and you're probably like, come on it's a short read, you're not going to get everything you get like in a full length novel. I get that, I really do, buuutttt it just lacked overall depth and development for me, which is something that can still happen in a novella.
I loved loved loved the inclusive ranch idea though. Honestly, we need more of that in the world.
𝕋𝕣𝕠𝕡𝕖𝕤 / 𝕎𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝔼𝕩𝕡𝕖𝕔𝕥
🌈 Forced Proximity
🤠 Cowboy Romance
🌈 Grumpy x Sunshine
🤠 Found Family
hopeful
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:
Yes
If you love: an interconnected standalone cowboy romance series featuring a different sibling’s story each book, romps in the fields 😏, and LGBTQ+ rep (“…if you come here, you’re either queer, questioning, or a fierce ally.”), get on over here to Rainbow Ranch! 🌈
Stirring Spurs is SO fun and cozy and sweet and spicy and I need you to read it. I love Boone and Wylie! Swoon and giggle and kick your feet while they each learn to let love in.
Plus, in this series, each new book will be written by a different author about the family you’ve come to know and love. 🏳️🌈🐴🚜🥣
Stirring Spurs is SO fun and cozy and sweet and spicy and I need you to read it. I love Boone and Wylie! Swoon and giggle and kick your feet while they each learn to let love in.
Plus, in this series, each new book will be written by a different author about the family you’ve come to know and love. 🏳️🌈🐴🚜🥣
hopeful
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:
Yes