Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - Holding the Reins

Cece comes back to her hometown after discovering her fiancé is cheating and decides to put down roots. Nash is her brothers’ best friend and childhood crush. He’s the town player, works in a bar, retired hockey player.

There’s a lot of animosity between them at first, but once they get together they’re obsessed with each other. The spice really amps up. At one point, he crawls to her.

It’s first person, dual POV, open door spice.

I would say that if you like the Rebel Blue ranch series by Lyla Sage, you should check this one out.

The only thing I didn’t love is how the main women speak about other women. Pretty regularly they’d be calling women sluts/tramps/etc. and it felt icky.

I’m still looking forward to Ginger and Cole’s book. 👀

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for my advanced digital copy!

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telltaylelilac's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

A solid book! I enjoyed my time at Silver Pines Ranch, and am looking forward to continuing the series.

I’d recommend if you’re a fan of the following:

brother’s best friend trope
cowboy romance
hockey romance
close-knit families (ranch fam)
super cool female friend group

first, what I loved about this book

lovable fmc

I loved CeCe! She’s whip smart, quippy, and ready to not chase another man. She gave Nash a run for his money, so to speak. Their banter was great!

cowboy + hockey mmc

Making Nash Carter both a hockey player and a (part-time) cowboy? Yep, that did it for me! I am a huge fan of both cowboy and hockey romances, so this was a happy medium.

cool group of gals

I love me a good group of super cool, close-knit, firecracker women! I want to be Ginger’s friend so bad (I also wish I could join them at Sangria Sundays). The Not Angels, you will always be famous to me!

guessing who will be paired up in later books

The best part about starting a romance series for me, is getting glimpses into the pairings we’ll see later on and making my guesses for the next book.

next, a couple of bumps in the road for me with this book…

accents in dialogue

I felt like some of the dialogue wasn’t coming out smoothly. Just a few instances of this. It felt a little like the author was picking and choosing when to use a Kentucky Appalachian accent in the dialogue. Granted, it was there most of the time— but there were times where I was just like…this is not how someone would’ve said that. I don’t think most readers, or a very broad audience, would take issue with this. I think it’s just because I’m very close to the region (yes, I know Appalachia is very large and there are many different dialects, but my point stands) that this kind of thing sticks out to me.

nicknames/pet names

The nicknames Nash uses for CeCe were a little cringey for me…but to each their own!

I could never take a man seriously who called me his “little firefly.” When I read this, I would just mentally skip over it and try to pretend it never happened…internally and externally cringing!

timelines

So much was happening during the course of the book, and I felt a little confused toward the end trying to keep track of where we were in the month. I had to actually go back through the book and start marking down dates and events to make sure I remembered everything correctly.

Overall, I did enjoy this book + I’m looking forward to reading about Wade + Ivy later this year. Thank you to NetGalley and the author for providing an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

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becxaa's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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asapjuliaaa's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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stacyfrancesreads's review against another edition

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adventurous funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

OMG I just finished “Holding the Reins” by Paisley Hope and I am SHOOK! 🤠💘 This book was my intro to cowboy romance and let’s just say, I am now officially a fan for life! Also, my first time reading anything by Paisley, and I’m already lining up her whole back catalogue.

So, let’s dive into the deets! This book has everything: brother’s best friend vibes, small town charm, a little age gap action, ex-hockey player turned part-time cowboy, and the best found family you could ever dream of. We meet CeCe Ashby, who's trying to escape a toxic past and get a fresh start. She heads back to her family's ranch in the quaint town of Laurel Creek.

Enter Nash Carter. Retired hockey superstar, local hero, and all-around hottie. He’s CeCe’s brother’s best friend and totally off-limits...or so they think! The chemistry between these two is 🔥🔥🔥 from the get-go. Nash tries so hard to keep his cool, but when he finally has his "F*ck it" moment, it’s pure perfection.

CeCe and Nash’s journey is filled with so many swoon-worthy and laugh-out-loud moments, like, CeCe’s dad dropping wisdom bombs like, "Just don't settle, baby. Find a man that will move heaven and earth for you. A man that knows your worth. You should be his entire heart, always." Cue the tears! 🥹 And then there's Mama Jo, the ultimate gossip queen, cracking me up with lines like, "Ooh...you look like wine and unwise choices." 😂

And can we talk about CeCe’s bestie, Ginger? She’s hilarious and so obviously into CeCe’s older brother, Cole. Her line, "I ran into Cole today and he didn't scowl at me, AND he said hello. I'm breaking through. One step closer to his handcuffs on my bed posts," had me in stitches. The tension between those two is EVERYTHING. I’m dying for their story in “Chasing the Roots.”

One of my absolute favorite moments? Nash seeing CeCe in his old hoodie. “Damn, she looks like mine.” SWOON. 😍 And don’t even get me started on Nash’s romantic side. “We're not a phase. We're the exact opposite of a phase. We're always... Following you across the country is nothing. I'm going to follow you everywhere you go for the rest of this life. And then, I'm going to follow you into the next.” If that isn’t the dreamiest thing ever, I don’t know what is.

The Not-Angels friend group is goals. These girls are the kind of ride-or-die friends everyone needs.

Guys, I’m already screaming about this book to all my bookish friends. “Holding the Reins” hooks you from page one and makes you desperate to read about every other character in the series. I’ve got an ARC of “Training the Heart” and I’m on the edge of my seat for it. And the slow-burn tension between Cole and Ginger? I need “Chasing the Roots” like, yesterday.

Trust me, you do not want to miss out on this one. Five stars, easily. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Happy reading, everyone! 📚✨

Thank you so much to the author, publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read this in exchange for my honest opinion.

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romancewithem's review against another edition

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4.75

I really enjoyed this book and had a great time reading it

- brothers best friend
- ex-hockey player turned part time cowboy
- sneaking around
- gosspiy small town setting
- just one nig to get it out our systems

I really enjoyed the story we went on with the two main characters, of them trusting each other despite their fears and falling in love.

I felt like the second half way a lot more spice than plot and I just wished for a little more plot

I really liked all the side characters and can't wait to read their own stories

If you loved the Chestnut Springs series, Rebel Blue Ranch series and the gossipy small towns of Rome (When In Rome series) and Inglewild (Lovelight series) you'll love this book

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin / Cornerstone for the ARC - all opinions are my own

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abidavisf's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective relaxing fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

You know a book is going to be good when its dedication makes your jaw drop. Holding the Reins is an emotional, romantic and hopeful story of grief, trust, and new beginnings.

CeCe and Nash grew up together under the wise eye of Wyatt Ashby, CeCe’s father. Following his death, Nash’s retirement from the NHL and CeCe leaving her awful fiancé, both characters find themselves back in their hometown, trying to build a life and, more than that, a future. They aren’t kids any more, and their attraction is obvious from the start.

Both CeCe and Nash have been hurt and, frankly, traumatised in their lives. Holding the Reins explores the difficulty that comes with wanting to break down the walls that you have built for yourself, while being utterly terrified to do so. Holding the Reins teaches you that just because something awful happened once doesn’t mean it will happen again.

Holding the Reins is life-affirming: “if you’re struggling, you’re living.” Nash experienced the worst possible thing that could happen to somebody as a fifteen-year-old, making him terrified to love or let anybody into his heart. CeCe’s acceptance of his fears and will to offer him whatever comfort she can, while so importantly understanding that she may not always be able to, was gorgeous, and is everything somebody needs in a support system when living with their trauma.

Aside from the love story, Holding the Reins features a gorgeous family and a beautiful community, one that is wholly accepting of everybody and just wants to love. CeCe’s mother holds a Monday night dinner each week so that, even if your week has started badly, you still have something to look forward to. That aspect of love, comfort and community is everything you could hope for, and so many of my favourite scenes in this book featured the entire Ashby family (and their found family). I adore a story in which we come to learn about each of the side characters and build relationships with them too. I hope we can learn more about these characters as the series continues, and that they all get their happy ever after.

Nash maintains perfect control of the thin line between possessive and protective. Flags that may appear red quickly become clear to show that his actions have always been made with CeCe’s best intentions in mind. He never seeked recognition for this and, in fact, actively allowed CeCe to believe that he was being cruel and territorial in order to save her feelings.

Watching CeCe learn to accept the love that she deserves is another big positive of Holding the Reins. From her father to her brothers to Nash, she enables herself to recognise real love and stops allowing herself to be mistreated by her long-term partner. Even through his emotional abuse and enforced control of her, CeCe uses the words of her family and her respect for herself to maintain boundaries and protect herself, something that is not easy to do. She is an inspiration to victims of toxic relationships everywhere. In turn, she also teaches readers that just because you can do something alone doesn’t mean you have to. You can set boundaries and maintain control of your own life while accepting help from others, a very important life lesson that many of us need to learn.

Elements I would have liked to explore more with Holding the Reins were Nash’s day-to-day when he is on his own, more backstory about Olivia and Ginger and how they and CeCe grew up, as well as more of CeCe’s relationship with her brothers. We dip into all of this, but I’d like to have explored them in more depth. There were also a couple of scenes/plot lines that I felt were slightly rushed, e.g.

CeCe’s return to Seattle and what happened after that in relation to her condo.

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