A review by readthesparrow
The Ride of Her Life by Jennifer Dugan

lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

This review is based on an advanced galley sent by the publisher.
 
The only reason this got 2.5 stars is because I am desperate for masc cowboy sapphic love interests. Otherwise it would have maybe scraped by with 2 stars.
 

 ONE: THE PLOT

 The plot is fine, for the most part. Molly struggling to decide how she wants to handle the enormous responsibility of getting a huge property dumped on her is realistic; she's under an immense amount of stress and struggling to make a decision about how to handle this situation she's been thrust into without consent. Molly weighs her needs against other folk's needs against the reality of money and debt. When she has conversations about this with characters like JJ, Aiyana, Lochlin, or Lita, whether or not she will keep or sell is actually an interesting drama.
 
 The romance part of the plot is a mess of miscommunications and people contriving to keep information away from Molly for no reason. She is constantly saying that she doesn't understand things or asking for clarification and the only reason it's not given to her is to drag the plot out longer or to cause a dumb fight between her and the love interest, Shani.
 
Though it was a bit silly that no one
made the very obvious connection that the land is a beautiful event space and would be a perfect start for Molly to both begin her event company (side note: Immaculate Events is a terrible name) while not evicting her aunt's boarders. Like rub those brain cells together, girl, I know you've got at least two of them rattling around in there.

 
Speaking of Molly.
 

 TWO: THE MAIN CHARACTER

 Molly feels like a character whose entire character is "relateable."

She fulfills every stereotype about a mid-20s bi white woman romance MC. She likes Taylor Swift. She reads romance novels. She likes iced coffee. She's drowning in student debt. She's working part time after being unable to chase her dreams. She's a little clumsy. She's Totally Not Gorgeous (100% absolutely beautiful, insert One Direction lyrics here).
 
 (Also, sorry for being a petty bitch, but
I cannot stand her Taylor Swift obsession. I understand why it's there because contemporary romance readers go gaga for her but I just Don't Care About Her and I'm sick of seeing her everywhere.
)
 
 The few parts of her that seem unique and really interesting either don't get fully developed (her toxic relationship with her mother) or only shine briefly at the end (her passion for event planning). As a result, she's just kind of boring as a main character.
 
 Also, why is she labeled "sunshine"? Because she bakes and is a lil clumsy and likes the most popular singer of the modern day??? Please.
 
 When she's stressed out about trying to get things done or taking care of the horses (aka actually engaging with the plot) I like her! I love my protagonists being anxious or upset or angry. What I don't love is when the book doesn't seem aware of how _fucking awful_ she is being to other people (see: her being labeled as "sunshine," her being right in the end _vis a vis_ Nat) or just slaps #relateable characteristics on her to appeal to (a very specific type of) The Gays.
 
 And, look, again, maybe this relateability is just a genre convention and it is just Not For Me. In that case, mea culpa. But, in my humble opinion, Molly _sucks._
 

THREE: MOLLY AND SHARI

You seriously expect me to believe that two characters that can’t go 24 hours without miscommunicating, fighting, or crying are going to get an HEA?
 
Please.
 
Also I’m sick of chemistry between characters entirely relying on physical attraction and calling it good enough. For example, personality. (And while Shari is undeniably a catch, Molly has the personality of a modern day Wattpad Y/N, so I don’t understand why Shari likes her.)
 
Their conversations were uninteresting because half the time they were fighting over something contrived or were acting like children about finances. The entire book I was just thinking “Jesus Christ, someone get an adult in here.”
 
And then they would get an adult—Nat—in there. And I regretted it. Immediately.
Starting a petition to get Nat into a better book because she does not deserve the vilification she gets.

 

 FOUR: NAT

Nat has always been there for Molly. She comes whenever Molly asks for help or calls her in tears over every minor inconvenience (seriously, Molly couldn't even _look at a list of repairs on her own_ and dragged Nat and her girlfriend KiKi two hours out of town every weekend to do free labor for her.)
 
Nat has missed so many opportunities to pick up the pieces for Molly and has seen Molly’s unhealthy attachment pattern to her partners and how many times she’s been emotionally and financially ruined by moving too fast in a relationship. So when she says that Molly is exhibiting unhealthy attachment to Shari, or expresses concern that Molly is basically willing to throw her entire life and savings into a risky debt-laden project, or tries to get her to return to the city, the novel tries to paint her as the villain, or in the wrong, for doing that.
 
_But Nat is fucking right._
 
And what I also think is interesting is that… we never see her (or hear mentioned) that Molly had ever tried to support Nat like Nat does Molly. Molly never runs lines with Nat, she never drops everything to comfort her when she doesn’t get a role she wants.
 
Not only does Molly never reciprocate the support she’s given by Nat in any way, she’s got a pattern of treating Nat like her emotional sponge, and never considers Nat’s life or needs. Hell, Molly abandons Nat, a lesbian, alone in a bar in the middle of nowhere, without her car, in a building full of men, with two men Nat _does not know_. Molly accepts that was a bad thing to do but all she does is be like “wow I’m Weally Weally Sowwy 🥺” and Nat forgives her pretty much immediately. Molly treats Nat terribly throughout the entire book, and, I’m sorry, but as a reader I just am not on Molly’s side at all, even though the book absolutely expects us to take it.
 
Molly assumes Nat will prioritize her, and gives lip service that she doesn’t _really_ want that, but relies on Nat throughout the entire book to figure out her life for her. 
 
I also hated the ending. No, obviously, Nat shouldn’t have thrown away the letter. But like… her concerns about Molly are _right._ Molly has shown herself, again and again, to rush into relationships, to overcommit, to worsen her financial situation.

Molly pitches a fit and claims that she’s just Nat’s project and that Nat doesn’t see her as an equal, and dismisses her, and we’re meant to see that as a big moment? My sister in Christ, you are in the wrong! See my discussion of Nat and Shari’s relationship!!!! Look at your history!!! You need therapy!!!!!! You do not know how to treat other people (unless, I guess, you’re attracted to them)!!!!!!!
 
Molly ends the book by hoping that Nat will realize she was “in the wrong” and that she’ll apologize, but I ended it hoping that Nat never speaks to her again so that way when Molly and Shari end up in a toxic miscommunication/argument cycle about money or renovations or whatever (because they will) she and Kiki don’t have to get caught up in it.

 
 And, finally, my niche gripe that no one else probably cares about:
I was really excited seeing the word lesbian on the very first page to refer to Nat! But then ||she’s the """"bad guy"""" (again, like I said earlier, fuck Molly, Nat was right). It’s just Inch Resting to me that the only character that gets labeled as a lesbian is the Bad Guy, while love interest and every other sapphic character are either bi or unlabeled. Do I think it was intentional? No. Does that make it any less annoying? No.

 
 This was my last hurrah for contemporary romance. I’m hanging up my hat. This game just isn’t for me.