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A review by justmevictoria
The Ride of Her Life by Jennifer Dugan
4.5
When inheriting a barn leads to finding heart and home…
Molly’s dream has been to establish her wedding and event planning business, but working two jobs to pay off her student loans and to just get by has put those dreams on the back-burner. Add to that the fact that she’s once again living with her mother after another breakup after another rushed relationship, and things just aren’t heading in the direction Molly had hoped. But things could be taking a turn for the better when Molly learns that she’s inherited her aunt’s horse barn - all she has to do is a spot of renovating to clean the place up a bit and put it on the market. Only she’s faced with a couple of hurdles, the biggest being lodger and farrier Shani, who was like a daughter to her aunt and had thought she would inherit the barn herself. As Molly moves in and gets to know how to run the barn, she’s torn between hating Shani for her attitude towards her and acting on her feelings of attraction. The longer she spends experiencing barn life, getting to know her boarders, and reconnecting with the aunt she hadn’t seen in over a decade, Molly finds a connection to this fresh start away from city life. A horse ranch is a world away from her event planning dreams, but maybe this opportunity and the people that come with it is exactly what she’s been waiting for all along.
When my yeehaw era gets a little queer - we love to see it! Y’all know that I’ve been inhaling small town and cowboy romances this year, so when I saw that Jennifer had written a sapphic cowgirl romance, I knew I had to read it ASAP - and what better time than Pride Month! And while Jennifer has been on my radar for ages, I hadn’t had the chance to pick up one of her books yet, but thoroughly enjoyed every second of this story and her writing.
This book is oozing Hallmark film vibes - city woman winds up in the country and finds a little romance along with the opportunities that this new world and life can bring - and I loved the grumpy/sunshine and enemies-to-lovers vibes of Molly and Shani’s relationship! There was great chemistry and sexual tension bubbling between the pair before things finally heated up with a feet-kicking cowboy hat rule moment.
The friendships in this book were also so fun - Jennifer introduced us to such a fun cast of characters that complimented Molly and Shanis’ romance, as well as giving Molly a community after uprooting her city life for a, temporary, rural change. I don’t know if Jennifer has any plans on revisiting any of these characters, but I totally wouldn’t be opposed to some of these characters getting their own books!
As someone who predominately reads romances that have alternating perspectives, I did miss not having that second perspective. Not that there is anything wrong with having this story just from Molly’s perspective and narration, but I do wish we had gotten to see a little more of Shani’s life, especially in terms of her relationship with her brother, and getting her perspective would have helped with that. Also I NEEDED the hat rule scenes from her perspective…
I feel like Jennifer left us with a couple of semi-loose strings at the end regarding Molly’s relationship with both her mother and her bestie Nat - both were sort of tied up in the final chapters, but not necessarily enough to feel like we had a true resolution to these conflicts. All that was needed a short epilogue to give one final conclusion to not only Molly and Shani’s story and relationship, but also for the characters around them and Molly’s relationships back in the city.
There is still plenty of time to cram more queer books into Pride Month (but also, read queer all year!), so definitely add this beauty to your TBR and fall in love with horse barn life and all the fabulous characters we are introduced to! Also, give me more contemporary sapphic cowgirl romances please!!
Molly’s dream has been to establish her wedding and event planning business, but working two jobs to pay off her student loans and to just get by has put those dreams on the back-burner. Add to that the fact that she’s once again living with her mother after another breakup after another rushed relationship, and things just aren’t heading in the direction Molly had hoped. But things could be taking a turn for the better when Molly learns that she’s inherited her aunt’s horse barn - all she has to do is a spot of renovating to clean the place up a bit and put it on the market. Only she’s faced with a couple of hurdles, the biggest being lodger and farrier Shani, who was like a daughter to her aunt and had thought she would inherit the barn herself. As Molly moves in and gets to know how to run the barn, she’s torn between hating Shani for her attitude towards her and acting on her feelings of attraction. The longer she spends experiencing barn life, getting to know her boarders, and reconnecting with the aunt she hadn’t seen in over a decade, Molly finds a connection to this fresh start away from city life. A horse ranch is a world away from her event planning dreams, but maybe this opportunity and the people that come with it is exactly what she’s been waiting for all along.
When my yeehaw era gets a little queer - we love to see it! Y’all know that I’ve been inhaling small town and cowboy romances this year, so when I saw that Jennifer had written a sapphic cowgirl romance, I knew I had to read it ASAP - and what better time than Pride Month! And while Jennifer has been on my radar for ages, I hadn’t had the chance to pick up one of her books yet, but thoroughly enjoyed every second of this story and her writing.
This book is oozing Hallmark film vibes - city woman winds up in the country and finds a little romance along with the opportunities that this new world and life can bring - and I loved the grumpy/sunshine and enemies-to-lovers vibes of Molly and Shani’s relationship! There was great chemistry and sexual tension bubbling between the pair before things finally heated up with a feet-kicking cowboy hat rule moment.
The friendships in this book were also so fun - Jennifer introduced us to such a fun cast of characters that complimented Molly and Shanis’ romance, as well as giving Molly a community after uprooting her city life for a, temporary, rural change. I don’t know if Jennifer has any plans on revisiting any of these characters, but I totally wouldn’t be opposed to some of these characters getting their own books!
As someone who predominately reads romances that have alternating perspectives, I did miss not having that second perspective. Not that there is anything wrong with having this story just from Molly’s perspective and narration, but I do wish we had gotten to see a little more of Shani’s life, especially in terms of her relationship with her brother, and getting her perspective would have helped with that. Also I NEEDED the hat rule scenes from her perspective…
I feel like Jennifer left us with a couple of semi-loose strings at the end regarding Molly’s relationship with both her mother and her bestie Nat - both were sort of tied up in the final chapters, but not necessarily enough to feel like we had a true resolution to these conflicts. All that was needed a short epilogue to give one final conclusion to not only Molly and Shani’s story and relationship, but also for the characters around them and Molly’s relationships back in the city.
There is still plenty of time to cram more queer books into Pride Month (but also, read queer all year!), so definitely add this beauty to your TBR and fall in love with horse barn life and all the fabulous characters we are introduced to! Also, give me more contemporary sapphic cowgirl romances please!!