Review by booklovinmamas - Out of the Gate

You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.

booklovinmamas 's review for:

Out of the Gate by Elsie Silver

4.0

emotional 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

One of my goals for 2024 is to read more New To Me Authors, and I consider Elsie Silver still fairly new, even though I read the first book in her Gold Rush Ranch series last year. I enjoyed the first book and couldn’t wait to dive more into this series.

Out of the Gate is a short and fast-paced novella with 100+ pages. It’s a great addition that gives the origins of where and why the horse racing business started on the Gold Rush Ranch. It also gives us the love story of Vaughn Hardin’s grandparents, Dermot Harding and Ada Wilson, which is a heartwarming story that I’m glad I read.

Ada was a spitfire who hadn’t forgotten that Dermot pushed her away after she kissed him when she was eighteen, right before he left for the Army. She may be forced to work with him again at her father’s ranch, but that doesn’t mean she’ll make it easy for him. Dermot knows he should stay away from Ada, especially since she’s younger and he works for her father, but he can’t stop thinking about what he did to Ada and how his feelings changed for her while he was gone.

I love tormented heroes and storylines where the MMC doesn’t feel like he’s good enough for the FMC and has to work over that hurdle first before he gives in to those feelings. There is a third-act breakup, but don’t worry, there’s a ‘grovel’ that tugs on the heartstrings, especially when Ada doesn’t take Dermot back that easily. He has to work for it, and he proves his love to her with something special.

This was a short and sweet Age Gap Romance that I’m glad I took a chance on, and now I can’t wait to read the rest of this series.

Story Rating: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Steam/Spice: 🌶️🌶️.5

Standalone or Part of Series: It’s part of the Gold Rush Ranch series, but each book can be read as a standalone.

Would I recommend this novella? Yes. I recommend this to readers who enjoy reading Age Gap Romances (ten-year age gap) and love Elsie Silver’s books.

Genre/SubGenre: Romance | Contemporary Romance

Content Warnings