A review by justmevictoria
A False Start by Elsie Silver

4.5

From strangers in a bar to healing together amongst the wildflowers… 

 

Two years ago, Nadia Dalca asked a stranger in the men's bathroom to kiss her, and it was the most life-changing moment of her life. Until she learned who the mystery man was - Griffin Sinclair, the grump who spends most of his time living up the mountain and her brother's best friend. Despite how he's connected to her and their 14-year age gap, Nadia hasn't been able to get Griffin out of her head, and the same can be said for Griffin. Both have a world of baggage and trauma that they have and haven't worked to overcome. But despite their best intentions to keep their feelings under lock and key, the universe continually finds moments to push them together. Nadia doesn’t' want to follow in the footsteps of her mother and Griffin has demons that he's refused to face, but now both have a reason to reach their goals, but only if they're willing to make things work and take the risk for each other. 

 

What a way to round-out this series! Nadia was an absolute firecracker in the previous book, and the tiny snippet we see of her and Griffin, through Mira's eyes, was enough for me to know that this was going to be a book that I'd absolutely love! I'm a sucker for age gap romances with a grumpy male lead, and Elsie knocked it out of the park with Griffin and Nadia's relationship. 

 

Both Nadia and Griffin carry a lot of baggage, guilt and trauma, and while it takes Griffin a while to really do something to help himself, they both put in the work to better themselves. And not just better themselves, but to also be better persons for each other and ensure their relationship stands a chance - it's not the relationship that solves the problem, it's the relationship that is the reason to the put the work in. There's so much heart and emotion in their story, and I couldn’t get enough, just like with every other Elsie Silver couple! She puts so much heart and soul into her characters and stories, and Nadia and Griffin were no exception - I adored them so much! 

 

Trigger warning for mentions of alcoholism and past parental abuse, both of which are continuations of what we saw and learnt in the previous book. Griffin also deals with alcoholism throughout the book as someone who stopped drinking cold turkey, with a few mentions of events before he quit. Elsie continues to deal with these topics with care, building upon what was established in The Front Runner. 

 

I cannot believe that that's a wrap on the Gold Rush Ranch series! I'm a little bummed we didn't get to see more of the rest of the gang (although the family dinner scenes were a bit cute), but it's been such a fun journey with some really great characters that I definitely want to revisit again in the future. With Chestnut Springs and Gold Rush Ranch down, there's just the beginnings of -- to go and then I'll be officially caught up on Elsie's works and not-so-patiently counting down the days until her next release is out in the world! 

 

Small town and cowboy romance girlies won't want to miss out on this romp at Gold Rush Ranch, especially if you're a fellow age gap lover! The Elsie Silver hype is REAL and if you haven't picked up any of her work yet, this is your sign to put her at the top of your TBR!