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A review by jordan_janelle
Holding the Reins by Paisley Hope
5.0
Spice: 3.5/5
Plot: 5/5
I would like to officially announce that I have a new book boyfriend! Cue the spotlight… Ladies and gentlemen, it is my greatest pleasure to introduce you to the one and only Nash Carter.
Nash is a tall, dark, perfectly muscled and tatted, hockey playing part time cowboy that has a tragic past and a mouth to rival Daddy Cade. YUP. So basically he’s everyone’s perfect book boyfriend and the man that every author tries desperately to write lol. The difference between Nash and all of the others is that he’s written so much better than I could have hoped for.
Actually, this entire book was perfectly written. While the plot is fairly typical of your small town romance genre, the writing is what really made this book stand out for me. Paisley was able to take characters that could have been boring and stereotypical, but instead were original, relatable and completely consuming because her attention to detail and descriptive prose was so bang on. I absolutely adored the Ashby Family and all of their interactions. Again, it could have been boring and overdone but I found it really fresh and lively, especially Mama Jo - I love that woman and I hope I’m as cool as her one day lol. There were so many times that I caught myself laughing out loud at their witty banter and the text exchanges, it was absolutely perfect.
I honestly wasn’t sure that I was gunna like CeCe. It wasn’t until I was getting really annoyed with her in a particular situation that I realized my annoyance was a result of recognizing pieces of myself in her. (This counts as therapy right? lol) By the end of the book I was happily and firmly team CeCe and I really really enjoyed her character arc and the queen she becomes, IYKYK.
Just a quick note about Nash’s character arc while I’m on the subject, hopefully without giving anything away… there was one particular scene near the end that I wouldn’t (and didn’t) expect but it was sooo good. I feel like it really rounded out his own arc and was one of the things that helped to make his character more unique.
The way that Paisley has gone about setting us up for the rest of the series was very very well done. I’m already kinda (really) desperate to know what happens with certain characters and if the books were already published I’d be devouring them like the spicy addictive crack they are lol.
Now for the spice…. Woooo girl! Thank you Paisley! Seriously….THANK YOU lol. Y’all, it was perfect. It was so so perfect. In all of our spicy scenes - and there was no lack of them *smirks* - there was only one ick word for me, only one! That’s practically unheard of lol. All I’ll say is thank God Nik was home lol. It was that good.
If you’re in the mood for a seriously feel good read, with small town, brothers best friend, age gap, found family, cowboy/hockey, touch her and I’ll unalive you vibes… go read this, right now.
Congratulations Paisley on such an amazing debut novel! You’re the raw milk in a world filled with pasteurized
Plot: 5/5
I would like to officially announce that I have a new book boyfriend! Cue the spotlight… Ladies and gentlemen, it is my greatest pleasure to introduce you to the one and only Nash Carter.
Nash is a tall, dark, perfectly muscled and tatted, hockey playing part time cowboy that has a tragic past and a mouth to rival Daddy Cade. YUP. So basically he’s everyone’s perfect book boyfriend and the man that every author tries desperately to write lol. The difference between Nash and all of the others is that he’s written so much better than I could have hoped for.
Actually, this entire book was perfectly written. While the plot is fairly typical of your small town romance genre, the writing is what really made this book stand out for me. Paisley was able to take characters that could have been boring and stereotypical, but instead were original, relatable and completely consuming because her attention to detail and descriptive prose was so bang on. I absolutely adored the Ashby Family and all of their interactions. Again, it could have been boring and overdone but I found it really fresh and lively, especially Mama Jo - I love that woman and I hope I’m as cool as her one day lol. There were so many times that I caught myself laughing out loud at their witty banter and the text exchanges, it was absolutely perfect.
I honestly wasn’t sure that I was gunna like CeCe. It wasn’t until I was getting really annoyed with her in a particular situation that I realized my annoyance was a result of recognizing pieces of myself in her. (This counts as therapy right? lol) By the end of the book I was happily and firmly team CeCe and I really really enjoyed her character arc and the queen she becomes, IYKYK.
Just a quick note about Nash’s character arc while I’m on the subject, hopefully without giving anything away… there was one particular scene near the end that I wouldn’t (and didn’t) expect but it was sooo good. I feel like it really rounded out his own arc and was one of the things that helped to make his character more unique.
The way that Paisley has gone about setting us up for the rest of the series was very very well done. I’m already kinda (really) desperate to know what happens with certain characters and if the books were already published I’d be devouring them like the spicy addictive crack they are lol.
Now for the spice…. Woooo girl! Thank you Paisley! Seriously….THANK YOU lol. Y’all, it was perfect. It was so so perfect. In all of our spicy scenes - and there was no lack of them *smirks* - there was only one ick word for me, only one! That’s practically unheard of lol. All I’ll say is thank God Nik was home lol. It was that good.
If you’re in the mood for a seriously feel good read, with small town, brothers best friend, age gap, found family, cowboy/hockey, touch her and I’ll unalive you vibes… go read this, right now.
Congratulations Paisley on such an amazing debut novel! You’re the raw milk in a world filled with pasteurized