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A review by shannonohannessian
The Ride of Her Life by Jennifer Dugan
3.0
Rounded up from 2.5 stars.
Molly McDaniel is an aspiring event planner and current barista when she inherits her estranged aunt’s horse farm out in the country. Knowing nothing about how to run a farm, Molly plans on selling the estate for seed money to start her dream event planning business, until she meets grumpy farrier, Shani. Although, Molly and Shani seem to butt heads at first, soon feelings start to develop as Molly moves in to sort out the estate.
The Ride of Her Life was a quick and entertaining read, but ultimately it fell flat for me. Molly was an incredibly hard character to root for and was constantly describing a history of toxic relationships that seemed incredibly similar to the budding romance we were reading. At one point, she invited her best friend over for a girl’s night only to leave her alone at a bar abruptly to go see Shani. And we were meant to see her friend in a negative light. Likewise, Shani seemed to have toxic behaviors as well, often switching from anger to love quickly, and struggling to communicate.
The main issues I found in this book were in the pacing and ending. Throughout the book, conflict arises. Molly ends up having a fight with her mom over why she was estranged with her aunt. She has a major fight with her best friend right at the very end of the book. Her and Shani aren’t even on speaking terms until the last 10 pages or so. It seemed to end abruptly without addressing a lot of the conflict that occurred at the end of the story. I wish there was more focus on Molly’s personal growth, but the ending seemed to disregard all of the issues she was having with her friends and family, all because she got the girl in the end. I wish the issues that we saw arise were resolved with a few more chapters and maybe an epilogue detailing how the farm faired in the future.
Overall, it was an okay read for a quick romance, but there were elements of the story that could have been expanded.
The Ride of Her Life comes out May 28th, 2024. Thank you to NetGalley for an Advanced Reader Copy in Exchange for an honest review.
Molly McDaniel is an aspiring event planner and current barista when she inherits her estranged aunt’s horse farm out in the country. Knowing nothing about how to run a farm, Molly plans on selling the estate for seed money to start her dream event planning business, until she meets grumpy farrier, Shani. Although, Molly and Shani seem to butt heads at first, soon feelings start to develop as Molly moves in to sort out the estate.
The Ride of Her Life was a quick and entertaining read, but ultimately it fell flat for me. Molly was an incredibly hard character to root for and was constantly describing a history of toxic relationships that seemed incredibly similar to the budding romance we were reading. At one point, she invited her best friend over for a girl’s night only to leave her alone at a bar abruptly to go see Shani. And we were meant to see her friend in a negative light. Likewise, Shani seemed to have toxic behaviors as well, often switching from anger to love quickly, and struggling to communicate.
The main issues I found in this book were in the pacing and ending. Throughout the book, conflict arises. Molly ends up having a fight with her mom over why she was estranged with her aunt. She has a major fight with her best friend right at the very end of the book. Her and Shani aren’t even on speaking terms until the last 10 pages or so. It seemed to end abruptly without addressing a lot of the conflict that occurred at the end of the story. I wish there was more focus on Molly’s personal growth, but the ending seemed to disregard all of the issues she was having with her friends and family, all because she got the girl in the end. I wish the issues that we saw arise were resolved with a few more chapters and maybe an epilogue detailing how the farm faired in the future.
Overall, it was an okay read for a quick romance, but there were elements of the story that could have been expanded.
The Ride of Her Life comes out May 28th, 2024. Thank you to NetGalley for an Advanced Reader Copy in Exchange for an honest review.