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A review by tessaelisem
Riding the High by Paisley Hope
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
0.25
Ginger: strong & fun - love her.
Cole: a little (yet way too old to be acting like this) bitch boy who only stops fucking everything with a pulse (for a whole week!) because he thinks someone else is trying to play with his favorite toy.
For real though, Ginger deserved a lot better. I’d love a book where an actual hero comes in and rescues her from her childhood crush who has been using her like an emotional support dog. Also, dick move to parade your flavor of the night around the person who you know has held a flame for you for over a decade - that situation really soured me to his character immediately.
The “it’s always been you” trope only works when both characters actually yearn and endure anguish for the other person. Cole fucking his way through multiple towns while Ginger waits around just makes her look pathetic.
On to my most egregious complaint: what’s with these weird comments,
“She wanted to have a completely natural birth, but she’s regretting that choice right now.” Glenda grins. “Keeps asking every intern that comes in for drugs. Though she’ll be glad she did it this way when it’s over.”
Ivy is in extreme pain to the point of begging anyone for drugs while doing something that literally kills people, and her mom finds it humorous? It’s giving weird religious misogyny. Especially followed by,
“You got this, man,” Cole reassures him. “She’s so fucking strong. Trust me, the moment your baby is born she won’t remember the pain. She’ll be so in love and so will you.”
Literal medical misinformation. As someone who grew up in an actual religious cult, this is stuff they tell girls and women to indoctrinate and shame them. Childbirth is something the human body is capable of, but not created for - similar to passing a kidney stone (actually that’s not fair, kidney stones are more natural; your body doesn’t have to literally hide them from itself to keep from flushing it). Fem bodies suffer and, in extreme cases, die during pregnancy and childbirth; their bodies are permanently scarred from the trauma of what it takes to give birth. It is not something they just “forget” or are glad to go through. (Modern medicine is a fucking blessing and I’m getting tired of romance books featuring and romanticizing women going through that unmedicated or in other instances without medical care. This is again, religious propaganda that I saw firsthand - that women who refuse medical care are “braver.” They literally believe that suffering through childbirth is women’s punishment and something they must endure.)
I honestly just skimmed the last few (3?) chapters after while trying not to throw up. Before that chapter, I was going to give this like 3 stars just because Mabel was a sweetheart and Ginger was great, but after that misogynist medical scene I would give it zero if possible. This was incredibly disappointing after Training the Heart, and honestly is making me question if I’ll continue this series.
I could also go on a very long rant about how Mabel’s mom is demonized, but I’ll summon it up here: regretful parenthood is a real thing. 100% Mabel did not deserve to be treated like that, however everyone’s disgust came from the fact that her mom realized that she wasn’t a good parent and realized she didn’t like it (again, she didn’t handle that well, but the Ashby’s were more mad at the fact that she wasn’t a dutiful wife and mother). Again, I recognize the religious propaganda here, especially as someone who grew up in the south. women are demonized for terminating pregnancies/not having kids yet are also demonized if they have the kid they didn’t want and don’t do a good job.
Also, Cole is one to talk. That child was constantly at his mother’s house so that he could be free to fuck anything with a pulse.
#bringbackgoodmeninromcoms2025 #stoptheforcedbirthmisogynisticbsthemesinromances
Cole: a little (yet way too old to be acting like this) bitch boy who only stops fucking everything with a pulse (for a whole week!) because he thinks someone else is trying to play with his favorite toy.
For real though, Ginger deserved a lot better. I’d love a book where an actual hero comes in and rescues her from her childhood crush who has been using her like an emotional support dog. Also, dick move to parade your flavor of the night around the person who you know has held a flame for you for over a decade - that situation really soured me to his character immediately.
The “it’s always been you” trope only works when both characters actually yearn and endure anguish for the other person. Cole fucking his way through multiple towns while Ginger waits around just makes her look pathetic.
On to my most egregious complaint: what’s with these weird comments,
“She wanted to have a completely natural birth, but she’s regretting that choice right now.” Glenda grins. “Keeps asking every intern that comes in for drugs. Though she’ll be glad she did it this way when it’s over.”
Ivy is in extreme pain to the point of begging anyone for drugs while doing something that literally kills people, and her mom finds it humorous? It’s giving weird religious misogyny. Especially followed by,
“You got this, man,” Cole reassures him. “She’s so fucking strong. Trust me, the moment your baby is born she won’t remember the pain. She’ll be so in love and so will you.”
Literal medical misinformation. As someone who grew up in an actual religious cult, this is stuff they tell girls and women to indoctrinate and shame them. Childbirth is something the human body is capable of, but not created for - similar to passing a kidney stone (actually that’s not fair, kidney stones are more natural; your body doesn’t have to literally hide them from itself to keep from flushing it). Fem bodies suffer and, in extreme cases, die during pregnancy and childbirth; their bodies are permanently scarred from the trauma of what it takes to give birth. It is not something they just “forget” or are glad to go through. (Modern medicine is a fucking blessing and I’m getting tired of romance books featuring and romanticizing women going through that unmedicated or in other instances without medical care. This is again, religious propaganda that I saw firsthand - that women who refuse medical care are “braver.” They literally believe that suffering through childbirth is women’s punishment and something they must endure.)
I honestly just skimmed the last few (3?) chapters after while trying not to throw up. Before that chapter, I was going to give this like 3 stars just because Mabel was a sweetheart and Ginger was great, but after that misogynist medical scene I would give it zero if possible. This was incredibly disappointing after Training the Heart, and honestly is making me question if I’ll continue this series.
I could also go on a very long rant about how Mabel’s mom is demonized, but I’ll summon it up here: regretful parenthood is a real thing. 100% Mabel did not deserve to be treated like that, however everyone’s disgust came from the fact that her mom realized that she wasn’t a good parent and realized she didn’t like it (again, she didn’t handle that well, but the Ashby’s were more mad at the fact that she wasn’t a dutiful wife and mother). Again, I recognize the religious propaganda here, especially as someone who grew up in the south. women are demonized for terminating pregnancies/not having kids yet are also demonized if they have the kid they didn’t want and don’t do a good job.
Also, Cole is one to talk. That child was constantly at his mother’s house so that he could be free to fuck anything with a pulse.
#bringbackgoodmeninromcoms2025 #stoptheforcedbirthmisogynisticbsthemesinromances
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Religious bigotry