Book Review: Fever Dream (Emerald Lake #1) by Elsie Silver

July 21, 2026 GoodeyReads1 Comment

Rating: ★★★★.25
Audience: Cowboy Romance
Length: 448 pages
Author: Elsie Silver
Publisher: Atria Books
Release Date: May 19th, 2026
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Elsie Silver comes a small-town, forbidden, rivals-to-lovers romance, the first book in the brand-new Western romance series Emerald Lake.

Professional bull rider Emmett Bush is not looking for love. He’s looking for a paycheck to save his family’s farm from bankruptcy. So, when he agrees to be the leading man on a hot new reality dating show, Romance Ranch, he’s already decided it’s all one big performance.

Until Julia Silva walks onto his property. Smart, snarky, beautiful, and off-limits in more ways than one. As the location consultant on set and the little sister of his most bitter professional rival, she’s the last woman who should pique his interest.

Julia has been warned about Emmett. She knows better than to fall for his cocky swagger, broad shoulders, and smoldering good looks. Plus, she’s sworn off relationships.

But as Julia and Emmett work together, mutual distaste grows into an unexpected connection and then… something more.

Soon, they find themselves searching for excuses to spend time together and out of reach of the cameras. Knowing glances. Stolen kisses. Secret rendezvous.

Still, Emmett signed up to play the role of an eligible bachelor searching for the one. His family’s land and legacy depend on him completing the show.

The problem is, he’s already fallen in love.

Just not with a contestant.

WELL HERE WE GO.

Alright, it might surprise many of y’all that I’ve only read one Elsie Silver book. But I ended up listening to my sister when she said to go read it and it’s DUET NARRATION so like, of course I had to??? And yes, I do plan on continuing!! I just really love a cowboy romance y’all.

My nitpicky thing is that I don’t love bachelor-esque plots. I kept getting frustrated over the TV drama and the awful people and wanted to keep going back to Julia and Emmett.

And wow did I love Julia and Emmett. I’ve read multiple books recently where the guy is tearful about something and these emotions are everything??? ILOVEITSO. Emmett is incredibly stoic until he isn’t and I’m here for his head over heels fall for Julia. The forbidden vibes did work for me at least. These two were hella magnetic.

Minus the TV show the setting was stellar. Give me all of the ranch settings with amazing side characters who are a cheering section for the leads. This a small town I can’t wait to see more of and the future pairs too!!

Overall audience notes:

Cowboy romance
Language: strong
Romance: 4ish open door
Violence: mildish
Content warnings; mentions of attempted SA through drugging of a drink, attempted blackmail, illegal surveillance

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ARC Book Review: The Cowboy’s Game (Pride and Pranks #3) by Cindy Steel

February 18, 2026February 3, 2026 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 356 pages
Author: Cindy Steel
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: February 18th, 2026
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

He’s coaching her love life…and losing control of his own.

Jake Evans knows a thing or two about heartbreak. Recently divorced and raising his four-year-old daughter on his own, the cowboy has sworn off women for good. When a job opens up at a dude ranch in his hometown, he comes running, emotional baggage in tow.

An unexpected bonus? Spending the summer with his childhood best friend.

Shelby Tucker was always better at sinking three-pointers than navigating relationships. With a promising new job on the horizon, her life needs a change. She’s determined to stop sitting on the sidelines while life happens all around her.

First thing to tackle? Dating.

But after one too many cringeworthy moments, Shelby turns to the one person she trusts completely. Jake reluctantly agrees to coach Shelby through the dating world, certain his heart is safe where it is. Soon they’re back to their old routines—placing bets, shooting hoops, and putting Jake’s strategies into play.

Except this time, every touch lingers. What once felt safe now feels dangerous. And the line between practice and something real is blurring fast.

When an accident threatens to fracture Jake’s carefully rebuilt life, he’s forced to confront the one truth he’s been the woman he’s never allowed himself to date might be the one he can’t live without.

★ The Cowboy’s Game is a closed-door romantic comedy full of heart, sizzle, and witty banter, but without explicit content.

This is the third full-length novel in the Pride and Pranks Series. Each book can be read as a standalone, but you will see character crossovers!

Thank you to the author for a gifted eARC.

WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO NOW.

This book was 10000% worth the wait. I kept wanting to put this book down to hold on longer but could not stop reading it because JAKE and SHELBY? ARE YOU KIDIDNG ME? I am absolutely positive I am still a puddle from the first kiss alone. I’ve been burned by multiple friends to lovers romances lately and this took on a different dynamic and let me tell y’all again, IT WORKED.

I LOVED the setting. The dude ranch x cowboy vibe was aesthetically pleasing on all fronts. It’s got this perfectly sexy and heated vibe while still being closed door. You can feel the dawning tension and chemistry turn to romance from the moment Shelby is back in Jake’s life. AND OMG, the hat scene??? IS THIS MY NEW FAVORITE MICRO TROPE? BECAUSE IT MIGHT BE.

And I think this did a beautifully job of balancing the light with the heavy. Jake has a lot of baggage and things to work through and I loved seeing his anger and joy and frustration and hope. He comes to the realizations and truths he needs to and leaves what’s not serving him in the past. It’s one of the best male character romance arcs I’ve ever read.

Seeing the characters from previous books is always a good time and all of the ranch shenanigans only added to the plot. I am a smitten fool for this book and Cindy Steel’s writing.

Overall audience notes:

Contemporary Romance
Language: very low
Romance: make-outs
Violence: low
Content warnings: absent father, car crash (side character, harmed but okay), parental abandonment, divorce

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Book Review: One Last Thing (The Seddledowne #1) by Susan Henshaw

October 1, 2025September 26, 2024 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 367 pages
Author: Susan Henshaw
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: May 1st, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

One shattered farm girl. The cowboy who’s always loved her. Ninety days under one roof.

After high school, Silas Dupree couldn’t put his hometown in the rearview mirror fast enough.

His hopes? That two thousand miles would be enough distance to make his stupid heart forget Clementine Shepherd, his sister’s best friend.

But a decade later, when his twin, Sophie, dies, Silas is forced to return home.

In true Sophie fashion, she couldn’t leave well enough alone, even dead. And when the will is read Silas and Clementine are shocked to find that Sophie left her teenage daughter to both of them.

With one stipulation.

The three must reside together, as a family, for ninety days before deciding on permanent custody. If they fail, a judge will decide Anna’s fate.

Can Clementine endure an entire summer with the quiet, closed-off man who ghosted her the minute they got their diplomas?

And can Silas keep his word to his new fiancé back in Wyoming while sleeping across the hall from the only woman he’s ever truly loved?

Perfect for readers who enjoy a sweet, slow burn. There will be hilarity and heartbreak, tears and tire-slashing. But always a hard-earned happily ever after.

WELL THAT TOOK A TURN.

This book left me a bit befuddled. I was really into it for the first half, even was able to roll with it until the last 30%ish. Then I thought that the drama went off the rails a bit and just didn’t seem all that necessary to get to the conclusion that was imminent.

I loved that Silas was a fall first, I have been in love with your forever, kind of man. I loved how he took care of Clementine and gave into the need and want that he had been holding back for years.

Clementine, I liked her. She had a few up and down moments for me but I did feel like she was truly trying her best with a handful of crappy situations. I’m not sure how I feel about one of the plot points used in this book and am just going to sit on the fence about it.

I can’t decide if I am going to read book two or not (I might just skip to three??) because of a few scenes in this book too.

Overall audience notes:

Contemporary Romance
Language: low
Romance: kisses
Violence: low
Content Warnings: miscarriage, cheating

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Book Review: Wild and Wrangled (Rebel Blue Ranch #4) by Lyla Sage

September 7, 2025April 22, 2025 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 368 pages
Author: Lyla Sage
Publisher: Dial Press
Release Date: April 15th, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

She’s the one that got away. He’s the one that never let her go.

From the bestselling author of Done and Dusted and Swift and Saddled, the next book in the Rebel Blue Ranch series, a small town romance in which past lovers get a second chance to rediscover what they lost.

Camille Ashwood had always loved a plan. Her latest was her best yet. She was going to get married so she could secure her daughter’s future, get her overbearing parents off her back, and finally start building her own life in small town Meadowlark, Wyoming. Easy, right?

But when her groom doesn’t show up to the wedding, Cam’s life is turned upside down—she doesn’t even have a place to live. That is, until she finds out the house she’s loved since high school is available to rent. There’s only one problem: the neighbor.

Dusty Tucker has spent nearly all of his adult life running. Running from what, though? More like who: Cam Ashwood. But ever since he returned home last year, the girl who was his first, well, everything has become a woman seemingly determined to keep him at arm’s length. And he was okay with that—at least, that’s what he kept telling himself. She was getting married, after all. But now she’s single and living next door. Dusty wants to show her that they can be friends, and that he can stay put.

Despite her best attempts to stay far away from Dusty Tucker, Cam realizes that being close to him is like slipping on her favorite jeans. Easy. Comfortable. That is until past wounds start to open and feelings—both old and new—wreak havoc. Nearly ten years after they first met, Dusty and Cam begin to wonder if their first love can also be their last. And this time, will it be forever?

I AM BEREFT.

OH how I wanted to love this final book in the Rebel Blue ranch series. And there were many good pieces too it!! But gosh dang it, some things made me throw my phone too.

The good is all about this family. I love this whole ranch, seeing all of my favorite characters, having the hard conversations and the loving ones too. There’s a lot of healing I feel when I read those scenes. And I did like some pieces of the romance too. I can admit to that.

Our dear FMC, Cam drove me up a wall. I felt that the inner monologue about her parent issues and other such things were on a constant loop and made the story feel lacking in the plot. Some of the flashbacks with Dusty were really sweet which made me all the more nervous to find out what caused the initial rupture. AND LO AND BEHOLD. It made me cranky, so very cranky. I think this third act is about as bad as miscommunication (honestly it falls under the umbrella).

Not all I was hoping for, but I still look forward to future Sage books.

Overall audience notes: