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A review by koistyfishy
Swift and Saddled by Lyla Sage
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
4 Baby Blue Stars ⭐️
Spicy Level: 🌶️🌶️.5/5
So I picked this up thinking that this was book 1, AND VERY SOON REALISED this is book 2... But I said fuck it... Guess I'm in my Cowboy Era and decided to jump right in.
This book was a really fun time! Ada is an interior designer, and based on a referral from a friend to a friend she ends up with a project to remodel the Rebel Blue Bed and Breakfast. The night before her first official day, she waltz's into a local bar looking for food and meets an unknown man. She immediately makes "goo-goo" eyes at him and he makes "goo-goo" eyes at her so they end up locking lips. When someone catches them she flees like a modern-day Cinderella. The next morning, she rocks up at her new place of employment and finds out that her new boss, Wes, is none other than the mystery man she was swapping saliva with... And determined NOT to get involved romantically with her new employer, she puts a nice little cockblock into any further kinky hijinx.
Now, this was sweet and adorable and just utterly wholesome. It met everything I was expecting in what you'd think you're going to get when reading a little cowboy romance. Wes checked every one of my boxes with pretty little GREEN CHECK MARKS. He was a walking green flag, a CHARMING gentleman who was just raised right with all his perfect manners and behaviour. He can communicate and kinda knows how to handle his emotions.
Then we have Ada who is pretty insecure and almost seems cold. The Grumpy in the Grumpy X Sunshine mix but she's not a typical "Black Cat" - she has never been given a chance to fly on her own. She has just come off a very oppressive and emotionally abusive marriage where her ex-husband dictated her life to the point of unhealthy codependence and control. She needs to learn how to be herself again, explore her limits and boundaries and learn to be able to do things on her own without her husband. I really did enjoy her growth and how she built up her self-confidence daily.
Their relationship was a hit-and-miss for me, because it took a long time for them to finally act on their feelings, even after numerous people explicitly made it clear they didn't care that Wes was her boss. Only saying she only shouldn't hurt him by starting something and then leaving... the two had this almost "instalove" pull which contradicted the delay in relationship. THEY WERE PINING FOR THE OTHER… and while it can be argued that it was more lust - if that were the case I would have expected a quicker payoff... This wasn't a frustration per se, it was just the battle of the conflict didn’t make sense… The why they couldn't be together especially after they both were so attracted to each other, didn't add up.
Something that I loved was the importance of friendship and how someone accepting you could be the first step to healing. Ada, through the course of this book, learnt how to invite people into her life, not only from a romantic relationship perspective but also through the "Girl Squad" she formed with Wes's baby sister, Teddy and Sam. I loved that these girls protected each other, stood up for each other and made everyone comfortable and feel part of something.
There are also aspects of dealing with mental health issues. Wes does suffer from Middle Child Syndrome in that he is often overlooked, ignored or neglected by his family. He also suffers from depression, so I appreciated that this book was not shying away from his struggles, showing that anyone (even the man who appears to be a perfectly put-together charming gentleman), could suffer from a mental illness. It was almost as if his condition was purposely downplayed. Showing that if it's not made into a big deal, him having bad days, then it can be accepted as normalised. Highlighting that there is NOTHING wrong with him... Or it could have been downplayed cause this is a fluffy romance and sometimes they don't go too deep into issues.
The writing was pretty easy to follow and fluffy, so you can kick back, relax, and enjoy. I experienced this book through audio. The writing characteristics were heightened by the amazing job Teddy Hamilton and Vanessa Edwin did, because it felt smooth and fluffy and flowed effortlessly.
Two things unfortunately bothered me and it's why this didn't get 5 stars. The first is I wish that it went a little bit more into the weeds and details of the actual project of what she was doing at Rebel Blue. It's very vague descriptions of the renovations, or just comments that they were completed but never really explained what it was they were completing... I mean the biggest thing I know about the design is she made flower-stained curtains.
The Second thing (and this is pretty minor) is that the way people explained Wes and who Wes was in his POV, did not always line up. He is described as gentle and sweet, a typical golden retriever... but in his head he swears like a fucking sailor. Now I am not saying a "nice guy" cannot say the word FUCK... But if it's the first chapter of his POV and there are 4 Variations of the word fuck in this chapter... he is not exactly matching up to cute and polite... Now it might be because of my own intrinsic bias for characters I normally hear portrayed by Teddy Hamilton, that when he says FUCK those men are normally "bad boys"... but this dichotomy just stood out as weird. I also found it pretty sleazy that their "Bar Meet-Cute" is him saying "I am going to leave you here while I go have a drink, if you want some fun YOU come to me...."
The Tropes in this include:
▶ Cowboy Romance (Small Town Romance)
▶ Workplace Romance (Forced Proximity)
▶ Opposites Attract (GrumpyXSunshine)
▶ Dual POV
▶ Instalust but Slow Burn
▶ Found Family
▶ One Bed
▶ Reverse Age Gap (2 Years) is that even considered an age gap??
▶ Banter
▶ Grey Sweatpants and HE BRINGS HER FOOOOD!
▶ Attempted Third Act Breakup
SO.... all in all! This was cute sweet and enjoyable and while there are some weird things I am happy I chose to save a horse and ride this cowboy!
Spicy Level: 🌶️🌶️.5/5
So I picked this up thinking that this was book 1, AND VERY SOON REALISED this is book 2... But I said fuck it... Guess I'm in my Cowboy Era and decided to jump right in.
This book was a really fun time! Ada is an interior designer, and based on a referral from a friend to a friend she ends up with a project to remodel the Rebel Blue Bed and Breakfast. The night before her first official day, she waltz's into a local bar looking for food and meets an unknown man. She immediately makes "goo-goo" eyes at him and he makes "goo-goo" eyes at her so they end up locking lips. When someone catches them she flees like a modern-day Cinderella. The next morning, she rocks up at her new place of employment and finds out that her new boss, Wes, is none other than the mystery man she was swapping saliva with... And determined NOT to get involved romantically with her new employer, she puts a nice little cockblock into any further kinky hijinx.
Now, this was sweet and adorable and just utterly wholesome. It met everything I was expecting in what you'd think you're going to get when reading a little cowboy romance. Wes checked every one of my boxes with pretty little GREEN CHECK MARKS. He was a walking green flag, a CHARMING gentleman who was just raised right with all his perfect manners and behaviour. He can communicate and kinda knows how to handle his emotions.
Then we have Ada who is pretty insecure and almost seems cold. The Grumpy in the Grumpy X Sunshine mix but she's not a typical "Black Cat" - she has never been given a chance to fly on her own. She has just come off a very oppressive and emotionally abusive marriage where her ex-husband dictated her life to the point of unhealthy codependence and control. She needs to learn how to be herself again, explore her limits and boundaries and learn to be able to do things on her own without her husband. I really did enjoy her growth and how she built up her self-confidence daily.
Their relationship was a hit-and-miss for me, because it took a long time for them to finally act on their feelings, even after numerous people explicitly made it clear they didn't care that Wes was her boss. Only saying she only shouldn't hurt him by starting something and then leaving... the two had this almost "instalove" pull which contradicted the delay in relationship. THEY WERE PINING FOR THE OTHER… and while it can be argued that it was more lust - if that were the case I would have expected a quicker payoff... This wasn't a frustration per se, it was just the battle of the conflict didn’t make sense… The why they couldn't be together especially after they both were so attracted to each other, didn't add up.
Something that I loved was the importance of friendship and how someone accepting you could be the first step to healing. Ada, through the course of this book, learnt how to invite people into her life, not only from a romantic relationship perspective but also through the "Girl Squad" she formed with Wes's baby sister, Teddy and Sam. I loved that these girls protected each other, stood up for each other and made everyone comfortable and feel part of something.
There are also aspects of dealing with mental health issues. Wes does suffer from Middle Child Syndrome in that he is often overlooked, ignored or neglected by his family. He also suffers from depression, so I appreciated that this book was not shying away from his struggles, showing that anyone (even the man who appears to be a perfectly put-together charming gentleman), could suffer from a mental illness. It was almost as if his condition was purposely downplayed. Showing that if it's not made into a big deal, him having bad days, then it can be accepted as normalised. Highlighting that there is NOTHING wrong with him... Or it could have been downplayed cause this is a fluffy romance and sometimes they don't go too deep into issues.
The writing was pretty easy to follow and fluffy, so you can kick back, relax, and enjoy. I experienced this book through audio. The writing characteristics were heightened by the amazing job Teddy Hamilton and Vanessa Edwin did, because it felt smooth and fluffy and flowed effortlessly.
Two things unfortunately bothered me and it's why this didn't get 5 stars. The first is I wish that it went a little bit more into the weeds and details of the actual project of what she was doing at Rebel Blue. It's very vague descriptions of the renovations, or just comments that they were completed but never really explained what it was they were completing... I mean the biggest thing I know about the design is she made flower-stained curtains.
The Second thing (and this is pretty minor) is that the way people explained Wes and who Wes was in his POV, did not always line up. He is described as gentle and sweet, a typical golden retriever... but in his head he swears like a fucking sailor. Now I am not saying a "nice guy" cannot say the word FUCK... But if it's the first chapter of his POV and there are 4 Variations of the word fuck in this chapter... he is not exactly matching up to cute and polite... Now it might be because of my own intrinsic bias for characters I normally hear portrayed by Teddy Hamilton, that when he says FUCK those men are normally "bad boys"... but this dichotomy just stood out as weird. I also found it pretty sleazy that their "Bar Meet-Cute" is him saying "I am going to leave you here while I go have a drink, if you want some fun YOU come to me...."
The Tropes in this include:
▶ Cowboy Romance (Small Town Romance)
▶ Workplace Romance (Forced Proximity)
▶ Opposites Attract (GrumpyXSunshine)
▶ Dual POV
▶ Instalust but Slow Burn
▶ Found Family
▶ One Bed
▶ Reverse Age Gap (2 Years) is that even considered an age gap??
▶ Banter
▶ Grey Sweatpants and HE BRINGS HER FOOOOD!
SO.... all in all! This was cute sweet and enjoyable and while there are some weird things I am happy I chose to save a horse and ride this cowboy!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Sexual content, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Death of parent, and Abandonment
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders and Gaslighting