Holding the Reins cover art

Holding the Reins

Silver Pines Ranch Series, Book 1

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Holding the Reins

By: Paisley Hope
Narrated by: Brooke Daniels, Thomas Oakley
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About this listen

Take a deep breath and let go of the reins.

Cecilia "CeCe" Ashby is finally escaping the toxic relationship that has consumed her entire adult life. She's returning to her hometown of Laurel Creek, Kentucky, and her family's equestrian ranch, unsure of what the future holds.

Nash Carter, the newly retired superstar of the Dallas Stars, is Laurel Creek's hometown hero, local business owner, and notorious bachelor. He's also the unofficial fourth sibling in the Ashby clan. It's been years since his days of tormenting CeCe with her older brothers Wade and Cole. So, when CeCe needs a job, he feels drawn to help her.

Nash can't seem to take his eyes off of his best friend's sister, and it seems she's been staring right back, not without animosity left over from his childish teasing back in the day. Despite their initial reluctance, the fire between them ignites and it isn't long before they jump into the flames.

In this steamy cowboy romance, a woman returns to her family's ranch after a broken engagement and finds herself falling for her brother's best friend. The first novel in the Silver Pines Ranch series.

©2023 Paisley Hope (P)2024 Podium Audio Contemporary Romantic Comedy Westerns Ranch
All stars
Most relevant
I really loved the way the narrators fit their characters, they both did a great job. im so invested in the others in the series

So many laughs

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I picked this one up in the hopes of finding my next cowboy romance obsession, and on paper it had all the promise. Gorgeous characters? Check. Plenty of spice? Double check. The setup—a boy taken in after a tragedy who grows up and falls for his not-blood-related “sister”—is definitely a tried-and-true trope in cowboy romance land.

The problem is… when you’ve read one, two, or twelve cowboy romances, you really need something extra to make a story stand out. And this one, while enjoyable, just didn’t quite get there for me. The writing was fine, the chemistry was there, but I kept wishing for a fresh angle to really make it shine above the rest.

That said, if you’re looking for a comfort read with spice, swoony cowboys, and an easy flow, this one will absolutely deliver. It just won’t be the one that lingers with me after closing the book.

3.75/5 from me—good, but not groundbreaking.

Holding the Reins... but not my attention

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4.75 stars

This was a debut book?! Shut the front door. I was obsessed with it. I mean who doesn’t love a small town, brother’s best friend, age gap, workplace romance?! Amongst the other tropes I mean damn!

Part time cowboy, retired hockey player, kids hockey coach, wears a cowboy and backwards baseball hat, traumatic past, I honestly didn’t stand a chance at not falling for Nash. And then there’s a “fuck it” moment!? I was a puddle on the floor.

Nash and CeCe, gah I loved them together! They had some incredible magnetic chemistry, that was insatiable. And there’s this one scene that had me 🥵😮‍💨 did I say I was obsessed?!

I loved all the rest of characters too! It was just everything I was wanting! Oh and the narrators were AMAZING!

LOVED!

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This country town romance was so addictive!!!
I was invested in the FMC and MMC immediately. And the plot v spice ratio was 👌🏼💋 chief’s kiss!
The dual narration was SOOOO good! 👏🏼👏🏼
The MMC’s voice is to die for.
If in doubt do yourself a favour and listen to this book! 🫶🏼

Perfect mix of plot and spice

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Very stoked on this one
The narrators are new to me and they are great!!
Great story, bit of angst and gooood spice 😏

Awesome narrators, good spice and good story

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I devoured this audiobook with the kindle version to. it was so cute, so beautiful, bought out some tears. couldn't get enough of it!

Absolutely beautiful

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This started well but once the couple got together the rest of the book was at least 50% sex scenes with little story in between and no building the tension to make the sex scenes interesting. After the first few I started skipping them. The female narrator wasn’t too great either - her emphasis was off so the sentences didn’t hit the right points. Male narrator was good.

More sex than story

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