Review: Off to the Races by Elsie Silver

Off to the Races by Elsie Silver

Series: Gold Rush Ranch #1

Publication date: April 29th, 2021

Pages: 470

Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Synopsis:

A small-town enemies to lovers romance and the debut novel from the bestselling author of Flawless and Wild Love.

Keeping things professional with my employees has never been an issue... until Billie waltzes onto my property.

She's talented, feisty and so damn tempting. We clash from the moment we meet, and I can't stop thinking about all the ways I could take her down a peg. I can't stop thinking about her, period.

And in a small town, on an even smaller farm, it's hard to keep my distance. Billie is the whole package: whip-smart with a body I fantasize about, and quite possibly the only woman who can save this business -- and me. She drives me crazy, but the more time we spend together, the more I crave her: her lips, her trust, her heart... I want it all.

But at what cost? Because suddenly I don't just want to win races, I want to win the girl.

Available at:

Story:

Elsie Silver is one of those authors that you hear a lot about because she hammers out books faster than one can truly consume them. As I was never one for western romances I didn't feel the pull to read any of her books until recently. How unfortunate for me to realize how great they are until now. Silver winds a sweet enemies-to-lovers tale about a spirited horse trainer and the heir owner of Gold Rush Ranch. The owner, Vaughn, is mourning the loss of his grandfather and the reputation that he passed with. He was seen as someone who fixed races and for a ranch that produces racing horses, that allegation was what could ruin the entire enterprise. Vaughn decides to bring in a trainer to try to get his horses ready for when he was allowed off suspension and could start racing again. What he wasn't expecting was the spitfire, Billie. The story is sweet and simple with a few pitfalls interspersed to keep the reader guessing what could happen. As someone raised in 'horse country' I love watching characters who have a healthy respect for the creatures. I think that the author did really well keeping the light moments comical and poetic and adding a few helpings of heartache in between. It was everything you would expect of the western romance genre and more.

Characters:

• Billie - I loved how feisty Billie was. She was not going to take shit from anyone, even her grumpy boss whose eyes shift from frustration to sexual tension with the flip of her braid. She was a force unlike any other. She didn't let her past as a rich girl define her and was determined to stand on her own two feet. She knew how to handle horses and proved herself time and time again. While she had a few snarky comments here and there that drove Vaughn nuts, she was by far one of the sweetest characters I have read. She would bend over backwards for the people she loved without ever jeopardizing her moral compass.

• Vaughn - Vaughn was frustrating. There were times when I really didn't like him at all. I felt like he was not a great person through the whole thing. Especially when it came to doing right by Billie. He would make promises and break them. He would pretend nothing was between him and Billie despite it being completely obvious. He was so shortsighted and I wanted to ring his neck every time he made Billie cry. But... he eventually got a slap to the face that woke him up (good job, Cole). I hope he keeps being good to Billie in the rest of the series or I will return to this review and erase my impression that he redeemed himself.

Writing:

Silver did a good job with this one. The story flowed well and the characters had enough depth that I was able to have an emotional response to them. When Billie cried, I cried. That is only a good mark of a great author. I look forward to reading the next books in the series to see how the author's writing grew being as this was her debut novel. It was a great demonstration of her skill in a debut.

Overall:

I really enjoyed the book and am waiting to see if Vaughn keeps treating Billie like the princess she deserves in the subsequent books. If not, I'm coming for you Vaughn!