Idk… it wasn’t for me. I wasn’t interested in the characters, romance, or story, and this book was way heavier than I was expecting.

***Trigger Warning: Cancer***

I thought this book was okay. A little predictable and also I felt like the book was way too long. I got bored and I was just wanting it to end. I didn’t hate it, but I just needed to be shorter.

This was a fun and at times emotional read! This centers around a divorced doctor and a cowboy set in small town Oklahoma. The pacing in this book felt a bit off at times, and there was a lot of miscommunication between our two main characters. However if those things don’t bother you much it really was a fun little small town/cowboy romance read that definitely hit me in my feels at some points! 3 stars!

A really good cowboy romance. Very strong ‘fated to be together’ vibes and some important and sensitive topics explored. The only real negatives for me were that the tempo wasn’t super easy to follow and Caroline’s character felt a little immature for her age

The slow burn, the tension, the fate that they kept running into each other and that ending?! LOVED this book so much - what’s not to love about a cowboy romance really? This one was really well-written and kept me hooked throughout, loved that it touched on some more sensitive topics in a gentle way as well.
Thank you to the author and publishers for letting me read this one pre-release!

Thank you to Netgalley for this ARC.

This follows Caroline, who is rediscovering herself after her divorce. And Hunter, an ex-rodeo star who has had to take over his family ranch as his Father is sick.

Hunter and Caroline meet by chance in an Irish pub, on her first night in Okhalama. And Hunter can't get her off his mind, but Caroline doesn't give him her number.

Then fate keeps pushing them together and they keep bumping into each other , in their own worlds.

I really enjoy this story but did have a lot of serious themes in the story.

Oh I ate this one up!

This book was so good, I had the time of my life reading it! This was such a sweet and emotional cowboy romance that I just couldn't put down! The characters and the plot were so cute and wholesome, I loved every second of it!

Thank you NetGalley for an eARC!

This book had a lot of potential! I was into the cowboy/doctor trope, and I flew through the story, so it definitely held my attention.

That said, a few things didn’t quite work for me. Caroline, the FMC (a doctor), came across as very immature for someone in her 30s. Her reactions to things like being kissed or opening up emotionally felt more like a teenager’s than an adult’s. She just felt really childish at times, and it made it hard to fully connect with her. Her inability to properly communicate was especially frustrating. The conflicts between her and Hunter (at the end) were so so avoidable and it came down to properly communicating.

The book also leans heavily into grief. Death and loss are constant themes. While some of the emotional moments were well written and did land, it eventually felt a bit overwhelming.

Add in the typos, timeline jumps, formatting issues (scene changes with no warning, odd paragraph spacing), and small inconsistencies (like someone drinking tea, then coffee, then tea again?) and I found myself being pulled out of the story pretty often.

That said though, the plot is strong, and I did want to see how everything played out so I did enjoy it. With tighter editing and more grounded character work, this could be a really solid read. I genuinely hope these things are smoothed out in the final version!

3/5!

Honestly, Im a little bit disappointed. While the character and their issues were somewhat entertaining enough to keep me reading the book as a whole fell flat. I found It quite hard to immerse my self and connect to the characters. The cover is cute though.

Thank you NetGalley and Avon Books UK for the arc!

Rating: 2.75⭐️

I just realized this is like my fourth cowboy romance in the last four week. I don’t think this was my favorite of the ones I’ve read recently but it was fine.

There is an instant attraction and connection between Hunter and Caroline. They were cute together. I adored the banter between them right off the bat. They had great chemistry and I loved how they helped each other grieve, heal and move on from their past trauma.

I did have some issues with the book though. I found that the writing could sometimes be too simplistic and straightforward for my tastes. It just didn’t flow naturally and was kind of robotic at times. There was a lot of awkward dialogue, especially in the last third of the book as well.

While I liked Hunter and Caroline together, they had a tendency to be very frustrating leads. The amount of miscommunication between them really killed this book for me quite honestly. Their reunion at the end after the third act breakup was so lacklustre too. I needed more.

But all in all, this was like a comfort read for me and I enjoyed it. I think it helped that I read it over several days instead of in one sitting.

Thank you to NetGalley for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Thanks to Avon UK and NetGalley for this advanced copy. Back in the Saddle is a heartfelt "cowboy" romance. Knowing Maggie personally, I know how hard she's worked on this book and the amount of heart and soul she put into it. Caroline and Hunter are flawed, but beautiful, and just right for each other.

Back in the Saddle by Maggie Eckersley is an opposites attract, cowboy romance. Caroline is a physician from Scotland, currently working in Oklahoma at a Cancer Research Center on a one year assignment while coming to terms with her pending divorce. Hunter is back home working at his families ranch while due to his fathers terminal illness. Hunter and Caroline meet at a bar and they have instant chemistry leading to an amazing kiss, however she fleas. Thankfully, fate steps in multiple times to bring them back together. There were a lot of really promising parts of this book that I really loved, such as the chemistry between characters, their communication (most of the time at least), and the oh so sweet setting. I found the timing and pacing difficult at times, where I struggled to understand how things were fitting together or important to the story. I really wanted to love it, but it was just an okay read.

Thank you to NetGalley, Avon Books UK, and the author for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is just as good as Elsie silver I loved it it's going to be upcoming for sure, I loved everything about this book quick from the beginning and enough detail for characters and plot

I really enjoyed this one! It’s got that small-town, slow-burn cowboy romance vibe that just hits sometimes, and I was hooked from the start. Caroline is such a solid main character—she’s smart, capable, and so easy to root for. I liked how mature she was, but also how vulnerable she felt after everything she’d been through. And Hunter? Ugh. Broody cowboy with a soft centre? Say less. I was obviously obsessed.

The chemistry between them was great—it built slowly but with just the right amount of tension (and spice, of course), and when it finally delivers, it’s so satisfying. I also loved how much heart this had. It wasn’t just surface-level romance—it touched on grief, healing, starting over… and it did it well without ever feeling too heavy.

It gave me big Elsie Silver / Lyla Sage energy, so if you’re into that kind of vibe, definitely pick this up. Warm, a little angsty, but ultimately really hopeful and romantic. Loved it!

Back in the Saddle has a solid premise—a British doctor starting over in small-town Oklahoma and falling for a broody cowboy—but it didn’t quite land for me. While I appreciated the emotional themes like grief, divorce, and second chances, the story often felt surface-level, trying to juggle too much without diving deep enough. Caroline and Hunter had potential, but I struggled to fully connect with them or their romance. Some inconsistencies and awkward editing pulled me out of the story, and the more clinical language in steamy scenes didn’t help with the chemistry. That said, the setting was atmospheric, and there were sweet, heartfelt moments.

Being a huge fan of cowboy romances, especially those from Lyla Sage, Paisley Hope and Elsie Silver, I was really excited to dive into this book. Unfortunately, this didn’t measure up to my expectations. The writing was stilted and it was hard for me to get into the storyline. Also, Back in the Saddle tackles a lot of heavy topics that I was not expecting and not looking for in a cowboy romcom. Overall, this is a quick palate cleanser read but this isn’t a story I can see myself wanting to reread.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for the ARC!

2.5 Stars

'Back in the Saddle' follows a 32 year old woman, Caroline, who leaves Scotland for a year in Oklahoma following the end of her marriage. Staying with her aunts and taking a year off from being a doctor to be a researcher, she hopes she will find herself in America. Instead... she finds Hunter, a dashing cowboy.

Whilst drinking at a bar, she has a perfect kiss with a stranger she will never see again. Until he turns up at the hospital where she works with his ill father. They begin a whirlwind no-strings attached relationship knowing that Caroline has to return to Scotland in a year. But when they both begin to fall in love, they know the split will tear them apart.

This book was a nice, quick read. It was cute and wholesome in parts and deep and heartbreaking in others. Overall, I think the first 2 thirds were too slow. I found myself reluctant to pick up the book. However, the last third or so was gripping and I really enjoyed it. The ending felt quite rushed and several points of the book could have been fleshed out to allow for further story and character development. Some parts were also quite 'tell don't show' and some of the spicy scenes felt too 'anatomical'.

Overall though, this was a cute read and I loved the fact there was a British FMC!

TWs for the book: Grief, Death of a parent, Cancer

Thank you NetGalley for the Advanced Reader Copy.

This book made me laugh, cry, and feel all the emotions. It's written with such empathy and care, while also being an incredibly hot and sexy romance. My favorite romance reads are ones where the love interests grow/develop separately beyond merely falling in love, so I appreciated that both Caroline and Hunter grapple with their careers, grief, and past relationships with fully realized arcs of their own. I never considered myself a cowboy fan before this book, but by the end I was head over heels for Hunter!

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Smart, heartfelt and healing!

This debut cowboy romance is filled with a deep emotional journey for both the main characters and is packed with sizzling chemistry.

It explores grief, starting a new chapter, and the challenges of life unexpectedly changing course.

Caroline is smart, endearing and relatable, and Hunter is swoon-worthy, loyal and better yet, he knows how to admit to his mistakes.

I loved this story and experiencing different parts of the world through Caroline and Hunter’s eyes. It also made me want to start drinking whisky!

I’m missing the ranch already and can’t wait to see what comes next in this series!

3.5 ⭐️ Can we take a moment for the cover of this book yall! 10/10!

This story was cute and the characters stories were definitely heart wrenching but I just felt like this book was missing something. It was a cute and easy read but something about it just fell a little flat for me.