Ive been loving dilan dyer since her first ever book and i adored this one. another perfect one for all my cowboy loving girlies!!

The Brave and the Reckless is a bold and heartfelt story about love, risk, and finding the courage to follow your heart. Dylan Dyer captures the intensity of youthful passion and the vulnerability that comes with it, creating characters who feel raw and real. The writing is engaging and emotional, making this a romance that lingers long after the last page. A powerful and stirring read.

ONE OF MY FAVORITE BOOKS OF THE YEAR! What an amazing new addition to cowboy romance! I truly cannot recommend this book enough and I cannot wait to read Dilan's next book!

THIS WAS EVERYTHING!!!!!

I've been following Dilan for a while, and reading her stuff has always brought me so much joy and this was no different! Dilan has a very special way of putting representation into her books without it feeling like this big thing. Her FMC in this is hypermobile and it does cause her issues but it's not the main thing about Ezra and I love that!

Noah, the grump that he is, is just incredible. I love him and his work ethic, and his mouth.... 👀😜 Seriously he is just all man.

The growth of the relationship between Ezra and Noah that started off so funny but ended up being this supportive, loving thing was wonderful to read.

As always Dilan has knocked it out of the park and this is why I will always read her stuff, I will always be her fan.

Small town read with a little bit of fire. Not sure I felt the chemistry or connected with the leads as much as I had hoped I would. Others might enjoy it more though. 2.5 🌟

Thank you for the opportunity to read this ARC.
I loved the premise of this book. Cowboys and West world comes to mind.
But the more I read it I found it difficult to relate to the characters. I am going through a slump right now and it could just be me. But I do love when I can relate and and I can watch them grow but unfortunately it just didn’t meet the mark for me.

I'd like to thank Netgalley and the author for choosing me for the ARC team. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I knew I would enjoy this book because I am a fan of the author. The themes in her books are always close to my heart, and always speak to me. So it wasn't a bit surprise when I loved Esra and Noah's story.

At the start of it, I struggled with liking either characters, and for a while, I wondered why. And then I realised, it was because I didn't know the motivation behind their behaviour and actions and that made me suspicious. You know, that scene when they meet, when she gives him her towl like its nothing? I thought to myself, oh I'm not sure I can get behind this behaviour, did she just do that because she's so ballsy? 😳 But I kept reading and that's when I realised the *why* and suddenly, it was like a light bulb moment for me.

But anyway, I fell in love with both of them.

The western amusement park is a great idea, and I would love to go to one, it reminded me of Asterix Park in Paris I visited with my parents when I was small, it was so much fun.

So, yeah, if you love small town, chronic illness rep, a sort of cowboys, forced proximity and brother's best friend tropes, this one would be for you! ❤️

This was a really fun and enjoyable cowboy read - I loved the theme park setting and the characters were all great to follow!

Fun, unique, and so hot! Gosh, this was a new twist on a 'cowboy' romance, but I LOVED it. The theme park setting was entertaining, and the characters' forced proximity made this story a knockout. Loved the banter, loved the spice, loved the representation in this story, too!

3.75
This was a different kind of cowboy romance.

The whole book is set in Bravetown, which is a Wild West theme park with all sorts of attractions and its own characters & show. I really liked this setting, especially because all chapters start with a cute little Bravetown promo post about literally anything related to Bravetown: the show, the hotel booking, the characters, the parking, etc. Felt really authentic.

The writing and plot itself was fine and was pleasant to read. There wasn’t anything wrong with it, so not sure why it (the book, the characters and everything inbetween) only really clicked for me around the 50-60% mark.

It might be because of Esra herself, even though she was funny & sarcastic most of the time, her relationship with her parents as well as with her brother, Sinan, which I couldn’t really grasp. Something was just not adding up for me.
Esra made it seem like Sinan was kinda having her back, but they were also barely having a full on sibling-relationship, as well as him often enough being an extension of their parents: worry about Esra & her future and making all kinds of decisions for her.

Esra & Noah’s relationship started with passionately disliking each other and ended with a lot of passion and a lot of liking. And also a lot of heat.
They did have a couple of fights and tbh I wasn’t the biggest fan of some of the things that were said as well as them barely resolving it. However, Esra did make it clear that she didn’t appreciate the things Noah said and I wished she had the same attitude & confidence when it comes to her parents.

I really liked a lot, if not all, of the side characters, which is great because the next book will be about Adriana, who was the most intriguing of them all!

Unfortunately this just was not for me. I loved the tropes and I tried to love the alternative spin with it being set in a theme park but I found myself quite bored for a lot of the book. I found the FMC really unlikable for a large portion of the book and although this was explained later on, I just couldn't come back from it.

What an addictive and intoxicating book! It had me begging for more the whole way through and that's why I devoured this in 24 hours. It gives all the best of the old school Wild West and cowboy vibes and it's such a rich story full of life and excitement.
The chemistry between the MCs is of the chart and the spice was oh so delightful.
It was the type of book that immediately after reading I wanted to go straight back in and do it all over again.
The writing is poetic and the storytelling is exquisite and if dislike to love is your trope then this will be the book for you!!

Western theme park where the characters play the same role over and over… this sounds a lot like West world minus the robots. I loved how the world building really pulled you in. I could imagine the park and the roles the main characters played. I like seeing behind the scenes of the park and linking the people with the characters they were cast as.

Esra’s life was on track to please her parents and earn her some big money, but when she drops out of medical school she’s cut off from her funds. Her brother gets her a job at Bravetown, a wild western themed theme park. Now she has to learn how to take care of herself while navigating her new surroundings.

Esra is given the role of playing the damsel in distress who’s kidnapped by the lawless cowboy. It’s far from the Ice cream vendor she was hoping to play. She has to work hard to fit the role and learn some life skills along the way.

In reality Esra is stumbling to shake the irritation of her brother’s best friend. Every time Noah’s around she’s making simple life mistakes.

Can Esra get her act together while staying true to herself?

This book was really fun. I liked the dynamics between Esra and Noah. They had great banter, hot chemistry and a connection that faded everyone else into the background. The western theme park was a great setting and I loved falling for the small town cowboy.

✅ Grumpy/ Sunshine
✅ Enemies to lovers, it started with a sandwich
✅ Small town
✅Cowboy
✅ Wild Western
✅ Theme Park
✅ Modern day western romance

Thank you Dilan, Penguin Random House and NetGalley for the ARC edition of this book!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 stars rounded up to 5!!

This is by far my favourite book Dyer has written so far, perfect for the Elsie Silver / Lyla Sage small town romance lovers ♥️ The chemistry between the FMC & MMC is undeniable, the enemies to lovers arc worked well and was very entertaining. The setting of a Wild West themed amusement park was so fun too!

Esra is such a lovable, warm character and I liked how her chronic condition wasn’t the entirety of her personality but it still played a big part of the storyline. She’s funny, intelligent and sassy. Noah is the grumpy to her sunshine, very broody and protective once they realise their tension is lust not hatred!

Overall, very heartwarming, spicy and a lot of fun to read!!

I live for cowboy romances! This was so good, it was really funny too. I’ll be honest the storyline threw me at first with it being set in a country and western themed theme park but by the end that really added to the found family vibe. I adored all the characters and there is plenty of set up for this to become a series (which I hope it is!) The only negative thing I can say was that it far too spicy for my tastes however I found that skipping through the spicy scenes still left me with plenty of storyline and plot so it wasn’t a problem. Our FMC and MMC are at it at every chance they get 🤦🏼‍♀️
I’m far too boring for this amount of spice 🤣
🌟🌟🌟🌟 🌶️🌶️🌶️
Release date - 24th July 2025

The brave and the reckless ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
🌶️🌶️🌶️

Thank you so much for the ARC @authordilandyer and @netgalley - where do I sign up to go and work at Bravetown?

You all know I love a cowboy romance and this story is one but it’s really original. Set in an old west theme park where the FMC and MMC are lead characters in the story the book, so you have old western cowboys, oh and the MMC owns a ranch? Does that make it a double cowboy romance?

The characters in the story are brilliant. Side characters are funny, likeable and all have a role in the plot while the leads are 👌.

Esra as the FMC is funny, interesting and totally relatable. She is trying to work life out and is messy, chaotic and uncontrollable as she is does it. Her health challenges are really well written too and it’s good to see it represented well.

Noah as the MMC is grumpy, annoyed and irritated but again you totally get why - ever wanted to be at the next stage in your plans but had to wait? That’s Noah.

If you want a summer read with cowboys that’s different and will make you smile you totally need to pick this one up.

ARC received in exchange for an honest review

I want to start by saying that i enjoyed the premise of this book and found it very unique in the small town romance setting and of course loved the wild west theme park setting and found that really fun and different.

For me i personally couldn't give it more than 3 stars. The spice was good and great but i just found the chemistry between the character just missed the mark and i can't put my finger on why.
I found the FMC quite frustrating and juvenile but i get that was done so she could have more character development.

This wouldn't put me off reading more of the authors book however
Thank you to netgalley publishers and author

Thank you for this arc in exchange for an honest opinion.

When I heard that the FMC was Turkish, I had to request this book. As a Turkish girl myself, I can tell you there isn’t much representation of us in western media, and if there is, it’s usually in the form of the stereotypical "middle eastern", which we aren’t. That said, I was very excited about Esra‘s character😌
Speaking of representation, Esra also had EDS and I loved how the author portrayed her as a strong woman who takes control of her own life.
I absolutely adored the setting!! I’ve never read anything set in a theme park before and the side characters made me feel like I was actually part of Bravetown😍
The tension between Esra and Noah was insane and I was NOT prepared for that spice🥵🥵
The only reason I’m not rating this 5⭐️ is that I would’ve liked the author to mention more aspects of Turkish culture like food, language, etc.

🤠The Brave and The Reckless 🤠
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.💫

This is an arc review and this book releases July 24th.

This is a cowboy, contemporary romance set in the Wild West theme park of Bravetown. The story follows Esra, a former medical student who takes a detour from her life plan to join her brother for a summer job as the park’s damsel in distress, Esra finds herself being repeatedly “abducted” by the outlaw cowboy played by brooding Noah. Sparks may fly in their staged performances but behind the scenes tension simmers between Esra and Noah.

This dual POV cowboy romance had enemies to lovers, only one horse, slow burn, grumpy x sunshine and forced proximity and was such a delight to read. I already loved Dilan’s writing style and the way she blends romance with deeper more meaningful topics and it was so fun to see her branch into a new style of romance and keep that magic and this was a beyond fresh, fun take on the genre. Esra is absolutely my favourite kind of leading lady; sassy, funny, quick and fabulous plus a chronic illness rep and the tension, spice and snarky back and forth between her and Noah was 10/10.

Unfortunately, this wasn’t a hit for me.

It had potential with the tropes it promised and I appreciate trying to do something different with the cowboy/Wild West genre. But, simply I put, I was bored. I just never felt that connection or spark with the story or any of the characters. I found some of the dialogue and behaviours quite cringe and juvenile. Overall, this story, unfortunately, fell flat for me.

*ARC received in exchange for an honest review.