I enjoyed this second chance romance, however I’m not a fan of accidental pregnancy in books - (just my personal preference, not a trigger or anything)
That being said I enjoyed the storyline of Elsie and her grief/illness and the character development was really good. The author wrote about sensitive topics really well. They felt really thought through and well researched.
The MMC was a walking green flag and was just a perfect example of a man!
I love the line up for other character books and I can’t wait for the next book in the series.
🌟🌟🌟🌟

Release date - 11th July 2025

WELL THEN. i loved this one so much. there is something so sweet about first love and all the moments that reflect on their relationship. from how it began in the past & how they found their way back to each other! gosh i ate this up, truly.

i connected so deeply with elsie- the way she had such high anxiety and low self-esteem which led to her pushing others away. i was rooting for her as she began to heal!! AND do not even get me started on beau. dear lord THIS MAN!! the way he was down bad for elsie and would do absolutely anything for her. these two wholeheartedly captured my heart instantly.

it was so easy to see how much love, thought, and care went into this book. this was more than just a romance, which is why i think i loved it so much. it was about trying to navigate through/processing loss and discovering who you are with a partner. elsie and beau were made for each other. they are truly so special and you could feel the love between them through the pages. their love was real, raw, vulnerable, and honest.

without a doubt, i would recommend this book to anyone. madison wright, you just became an autobuy author of mine!! EASILY

I really enjoyed this story. I appreciate that the author shows that marriage isn’t always perfect—that there are highs and lows—but sometimes love can be stronger than anything.
I felt so much sympathy for Elsie: living with anxiety is far from easy.
I also really liked Beau—patient, present, and always ready to support her.

On the other hand, I had a harder time with Elsie’s family… By contrast, I loved Beau’s family, especially his brother Cooper, who says out loud what everyone else is thinking and is very protective of him.

The author did a great job highlighting Elsie’s growth throughout the chapters. Seeing her open up, smile again, and be less hard on herself really moved me.
I can only recommend this read.

This was a super sweet romance by Madison Wright. I liked the attention to detail the author uses when it comes to describing Western and country life. The story was very relatable for cowgirls.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for the ARC. I wish people would be a bit more original when writing cowboy romances, because this feels like yet another knock-off of Elsie Silver. I also have NEVER enjoyed the pregnancy trope, and this time was no different. The cause of their strained relationship was so dumb and kind of ruined the book for me. Their chemistry was good, but the whole hiding part of herself from him for 12 years was.... no.... just no. Please go to couples therapy. I'd maybe try this author's books again if they had different tropes that I liked, cause the writing was alright in this one.

I do think this book will hit the mark for a lot of reader but for me it wasn’t it.

I wanted to love this book because l've loved second chance romances. For me I didn’t feel the character showed they loved each other we were more so told they loved each other. That made it hard to connect to the romance like I wanted to. Because I was very conflicted where I almost didn’t give any rating because I enjoy the story the author wrote but I just couldn’t stay in it because of the romance.

Not Our First Rodeo appeared to have it all for me at first glance - cowboys, small town and angst… but wow, it was so much more than that.

A second chance romance with a surprise pregnancy, the emotional journey and healing from loss, and a couple who actually learn to communicate to fix their issues.

It was raw, romantic and so rewarding to read and I cannot wait to revisit this town and these characters for book two.

4 stars!

I did not expect this to demolish my emotions the way it did. Elsie and Beau’s story was beautifully tragic but healing by the end. His patience and unwavering love through their shared trauma was what fictional men dreams are made of. I’d mind content warning if you’re sensitive to topics of miscarriage and the grief that comes from it but this was handled with great care and felt very genuine. This is out now so everyone should grab it!

This book had so many tropes I love second chance romance, small town setting, childhood sweethearts, and the emotional push-pull of healing and finding your way back to love. Elsie’s journey from heartbreak to hope was raw and real, and Beau? Absolute book boyfriend material he is patient, loyal, and unwavering. Their story was tender, emotional, and full of heart. A beautiful reminder that sometimes love deserves a second chance, Maddison hit the his book out the park - i loved every minute of reading this one!!

Review: Not Our First Rodeo by Madison Wright

This book wrecked me—in the best way. 🥲

We follow Elsie, who had her whole life mapped out—ballet career, husband, happily ever after—but after an injury and a devastating miscarriage, everything falls apart. She pulls away from everyone, even Beau, her high school sweetheart turned husband, who has been nothing but patient and steady.

When Elsie comes back home to Montana, she’s trying to rebuild her life as a teacher instead of a dancer, but of course… running into Beau stirs everything back up. And let’s just say one spark leads to another, and suddenly they’re facing something neither of them expected. 👀

This book is heavy at times—anxiety, grief, loss—but it’s also full of so much hope and healing. Elsie’s journey felt raw and real, and Beau? Absolute angel. The way he just shows up for her, even when she’s pushing him away… ugh. 10/10 book boyfriend material.

If you like small-town, second-chance romances with all the messy emotions, you need to pick this one up. It’s heartfelt, tender, and honestly? Not my first rodeo with crying over a book. 🐎💔✨

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I really wanted to LOVE love this book. Marriage in crisis? High school/childhood sweethearts? Two of my favorite things! Unfortunately, this fell a little flat. Admittedly, I read two different books with similar tropes that were 6 star reads for me so perhaps the problem is that I expected too much but honestly, I just didn't believe it.

This was the second book in as many months that just did a lot of telling and not showing. I wanted to feel angst, longing, etc. and it just really fell flat. I'm bummed because I was really looking forward to this.

Overall I don't want to say this is a BAD story, it isn't! I just think it doesn't stand out and I found myself not really caring about the plot or characters as it went on.

Wow, this book hit me right in the feels. It's a second-chance romance. I couldn't put it down. Elsie had everything planned out, a ballet career, a loving husband and a bright future.

But life threw some hard punches: a career-ending injury and a heartbreaking miscarriage that shattered her world.
She pushed everyone away, even Beau, the guy who's loved her since they were teenagers. Months later, back in her small hometown, she's trying to rebuild her life-trading performances for teaching and the loneliness for something like peace. But then everything changes when she finds out she's pregnant , and she has to face all the feelings and someone she's been avoiding.

4 stars! I really enjoyed this book. I felt you could really relate to the problems in the book and it was well written! I really enjoyed this!

Such a cute read. I loved how much these two fought for each other. Good spice, great angst, and a wonderful HEA.

Thanks NetGalley for the eARC!

•accidental pregnancy
•second chance
•dual POV
•marriage in trouble
•small town
•found family
•horse trainer and ballerina
•anxiety representation

This was a very easy read and what I needed when I said I wanted another cowboy romance. This was not as light hearted since it had some more serious topics and typically I do not care for an accidentally pregnancy, but this was done pretty well. I think as someone who suffered from a miscarriage, I could relate so much to our FMC, Elsie. I did understand pushing everyone away and wanting to handle everything on your own, but I just needed someone to shake her at points haha. It was a sweet story and honestly Beau, our MMC, was so caring and loving that any faults that I found he made up for it. The spice moments were fun too, “See something you like, Elsie baby?”

Also loved the author note about her experiencing a miscarriage and pregnancy after 🩷

Oh. My. God. I can not get over how amazing this book is. I have never been a huge fan of second chance romances but I wanted to give this one a shot and boy was I glad that I did. The yearning and the remembering of their love and time together just pulled at my heart strings. I was devouring every single page like it was my last breath. I NEED MORE!!!

4🌟

Tropes & Genre
📌 Contemporary Romance
📌 Second Chance Romance
📌 Ranch Setting
📌 Small Town love story

Meet the Perfect MMC Beau
📌He says "My Wife".
📌Gives her time when she asks for it after miscarriage.
📌Walks home in a snow storm so that she's not alone.
📌Keeps an app to track and monitor their baby's progress without telling her bout it.
📌Calls her stretch marks beautiful
Stands infront of her parents for her.

My POV

● First, THANKYOU netgalley for this book.

● So Cowboy/Ranch and Second Romance are my first try and for the first try they were really good. I would like to try them more often.

● Beautifully written and genuine progress in the relationship tbh. THAT IS WHAT I HAVE TO SAY COZ I DON'T KNOW WHAT ELSE TO SAY 😪😪.

Don’t forget your tissues with this one!!

This book, wow. The story was truly beautiful. The way Elsie navigated her grief and anxiety felt raw, yet real and Beau was so supportive and loving. The character were tangible and felt well round and developed with so much growth.

This was second-chance romance done so right with the best small town feels.

This was really sweet! I don’t usually read surprise pregnancy or marriage in crisis stories but I really liked the unique take on second chance and Madison’s writing is always super emotional and evocative and beautiful. This was definitely more character-driven than anything and there wasn’t much going on in terms of actual plot outside the characters and their dynamics, but I still enjoyed it a lot and would for sure recommend.

I have to admit, when I requested Not Our First Rodeo by Madison Wright, I was just looking for my latest spicy cowboy fix. I wasn't expecting such a beautifully written and touching portrayal of grief, mental health and healing.

This is a small-town second-chance romance that contains discussions of an off-page miscarriage and panic attacks. Both of which are handled really sensitively. I truly sympathised with both Elsie and Beau. Both perspectives felt real and relatable; I wanted nothing but good things for the both of them which made their reunion super emotional and extra special.

This is the first book in the Lucky Stars Ranch series and the start of which I'm positive is going to be my latest obsession. Could we possibly be getting Jade and Copper's book next? I really hope so as I loved their dynamic.

Perfect for fans of Hannah Bonam-Young.