Gosh this book had me deep in my feels. A marriage in crisis turns into a surprise pregnancy and this begins the journey to reconciliation.

Elsie, my sweet anxious girlie. I wanted to shake her by the shoulders and tell her to share all her big feelings to Beau because that is a man that is going to love you no matter what. I get why she shut down - I’ve been there myself. But I wish she would’ve relied on her husband a little more.

And Beau Jennings, the man that you are. I wanted to fall to the floor every time he said, “Elsie baby.” I loved how he handled Elsie with such care, and gave her the space to work through her emotions.

I also loved how much Beau’s family loved Elsie despite their separation. The small town, found family vibes are really vibing in this one.

Thank you so much for the arc in exchange for my honest opinion!

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

I’ve really stepped into my cowboy romance era and I’m so glad to have read “Not Our First Rodeo”. It’s a second chance romance but not really and you know what? I liked that! I of course enjoy the courting period between two characters once they first meet but it was nice to skip that and get straight into this relationship that already has history.

While I enjoyed this read, I will say I didn’t love it. I love that the story tackled grief and loss. It did however make it hard for me to really root for Elsie. Why? Because of the massive miscommunication trope…and it’s my least favorite trope. I found it incredibly unfair for her to not consider her husband needing to grieve the loss of their pregnancy. They were both mourning. I think also I would understand it bit more if they were younger but they’d known each other since 16/17 years old. It felt odd.

Overall, this is a sweet read but not really a series I’d continue reading. This is the third cowboy romance series I’ve read and can someone explain to me why the microtrope of the FMC’s best friend ending up with the brother of the MMC (who also has a child) is in almost every cowboy romance series? It’s nice but in such a niche genre…it’s a bit much.

Not Our First Rodeo by Madison Wright completely swept me off my feet. I went in expecting a quiet second-chance romance, but what I got was an unflinching, tender exploration of grief, healing, and the kind of love that holds steady even when everything else falls apart.

This book hurts in the best way. Its portrayal of loss—particularly miscarriage—and how that grief reshapes your identity felt so achingly real.

I was especially drawn in by the raw depiction of Elsie’s loss—both of her baby and her sense of self. Her grief feels like a living, breathing part of her. It isn’t clean or linear. It’s complicated, layered, and deeply human. Elsie is hard on herself (sometimes painfully so), but that made her growth feel all the more earned. She’s angry and aching, constantly at war with herself—but it’s in that hurt and messiness that the real magic happens. Watching her slowly shed the coping mechanisms that once protected her—but now hold her back—was one of the most powerful parts of the story.

We’re given a narrator who, at times, is unreliable—not because she’s dishonest, but because her pain clouds her perception of how others see her. That was so beautifully and thoughtfully handled. Madison Wright explores these complex themes with such care while also making room for love, growth, and the comfort of coming home to the people who know you best.

And Beau? Actual. Saint. Status. He’s the kind of man who waits, who listens, who stays even when he’s hurting too. His patience is unyielding, his love unconditional, and his willingness to grow and reflect is humbling. I do wish we saw more of his internal emotional journey—because while I felt his pain, I wanted to see him heal too. His story at times feels secondary to Elsie’s, but I also think that might be intentional. Beau’s growth comes from learning when to advocate for himself, and knowing when it’s time to stop waiting quietly and start asking for more.

That said, the tension?? Off the charts.
The love?? Overflowing.
The way they show up for each other again and again—even when it’s hard, even when they’re scared—completely gutted me.

This is a story about coming home to yourself. About learning to love the person you become after the storm, even if they look nothing like who you were before. It’s about leaning on your people, letting yourself be held, and choosing love—messy, aching, beautiful love—again and again.

It balances grief and hope so well and reminds us that sometimes the most powerful kind of love is the one that stays—especially when everything else falls apart.

And while this book is absolutely about second chances, it isn’t just about finding second chances in love. It’s about finding second chances in life. It’s about being brave enough to show up for yourself—because it’s never too late to process your pain or make meaning of your past. It’s about seeing one door close and loving yourself enough to open the next one, even when you’re not sure you have the strength.

And it is absolutely beautiful.

I adored this book and will definitely be reading more of Madison Wright’s work. If you're in the mood to cry a little, feel a lot, and believe in love that endures—this one’s for you.

- Dual pov
- Marriage in trouble
- Anxiety rep
- Found family
- Small town romance
- Accidental pregnancy
- Horse trainer x ballerina


And with that, everything was set to work out, right?
Well...

An excellent story began.
Elsie was an anxious person who, after losing her dancing skills due to an injury and the loss of her son, pushed Beau, her husband, away because she was suffering and no longer knew who she was.

Beau is THE MAN, and despite loving her and not wanting to leave her, he did everything he could to help her get better, and if she needed some space, he gave it to her.
But he reached a point where he couldn't take it anymore, and one night at a bar, they met and get involved.
That night was more than one night, and Elsie got pregnant.
Now everything changes.

Or so it seemed...
Cause we're still with the same Elsie. While I understood her situation, I now find her just an irritating woman, with no feelings or concern for what Beau is feeling (he also lost a son, my friend!!).

Cooper wasn't lying when he said Beau deserved better!
He literally carried the book on his back, and I just kept reading because of him.

It was a good story idea, but it could have been better, and that makes me sad.
However, it was still an easy read. The writing is very good and fluid, and we don't even notice the pages fly by. Beau is PERFECT.
And despite everything, if the next book is about Cooper, I will definitely want to read it because I feel it has everything it takes to make a good book!

✨️Thank you so much to Netgalley and Madisson for this earc! ✨️

ＡＲＣ Ｒｅｖｉｅｗ

“𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴. 𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳.”

3.5 ★
2 ♥

Ｔｒｏｐｅｓ:
✧ ᴍᴀʀʀɪᴀɢᴇ ɪɴ ᴛʀᴏᴜʙʟᴇ
✧ sᴜʀᴘʀɪsᴇ ᴘʀᴇɢɴᴀɴᴄʏ
✧ sᴍᴀʟʟ ᴛᴏᴡɴ sᴇᴛᴛɪɴɢ
✧ ғᴏᴜɴᴅ ғᴀᴍɪʟʏ
✧ ᴅᴜᴀʟ ᴘᴏᴠ

Ｔｈｏｕｇｈｔｓ:
It took me a second, but I did end up liking this. I wanted to like it more but I really struggled with the FMC Elsie and her reason for separating from the MMC Beau. It’s also a huge miscommunication trope that basically stems from Elsie’s immaturity so that was annoying to me. Beau is a great character and an amazing husband, and I think he’s what prevented me from DNFing. There’s a lot of repetition in the beginning that I also struggled with, but it got better towards the end. Besides Beau, there’s some other great characters that I loved - his brother, his dad and Elsie’s best friend. Overall, this came together in the end and I ended up enjoying it.

This book had some ingredients that caught my attention quickly: (former) ballet dancer, marriage in trouble and an accidental pregnancy. On top of everything, it had "my wife" and some good tension between the leads in the first few pages.

But the story went down a bit for me from the first half. The tension I was hoping for was fading and the chemistry felt slightly forced. I think what threw me off the most was their lack of communication about their emotions, despite their more than a decade long relationship. Also sometimes they felt more like friends than lovers. Lastly, the use of professional help to navigate their struggles would be elevated the story for me, but it was absent.

Hence, I am a bit disappointed that I didn't like it more.

I have been a long time fan of Madison Wright's and adored her books so much & this one is no exception. A marriage on the rocks but they get back together for one night only & accidentally get pregnant? Sign me up! Some of these tropes (accidental pregnancy, marriage on the rocks) are not always my fav but Madison did such a brilliant job with portraying them in the sweetest most loving way I absolutely adored them! If you're looking for a sweet cowboy second chance romance, this is the one for you!!

This book was absolutely incredible! I was hooked from the very first page! This covered some heavy topics and I thought it was done really well. I even related to some of the feeling Elsie had! Watching Beau support Elsie no matter what was top tier for me!

Madison, you outdid yourself with this one!!!! 🫂🫂🫂🫂
10/10. I adored this book. I haven’t experienced the kind of loss Elsie went through, but the way it was portrayed felt incredibly real and respectful. Her pain, her anxiety, the way she shut the world out …. it all made so much sense.
And Beau... 🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹 he was everything. So patient, so steady. The kind of love that doesn’t give up on you, even when you’re not ready to be loved. 😭😭😭😭
It’s one of those stories that stays with you, tender, heartbreaking, but also full of hope. I’m still thinking about it 🥹❤️‍🩹

This was a super cute story! I found the characters to be really relatable and the story unique. Elsie has gone through so much change and as a mom I understood her wanting her space to find her identity again. I mean to grow up having your mom tell you your going to be a dancer and making that decision for you, losing that then finding out your going to be a mom to lose that as well…who is Elsie? So much change and such a short amount of time. And the fact she just wanted space so she could come back to Beau and be the wife he deserved was respectable. With that being said I do wish there would have been more of a confrontation with Elsie and Cooper after how much grief Cooper gave Beau about Elsie. And I do wish that instead of Beau continually asking Elsie to come and knowing her reason for saying no to family dinners that his parents would have just come to her one on one instead of this massive family dinner. I really enjoyed this story overall.

A second chance romance/marriage in crisis book that just didn’t hit the mark for me. It just felt very lackluster and the character development was not there. I actually had a hard time enjoying the FMC and I felt the reasoning for why their relationship became “strained” was weird and it felt far fetched she kept this a secret for 12 years. I also felt the pacing and then were off that made it hard to really lose myself in the story. I felt the set up and plot was there but the execution wasn’t that great. However, I could see others really enjoying this story. Especially if you like a complex romance with deeper themes. Just wants for me.

Firstly thank you so much for the ARC

I absolutely love a cowboy romance and this met my expectations

this was so sweet and emotional from the very start! I loved the love story within a happy marriage and the frank conversations about mental health. the epilogue was a little bit of a weird premise, but I guess cute and not weird enough to change my rating.

Thank you, Netgalley, for facilitating the request of this eARC.

2.5/3

This book had all the makings for something I would really enjoy.

- Cowboys
- Marriage in Trouble
- Accidental Pregnancy
- Deep Conversations & Heavy Topics

However, the characters just didn't hit for me; and that's okay. I can for sure see Madison Wright's potential as an author, and would absolutely read her next installment of this series. However, after sitting on this one for a while, it definitely fell flat for me, unfortunately.

Firstly, thank you to NetGalley and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book deals with some heavy topics, including miscarriage, anxiety, and pre-eclampsia, so please be mindful of that before reading.

The story is very focused on anxiety—something I personally didn’t mind, as I experience it myself—but I can see how it might be triggering for some readers. It’s a quick read and overall really enjoyable. I loved seeing Elsie and Beau navigate everything together. They’re both absolute angels and so relatable—especially Elsie, who deals with both anxiety and pre-eclampsia. At times, it genuinely felt like I was reading about myself.

The ending did feel a little rushed, but it didn’t take away from the heart of the story.

Also, how adorable is Beau for taking candid photos of Elsie throughout the pregnancy

This was so emotional, in the best way possible. While it felt like there was more telling than showing, I still had an enjoyable time reading about this beautiful couple trying to heal their relationship after going through so much.

There was some amazing rep in this book of anxiety and depression.

I loved the found family aspects in this book and cannot wait for the other characters to get their stories!

If you love a second chance with cowboys, def give this one a shot!

This was a second chance romance that includes the accidental pregnancy trope, so I think that’s important to know going into it. I liked this book, but I didn’t love it. For me the biggest issue was that the romance between the FMC and MMC didn’t seem… super believable to me. They have been together since high school and in the FMC’s battle with depression and losing her sense of self since she can’t dance anymore, she kicks her husband out of the house so he doesn’t have to see her be that way. Honestly it felt like miscommunication trope to me because this book would’ve been significantly shorter if she had just told him why she kicked him out of the house and had come clean about her panic attacks. I understood her motives but personally I would never do that so I found it hard to relate. I could never imagine distancing myself from my husband in such a literal way as a response to things I need to work through internally as I don't believe people are damaged and need fixing. I appreciate that Elsie learned that, but it was hard for me to read in the beginning. I also felt in general it was unfair to Beau to keep him in the dark. The MMC’s brother pointed out, why was it only about what Elsie wanted, and no one cared that Beau got kicked out of his own home too and was forced to tell his family alone that she was pregnant? Unfortunately I just thought he deserved a bit better and that train of thought continued throughout the book. He was a cinnamon roll and very kind to Elsie, I just couldn't fully like Elsie because of the things I mentioned previously.

I thought it was a nice read, easy and quick, but unfortunately I found it hard to connect with our characters. I do however really like Jade and would love to read a book about her!

Elsie thought she had her whole life figured out, a career in ballet, a devoted husband and a certain future. Then a devastating injury and an even more devastating miscarriage causes her whole life to shatter. With everything changing she pushes away everyone including her husband. Months later she is looking to rebuild her life, she started teaching at the local dance studio and discovers she is pregnant after a one night stand with the husband she asked to give her space. Elsie is forced to confront all the emotions she spent months pushing away but one thing is definitely true, Beau never stopped loving Elsie.

I liked the relationship between Elise and Baeu and liked that it was dual POV so we got a look into both of their headspaces. This book was emotional and raw and added an extra level of depth to the love story.

When I first saw the book cover and title, I thought "oooh another cowboy romance". I did not expect this book to make me cry and be so emotional but here we are. Not our First Rodeo is a beautiful story of resilience, second chances, beautiful new beginnings and more. I also didnt know how close Madison was to this story until I saw the author's note at the end of the book - for me, that just made it even more special knowing she had gone through something similar.

Being a new mom myself, I found Elsie so relatable. Her pregnancy journey, her fears and anxiety about it - I remember those feelings. There is one scene I was tearing up because I did the same exact thing and it was refreshing to see that I was not alone. I think this is where the book really excels - the way Madison wrote how Elsie handled her healing journey, I feel, was a realistic and authentic. I feel like discussing mental health is such a delicate topic. I think Elsie's struggles and experience was portrayed really well. The most imporant thing is how Beau, his family, Jade, and the others in Elsie's corner have shown up for her and dealt with what she is going through in the best way. Beau is amazing. He is self aware, supportive, and I love that he stood by Elsie and became her true anchor.

I wish we got a little more of their backstory. I feel like in the beginning, I was dropped in the middle of their story and I got confused. I think one or two chapters where we can look back would be good for readers to understand and connect with the characters immediately. Also the timelines got a bit confusing as well.

Overall, this is a great read - love Elsie and Beau and the side characters. I have a feeling who the next book will be about and that makes me excited!

I really do love the idea of book. but i feel like the marriage in crisis trope hits a little bit too close to home and my emotions were truly all over the place with this one. it is a fantastic debut though and i cannot wait to get my hands on a copy