Thank you to the author and NetGalley for the ARC copy.

As the title would suggest, this was the perfect slow burn cowboy romance. Beck is the grumpy cowboy, and completely down bad for Lyla, his best friends little sister and she’s off limits. His attempt to hide his attraction definitely comes across as grumpy, and I loved watching that slowly unravel and learn the history they share.

Lyla was such a great FMC. She’s sometimes outspoken, ambitious and unique. She is used to being told she’s “too much”. I loved the way Beck gave her the space to be exactly who she is.

And we absolutely have to give an honorary mention to Kenny Rogers, the three-legged goat, and Critter, Lyla’s snaggletooth chihuahua mix dog. The animal characters brought so much humour.

The chemistry slowly smoulders before finally turning spicy, and it was so worth the wait. A great cowboy romance with just enough intrigue into the next book to have me watching for its release.

Slow Burn by Meg Riley - I LOVED this book. I started and finished it within a few hours, and I was hooked from the very beginning. Meg Riley has a style of writing that always hooks me and keeps me interested and entertained.

Beck is MMC who broods (A LOT) but also yearns for Lyla (His best friend's little sister). What follows is a slow burn where you really get to know and understand why Beck is the way he is. Lyla has always been told that she's 'too much' and Beck lets her be who she is with zero judgement. There is a real grumpy x Sunshine element to this book which I really enjoyed. The Dual POV helps with the character development and the understanding of why they are both the way they are. There is open door spice in this book but it's not too much and doesn't take away from the storyline- just adds to it.

I look forward to reading book #2 in this series and reading more by Meg Riley.

Tropes:
Slow Burn
Best friend's little sister
Grumpy x Sunshine
Small town
Cowboy Romance

I cannot find the words to appropriately explain how much I loved this one.

A slow burn that plays out beautifully. The slow is only because they both are fighting what’s right in front of their faces.

I loved both Beck and Lyla. The grumpy sunshine dynamic worked so well in this story. Dual POV allowed us to see sides from each perspective and that helped understand every thing. Through Beck’s POV you see his grumpiness is because he carries the weight of the world while fighting between allowing himself the love he deserves and fighting the feelings of loyalty to his best friend. You see Lyla’s sunshine continue to break down the walls he’s tried so hard to build. But he loves Lyla with his whole heart and as she breaks down those walls he just wants to find a way to be happy, to love Lyla out loud, save his ranch and keep the honor in the friendship with Austin. I absolutely love that he sees Lyla for exactly who she is and never makes her feel like she’s too much!
Lyla is such a beautiful soul. She’s battling her own feelings and demons making her believe she doesn’t belong. She’s honestly just yearning to belong. She finally finds that with Beck. Following these two on their journey to their HEA was beautiful and I couldn’t get enough!

Thank you to NetGalley, Meg Riley and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for allowing me to ARC read ‘Fallin’ Tides.’

First, can we take a moment to appreciate the GORGEOUS cover art that this book has? Just wow!

This is a ‘Chef’s kiss’ of a book. It’s well paced with well-developed characters. The slow burn is executed well, the small town felt realistic and wholesome. I bloody loved Kenny Rogers and Critter, they were a cute addition to the book.

I love when a romance book has an FMC who isn’t completely perfect in every way, and a little ‘wild’ in the best possible way. We love journies of self-acceptance over here! And this certainly met my expectations.

I liked the storyline of saving the family ranch, and how Beck was only able to achieve this with Lyla-Girlboss’s- help.

I felt really cozy and satisfied with how this story wrapped up. It almost felt like a shame to finish reading this one.

I’m gonna need book two in this series like… Now!

thank you to netgalley & victory editing for the arc <3

GOD I LOVE COWBOY ROMANCES!!!! they truly are just incredible, i love our characters and their relationship. i hope we get to see more of the friendships between the girlies and austin+beck

but this was so fun, beck is incredible delicious if you will and lyla is the purest of souls i truly felt a connection to her


IN-DEPTH THOUGHTS BELOW SPOILERS INCLUDED



brothers best friend i am about to be fed
'the only place ive ever felt truly free to be my myself, the only place i ever felt truly
grounded now belongs to someone else' bit too close to home
HE HAS A GIRLFRIEND???? surely not
okay so it's not actually his girlfriend
the nickname trouble i'll go feral
'a square peg in a circle hole' can i mention shane hollander? yes always
why do i love them!! they're just so cute i love the jabs at one another
FUCK THEY KISS AND THEN HE DECIDES NO AAAAAA
confessions in the rainnnn one of my fav tropes
I STG IF THE TATTOO IS THE CONSTEALLTION OF THE NIGHT RHEY ALMOST KISSED ILL THROW UP IT FUCKING ISSSSSSS
fuckkk they're naming the baby cow dolly as in dolly parton rip our country queen
i fucking love 'wear the hat ride the cowboy' so much so the fact that she took his hat and put it on aaaaaa
eek he hasn't told austin about them or told her about dave and his offer
lyla feeling like her family home kept her connected to her life even though she didn't live there hits way too close to home for me
WELL I WONDER WHOS SHOWING IP NEXT WEEK HUH