🏔️Swift and Saddled🐎
Lyla Sage

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️🌶️

Another cowboy who has my heart. Get ready to meet golden retriever, Wes Ryder, on March 5th, 2024!

Thank you to for the eARC of Swift and Saddled!

🐂Sunshine cowboy meets grumpy interior designer
🐂 Jellyroll MMC to the max 🥹
🐂male mental health rep
🐂 previous emotionally abusive relationship (FMC)
🐂Found family
🐂Slow burn with spice

I really loved Ada, she was so relatable to me as someone who is shy and has trouble in social situations. Wes and her really balanced each other out and supported each other. It was a sweet and swoony romance 😍. I laughed so hard at the GBBO part. I can’t, It was too funny. Y’all are gonna love this one. I CANNOT WAIT for Gus and Teddy 😮😍!

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for this eARC

I loved Done and Dusted, and Swift and Saddled lived entirely up to my expectations. This was a very fun, quick read with some good heart behind it. I really appreciated both Ada and West and their struggles and desire to be loved. I especially related to Ada where she feels like if anyone spends too much time with her they wont like what they see. Overall I would highly recommend this book to fans of Elsie Silver, and Devney Perry, it was a little short, but very charming and I can't wait for book three.

I just reviewed Swift and Saddled by Lyla Sage. #SwiftandSaddled #NetGalley
YEE HAW! I love me a good cowboy romance and ugh Wes is the perfect cowboy. Ugh, nothing is more perfect than a "he falls first" trope, and boy do cowboys seem to always fall first. This book was so cute, and after devoured the first book in the series I was very excited to get my little fingers on the second book!
Now I know that this is a personal issue, but I need more background. Let me feel bad for these characters, Ada's divorce was messy *give me more.* Wes has depression *give me more*!
Lyla Sage keep doing what you're doing and I'll be patiently waiting to read Teddy's and Gus's story next!!!

Swift and Saddled is such a fun read! Giving it a solid 3 star rating.
The story follows Wes and Ada and their love story. I think both characters were set up to be complex and relatable but the story felt a little surface level (which is not necessarily a bad thing). If you're someone who is looking for a book that is fun to read and easy to digest this is definitely it! There was romance, laughter, a little spice, and some representation for real life issues such as mental health, trauma from past relationships, and more.

What I loved:
- The self awareness of the characters when it comes to their inner conflicts
- The romance! It was such a cute story and I loved that there was no miscommunication or third act breakup

What I didn't love so much:
- The pacing/ timeline was hard to track at times which made the process of the characters falling in love feel a little rushed
- I wish we would have gotten some more scenes of Wes and Ada getting to know each other beyond the smaller/ surface level characteristics


Overall, I would definitely recommend Swift and Saddled if you're looking for a fun small town romance! :)

This book was so cute! Riding my cowboy romance high, I absolutely fell in love with Lyla's ability to write another AMAZING cowboy romance. This book was so fun, so sweet, had so many great moments that had me literally fanning my face because I was swooning so much.

I could not put this book down, I think I actually loved it more than I loved book one. It was everything and I'm obsessed with it!

Thank you NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Genuinely enjoyed this! I will eagerly await the next instalment…. Honestly a bit sad I read this so early before release because now I have to wait longer for book! Definitely counting Lyla sage as a must buy/read author from here on out. Thank you so much for the ARC!

Absolute perfection.

I honestly didn’t expect for Lyla to bust out another book that I’d love as much as Done and Dusted.. and she didn’t. She gave me a book I love MORE and now I’m a puddle on the floor.

I loved every single second of my time reading about these two falling so hard for one another!

Read this if you love:
-kissed a random guy in a bar and now he’s my boss
-cute animals that you can’t get enough of
-a black cat heroine with a golden retriever hero
-overcoming trauma and some fantastic chronic depression rep
-he falls first and harder
-interior design and saving old homes
-sexy stick shift lessons
-a ruckus found family
-hilarious moments, tender moments, heartbreaking moments, steamy moments, and everything in between!
-rainstorms and baby cows
-freedom, love, safety, and peace.

Gosh- these two.

I genuinely can’t wait for pub day next year so I can shout endlessly about how much I love this book and these characters.

Lyla, you did good. You did SO good! I’m endlessly happy for you and can’t wait to see what else you share with us in the future!

Really enjoyed this follow up to Done and Dusted! Wes and Ada are a team working on the remodel of a house on Wes' family land. It's part forbidden romance and the old characters I loved from the previous book make appearances. I enjoyed the first book in the series more, but this was a great sequel. I look forward to the next one in the series!

What a bingeable book!

4.5/5

A perfect small town ‘cowboy’ romance. Wes and Ada had me smiling the entire time!

The spice was 10 out of 10!

Wes is a a rancher looking to add something new to the family ranch in the way of a B&B style lodge. Ada is the interior designer hired to make it all happen. There is some love at first sight, which at first was a bit of a turn off for me, but it worked.

Ada is recently divorced and working through some things, and I really loved that aspect of the story. I loved Wes open discussion about depression.

I read this in one sitting, and it’s going to be hard for me to wait until the next one in the series is available!

Also, we get a few Luke and Emmy scenes in this book which was great!

Thanks Netgalley and Dial for the ARC!

I have read Sage's previous books and now it is clear that her writing tends to be pretty succinct. This doesn't always have to be a bad thing, but I think when you are trying to write profound and complex characters it does become a bad thing. In this case, Ada comes off as very wishy-washy as she can never make up her mind. In one chapter she thinks one thing and the next another. She doesn't even let herself ruminate on her feelings. As the reader, this was a bit annoying. If the book was longer, then it would make Ada feel more complex.

Alongside, Sage's writing is very matter-of-fact. This makes it hard to really get into the writing at the beginning. I wish she would show more than tell. She writes smut very well, but it almost feels like the rest of the writing is just a segway to be able to write smut. The rest of the writing falls short compared to the smut. As well, I think as someone who read D&D I was waiting for an iconic smut scene like there was in the previous book.

Regardless, I love the family aspect of Rebels Blue. Wes felt like more of a complex and deep character because he was always sure of his decisions and he was aware of why he felt the way that he did. He was also just a total sweetheart that I loved.

Overall, this book remains at the same level as Done and Dusted. It is clear that Sage is a new writer and I'm excited to see her improve!

Lyla Sage is a writer to watch! She brings a modern approach to the beloved cowboy romance genre and I can't get enough of it. I love how she weaves in mental health and healing into her characters journeys, resulting in a tender (but also hot) love story. If you like the black cat + golden retriever trope, soft boys, big families with big personalities, and HGTV, you MUST read this! On a less serious note, I'm pretty sure I know how to drive stick shift now.

Yesssss!!! OKAY, so the Rebel Blue Ranch series is my guilty pleasure. Horses and hot men are really all I want in life, and Lyla Sage is delivering the goods. Is the writing complex? Does it have any depth at all? Not really, no. But look at that cover! Both of these books are serving up all the fun, Coyote Ugly-meets-Yellowstone goodness, and I gobbled up this new one in a single sitting. I would give my eye teeth to adapt these books into films.

While Done & Dusted's Emmy and Brooks do appear, as well as fan favorites Teddy and Gus, the central romance in Swift & Saddled is between newcomer Ada, and peripheral Ryder brother Wes. I cannot wait for the next book in the series. Seriously, I can't wait. Send an ARC, plz.

Alright, well, turns out I am now a fan of cowboy romances?! I have been branching out bit by bit into the romance genre (I typically am an Epic Fantasy / Adult Fantasy reader) and I FLEW through this? I think a total of two sittings? It's difficult to review the plot of this book without giving too much away because it is rather short (aprox. 320 pages) but I so enjoyed these characters! Ada is certainly flawed but with good reason, she's bouncing back from a terrible (and short) marriage while also figuring out just what she wants to do in life after dropping/failing out of school for design. Then, we have Weston, a big golden retriever boy, who is just completely swooning over Ada the entire time, which is probably my favorite trope in romance so far is when the guy falls (fast and hard) for our stubborn and determined FMC. The tension in this book is insane, I enjoyed it significantly more than the first one.
4.25 stars!

ARC REVIEW
🪵SWIFT AND SADDLED by Lyla Sage🪵

“I turned back to Wes.
Who was looking at me.
He was always looking at me.
And I was always looking at him.
It was a problem.
A big fucking problem.”

*excuse me while I scream into a pillow*

I’m not even sure who to thank for this ARC, maybe the netgalley gods?? Is that even a thing. ANYWAY. I thoroughly enjoy a cowboy romance. There isn’t a time in my life, that I can’t sit down and enjoy a good cowboy romance. It just doesn’t exist. When is the right time for Weston Ryder? Right now. Yesterday. Tomorrow. HE. IS. PRECIOUS. This book opens with Weston venturing out with his entrepreneurial spirit and hiring a young, gorgeous interior designer to help all his Baby Blue (🤭) dreams come true. Only to not realize she was the girl he made out with the night before 👀. It only escalates from there and it’s WONDERFUL. I loved the open and honesty, I loved the mental health representation and the positive and HEALTHY ways to deal. I loved the HGTV vibes. Did I mention I loved the cowboys of it all???! Okay. Good. I still think I liked the first book better, but I think the next two books?!? Will be even best ones yet. the set up for book three is so 🫣. It’s got me kicking my feet with excitement. Sadly, I think there were a few things this book was missing. I wish I knew more about her past. I feel like we skipped over so much with that that could have been pertinent to the “moving on” process. I wish we understood more about Wes’ dark times, and I would have liked to see them work through something like that together. Overall I was thoroughly entertained and I will be reading book three and 4. & Amen.

Plot rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Spice rating: 🌶️.5

🐮 COWBOY romance
🐮 HGTV vibes
🐮 city girl/country boy
🐮 forced proximity
🐮 found family
🐮 cow rescuers (if this isn’t a troupe it should be)
🐮boss/employee (kinda)

I thoroughly enjoyed the second installment of the Rebel Blue Ranch series. I loved the first book and loved Wes so I knew I had to read this one. Little did I know I'd relate so much to Ada!

She was like me in so many ways; we thought alike. I liked what the author did for her character, though I wish there were more development on her past. The same goes for Wes--he reveals that he's on antidepressants, so there's some struggling there, yet there's never any struggle. Which is FINE since this is the type of book that isn't going to get into all that. Same as Done and Dusted, they aren't diving deep into the character's problems and pasts and traumas. It's mentioned briefly then literally (pretty much) never again. That's why these are great fluff books, but it still hurts to see that potential not used.

Ada's struggle with making friends and holding female friendships was one that I really don't see used often in romance books. The majority (almost all) romance books I've read had their FMCs have besties since the beginning, which is always nice because who doesn't love a good friendship? But I loved watching Ada navigate through something I used to struggle with too.

Which is why I deducted a star. That and the third-act breakup were so unnecessary.

The thing I love most about these books is the found-family. Ada felt that tremendously with the Ryders in this book and I honestly felt it more in this one than I did in the first one. It makes sense that way since Emmy was. a Ryder and Ada was an outsider. But Ada's experience for the first time being on the ranch just really made me want a damn cowboy! Wes feeding a baby cow shirtless at the dead of night??? ARE YOU KIDDING ME

I really loved what Sage did with Wes and Ada's romance. The kinda one-night stand, the working relationship. It was a good though light conflict to have, keeping them separate but tense. Especially since she basically lived with them.

The side characters are who I really love. Amos for sure, and Gus. I cannot wait to see Teddy and Gus (I peeped the first chapter at the end! Oh I am SO excited!) And of course Emmy and Brooks.

This is a fun series. I definitely plan to keep reading.

I like Wes. Ada is a decent character but not necessarily a standout. She kept saying she wasn’t likable but I didn’t get that vibe from her.

The author does a good job with small town, cowboy romance. It’s pretty on par with the genre as far as characters, setting, etc. so it can feel fairly similar if you read a lot of that.

I like the Ryder family and all the side characters.

I do think the first book was better; the sequel didn’t have as many exciting elements. Though, I’m looking forward to the next one—really hoping Teddy and Gus don’t disappoint.

A MUST PURCHASE once it is officially published. I'm incredibly excited. I found their dynamic really sweet. I also loved the amount of actual communication that happened between Ada and Wes. An addictive and fast read.

Thank you to NetGalley and The Dial Press for giving me an eARC of Swift and Saddled. I absolutely loved Done and Dusted when I first read it, but I loved Swift and Saddled even more. I loved the relationship between Ada and Wes and was quite literally kicking my feet in the first couple chapters. Were there some aspects that could have been fleshed out a little more? Yes, but it didn't take away from my enjoyment of this book, especially since I had read Done and Dusted previously and knew what the guest ranch meant to Wes. Overall, I loved Lyla's sophomore novel and can't wait to read the rest of the series!

It was so fun to have the Rebel Blue gang back!! I love Brooks and Emmy but Wes and Ada blew me out of the water! Black Cat FMC and Golden Retriever MMC 😍😍😍😍 UGHHH I LOVE IT SO MUCH. The mental health representation in this book was done with such grace. As someone who struggles I really appreciate that.🫶🏻

I LOVED Done and Dusted but I definitely love Swift and Saddled more.🥹

P.S. this book has an excerpt of book 3 at the end and i am unwell. I cannot wait to read the rest of this series!!

Lyla Sage is now one of my favorite western romance/cowboy romance writers. Like Done and Dusted, swift and saddled is a fast read that will keep you smiling. We do touch the subject of depression and another character who has a bit of trust issues to being left without any word from their partner. I love that Lyla brings in topics that some other authors may never put into their book. She makes he characters relatable by showing us that the characters she writes are not perfect but everyday life isn’t perfect. I really hope the next book she writes is about Gus! I really can’t wait to devour more of her writing and see what else she has in store for us!