Elsie Silver writes so beautifully! As someone who read her second series first-the series about the Eaton brothers-, I’ve been wanting to read Violet Eaton’s story for quite some time! I absolutely loved every moment of this book. I loved the concept-definitely original and witty and everything I look for in a great read. Cole is so real and raw and you can’t help but love him and want to help ease his anxieties. Violet is so sweet and vibrant! You feel her joy as she ride while you read.

Thank you so much for the ARC for my honest review.

I really enjoyed this novel and it's characters. I quickly got sucked into the story and the interesting way the past and present are woven. I'm not a huge fan of what was pretty graphic sex scenes, but they were not the majority of the book. If you dislike that though (and pretty coarse talk) this may not be for you. I enjoyed watching the characters evolve.

This was my first read by Elsie and it was really fun! I found it entertaining and spicy, which is exactly what I wanted from a romance read. The characters had some complex backgrounds and the jumps from past to present kept things intriguing and mysterious. I would definitely read another of her books!

love love love anything by this author. Another great book with a perfect storyline and just enough spice to keep you engaged the whole book. I enjoyed seeing previous characters and loved meeting the new ones as well. Thanks so much for letting me ARC!

5 stars

I don't know if there is anything better than how romance novels constantly show how beneficial therapy can be. This was such a wonderful novel. I read the Chestnut Spring series previously so coming back to her earlier series and seeing Violet's story with little glimpses of her family was such a treat. I loved this, I felt there is no doubt the Cole and Violet would stay together for the long haul because of the work they did on themselves both separately and together. Also the age gap was so inconsequential and never felt icky (if both characters are over 25, I'm usually fine with it anyhow). I have yet to be even slightly disappointed in Elsie's work.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

4.25⭐️

I’ve already read (and loved) the chestnut springs series and this gave the same addicting & thrilling feeling I got when I read it! I’m kicking myself for not reading it sooner. Elsie Silver is a genius in her writing and I couldn’t put this book down even if I wanted to!! a grumpy x sunshine (‼️), small town romance with a delicious slow burn and sort’ve a second chance re-kindling 👀

Violet Eaton has a secret past that only one man was privy to. She left that life, and man, in the past hoping she’d never find out his identity. She’s crushing it at her job at Gold Rush Ranch, she’s made friends, and has now won her first race as a jockey. She’s on a high, until Cole Harding, her boss’ boss, introduces himself and discloses how he knows her. Fast forward to a year later when the very same man is moving back to Ruby Creek and inevitably back in her life. Lines are crossed, tensions are high, and Violet and Cole wonder if they can ever heal their pasts to get to the future they want.

Cole is a man with many layers where you have to chip away at his hard exterior to get to his soft centre. I loved how protective he was of Violet and even when he “didn’t want her around” he was still helping her. Violet is my favourite type of fmc: fierce, kind-hearted, stubborn, and strong. The forced proximity and tension in this book was next-level! this is a heavier book dealing with topics of PTSD and I think the author does a great job with representing it.

If you loved the chestnut springs series, or any small-town romance, absolutely check out this series you will not regret it!!

Thank you NetGalley, Sourcebooks Bloom Books, and Elsie Silver for an ARC in exchange for an honest review! the traditionally published versions of this book releases July 23rd 💘

A Photo Finish

This. Book.

I loved this even more than Off to the Races if you could even believe it. This just had it all and then some — I legitimately didn’t want it to end!! I stayed up until 4am the first night at 2am the second -- I just couldn't put it down!

☀️Grumpy vs Sunshine
☀️Small Town
☀️Slow Burn with delicious tension
☀️Touch her and ☠️
☀️Over coming past trauma
☀️Second Chance
☀️Cam Girl
☀️Forced Proximity
☀️Nursing back to health
☀️SPICE

Ughhhhh I want more!! It technically comes out tomorrow (July 23rd) but I called my local B&N and they had it in store so I snagged it because I needed it so badly!!

I cannot recommend this book enough!

Happy reading my friends!

Xo
Emily

#photofinish #elsiesilver #cowboyromance #militaryromance #touchheranddie #horseracing #grumpysunshine #smalltownromance #secondchance #forcedproximity #romcombooks #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #booklover #bookreview

I havent read many Elsie Silver books, but this one is so good!

I really enjoyed the mystery of Cole and Violet's relationship. The banter between the characters was perfect. This book had me going from the beginning! I love the dual POV books, I feel like they are more interesting to read. I loved the new cover on this series and it really made me interested in reading the book, unfortunately I am a judge a book by the cover kind of person :)

This was a wonderfully written small town romance with forced proximity, slow burn, grumpy sunshine, secret identity and so much more! LOVE LOVE LOVE!

A Photo Finish is the second in Elsie Silver's Gold Rush Ranch series. I had not read the first book in the series but I had no trouble jumping right in.

Although this was not my favorite romance- Cowboy romances are hit or miss for me, this book has some definite strengths. I really loved that our FMC Violet was the cowboy in this romance! That was a flip for me and I really appreciated that female representation. The MMC is navigating through PTSD and some of my favorite parts of this book is seeing how that has affected him and how he is navigating his mental health. Also, big bonus for the simple fact that we see a man going to therapy. Also a plus for me.

This is a fast read and the spice packs a punch!

I would recommend to readers that enjoy a spicy cowboy romance or even readers that appreciate mental health representation in their romances.

Thank you so much to Bloom Books and Netgalley for this eARC.

I enjoyed this one! A PHOTO FINISH is heavier than the last (and only other) Elsie Silver book I read, but it had moments of fun and sweetness as well. Our main character is a new race horse jockey who had an internet relationship with the love interest a few years ago that didn't end well, but now they're forced to spend time together when he shows up at her ranch and is her boss's brother. He's ex-military, goes to therapy, and has PTSD from a traumatic childhood incident. She's the sunshine to his grumpy and their relationship progresses over the course of the book. I've read a couple books now about internet relationships where one party chooses to stay anonymous and neither time did it really sit right with me because it's made to be attractive whereas I think in real life, it would be catfishy and potentially the end of the relationship. That part of the book--which admittedly is a big plot-mover, since it's literally how they met--wasn't my favorite, but overall I enjoyed this!

Thank you to Elsie Silver and Bloombooks via NetGalley for the eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Calling all horse girls: we’ve got a good romance on our hands! I really enjoyed reading this book. I thought the author did a great job dealing with PTSD, disability, mental health in general, and the complications of romance. I loved the setting and that the plot revolves around horses. The female lead is a jockey! What more could a horse girl like me want from a romance book?

This is the first book I’ve read in the Ruby Creek series, even though it’s the second installment. I didn’t have any trouble getting into the world or understanding character dynamics. I’m excited to pick up the first one in the series and also continue with the third book too!

I love a full-circle, second chance romance. Golddigger85 and Pretty in Purple made me smile, all the way to the end! Pip was a character too, and I'm not a horse person. Can't wait to read more from this author!

I enjoyed this book! It was honestly so much more than I was expecting. It is not my favorite that I’ve read by Elsie but I would definitely still recommend it! I really loved Cole’s mental health journey. It is not too often that you read a book where the mmc struggles with mental health so it was incredibly refreshing to read about his journey and actively see Cole work through things that have been holding him stagnant for years. It was equally as refreshing to see how Violet handled situations and how she also grew as a person.

Here are some tropes you can expect :)

- Grumpy x Sunshine
- Small Town
- Second Chance
- Age Gap
- Forced Proximity

Thank you NetGalley + Bloom Books for a copy of this ARC! 😊

I was expecting a cute, fluffy book just like the first one. However, this was so much more.

This hit me right in the feels; it broke my heart and put me back together. We didn’t just get the sweet feelings, we got real issues, struggles, angst and two characters who loved each other so much they went through hell and back to end up together.

If this wasn’t dual POV, I wouldn’t have liked Cole as much as I did because if you’re looking at him from just an outside perspective you won’t get to see all the hurt, self hate and struggles. Violet never gave up on Cole even when he did himself.

Violet, I mean she’s an Eaton, of course I’m going to fucking adore her immediately.

Also the mental health rep here was amazing to see.

All this to say, I loved this book.

Welcome to Gold Rush Ranch, where the horses are fierce and loyal – but not as much as their riders.

I’m new to Elsie Silver’s romance novels, but so far am loving her no-nonsense female main characters featured in the beginning of this series.

I enjoyed A Photo Finish a lot more than Off to the Races (this one was just as steamy, but in many ways a slower burn due to the dual timeline).

Here, Silver tells the story of Cole and Violet using “now” narrative and “then” flashbacks that reveal how these two have always ended up in the same orbit.

Both Violet and Cole explore what it means to be vulnerable and trust someone with their hearts and the things that they want (or the things they are too scared to want). But, Silver’s take on this is refreshing and A Photo Finish doesn’t feel like every other romance novel.

Tropes:
- Forced Proximity
- Grumpy/Sunshine
- Second chance romance
- Dual POV
- Spice for days
- Mental health rep (PTSD, grief)

I read this in less than a day and can’t wait to continue with this series. Thank you to Sourcebooks/Bloom and NetGalley for the eARC of this work. The new covers for this series are absolutely stunning and I can't wait to see this one hit the shelves in July.

A Photo Finish by Elsie Silver is a phenomenal & fascinating small town ranch romance between the grumpy & broody businessman & the vivacious jockey/woman coming into her own with one interesting & unique history. This book brings the emotions, the chemistry, the steam, the humor & there’s horses…could you ask for more??

This is book #2 in the Gold Rush Ranch series, but it could be read as a standalone. However, I did quite enjoy the first book & I was so excited to see Violet get her own story so I did suggest trying other Elsie Silver books too!

A Photo Finish is great for fans of…
🐴 Cowgirl Romance
🐴 Forced Proximity
🐴 Age Gap
🐴 Opposites Attract
🐴 Espitolarian (Internet Pen Pals)
🐴 Disability Representation

I live for the dichotomy of the grumpy hero who’s trying to quietly heal all on his own mixed the exuberant & sunshine woman that is a jockey with a dangerous profession that completely upends his life.

I also am ravenous for epistolarian books with the internet pen pal aspect of this relationship. It adds a fascinating angle & this one delivered its own sizzling twist on that front.

I am always grateful for disability & mental health representation. I thought this was well done & I loved the importance of therapy & its regular occurrence through the story & the healing.

If you love a sweet & steamy emotional rollercoaster of a romance set on a ranch, I highly recommend A Photo Finish.

Massive thanks to NetGalley & Bloom Books for the gifted copy, which I voluntarily read & reviewed.

I will be posting to social media & Amazon during release week & add links once I do!

I am already a huge Elsie Silver fan so I was SO excited to get this book from NetGalley!

This is technically the second book in the series but I had no problem skipping ahead to this one - although now I am so excited to read all of the other books in this series!

Cole is a military vet who is struggling with PTSD from his time deployed, and from witnessing his father's death in a horse related accident. Violet is a jockey representing the horse ranch she works on, which happens to be the ranch Cole's family owns. Cole struggles with being around horses because of his fathers accident, so Violet being a jockey brings a lot of challenges.

Violet and Cole's big secret is that they had actually met before! I loved that this story was dual timeline so we got to know all the details from their pervious relationship! This was such a fun read! I read it in about two days because I just couldn't put it down! This story had a lot of spice in it - so people who aren't comfortable with that may want to skip around a bit.

I thought Elsie Silver did a great job representing mental health/PTSD and disability in this story. I loved how she wrote Violet's character to be supportive but also made sure Cole's character didn't feel less than due to his disability.

Tropes I loved:
- small town romance
- second chance
- grumpy/sunshine
- forced proximity

Thank you NetGalley and Bloom Books for this ARC!

Cole + Violet are in a league of their own. I absolutely loved 𝑨 𝑷𝒉𝒐𝒕𝒐 𝑭𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒉. I am fully convinced that this is going to be my favorite book in the series. It was flawless. There is honestly not a single thing I would change in this book. I just loved it. I loved the angst, I loved the emotion, and I loved the romance. Cole was the perfect broody, wounded MMC and Violet was the perfect sweet, sunshine FMC. I really enjoyed how everything was revealed throughout this book. I had an idea of where it was going and I was completely wrong, and I loved that. It was a nice change from the predictable. Everything was done so well. I loved it so much and I’m already looking forward to rereading it in the future.

“𝙔𝙤𝙪'𝙧𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙨𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙙. 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙙𝙤𝙣'𝙩 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙖𝙩 𝙢𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙄'𝙢 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙜𝙞𝙘. 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙖𝙩 𝙢𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙬𝙚'𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙩𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚."

"𝖨 𝗄𝗇𝗈𝗐 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝗌𝖾𝖾 𝗒𝗈𝗎𝗋𝗌𝖾𝗅𝖿 𝖺𝗌 𝖽𝖺𝗋𝗄. 𝖡𝗎𝗍 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝖺𝗋𝖾𝗇'𝗍. 𝖸𝗈𝗎'𝗋𝖾 𝗌𝗐𝗂𝗋𝗅𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝖼𝗈𝗅𝗈𝗋, 𝖺𝗅𝗅 𝖽𝗂𝖿𝖿𝖾𝗋𝖾𝗇𝗍 𝗌𝗁𝖺𝖽𝖾𝗌, 𝖺 𝗆𝗈𝗌𝖺𝗂𝖼. 𝖸𝗈𝗎'𝗋𝖾 𝖼𝗈𝗆𝗉𝗅𝗂𝖼𝖺𝗍𝖾𝖽 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝖻𝖾𝖺𝗎𝗍𝗂𝖿𝗎𝗅. 𝖠𝗇𝖽 𝖨'𝗆 𝗇𝗈𝗍 𝗊𝗎𝗂𝗍𝗍𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗈𝗇 𝗒𝗈𝗎, 𝗌𝗈 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝖻𝖾𝗍𝗍𝖾𝗋 𝗇𝗈𝗍 𝗊𝗎𝗂𝗍 𝗈𝗇 𝗆𝖾."

"𝙼𝚊𝚢𝚋𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚛𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚗𝚎𝚠. 𝙼𝚊𝚢𝚋𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚛𝚎 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝙽𝚘𝚋𝚘𝚍𝚢 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚖𝚎. 𝙽𝚎𝚠 𝚐𝚘𝚊𝚕𝚜, 𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚜...𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢'𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚞𝚒𝚕𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚌𝚔𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚙𝚞𝚝 𝚊 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚘𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛. 𝙲𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚏𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐."

Tropes:
✨ Age Gap
🤫 Secret Identity
💻 Pen Pals
🥰 Second Chance
💘 Broody Wounded Hero
☀️ Grumpy x Sunshine
❤️‍🔥 Slow Burn
🏘️ Small Town
💕 Forced Proximity

I have loved every Elsie Solver book I’ve read and this is no different. This is the second book in the Gold Rush Ranch series. This book follows Violet Eaton who we know from the Chestnut Spring series. I am a sucker for a small town romance series, and love a good grumpy sunshine trope so I LOVED Violet and Coles story. I cannot wait to read the rest of this series, it is shaping up to be just as amazing as Chestnut Springs.


Thank you netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Elsie Silver does not miss! ♥️

This book was so much better than the first. I loved Violet and Cole’s story – especially Cole’s mental health journey! I can’t wait to read the rest of the series! 🐎

- forced proximity
- small town romance
- second chance
- grumpy/sunshine
- mental health rep
- dual POV

Thank you NetGalley x Bloom Books for a copy of this ARC 🥰