Member Reviews
Good little short-paced read that gives hallmark vibes. I personally found it a little too quick and prefer more development but give it a go!
This story focuses on Izzy coming to town to try and save Drylanders Hope. What she she didn’t expect was that the town being so open to her. Especially after the frosty meeting of Ethan.
Izzy has no problem with the town, but the people she works for. Now Izzy needs to focus on saving the town no matter what it can cost her.
I received this book from #netgalley for an honest free review.
I really wanted to enjoy this book, as I’m a huge fan of Hallmark movies/city person goes to small town and falls in love theme. I also am a Christian, so I enjoyed the faith and Christianity that was included in this book. However, I struggled with most of the rest of it - there didn’t seem to be much character growth throughout the story, and I didn’t truly feel much of a connection between Izzy and Ethan. There were also several phrases that felt repetitive early on in the story, and I came across several typos in which entire sentences were unreadable. I read an ARC version of this book, so hopefully those will be corrected prior to the final edit.
Thank you to NetGalley for the digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Self-published, this novella is hard to give a score to, not because it's bad, quite the reverse in many ways. but because it bears all the hallmarks of a (possibly young) still largely inexperienced writer. A corporate, city girl comes to rural Texas to rescue a financially struggling ranch. Finding herself attracted to the gruff, wary owner and widower, she eventually wins his heart as he recognises her good intentions. A romance that is, arguably, full of potential is spoiled by being choc-full of toe-curling clichés and repetitions which a good editor could have helped to iron out and improve. As trite and hackneyed as the premise is, I did enjoy the setting and learning more about Texas which the author is clearly familiar with.
Many thanks to the publishers and to Netgalley for the ARC.
I haven't read the book yet, but I wanted to rate it what I think the book will be and when i'm finished i'll be able to see if my first impressions of the book were correct.
4.25⭐
It seems like a cute short little read; I like the idea of the book and I'm excited to get into it.
The book overall is a 3-star rating. It is a quick pace with Hallmark-style vibes. The premise centers around Izzy, a city girl who ventures to the countryside to assist farmer Ethan in reviving his struggling farm. If you’ve watched Hallmark movies, you can predict the direction their relationship will take.
The plot flows smoothly, but I found the character development to be lacking, especially concerning Izzy and Ethan. Their love in this book is clean but felt rushed, thought given the book’s length, its forgivable. Additionally, the author weaves religion and Christianity into the story. As someone not particularly religious -I am more spiritual-, this aspect did not resonate with me, yet I appreciated the beautiful writing.
The characters, unfortunately, come across as somewhat bland. Their personalities remained averaged, resulting in minimal banter between Izzy and Eathan. Overall, I remain neutral toward them.
In summary, while this book didn’t align with my preferences, it caters well to fans of short, faith-infused reads-especially those who adore Hallmark-style romance. I will not write off Remi Sinclair entirely; perhaps her next work will resonate more with me or introduce me to more clean and Christian literature.
I want to say thank you for the author and BooksGoSocial for the ARC via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
Posted on Goodreads on 7/11/2024.
I received an arc from NetGalley and this is my honest opinion.
This novella was a fast read. It had a city girl versus country ranch trope.
It was upbeat and a bit cliche, but good for a summer day on the beach.
It has heavy christian themes to it, good for those looking for a clean romance. The story is told through third person dual POV.
Romancing The Drylander is the latest romance novella from author Remy Sinclair. It’s a clean cowboy romance perfect for anyone wanting a short and sweet romantic read.
Remy Sinclair has a really descriptive writing style and her vivid descriptions made the Texan setting come alive on the page. Our story is told through a third person dual POV narrative and it was nice to see both Izzy and Ethan’s stories explored. Ethan’s story was particularly interesting as we explore his grief after being widowed at a young age when his high school sweetheart lost her life following a cancer battle. I quickly warmed to Ethan’s character and it was great to see him grow over the course of the book from grumpy cowboy to someone open to love again. Izzy was another brilliant character and I enjoyed the exploration of her reconnecting with her roots and finding a true home in Drylanders' Hope. There is also a fantastic cast of supporting characters in the Drylanders' Hope community, all of whom were really interesting to read about.
As you can expect with a romance novella, this is a very fast-burn story and Izzy and Ethan’s relationship progresses very quickly over the course of a few weeks. We do still get a good amount of relationship building scenes though which was nice to see. I perhaps would have liked even more, just to get us really rooting for their relationship, and it would have been nice to also have an epilogue exploring their relationship later down the line.
There is a heavy Christian element to the story which I wasn’t expecting. Although as someone who isn’t particularly religious I clearly wasn’t the target audience, I’m sure this will appeal to anyone who likes to read clean romances with Christian messaging. This is a clean romance with nothing more than kisses.
Overall, Romancing The Drylander is a quick and easy read, perfect for anyone who wants a cowboy romance without any spice.
Rating:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Spice Level: 🌶️ / 5 (Only Kisses)
I have posted my review on my blog www.yourschloe.co.uk
*Thank you to NetGalley, Remy Sinclair and BooksGoSocial.
I thought the book was ok. It was too quick of a read for me. There was no real growth of characters and the plot. I just want into the book as I am with other books.
I received an arc from NetGalley and this is my honest opinion.
This book was a light easy read and one you can get through pretty quickly. A ranch is on the brink of bankruptcy and a City girl is tasked with bringing it back into the black.
The ranching community embraces her and welcomes her but her efforts may not be enough to save the ranch. The dilemma she is under may not keep her new found relationship afloat either.
Nice read and a message of Hope with a Christian perspective.
3.75 stars