been awhile since i've read a romance and this one did what it needed to do! a slow burn cowboy romance that gave me butterflies, had me laugh, and left me wanting more. i had such a fun time reading this and definitely recommend if you're looking to get into romance

I love Cowboy Romance and this one gets me.
Im so happy to get the chance to read these books here on netgalley and fall for These cool Boys in the Romance Books.
Its Not like a lyla sage or elsie silver but it was too cute and Full of horse love.

Save a Horse Ride a Cowboyyyyy! A slow burn, cowboy romcom full of banter! 3.75 stars

Shoutout to NetGalley for allowing me to read a Digital Arc before pub date!

Amelia is a Romance Author, looking to switch up her genres. But when her Western Cowboy book is rejected but a plethora of publishers, she realizes she doesn't really know as much as she thought about the wild west. With determination for her new concept to succeed, she ventures to the plains of Colorado, to do on sight research at a ranch belonging to who are essentially rodeo royalty, the Randalls. Learning on the job in a beautiful environment should be nothing but fun right? Except when you have the grumpiest cowboy and grumpiest Randall breathing down your neck. When her cowboy starts to go from a little less grumpy, to a little more flirty, can Amelia make it through the summer and back to California unscathed?

Thoughts and potential spoilers warning!

This was a fun read! I LOVE a cowboy/small town romance story, and this book definitely reminded me of why! I laughed and chuckled out loud a few times and definitely went to highlight some fun phrases. This book is a SWEET slowburn and not at all spicy which threw me off a bit, and not as much of a romance as it is, found family. Though there is romance and banter, it is a CLEAN romance, and you won't get anything more than a few kisses. Mia and Eric were fun though! I mean what's not to love about a grumpy cowboy and a witty city girl? The pacing in this book was ok, but not fantastic. There were aspects of the story that felt really drawn out and repetitive, but then others that I was looking forward to but felt like they happened too quickly.

Dislikes/ Definite Spoiler...

Mia: "I don't want a fling, so I want to be friends"
Eric: Literally buying flowers, coffee, and planning picnic dates and calling her Baby/Babe, after clearly stating he wants her
Also Mia: "if he wanted me he would make a move and show me"

LIKE GIRL BE SO FOR REAL RIGHT NOW?!?! That happened a lot at one point in the book and it honestly got a little annoying! She says she wants to be friends but also is mad when he respects her boundaries and doesn't just try to kiss her out of nowhere because she makes it clear she doesn't want a fling. He shows over and over again that he wants more from her!! UGHHH!! Mia's hesitation to pursue more also confused me a bit. I understand parental abandonment issues and struggling to trust someone. But the way it was written was as if it was a deep rooted childhood trauma. Mia def has some struggles, cause her dad was an absolute wet sock who treated Mia like she was a mistake, but to frame it as a "everyone who I love leaves" type of abandonment just didn't sit right with me considering her father left when she was 28?

All my cowboy dreams came true on this book!!! Oh goodness I love Waitlyn Andrew's and her writing. I recently finished Yes Chef which was her debut novel, this was just as good! Amelia and Eric became couple goals real quick for me. It was giving The Longest Ride mixed with the Great Gatsby. My favorite line from this book is " You wear the hat, you ride the cowboy":

Thank you go Waitlyn and NetGalley for this advanced copy!

Oh I’m so glad I stumbled upon this one! I had such a great time reading this one!! While I do enjoy a spicy romance from time to time, I really enjoyed reading this closed-door cowboy romance (which I find to be rare to find for cowboy romances!). This was such a fluffy feel good read. While there were a few small moments where I felt some characters were cliche, the characters were overall really well done & distinct from one another! I really grew to love them all. This story was so fun as well! Overall I really enjoyed this read & I’m so glad I found an author that I’d like to read more from!

Thank you to the author & NetGalley for the eARC!

I honestly loved it! it was the perfect read to end summer in the best way possible. It was cozy and funny at the same time, and I really appreciated the message behind Mia's story. I loved the chemistry between the two, I just wished Eric's POV was present too! But overall it was amazing

Actually 3.25⭐️ but I rounded.

Overall Rider’s Block was a quick enjoyable read. What held me back from rating this higher was the flow of the writing seemed a little disjointed at times.

I would still recommend this as a vacation read.

I LOVED this book! It had me kicking my feet and giggling from the very beginning. I immediately fell in love with all the main characters. The connection to the characters really helped bring the story to life and keep the reader wanting more.

My only “complaint” is that the MCF was incredibly insufferable about midway through with her feelings about the MCM. It all has to do with her past relationship (no spoilers) but she KNEW she was doing it and still continued to make things harder. I’m so glad the MCM was there for her with patience and grace.

It tends to surprise me when I fall in love with a closed door romance. Especially when the chemistry is palpable so I just keep waiting for more than a kiss. Add that to a cowboy romance and I was beside myself. I really loved this story. This was the perfect grumpy sunshine love story. Amelia is a California girly through and through who goes to the plains of colorado only to find what she has always been looking for. Eric is a grump on the outside but man is he a sweetheart and softy deep down. Also can I please have Roper or Chester?

The adventures our characters had together, good or bad, made me fall for this family head over heels. I loved every second and wish I had more of this story!

⭐️ 2.75 stars

Tropes/What to Expect:
🧡 Clean Romance
🧡 Cowboy x City Girl
🧡 Grumpy x Sunshine
🧡 A song for each chapter
🧡 He calls her ‘Red’
🧡 One Horse
🧡 Slow Burn

Info:
1st person POV (h)
No owd
Light unwanted omd (flirty cowboy)
No cheating
No virgins (no manwhore/celibate H - 2 yrs at least)
No spice
No third-act breakup
Epilogue (1 yr later)
HEA


My Thoughts (good):

I adored how the author captured cowboy culture in such a genuine and real way. I have read some books that just did not seem to have given that particular plot point enough thought or realism. This portrayal was outstanding.

I loved how much thought the author put into this. You can really tell she put little parts of herself in the story, and it makes it even more unique.

It was really fun to learn about cowboy life, and be able to learn alongside Amelia. Basically, this book addressed every query I had while reading a western novel.

I was relieved that Eric was not an asshole because sometimes when I read about a grumpy MMC, he just turns out to be an asshole. (It was a little off-putting that he was such a jerk in the first few chapters, but he quickly changed his attitude.)

It was great that we readers did not have to read about the "boring stuff" and that the first few chapters moved quickly from her book being rejected to her arrival at the ranch.

I loved how much I was able to connect to the characters and even have a few happy tears. I loved Eric! And his relationship with his horse, Roper <3


My Thoughts (not so good):

I would have liked to see Eric’s POV, and I feel like it would’ve helped me connect with his character and understand him better.

I was not as engrossed in this as I had hoped. I felt like certain parts of the story were drawn out, repeated, and maybe a little unnecessary. Which made me want to skim a little and took longer for me to read. I am not quite sure why this did not really work out for me, though, because I thought the characters were great.

There was a little too much pushing away from Amelia for my liking. I don’t mind it normally, but it did seem weird that she was completely blind to all of Eric’s advances. We do learn where her doubts stem from, so I understand to a certain extent.

It felt more like a personal journey on learning to trust and gain confidence back than an actual romance? The plot also felt slow.

This was not my thing, but I can definitely see others adoring it! I still recommend this to certain readers! The book was safe, had good writing, good characters, and I liked the hard topics that were brought up. This rating is based on my personal enjoyment.

"I think I'd take Eric. He's such a Mr. Darcy. So broody and handsome and responsible..."

I love Eric sm and I'm so mad that he's just ink on paper 😡

Oh wow, I didn't expect to love this book as much as I did.

Amelia's a successful author and when her next book got rejected 14 times, she set things right and embarked on a journey for research purposes about her book. She head to Colorado and stayed at a family's ranch where she met Eric.

First off, I love both characters. It took me around 30% to fully be invested in this book. Amelia's flawed and had her own trauma from her past that got her hesitant to go all-in with Eric. While Eric's been broody from the start but ultimately changed after a few chapters because of Amelia. He's communicative, had all the love languages, knows what he wants and backed it up with actions. He's perfect and I love how they were both adults with the whole thing.

It's not your typical city girl settled down with the countryside for love. They both put in the work, the effort and communicate properly to get where they are.

Brb, heading to Colorado to get me some cowboy!

First thought: Love,Love,Love! Hats off to Waitlyn once again she leave me with all the feels wanting more. This book does not disappoint, I binged it in one sitting it’s that good! If you want a swoon worthy cowboy romance with all the vibes run and add this one to your TBR now I promise it’s as good as the late 90/2000s romcom movies.

NY best selling author Amelia is trying to break out in a new genre of mystery but her book has been turned down 14times! So she’s scratching the bottom of the barrel and her last attempt will be do go do some field research. One of her besties has family that owns a ranch out in Northern Colorado and to her luck they have an open cottage she can stay in for the summer.

Now it’s time for this cali girl to immerse herself in the land of the cowboys! Before she even makes it to her cottage for the summer her rental gets a flat on the road there and she encounters the hottest grumpiest man aka cowboy she’s ever seen. Man of little words he fixes her tire and send her on her way. Little does she know he is one of 3 brothers running the ranch she’s staying at.

Amelia wants to make her time counts and absorb all the things so she’s quickly indcuted to the family and tossed into all things ranch life. Come follow her adventures as she gets the full cowgirl treatment, she may ever find a cowboy as she gains insights to rewrite her book.

This book has it all: horses, rodeos, storms, rattlesnakes, sunsets, forced proximity, family dinners, hot cowboys, found family and the perfect level of slow burn! Check it out when it Releases on September 26th, 2024!

Literally Themes you’ll find:

* Grumpy Cowboy x Sunshine Author
* Forced Proximity
* Drunken Confessions
* Cowboy & His Horse 😍
* Silent Acts of Love
* Swoon Worthy
* Slow Burn
* Single POV
* Only Kissing 💋

♥️🐂🐴♥️🐂🐴♥️🐂🐴♥️🐂🐴♥️🐂🐴♥️

i unfortunately didn’t enjoy this book, i just couldn’t get being the story or the characters and found the plot very slow

Oh I enjoyed this so much! Closed door, comforting, happy romance featuring a cowboy and a writer! Just lovely. I enjoyed Andrews previous work and am looking forward to the next and the next. Pacing and writing were good. A treat of a read! Thanks to NetGalley for an early copy!

It started slow, and I really thought it was going to take me a while to get through this. But Waitlyn really has a great way of revealing the characters to you and making you feel more and more invested in them.
It's a single POV, which I didn't hate, but really wished I had Eric's POV too, to really see what his thoughts were and show the juxtaposition of his actions vs. thoughts.
It was such a neat take on a cowboy romance, it would be a great gateway book to people who haven't read cowboy. By writing Amelia as an author who is doing research for a book, Waitlyn was able to really explain and breakdown ranching and rodeoing without feeling like it was a tutorial for the reader.
I had such a great time with the Randalls and am so glad Waitlyn has set up her next novel within the same family.

such a cute slow burn cowboy romance!!!! What I really enjoyed about this book was how everyone at the ranch immediately took Amelia into their family with open arms. Now, it took a little bit for our grump MMC cowboy, Eric, to realize he had been won over, but the love was there nonetheless.

This book was sent to me via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 5 stars (I had to)
Spice: none

Please be warned, this review may contain spoilers.

This year alone I have read 127 books including this one. I read for pleasure and this was my first real foray into getting an ARC. I have gotten ARCs before, don't get me wrong, but with wanting to build a base for readers and hopefully authors and also hopefully inspiring others to read and fall in love with being able to travel to far off places without ever leaving their couch, I decided that this foray could be a worthwhile step.

I am also a person who rarely, gives a five star review. I have bounced between 4.5 stars and 5 stars for most of this book to be honest and I am trying to figure out what it lacks or doesn't lack for me to say I can take off that half point.

The only slightly negative things I can say is that it took me a couple of chapters to settle into the book. And the second thing the level of frustration I had with these two MC's was unparralled. Have you seen that book meme that's "I find reading so relaxing. *Screams at book*, *cries over book*." etc? Well I have never related to a meme more when reading and book. I wanted to grab the two MC's and shake them at times. But you pick up a romance book that is what you come to expect.

Amelia (Mia), is a successful author but her lack of research bites her in the ass so she needs to do some immersive research. Which is how we meet Eric. The cowboy *fans self*

Eric is a man of few words at least until he warms up, and boy does he warm up.

My notes the whole way through the book are a little insane and I don't know if Waitlyn Andrews experienced half of the events of this book but man, did she pull me in.

The tornado sparked an anxiety I didn't even know I had. I want to find rodeos online and watch them (And I have read my fair share of cowboy romances and they haven't made me do that). I have completely fallen in love with a fictional horse, and the bond between said horse and Eric...be still my beating heart. The banter between Mia and Eric made me giggle (and I don't giggle. I laugh out loud or I smirk) The book gave me butterflies, it made me giggle, it gave me anxiety (in a good way), and it made me cry.

I have to say it always surprises me when distance (especially with a job you can do anywhere as long as you have an internet connection, and a laptop) comes a huge sticking point. But its a romance that will get sorted. I was kind of surprised at the turn this book made, when I had a about 1.5 hours of reading left but I got it. Because my brain works the same way. When you have a point or plan in mind its damned hard to stray from it. So I very much got Mia's point but it didn't stop me being annoyed with her for not changing her mind.

We also get a very real sense of Mia's frustration with Eric, despite her having her own reasons for being...standoffish, and he had his reason's. It was just a matter of time before one of them broke and it was so amazing when one of them did and we get a frustrated, tormented confession of feelings that set of my butterflies and caused more giggling and maybe some hand clapping.

I have to say though an in love cowboy is a cute as hell cowboy *insert heart eyes here*

Andrews offers us not just one romance in this book though, but two. I found myself getting heavily drawn into Penny and Dean and I genuinely did not know which of the characters love lives I wanted to work out more.

I didn't want this book to end. So much so I read the acknowledgements, which I never ever do. And something Andew's wrote stuck with me. She picked up a book from a favourite author of hers because this author was historically a safe happy read. She ended up disappointed as this wasn't what she got, and because of that she promises to always be that author. She will be the author you can pick up and know you are going to get a story that will give you the feels and will be a happy book. That for me, made me run to Amazon and download her other published work Yes Chef and added her to the list of authors I will always, without fail, buy before anyone else.

Thanks for reading this review, and thanks again to NetGalley for giving me the chance to read this book, review it, and find a new will always buy author.

Tropes for this book are some of my favourites:
- Cowboy & City Girl
- One Horse ;)
- Slow Burn
- Grumpy Sunshine

Riders Block was a fun time! Doing research for a book by immersing yourself in the situation is such a great premise, and the relationship between Amelia and Eric has a lovely arc of almost mentor/mentee vibes but overlapped with heavy chemistry and adorable moments, Eric is super persistent in his interest in Amelia which I loved, but found myself getting a bit frustrated with Amelia's guided nature - she pushed away for too long in my opinion.

I adore cowboy romance books but for some reason this didn't engross me as much as others - it would have been better framed as a dual POV I think, having some deeper connection with Eric would balance the constant back and forth in Amelia's POV.

All in all it was a very cute read, I wasn't aware that it was a 'Clean Romance' so if you're looking for an easy and enjoyable book with really interesting details and view into accurate ranch life then it's for you!

I am a big fan of cowboy romance and this one was fun to read. This is a slow burn which is always a favorite - but being closed door it is much lighter on the spice than my typical read. I was glad that there was a well rounded cast of side characters to keep me engaged. I felt a lot of similarities between some of my long-standing favorites like the Blue Moon series by Lucy Score and Elsie Silver's Chestnut Springs - large, meddling "found family" with some good humor.
I like the premise of an author spending time on a ranch for research, with the slight misunderstanding/grumpy x sunshine/enemies to lovers vibes at first. And I really enjoyed two main characters who communicate very well!

Thank you for the chance to read this arc!

Such a cute story of a writer struggling with a book and making the decision to travel to the setting to help with her writing only to find herself going head-to-head with a grumpy cowboy who she ends up falling in love with but his life is in Colorado and hers is in California. She doesn't want to give up the life she thinks she wants and doesn't want to ask him to do the same either but eventually she has to pick what's more important to her. I really enjoyed this book and can't wait to read more from the author.