This is a perfect fit for readers who crave a heartwarming, small-town romance with a dash of cowboy charm, accidental pregnancy, and a grumpy-sunshine love story that will leave them feeling hopeful and uplifted.

ARC REVIEW:

Y’all I could not get ENOUGH of this book. The tension, the spice, the love story, all of it. TOP NOTCH.

Wade is a grumpy ranch owner who just finalized his divorce. Ivy is the upbeat temporary horse trainer hired to take the place of someone on maternity leave.

Both of them have just gotten out of terrible relationships and she’s his employee, so this can’t happen, right? But when Ivy falls off her horse and sprains her ankle, Wade moves her into his cabin to help her during the recovery.

Not to mention the overnight road trip where reservations were screwed up and now they have one room with one bed. 😱

While all of these tropes sound like your normal run of the mill been there done that kind of thing, Paisley Hope makes them feel brand new again.

This book y’all!! I just don’t have the words for how much I love these two.

This was an entertaining and steamy romance that definitely took the spice to the next level compared to the first book in the series. The spice was well done, but I felt like the ratio of plot to spice leaned a little too heavily on the spice.

I enjoyed Ivy and Wade as a couple but there were gaps in the story, with time jumps that skipped over the moments where the characters would have been truly falling in love. Instead, much of the focus was on their physical connection. While that was enjoyable, I found myself wanting a little more emotional depth and a stronger sense of how their relationship evolved.

This was still a fun and entertaining romance. Fans of authors like Elsie Silver will likely enjoy this series, and I had a fun time reading it. I just wish there was a bit more balance between the emotional journey and the steamy moments.

Wade Ashby 🥵🥵🥵🥵🥵

Lord have MERCY that man is everything! I loved Holding the Reins so much. I was so excited for this ARC. Training the Heart did not disappoint. Wade and Ivy's banter was full of sexy sass! I loved the grumpy x sunshine cowboy....cowboy with dimples! I loved everything about this book.

We’re back in Silver Pines and I’m obsessed with Wade and Ivy!

Ivy comes to Silver Pines Ranch as a temporary horse trainer. She and Wade need to work together, especially if they're prepping for a Kentucky Derby win. These two are so in sync, so playful, so sweet - I just love them. And Ivy fits in perfectly with the entire Silver Pines crew.

What to know:
Cowboy romance
Small town
Horse trainer x ranch owner
Grumpy x sunshine
Forced proximity
He cooks
Ice cream and movie nights
He dries her hair
Nickname
“Mine” (screaming at the commitment to this!)
Spicy

I’m so excited for more to come with Cole and Ginger.. that prank call was hilarious.

Endless thanks for the eARC!

First off, I don’t think Paisley can write a bad MMC, THEY’RE ALL HOT AS FUCK!

Waaaade🥵🥵🥵🫠💀

And our girl Ivy is the absolute perfect match to tame the grump, but also add that sassy brattiness he needs!

Thank you to NetGalley and Dell for the advanced copy!!

Paisley knows how to write a cowboy/small town romance! I really liked the town she built up in the first book and it was great to go back to it. I loved the dual POV and seeing the characters fall for each other. The book felt a tad long and it takes a shift in the later third. I did enjoy the direction it went and I think it helped to develop the relationship even more. I did really enjoy this one and I am really excited for the next installment in the series!

Thank you again to NetGalley and Dell for the advanced copy!

If Paisley Hope writes it, I will be reading it!I am absolutely obsessed with the stories that Paisley Hope writes. From start to finish they are so well developed and keeps you engaged the entire time!

I absolutely adored Wade and Ivy’s story! Their banter, tension, and chemistry was 🔥 It was nice to see more of Wade and the other Characters from Silver Pines Ranch! Wade is such a grump and it was fun to see him open up to Ivy and show his caring side. He definitely has a soft spot for Ivy. I loved Ivy’s character growth and watching her work through her struggles.

I am so excited for Riding the High to release this spring! Until next time Silver Pines Ranch!

𝐼𝒻 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓁𝑜𝓋𝑒…
- Grumpy x Sunshine
- Cowboy Romance
- Only One Bed
- Small Town
- Dual POV
- Spice
- Man Obsessed & In Denial
- Workplace Romance
- Found Family
- Surprise Pregnancy

This book is amazing! The chemistry between Wade and Ivy is perfect. Wade is a grumpy alpha male, and Ivy is a sassy heroine who gives as good as she gets. I loved being back at Silver Pines and seeing the rest of the Not Angels and the Ashby family. This book is perfect!

This was actually a really hard one for me to rate. I've bounced back and forth and I'm settling on 3.5 and rounding up to 4.

***I read an early copy so possibly things have changed by the final version***

This would have been a great story if it was set in Montana or something and they were training western event/ranch horses. The racehorse thing was just all wrong! Simple Google searches would have told you that. I hate to say it but of all the horse books I've read this one has the most glaring inaccuracies. Which was really unfortunate because it made it extremely hard to enjoy the story.

This is more me being nitpicky because if someone doesn’t know much about horses and just wants a ranch romance with a hot cowboy then this is fine. As a horse person who specifically works on a Thoroughbred farm in Kentucky the missed details bothered me and constantly took me out of the story. I'm really surprised more research wasn't done. One quick Google search and you would know where the yearling sales happen. I can take a little inaccuracies but when all the horse stuff is wonky it really bothered me.

I think the author should have visited Kentucky if the book is going to be set there. I'm not even sure what kind of farm their running with so many other things going on, one tour of a TB farm would have told you they don't work that way. It was all just bizarre. So honestly I would have given one star for the horse parts but the romance between Wade and Ivy bumped it up and bit. I did like both Wade and Ivy and their journey to forever. I liked that some tough topics were addressed and handled well.

So overall I would not recommend this one to a horse person, especially a Thoroughbred person. If you don't really care about horses and just want a dirty talking hot cowboy then definitely check it out.

Ivy and Wade’s love story is such a fun (and spicy!!) grumpy/sunshine story that had me kicking my feet through their banter and clutching my proverbial pearls at Wade’s dirty mouth!

I really enjoyed this book, and the spice level was perfect! I love how private Wade was, but how he completely let down when he and Ivy were alone. Gentleman in the streets, and all that. Hehe

I know there are lots of people who don’t like the unplanned pregnancy trope, but I love it when it’s done right and Wade stepped up 100% and was the best baby daddy from moment one - so I loved it!

There were quite a few typos, but I imagine that they’ve been caught by an editor seeing as how release day is tomorrow. ;)

I loved them so damn much🥹

Wade and Ivy were 100% made for each other. Their chemistry was off the charts 👏🏻

Ugh and Wade this man..such a great MMC, he was so attentive towards Ivy and I about died at all of his comments with the scrunchies. So stinking cute. I laughed, I cried and man my cheeks even turned pink cause holy hotness 🥵

If you are ready dive deep into a grumpy cowboy romance look no further 🧡🔥

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ | 🌶️🌶️🌶️

- forced proximity
- forbidden…boss/employee
- grumpy x sunshine
- found family
- one bed 🫣

Obsessed. Actually obsessed. The dynamic between Wade & Ivy is *chef’s kiss*. Oh I love them. Wade is the grumpiest and has quite a mouth on him…my favorite type of MMC! Ivy dishes back just as good as she gets, and pushes this broody man to open up. I absolutely loved being back at Silver Pines, and enjoyed every second of this one! I loved getting to see the rest of the Not Angels and the Ashby fam too! Just perfect!

3.5 stars.

If you like the grumpy/sunshine, forced proximity, or cowboy romance tropes, you're going to be eating gooooooood with Paisley Hope's "Training the Heart." This book is spiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiicy, y'all! Like, waaaaaaaaaaaaaay spicy! You'll eat it up. Wade and Ivy are a great couple, and I loved reading about them. They have excellent banter with one another. Ivy is always challenging Wade and his set-in ways. I loved Wade's filthy, filthy mouth and his grumpy disposition! I also love the leaps and bounds Icy makes to become a better, more independent and confident person after facing abus3 at the hands of her ex. It felt a little insta-love-y at first, so I was worried, but it's not that bad. I did not love the ending, but for these characters, I guess it makes sense what happens. It feels like it wraps up much too quickly, though? A lot of time is spend on the middle of the story, but not so much on the end. I rolled my eyes at some of the dialogue, too. I cannot verify how accurate the horse and horse training stuff is, so I just had to go with it and assume it was all accurate, lol. I'd still suggest this book to most people because *insert gif here* cowboys are soOoOoOo hot right now, but I probably wouldn't re-read it or feel compelled to purchase it. It's still good, though!

Thank you to NetGalley, Paisley Hope, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, and Dell for the complimentary ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for this review.

4.5 ⭐️
Grumpy cowboy: my absolute favorite.
Wade Ashby ladies.
This man is filthy.
The tattoo… I melted.

Ivy, the new horse trainer.
Sassy & independent.
He takes care of her in many ways.

Solid friend and family group.
Grumpy x sunshine
A few other fun tropes sprinkled in that I don’t want to spoil.
No third act breakup.
I liked them.

Thank you so much to @dellromance for an early copy of this book! Happy pub day on December 31st! 🥳

Aren’t we all kind of obsessed with cowboy romances rn? Because let me tell you, if you aren’t (or if you are), you should def try out this book! 🤠 Training the Heart is a fun cowboy romance that is SUPER SPICY 🌶️ but also really sweet and focuses on family and support (kind of like the family vibes in the Chestnut Springs series) and I love that this book really focuses on a relationship with SIZZLING chemistry but also a passion for ranching and trying to train a horse for the Kentucky Derby! Like there’s so many powerful moments emotionally, whether its’s about the main characters, their families, their pasts, or side characters, there’s constantly some sweet, sad, or powerful thing happening and that makes it a really fun read!

I had so much fun reading this book and am definitely interested in reading the other books in the series! And if you want to read this book (which is book 2 in the series) just know that you definitely can, even if you don’t read book one first because this series is a series of interconnected standalone books!

And, you know what they say, ride a horse! 🐎

3 1/2 stars

Thanks to the publisher for the gifted review copy. I was definitely excited to be back in the Silver Pines Ranch world because I really enjoyed the first book in this series and loved visiting with CeCe and Nash again.

Grumpy-sunshine is one of my favorite tropes so I loved how Paisley Hope used it here with Wade the grumpy rancher and Ivy the sassy, sunny horse trainer he hires and has to work with in close proximity. I enjoyed their banter and their chemistry and was an especially big fan of Wade when he goes into protective/caretaker/chef mode when Ivy sprains an ankle and needs a few days of TLC.

That said, this one was a little too spicy for me. I enjoy spicy romances but I like there to be a nice balance between the couple growing closer emotionally and those spicy, sexy fun scenes and this just tipped a little too far to the spicy side for me.

It was still a very solid read for me but just not quite as enjoyable as the first book in the series.

Things I loved:
He calls her Trouble
He takes care of her
Ice cream and m&ms
Post its
Scrunchies
She confides in him
Mercy
No third act breakup

I loved this book so much!!! Wade Ashby is a grumpy rancher and I was here for it. He was in denial of his feelings for Ivy but once he accepted it, he was all in. Ivy is a horse trainer, and I adored her character. I LOVED the plot of the book ❤️. Their chemistry is off the charts! This book is spicy and they could not keep their hands off each other. If you like cowboy romance with grumpy x sunshine and forced proximity you don’t want to miss out on this one!

5⭐️
2.5🌶️

- Grumpy x sunshine
- Forced proximity
- Man obsessed & in denial
- Road trip/one bed
- Strong FMC
- Spicy lessons
- Surprise twist/HEA
- Bossy rancher with a filthy mouth
- He leave her post-it’s
- Dual POV

I was so excited when I received my copy of Training the Heart! I loved Paisley’s first book in this series and was so excited to continue it. Wade and Ivy are adorable and I love their relationship from the start. Wade is so flustered by things that Ivy does and it’s so entertaining. I was obsessed with the way he kept her scrunchies! I thought it was absolutely adorable. They have a special code word and I love how that was incorporated into the story. I’m loving all of the side characters in this series and I’m looking forward to getting all of their stories.

🐎Ok, I fell head over heels for Nash and the whole Silver Pines crew earlier this year when Paisley published her first Silver Pines novel, Holding the Reins. I had waited with bated breath for this sequel!

🤠I absolutely loved getting to “hangout” with some of my favorite Silver Pines characters again. They were still all so endearing!

🐎There was a BIG grumpy/sunshine trope happening in this one for sure! And I love that contrast!

🤠This one was too heavy on the spice for me. HTR was about as high on spice as I can handle, and this book even went over that!😅

🐎I did love how Wade was super protective over Ivy. Don’t say I’m not a feminist…all I’m saying is it’s nice to be taken care of from time to time 😉.

🤠While this one didn’t have me hooked from the start like HTR did, it was still a great storyline, if you can handle the heavy spice!