Wade Ashby... the man that you are. Is it hot in here?!

I am truly blown away by this story. Training The Heart was the perfect second installment of the Silver Pines Ranch series. Ivy and Wade's dynamic was absolutely phenomenal as they perfectly toed the line between sexy and sweet, creating the perfect story.

Wade's gruff personality was beautifully challenged by Ivy's happy and upbeat demeanor, resulting in the grumpy X sunshine dynamic of my dreams. There was PLENTY of spice throughout this story, but Paisley was still able to drive forward an incredibly deep connection between the two of them.

Oftentimes, I feel one lead stands out over the other, but this is not the case for Ivy and Wade. They were each incredible in their own ways leading me to have a deep love and affection for both of them by the end of the story. Watching them find their happily ever after was so rewarding.

I'm not sure I will ever recover from Wade Ashby... but I will try. I am already counting down the moments until we meet again at Silver Pines Ranch.

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Please be sure to read the author’s note for the trigger warnings.

What to Expect:
☀️ Grumpy x Sunshine
🏡 Small Town
🛏️ Forced Proximity/One Bed
🐴 Boss x Employee

Training The Heart is book 2 in the Silver Pines Ranch series and my first read by Paisley Hope. Safe to say, I’m hooked! From the moment Wade Ashby entered the scene, I was all in. I love a grump and his dirty talk? Top-tier. I found myself grinning and giggling throughout, completely falling for the characters right along with them. Paisley weaves together a perfect mix of plot, character development, tension, banter, and spice—wow. I can't wait to dive into the rest of the series.

Wade, the grumpy boss of the ranch, has taken over his late father’s legacy. He hires Ivy, a temporary horse trainer and a nonstop-talking ball of sunshine—basically his polar opposite. Wade craves control, and Ivy challenges that at every turn. As they work together, their chemistry intensifies, and Wade’s control starts to slip.

Wade and Ivy both carry emotional scars—coming from messy relationships and losing their fathers. They deal with their feelings in very different ways: Wade is a brooding control freak, while Ivy is chaos-wrapped in sunshine. Their attraction is immediate, though Wade does his best to fight it. The banter between them is pure gold, and Wade’s protectiveness of Ivy just melts my heart. There's a beautiful moment of forced proximity and caretaking that shifts their relationship, and once they give in to their attraction, it's game over. The spice between them? Absolutely sizzling.

Training the Heart was emotional, spicy, and full of found family. It struck the perfect balance between serious moments and lighthearted fun, making it a book that was hard to put down. While it was an easy read, I did feel it was a bit longer than necessary for the story it told. That said, it was still an incredibly enjoyable ride, and I’m so excited for the next book.

Thank you to the author, Paisley Hope, NetGalley, and the Random House Publishing Group team for the ARC opportunity.

Paisley Hope is scratching that Elsie Silver itch in such a satisfying way!!! This book was so good!! I was addicted to Wade from the get go, I LOVE a grump & the dirty talk was top tier. I found myself smiling & giggling so much & was falling in love right along with these characters! I absolutely can no wait for Cole & Gingers book (hopefully it’s coming) !!

Silver Pines has become my new favorite small-town ranch. I am so in love with Paisley Hope's writing - the banter & internal dialogues are refreshing & hilarious. She weaves heartwarming emotions with hilarity & superior spice that is just an entertaining ride from start to finish. In this second book, she does it as seamlessly as she did with her first & I just never wanted it to end.

We met Wade Ashby in Book 1, the grumpy oldest brother of CeCe & boss of the ranch who stepped into his father's shoes when he passed not too long ago. He hires Ivy, temporary horse trainer & a nonstop-talking spitfire - his complete opposite. He likes control & she challenges that control every moment they are together. As they work towards getting their horse ready for the derby, their attraction grows & Wade's control starts to fray...

This book had me hook, line & sinker. Ivy & Wade have similar emotional backstories - both coming out of [BAD] relationships & both having lost their fathers. They handle their feelings differently - Wade is a grumpy control freak & Ivy is chaos wrapped in sunshine. Their chemistry is instant though Wade tries his best to deny their attraction. I absolutely love the banter between them & Wade's protectiveness over Ivy. There is this forced proximity, caretaking moment between them that shifts their relationship & when they give into their attraction, all bets are off. There is no lack of spice between them.

You come for the spice but stay for the character growth as both Wade & Ivy's stories really hooked me in. I love a villain & we get two in the form of their exes. There's this great found family aspect & once Wade is in, he is in. The way he supports Ivy & shows her that she's his (literally tattooed) is one of my favorite moments.

I cannot get enough of this series & I cannot wait for the third book: Cole & Ginger's story!!!


☀️ Grumpy x Sunshine
🏡 Small Town
🛏️ Forced Proximity
🐴 Workplace Romance
🤠 Cowboy/Rancher
💋 Tattooed hand necklace
🫶 Found Family
❣️ Great Banter
✌🏻 Dual POV

Pretty sure the Silver Pines series has me in a chokehold. I want to move there ASAP.

Paisley does such a great job of intertwining great plot, characters and development all with a hefty dose of tension, banter and spice. Uh, the spice 🥵. I have fallen in love with this series and I really look forward to the rest of them. These books will be added to my trophy shelf immediately.

MY GOD! I am still fanning myself off after that ending. THIS WAS HOOOOOOT AND STEAMY. I was like "Hey I was promised there would be 🍑!" and Paisely was like "Oh I've got you, I didn't forget."

I've had my eye on Paisley Hope's book for a while as something similar to Elsie Silver. If you like Elsie Silver, you will like these. However, Paisley makes her own damn name. She has made her own genre, and she can't be compared to anyone else.

I'm going to say it Silver Pines is better than Chestnut Springs. Wade Ashby can have me any time anywhere. There was plot, there was spiooooce, there was humor, and there was so much love and compassion. Every character was necessary, and I loved Ivy finding a family that loved and accepted and cheered her on. Ivy was smart and funny, and I loved that she was whiny and didn't constantly doubt herself. She knew what it took to get things done. Wade tattooing MINE on his hand *swoon*. He was the perfect grumpy to Ivy's sunshine. He was so supportive of her and her dreams and making things just happen for her, and in return, he found himself again. There were a few parts that got a bit repetitive, like certain vocabulary, but I let it slide because this was just sooo good. I am already downloading the 1st book in the series and can not wait!


I was given this ARC by Netgalley and Random House Publishing in exchange for an honest review.

Mercy is right!

I absolutely adored this book.

Grumpy/sunshine? Check
Workplace romance? Check
I was NOT expecting the great emotional storylines that were written into with the emotional abuse at the hands of Ivy's ex and what she was dealing with her alcoholic mother.
And Wade had his issues he was dealing with his recent divorce and controlling ex-wife.

Can't wait to read the rest of this series!

Ivy and Wade's story! Ivy gets hired on as a horse trainer at Wade's ranch. Ivy is all sunshine, and Wade can't take it. But when she gets hurt and he cares for her...well, iykyk. In this book you'll find small town, grumpy sunshine, terrible exes, ice cream sundaes, and a HEA!
Everything in this books just works. You root for the characters the entire time, and know it will be epic when it ends. The characters, relationship, family and friends-they're all so important to the book. It's so well written, and the development of the relationship is beautiful! And the spiceeeee, this has more delicious spice than the first book in the series (Holding the Reins).

This book is so beautiful, I can’t say enough good things about it!

✨️Arc Read✨️
Star Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice Rating: 🌶🌶🌶
HEA: 🌟🌟🌟/3
❗️Safety and Small Spoilers Below❗️


📌 Triggers: Emotional Abuse (off-page but heavily mentioned) Alcoholism (off-page but heavily mentioned) Struggles with Fertility (on-page) Grief (on-page)

📌 HEA: Epilouge 9 years later. Married with kids.

📌 No Cheating/Sharing

📌 Slight OWD: MMC is divorced. His ex-wife wants him back in order to use him, but he shuts her down. He has no feelings for his ex and never once wants her back.

📌 Slight OMD: FMCs ex-boyfriend tries contacting her. They run into each other a couple of times, but MMC always puts him in place. FMC never once wants the ex back.

📌 Small Separation of 4 hours. FMC wants time to think on her own.

📌 No Third-act Breakup

I don't know what Paisley puts in these books, but it's addictive and I can't get enough. The mouth on this man. Wade is so carefully constructed and in control, but when he lets go, oh my! If there is a book to give to your man to say yes to this, I want this... here it is! The "mine" tattoo on his hand as a collar for her 🤯🫨. I actually passed away.

I'm saying it here first, Paisley Hope is the new queen of smut! She's doing better than everyone else right now. If you are looking for a recommendation for a book that has the smuttiest smut, but you also don't want to sacrifice on a strong plot with well-developed characters, well, here's your answer folks... anything written by Paisley Hope! Pick up any of her books and you'll agree.

This is the third book I've read by her this month and they have all been pure perfection. This is now a Paisley Hope fan account. Join me, won't you?

I appreciate Netgally & Random House Publishing-Ballantine, for the opportunity to read this book as an ARC. With that being said, I feel like it’s important to leave an honest review.

I got to chapter six before I couldn’t bring myself to continue. This book lacked any sort of substance or foundation for me. Every single man in this book did nothing but sexualize the FMC. The amount of times the MMC references either his dick or her boobs is ridiculous and I got only that far into it. Also the FMC referring to herself as: lady bits was odd.

That’s all the author seemed to want to write about, and it confuses me that this book is 448 pages. Because where’s the tension or build up or foundation even going to come from? It seems like it will all be based on lust.

Not only that, but the dialogue is cringy and the author does a lot of telling instead of showing.

In all, I need a book to have that solid relationship building substance and this book had none of it.

Also, this is just my opinion, and I wanted to be honest in my review.

Paisley writes the best characters, Wade and Ivy were both incredible and so much fun to get to know. They are opposites in the best ways. Wade is gruff and broody, while Ivy is strong and fiesty, but also sweet and adorable. When Wade opens up to her and shows another side of himself, it is fantastic, and the hottest thing ever. When this man falls, he falls hard!

I honestly didn’t think anything could ever live up to the first book in this series, 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘴, but that turned out to be untrue. They are very different stories set in the same amazing world, and 𝘛𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 definitely exceeded my expectations. Also getting more of CeCe and Nash is all I could ever want out of life so I was here for the moments involving them, as well as the rest of the Silver Pines crew. Having my favorite girl gang together again was the best!

This book has the perfect amount of humor, emotion, tension, chemistry, complexity, BANTER (omg the banter was the best, I can’t even explain it), and Paisley’s magic spice. The third in this series can’t come soon enough! I am obsessed with her writing and this world she has created.

Paisley has done it once again, and made me fall in love with a grumpy MMC 💜

“To those searching for their grumpy, loyal, protective cowboy who will tattoo mine on his hand just so it looks pretty wrapped around your throat, don’t give up, babe. Your Wade Ashby is out there.”

Wade is just the perfect amount of grumpy and smoking hot and Ivy is healing herself from trauma and giving Wade as much sass as she possibly can.

Thank you Penguin publishing and Paisley for allowing me to be an arc reader again, I’m so honored!

5/⭐️
4.5/🌶️(mainly for that last epilogue because 😮‍💨😮‍💨)

Initial Thoughts

Ummmmmm…so four very light spoilers here:
1. Wade Ashby reads the morning paper wearing only light grey sweatpants and his thin black-rimmed glasses.
2. Wade Ashby likes pain with his pleasure.
3. Ivy listens to and reads spicy romance.
4. That bonus scene 😮‍💨

STORY LOVES
♥️♥️♥️♥️.5 (rounded)
∙
SPICE
🌶️ Medium hot(ish)
∙
RECOMMEND
💳 100% yes

📖“Training the Heart,” Paisley Hope’s second installment in her Silver Pines Ranch series, brings readers back to the small town of Laurel Creek. This time, we meet the spirited horse trainer Ivy, who happens to be the perfect fit for the grumpy and rugged cowboy Wade Ashby, whom we briefly met in “Holding the Reins.”🐎

✨Ivy is hiding from her past, while Wade is still grieving his father and dealing with his troublesome ex-wife. This adds layers of drama to “Training the Heart.”✨

✨I love the undeniable chemistry between Wade and Ivy. The initial sēxüãl tension and Ivy’s accident, which forces her to stay with Wade as her temporary caregiver, lead to a shower scene that acts as the catalyst to break that tension. They give in to the temptation! Paisley Hope has written some steamy and memorable scenes that provide just the right amount of spice without overshadowing the emotional depth of the story. 😮‍💨

✨I don’t want to give away the details of the bonus scene, but just know that it perfectly captures Wade and Ivy’s love story while adding more heat.💗

✨“Training the Heart” is a must-read. Paisley Hope delivers a story that’s both emotionally rewarding and exciting. I’m looking forward to Cade and Ginger’s story.💯

‼️I hope you enjoy “Training the Heart” as much as I did. If you’re sensitive to certain content, please make sure you read the warning before you dive in.✨

Happy reading! 💋

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to read “Training the Heart” in advance.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I knew after I'd read two other books by Paisley that she would be an auto-buy author for me. I took a shot in the dark and applied for this ARC on Netgalley and I am so honored to be able to read this one early!

Ivy and Wade had the most delicious banter even before they got together. The angst. The tension, it was just SO GOOD. I devoured this book and found myself smiling so big and laughing throughout and their funny banter and loving moments.

It was such a joy to witness Wade's walls come down. To see him turn from such a grump with no hope for a happy future, to someone who couldn't imagine his future without Ivy. I wish I could go back and read it again right now.

It was so fun to see the Ashby family and the whole clan again. Paisley has created such a wonderful family and it feels like you're part of it too, even as the reader. I would be remiss to not mention the spice, and as usual, Paisley de-liv-ered. It's SO good you guys.

Trust me when I say, this is one you'll want to pick up immediately when it releases at the end of December. And if you can't wait that long, check out Holding the Reins or Wolf.e by Paisley to tide you over 😍

Read if you love:
👢Boss x employee
👢Forced proximity
👢Grumpy x sunshine
👢no third act breakup
👢Great communication
👢he'd do anything for her

"My heartbeat accelerates and squeezes in my chest as I realize there are two things I've never been more certain of that I am in this very moment. One: I'm wildly in love with Ivy. I not only love her, I need her, the way the moon needs the sun to set every night just so it can rise. Two: There's no me without her anymore, she just doesn't know it yet."

MERCY! This book made my heart happy. I knew I was going to love it but I didn’t realize just how much I was going to love it! 𝙏𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙃𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩 was perfection. Finishing this book, I feel so attached to these characters. I love the Ashby family, I love the Not Angels, and I genuinely love this series. This book had me laughing, crying, and full on swooning.

I was completely charmed by Wade + Ivy. These characters shared such a natural chemistry with Ivy’s sass and Wade’s grumpiness. The banter was endless, and they really felt like a perfect match. Be still, my heart. Wade. Freaking. Ashby. That MMC was out here setting standards. I loved him so much. Every little thing he did for Ivy had me positively melting, and don’t even get me started on that man’s mouth. Total book boyfriend material.

Overall, this book brought me so much joy and laughter from start to finish. It has such a beautiful and satisfying ending. Highly recommend to all my fellow cowboy romance lovers.

"𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚐𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚋𝚞𝚛𝚍𝚎𝚗𝚜, 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜, 𝙸'𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢, 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚋𝚘𝚝𝚑 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞."

ᴛʀᴏᴘᴇꜱ:
🤠 Cowboy Romance
☀️ Grumpy x Sunshine
💜 Forced Proximity
🌶️ Spicy Lessons
🛏️ One Bed
🚫 No Third Act Break Up
🫶🏼 Strong FMC

Thank you so much Paisley Hope, Random House, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of 𝙏𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙃𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩.

(4.75 stars) Thank you NetGalley and Paisley Hope for allowing me to read and review an ARC of this book!

I have been so excited for this book, and it did not disappoint whatsoever. Ivy and Wade are perfect for each other, and their love story is absolutely beautiful. The Silver Pines books have definitely made their way onto my list of fav romances. And y’all…the spice is SPICING in this one!!!

Training The Heart is book two in the series and was a good read! After the unexpected death of his father, Wade Ashby is running his family's ranch and doesn't have much time for anything else. Ivy Spencer has come to work for the Silver Pines Ranch as a trainer. Wade was broody, grumpy, Ivy was strong, sassy and fun. I loved the slow burn and the sizzling chemistry these two had. And the steamy scenes were off the charts explosive!! Loved loved them for each other!! Can't wait for the next one!!

I didn’t just read this book, I inhaled it! At this point, anything Paisley Hope writes is an instant “yes” from me. She’s officially on my auto-buy list, and this book was everything I hoped for and more!

Ivy is the kind of character who feels like a best friend. She has the sweetest heart but keeps her guard up, which I get so much. Her sass and resilience? Absolutely unmatched! And let’s just say that scrunchies have never been more important (you’ll get it when you read it)!

Now, I thought Nash was the ultimate heartthrob… until Wade came along and completely stole the show. This man! He’s grumpy, bossy, and oh-so-charming when it counts. A broody rancher who only smiles for her? Yes, please! Oh, and let’s not forget the tattoo he gets for her..

Watching Ivy and Wade’s love story was like a perfect romance movie in my head. They’re two sides of the same coin, and have the best nicknames for each other. She’s his “Trouble,” he’s her “Chief”

One word for this book? “MERCY.”

Big thank you to NetGalley and Random House publishing for providing me an arc!

Thank you so much for the opportunity to arc read Training the Heart!

I adore Paisley and the characters she creates. The chemistry between our two leads was SIZZLING and I was waiting with bated breath for the tension cord to snap. And once it did, my gosh, the spice was spicin. I will say this book felt heavier on the spice side rather than the emotional side, but overall it didn't deter my enthusiasm/rating for the story.

I can't wait for the next book in the Silver Pines series!