Thank you to NetGalley, Paisley Hope, and the publisher for allowing me access to the e-Arc.

4.5 stars

So far this is my favorite story. I enjoyed the first couple but there is something special about Wade and Ivy. They complement each other so well. I enjoy a contemporary romance even more when there are relatable discussions. Just note that there are conversations on emotional abuse, alcoholism, loss of a parent, and fertility.

✨Grumpy x Sunshine
✨Workplace romance
✨Protective and Bossy MMC
✨Strong and Sassy FMC
✨No third-act breakup
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Ok I loved it, just like I knew I would. No surprise, not shocked, but most certainly happy!

Where to even start? This book was so good, I forgot that I am, indeed, not a true country gal. From the first book, I said as a lady of the south that I loved this book, but guys, this is the REAL side of country I want to be. Ugh, where are all of the Wade Ashby's? Am I just looking over them? Because let me tell you, not only does this man know his way around a ranch, the mouth on him? Mmhmm, thank you very much!

My ONLY thing is that I didn't ask for the check yet, so why did this book end? I was not ready for my spicy book to be over. However, the epilogues were so darn cute ☺️

Training the Heart is book 2 in the Silver Pines Ranch series by Paisley Hope. This one is about Wade Ashby, the grumpy rancher who has taken over his family business since his father passed away, is currently going through a divorce and feels like he has the weight of the world on his shoulders. And Ivy Spencer, the sassy trainer with the tough past who comes to work on the ranch and turns Wade’s world upside down.

Just like book 1 in this series, I devoured Training the Heart in one day! This super steamy cowboy romance was a fun read with lots of banter, a hilarious girl gang and unforgettable family moments. But it also has themes of abuse, alcoholism, grief and fertility struggles. I am absolutely loving this series! Can’t wait for book 3!

Read this one if you love:
-cowboy romance
-small town romance
-grumpy x sunshine
-forced proximity
-boss x employee
-lots of banter
-lots of chemistry
-super spicy
-dual POV

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the opportunity to read an ARC of Training the Heart in exchange for my honest review.

I absolutely LOVED this book! Holding the Reins was such a great read so I knew book 2 would deliver and it absolutely did!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Wade is the grumpy one in the Ashby family. Recently divorced and running his family ranch, he has too much on his plate to make friends or have fun. But when he hires a temporary trainer, Ivy, he can’t help but let loose a little around her. After Ivy gets injured and has to stay with wade for a week they develop a fast friendship. And once they take a weekend roadtrip for work, that friendship develops into even more. I loved how much Ivy and Wade had in common and how even though they seemed opposite in personality, they made the perfect pair. This book had me laughing out loud one chapter and crying the next. I loved every bit of it!

I’m really enjoying this series so far. Wade and Ivy had their little set up in the first book, so I knew I wanted to read this one. And it didn’t disappoint. Wade was such a dream guy, and I loved seeing Ivy get everything she ever wanted. Now I cannot wait for Cole and Ginger to finally get it together in the third book.

Thanks as always to NetGalley for the ARC.

This book will have you saying Mercy!

Wade and Ivy are the most perfect match! I loved them both so much. This book was such a fun escape, we got some grumpy sunshine, workplace romance, small town and one of my favorites one bed. The chemistry was so strong with these two from the minute we met them in the last book I couldn’t wait for them to get together.

Ivy is the new interim horse trainer at Wade’s family ranch. She is a romance book loving happier then all get out and of course drop dead gorgeous. But she only has eyes for the broody, grumpy, scowling Wade. Who is actually quite a sweet, caretaker. Both harbored secret attraction for each other, and then bonded when she moved in with him as a result of a sprained ankle, soon enough they were sharing meals, watching movies, eating ice cream and basically spending every moment together.

The chemistry was undeniable, but it was also great to see them compliment each other outside the bedroom. She brought out his fun and lighthearted side and he built her back up after being with an emotionally abusive ex.

It was so fun to be back with the crew from Silver Pines, I loved seeing more of Nash and CeCe and I can not wait to get Cole’s book next!!!!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

SEVEN MILLION STARS. NOT ENOUGH STARS IN THE WORLD. JESUS CHRIST. WADE ASHBY IS UNMATCHED. GOODBYE.

“𝙏𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪’𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙤𝙧, 𝙄𝙫𝙮.”

𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚’𝙨 𝙣𝙤 𝙢𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙣𝙮𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚, 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙙𝙤𝙚𝙨𝙣’𝙩 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙞𝙩 𝙮𝙚𝙩.

“𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩’𝙨 𝙜𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙒𝙖𝙙𝙚, 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙄 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙠𝙣𝙚𝙬 𝙝𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙡 𝙄 𝙛𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪.”

How do I even write a review for this book? Truly. I have no words for how much I loved this. 🥹

I devoured this book in less than 24 hours and I’m not ashamed. Wade Ashby is the man of my dreams (sorry, hubby) and I will never be able to rid him my mind.

“𝙇𝙤𝙤𝙠, 𝙄 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙎𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙬𝙚 𝘼𝙨𝙝𝙗𝙮𝙨 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧.”

Seriously, this man can do no wrong. Everything he did for Ivy was beautiful and had me sobbing. The way the entire Ashby clan welcomed Ivy in like one their own made my heart melt in all the best ways. I am going to have a mental breakdown the day this series is over and re-read every single book religiously.

Ivy was so strong and independent and it made me connect with her on a whole different level. I understand her struggles and it hurt my heart to see her hurt. I’m so glad she was able find friendship with the Not Angels and become a part of the whole family.

Paisley knocked it out of the park AGAIN (did we really expect anything less, though?) and I will never recover from Wade’s dirty mouth. Seriously. I said it once and I’ll say it again: I think he got ME pregnant 🥵

Thank you so much to Dell Romance for the ARC of this book and I can wait to see what the rest of the Ashby’s get up to! 🫶🏻

This is a small town, cowboy romance and it was so good! This is the first book I’ve read by this author and I will definitely be reading more. Ivy and Wade are so good together! I loved this book from the first page and read it in one day. I highly recommend!

I liked this one more than the first one during the first half of the book! But the (spoiler ahead) unexpected pregnancy trope really made me hate it for about 25% of the book. I despise that trope for a lot of reasons. I think the author did handle it well, especially since it is a part of the ongoing story of an infertility diagnosis and abuse. But I still had to grit my teeth and push through because there were other ways to resolve that storyline. I also didn’t love how rushed the ending felt. The story itself was very long, and then it got to the end and suddenly they have a happily ever after and we get a couple lines about what happened to their derby horse (which was one of a major plot point.) It wasn’t a super satisfying conclusion.

I still enjoyed the first half of it, and I think the characters were very cute. Will definitely still read the next one in the series!

OMG. This book takes cowboy romance to an entire other level. I felt like I connected with Ivy on a deep level with her love of romance books, and her deeply rooted loyalty and her strength. Wade is absolutely incredible as an MMC. I loved the whole story getting Angel’s Wings ready for the Kentucky Derby. I felt that added a much needed side plot for this story. Absolutely love the found-family, grumpy sunshine, work place romance!! Totally enjoyed it!! I would recommend this book to any lovers of Elsie Silver, Catherine Cowles and Devney Perry for sure!! Thank you Netgalley and Random House Publishing- Ballantine for this amazing ARC!

Ahh this is my favorite in the series so far. I loved the mmc Wade and his bossy grumpy attitude and I also liked the fmc Ivy. The fmc Ivy is hired by Wade to help train the horses and at first they don't get along because of Wade's assumptions about her. They are opposites even though they later had things like watching action movies and eating dessert together which I loved. The chemistry between them was so good and when they got together the smut scenes were so smutty. loved seeing the other people in the friend group and I'm so excited to see who gets a book next. Thank you Dell for this arc.

Read if you like:
- Cowboy romance
- Small town/ranch life
- Lots of steamy scenes
- Opposites attracts
- Grumpy/sunshine

I’m still in shock that I got the ARC of this book 😭 I read it in about six straight hours, it was absolutely amazing 😭 I’m not usually a fan of surprise pregnancy or pregnancy at all but I thought it was kinda cute and didn’t make me cringe like it normally does. FUCK I LOVED THIS

Me gustaría decir que lo disfruté, pero no fue así. No mentiré y diré que fue malo, por no lo fue, tiene aspectos positivos y en momentos fue entretenido. Podría haber sido un buen libro si se hubiera centrado en la relación entre Ivy y Wade en lugar de en las escenas sexuales.





Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

2.5/5

I am SO sorry, I hate giving poor reviews but this was just not it. I tried so hard to find something to like about this book and really couldn't find one. I had to skim the last 10-20% just to get it over with. I was so disappointed with this.

Very random and some would say this doesn't matter, but people do judge a book by its cover, so it does matter: The first thing that drives me nuts about this book is the cover. Can we make a rule that if you know nothing about something, you don't write about it or illustrate it until you can get fully and adequately educated in the subject by someone who actually knows about it? Sorry if that sounded dramatic and petty but it's true. This book is about racehorses, yet this cover shows dressage saddles. Why does that matter? You could not have more different saddles. Google "racing saddle" and google "dressage saddle" and look at those pictures side-by-side. Look at articles explaining why they are shaped that way. This is ridiculous, you cannot just swap random different types of saddles.

That cover should've been my sign to stay away, but I know that the author doesn't always have much control over the cover, so I ignored that to try and enjoy the book. But no. This book barely includes any horse-related content and the horse-related content it did have was incredibly inaccurate. I'm so tired of horse books being written as if the writer has never ridden a horse. This review may be a culmination of years of frustration over this topic...sorry.

And this book had to give me another reason to dislike it, it had my least favorite trope (I'm not gonna spoil it, but if you know you know, it's also the entire world's least favorite trope) alongside insta-love/insta-lust.

There's also no real character development or really any depth to these characters to begin with. I found the two main characters to be really immature (and that was so cringey at times). The FMC was especially immature and the MMC gave me the ick with his toxic masculinity.

This was really so disappointing. I'm so sorry.

Thanks to NetGalley for the e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review! My Goodreads review is up and my TikTok (Zoe_Lipman) review will be up at the end of the month with my monthly reading wrap-up.

I loooved this edition of the series. Such a cute cowboy love story and the cover is just as amazing!

I love a good cowboy romance and Training the Heart by Paisley Hope is perfect to get back into that.

After finishing the first book, I was eager to read the next one and likewise, I can't wait to keep reading this series. it's fun, sexy, steamy and sweet. Small town romances always have this found family and cozy feel that I love. Seeing the characters, how they interact and I loved Wade and Ivy. They had me from the start and seeing their dynamic play out was so fun. It had grumpy sunshine, she's strong, sassy and challenges wade in the best way and despite him being a big old stubborn grumpy cowboy that was begrudgingly towards her, it was fun seeing how hard he fell for Ivy. They had me grinning and swooning all through their book. Perfect for fans of Elsie Silver, this book is a must read if you love cowboys and sassy heroines. I cant wait for more books by Paisley Hope.

This is definitely going to become a favorite series of mine. I loved the first one, and this one I loved JUST as much.

4.5 ⭐️ I knew the second book would be perfect and I wasn’t wrong!!!! I’m loving this series so much that I can already say it filled a spot in my heart that’s been empty since Chestnut Springs 😭💖

Wade and Ivy had me hooked from the very first chapters and tbh I don’t know which one I loved more bc they’re literally perfect for each other in every way, the proof of that is even though I usually hate that kind of surprise at the end, I loved it for them (especially after everything Ivy went through)

The family scenes were as perfect as in the first book and when they were all together it was definitely my favorite moments. If you want a super quick read that’ll warm your heart and make you believe in happy endings, this is the one!!!

I've completely fallen for the cowboy/ranch romance trope and this series does not disappoint! While I felt the southern accents/sayings were a bit over the top, I do love the Ashby family and their honorary family members. The grumpy/sunshine trope was well done and I always enjoy when the main character takes care of the other after an accident. They developed into good friends and then lovers.

The chemistry between Wade and Ivy practically ignites the pages. Their relationship unfolds like a wild ride, filled with tension that crackles with every interaction. Watching Ivy’s sunny disposition break through Wade’s walls is a joy, she brings a whirlwind of chaos that disrupts his carefully controlled world, and it’s impossible not to root for them. The passion that simmers beneath their bickering is electrifying, and when it finally erupts, it’s nothing short of fireworks. I was completely captivated by their journey from resistance to surrender, as they navigate their differences and discover that love can thrive in the most unexpected places. This book is a heartwarming, steamy escape that left me cheering for their happily ever after.