This is a sweet romance with great heart, but there character development was a bit weak and I wanted the struggle/conflict to have more detail. Kind of breezed right past the part where the couple had to find their way back to each other. Short, fun, easy, light, but also therefore lacking some depth.

This is a romance with a heartwarming story. While the audiobook version is well-narrated and captures the essence of the narrative I found myself wishing I had opted for the print version instead of the audiobook; The cozy, intimate moments and the picturesque descriptions of the Montana countryside seem like they would be better visualised through the written word, allowing for a more personal and immersive experience. Reading the book would have given me the chance to ponder over the tender exchanges likely creating a connection to the story and its characters which I felt was missing.

I spend too much time being annoyed that the FMC was too accepting and the MMC didnt want to stop her life and neither of them talked about it but continually thought or said it that I think the plot was lost on me.

I wasnt aware this was part of an ongoing series which if I had been following the wider story ARC may have meant I felt more connected.

This shorter audiobook is a super sweet second-chance romance that shows love can reappear when you least expect it. This contemporary cowboy audio novella follows Kendall Dixon and Brent Ashton as they figure out their love life (again) in the little town of Marietta, Montana. When Brent returns to help out his sick mom, he finds out that his first love Kendall is now a strong, determined woman who knows what she wants – including him.

Tropes featured:
- First Love & Second Chance Romance
- Slow Burn
- Closed-door Romance
- Caretaker Hero & Strong Heroine

Jessica Preddy's narration gives a cosy country vibe. Her warm delivery brings the characters to life, with different voices for each character. The pacing includes pauses that let the emotional bits sink in, but listeners can easily adjust the speed without losing quality. Through no fault of the narrator, two of the male names are similar, which can lead to confusion if you aren't paying full attention or get interrupted, so just be aware.

This audiobook is a nice little treat for cowboy romance fans looking for a quick, satisfying listen. The author strikes a great balance between sweet romance and emotional depth, making this an awesome pick for anyone who likes their love stories wholesome but meaningful.

Thank you to Bolinda Audio and NetGalley for providing a copy for my review.

Thank you NetGalley for this ALC. I honestly didn’t enjoy this book. The narrator was just reading , there were no emotions shared via audio. The book felt a bit lacking , I didn’t realize it was book 2 so perhaps book 1 gave more details about the fmc & mmc relationship.

🎧Audio Book Review🎧

Hold Me, Cowboy
Alissa Callen

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

As you know, I never read blurbs before finishing a book and am generally drawn in by the covers.
So, I was surprised to find that this was actually book 5 in The Wildflower Ranch Series.
Now I know, I can see exactly how this would fit and even maybe predict the main characters of the previous books.....but the great thing is that I didn't notice anything amiss at all whilst reading this book.

The focus of this story is on Kendall and Brent.
After an "almost" relationship, circumstances pulled the pair apart.
But when Brent returns from his 4 years away in Australia, Kendall is determined to find out why he stayed away so long, why they lost touch and most importantly, whether they have a future together still, as she's always wanted!

This was your typical cowboy romance and it was pretty easy to see exactly where this storyline was heading - but why mess with a formula that works so well!!?
This was such a lovely read and I loved everything about the small town of Marietta and all it's occupants.

As well as getting to know Kendall and Brent well and seeing their friendship rekindle and develop into more - we also meet families and friends of the pair.
I loved all of the other characters too and am especially intrigued by the backstories of the families - what happened to their parents for instance.

I'm really only just coming into my cowboy romance era this year, but am loving them and have already added the rest of this series to my wishlist for future reading to catch up with everyone else's stories.

This was a super quick read novella which I absolutely raced through in just a few sittings.
Nice and easy to read with great characters who sucked me in from the start.
Loved this!




💕Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for my ARC copy - this is my honest review 💕

2.5 🌟 rounded up. This was a really shirt listen, book two in a series and I definitely felt that it was directly picked up from book one which I haven’t read, so I was scrambling in the dark a lot and quite confused I’d definitely not recommend it as a stand alone.

What I did gather was a sweet and romantic rekindling of a romance that all seemed to be over very quickly with but a lot happening. Again I’m positive that this is due to not starting at the beginning of the series. Who doesn’t love a cowboy though 🤷🏻‍♀️

The narration was nice.

I appreciate the opportunity to review this ALC by Bolinda audio and NetGalley.

Hold Me, Cowboy is a second chance romance novella.

I received a ALC from NetGalley and my review is based on that. I thought the book was okay. When they finally thought they could finally start dating, tragedy hits and as a promise, Brent travels the world for 4 years before finally returning to Marietta to win Kendall back. He also tries to push her away because he wants her to also experience life outside of Marietta to know if she really wants to spend the rest of her life with the town and with him.

The audio was clear but I honestly thought the MMC’s name was Ren this whole time. I also wish there was emotion put into the audio. Lol it also threw me off when the fmc said rubbish

Thank you NetGalley, author, and Bolinda Audio for providing me with an alc for my honest review.

Thank you to Alissa Callen and Bolinda Audio for the Audiobook.

This is a cute story! It's a small town romance gone awry, where the Cowboy who stole her heart leaves for years only to return. Kendall is a loving and caring person who also knows what she wants and how to get it. Brett is a Cowboy who returns home to care for his sick mother, only to bump into the love of his life, Kendall, at a garden center. The book gives us their raw feelings and emotions as they navigate seeing each other after yearsand working together to build a garden. As feelings flood back, they have to face the music head on. This book was sweet, and an easy listen. I didn't LOVE the book, but it wasn't awful. It was just very mid for me.

The narrator for the audiobook was great. Very clear spoken and captured the emotions of the moment. I'll admit I usually listen at fast speeds and often miss these things in other books. But I took care to listen to this one at 1.5x speed to capture it all.

ARC of the audiobook was provided on Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

You should read this if you like ❤️:
First loves and second chances
Cozy romances
No OW/OM drama
Best friend romance
Cowboys and small towns
Slow burn
No spicy scenes

Warnings ⚠️
Nothing that u felt was triggering in this book. ☺️

Collin constructed a story of a youthful love of ‘almosts’ that life ripped away from Kendall and Brent. Only for fate and happenstance to bring them back together again in a. Second chance steeped in heartache and navigating grief.

The narration of this novel was lovely to listen to. Preddy has such a soothing, sweet voice that she uses to draw her audience in to the novel she’s narrating.

Hold Me Cowboy will leave you desperately trying to patch Kendall and Brent’s relationship back together again! I mean, come on, who wouldn’t love.a cat-loving cowboy and a barn full of orange cats?

🐎Hold Me, Cowboy🤠by Alissa Callen
Thank you for this ALC @netgalley , this is my honest review!
⭐️⭐️⭐️
💭My thoughts: this was a short and sweet second chance romance. It is book two in a series but can be read as a standalone. 130 pages of putting each others’ needs above the other, no matter if it hurts themselves. Kendall and Brent couldn’t stand to be apart, fighting it as long as they could. I think it came to a swift end too quickly and i wanted more chemistry and a backstory for the characters. I still recommend this read if you want something short and sweet to cleanse your palette.

2.5 stars. Cute second chance romance novella. Very sweet, closed door. Not much going on.

Audio is single narrator style with little differentiation between POV speakers.

3.5 stars

Not terrible but not the best either. Its a quick and sweet read for lovers of a second chance romance.

Kendall Dixon has loved Rancher Brent Ashton for years. He was her brother's best friend, left town years ago. He has finally returned and doesn't want to tie Kendall down to ranch life. Brent has come home to a sick mother and a ranch that needs a lot of work. Kendall is in to landscaping he thinks she needs to spread her wings away from small town living.
The audio book was a great; the narrator did a wonderful job.

I’m a sucker for a cowboy romance anytime I will devour it! This one was so swoon worthy and this man just gosh swooning

Thank you Netgalley and Bolinda Audio for a copy of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

This was a cute second chance novella. Most novellas seem to be lacking but this one did not. There was good character development and storyline. Brent's inability to take Kendall's word, on what she wanted, was a little frustrating but typical man behavior 🤣

The narrator was not my favorite. Her voices were good but the swallowing and throat sounds turned me off.

4 stars for a cute, quick novella.
2.5-3 stars for the narrator

2.5

Part of the Marietta Montana books- many sub series by many authors. They will nearly always involve other characters that appear elsewhere, but there are so many that is is probably impossible to try to read them in any sort of order. I'd treat them all as stand alones for the most part.

Kendall has been in love with her brother's best friend for as long as she can remember. But he abruptly left town years ago, standing her up for their first date. And he hasn't returned since.
Brent has also been in love with Kendall- but he left for her. He didn't want to trap her in Montana. She had bigger dreams. Did he make the right decision?

This story has the problem that many novellas have- it wasn't long enough to be fully developed. This had fully developed characters- who basically never spent any time together. They were apart for one reason or another for the entire book. So there wasn't any chemistry between them.

The upside is that the characters were developed well. They had background, reasons for their feelings and behaviors, and it made sense.

Jessica Preddy narrated the audiobook. The tone was fine, but the pace difficult. There were a lot of long pauses after sentences/paragraphs, making it frustrating to listen to. If you sped it up too much, the speech was too fast. Also, not the narrators fault since she didn't name the characters, but Brent/Rhett sound way too much alike. (Especially when listening above 1.0 to deal with the lengthy pauses.)

I received an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this book!!

What a great book!! It had me hooked from page one! I couldn’t put this down. I finished it in one sitting. I enjoyed the storyline and the characters. This was a first for me by this author but it will not be my last!!

This was a very quick and sweet read/audio. I listened to the audio for this book and it's my second from this author and I loved it. It is an open door romance but no sex on the page: so you'll find a lot of heated kissing; some almost naked moments but no details; and a whole lot of chemistry.
We have dual POV and it's written in 3rd person. Audio is just under 5 hours, so you can easily listen to it in half a day. I didn't like the funny music in the intro and ending.
I really enjoyed the narrator (Jessica Preddy, same as in book 1). She did all the characters tones well, it was easy to hear the different dialogues when they came up. Although I do prefer to hear a male narrator when the men talk, who doesn't like to hear a broody cowboy? Still it was a pleasure to listen to.

Cute, sweet, small town second chance romance. The narrator did a great job bringing the characters to life, which I appreciate! Overall it was okay if you want a quick easy read but for me personally it just wasn’t memorable enough.

Hold Me, Cowboy by Alissa Callen is a hear warming romance that takes readers straight to the rugged beauty of the countryside, where love blossoms against all odds. This story pairs an independent, driven heroine with a charming cowboy who has his own share of vulnerabilities, creating a captivating dynamic that makes for a truly enjoyable read.
Set on the breath taking plains, the novel beautifully captures the spirit of small-town life and the magic of nature, adding depth to the romance as the characters connect over their shared love for the land. Alissa Callen’s writing shines with vivid descriptions, making you feel right there under the open sky. The chemistry between the leads is natural and sweet, with just the right amount of tension to keep you rooting for them as they navigate both internal struggles and the obstacles in their way.
With heartfelt dialogue, memorable characters, and a storyline that balances tenderness with humour, Hold Me, Cowboy is a feel-good story that’s perfect for fans of wholesome, slow-burn romance. This was a delightful listen, and my first in this series so I’ll definitely be reaching for more from Alissa Callen.
Thank you to @Bolindaaudio and NetGalley for providing an ALC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.