This was such a cute, cozy, quick read—and I ate it right up.

Fake marriage + lifelong rivals + forced proximity in a small town cidery? Yes please.
Tessa and Elliot have that fiery, slow-shifting chemistry that starts out all tension and sass and slowly turns into something so much more. I loved the banter and the way they challenged each other, but also how naturally they started to fit into each other’s lives.

There’s a nice balance of small town charm, family drama, and just enough spice to keep things interesting. And that tension? Chef’s kiss. Seriously, these two could not be in the same room without things getting a little heated (in the best way).

I do wish we had a few more romantic, soft moments mixed in with the heat—it leaned a little more spicy than swoony at times—but overall it was still a really satisfying read.

4/5 ⭐️
2.5/5 🌶️

(Netgalley ARC. Thank you! ☺️) A Small Town Romance That’ll Steal Your Heart

Cherished Lands by Lauren Kiser was such a fun, easy, and completely addictive read. I flew through it. It has all the cozy, down to earth charm of a small town romance, but with just the right amount of spice to keep things very interesting. If you’re a fan of Chestnut Springs, this one will absolutely hit the mark.

The story centers around Tessa - determined to build something steady and meaningful for herself. She’s not looking for complications, especially not the broody, rough around the edges rancher who seems to be everywhere she turns. Enter Elliot: all grit, guarded emotions, and a mouth that could ruin you (in the best way). Their banter is electric, the chemistry is undeniable, and watching them navigate their slow-burn connection is so satisfying.

Tessa gave me total Willa from Heartless vibes 👏🏼 strong, grounded, and the kind of heroine you instantly root for. And Elliot? Whew. The man has a filthy mouth and a soft heart, and I was here for every single bit of it.

No spoilers, but Kiser weaves a story that feels both familiar and fresh, with characters you’ll wish were real and a town you’ll want to move to. This is book 2 of a series, and you better believe I’m already waiting (impatiently) for the next.

Highly recommend if you love:

• Small town settings
• Sassy heroines + dirty talking heroes 😮‍💨
• Low angst but full heart stories
• Chestnut Springs / Elsie Silver energy

Lauren Kiser is one to watch. This debut is a gem!

Loved this! Small town romance. Marriage of convenience. Perfect amount of spice while still maintaining a great plot. Dual POV (I love this writing style). I'll read the rest of the sable point series for sure. If you love Elsie Silver, read this!

Thank you to Lauren Kiser and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for this arc. I will be giving my honest review.
I did read the first in the series before this. I want to say that the first book felt very different than this one. The vibe went from contemporary romance to dark romance real quick. I was expecting Elliot to be more mysterious and broody. I liked Tessa, the FMC, way more than the FMC in the first book. She was developed and funny as hell. Even though these two are enemies and always liked to argue, this felt like insta-love. I'm glad Elliot found someone to match his freak, but these two were climbing each other in almost every chapter. Definitely like 50% more spice in this book. Some word choices were taking me out of the spicy scenes, if you catch my vibe. Too many uses of "princess;" I liked the explanation of why he called her that, but it was used too often. I am interested to see the other siblings' stories since Kiser alluded to Chase and Charlie.

Thank you to Lauren Kiser and NetGalley for this ARC!

A marriage of convenience between rivals in a small town who are currently waring over their business? Sign me upppp!

So this was a super cute (and spicy) read! I read it fairly quickly and really enjoyed it! The pace was a bit too fast for my taste, it felt like things were very sped up.

You might like this if you like: dislike to lovers, marriage of convenience, sharing a bed, complicated family dynamics

Cherished Lands by Lauren Kiser is a passionate, enemies-to-lovers, fake marriage romance that sizzles with chemistry, tension, and unexpected emotional depth. From the very beginning, Kiser’s writing pulls you into a small-town world full of family drama, legacy, and ambition, with a rivalry that turns into an intoxicating romance.

Elliot is a determined, stubborn man trying to save his family’s struggling cidery, and he can’t afford to let personal feelings get in the way. Enter Tessa Belmonte, his lifelong rival, who is just as driven and fiercely independent. The stakes are high—her father’s lawsuit threatens to destroy everything, and the only solution is a fake marriage for one year. It sounds simple enough… until it isn’t.
The progression from hate to love between Elliot and Tessa is deliciously slow-burn, but their chemistry is undeniable. The tension between them is thick, and the more time they spend together, the more they start questioning their feelings.

Tessa, who once saw Elliot as a spoiled man only interested in his family’s legacy, begins to see him in a new light as she witnesses his dedication and vulnerability. Similarly, Elliot finds himself falling for the woman he’s spent years resenting. The fact that their fake marriage becomes dangerously real adds an intriguing layer of complexity to the plot.

Kiser masterfully blends the romantic tension with the family drama as Tessa and Elliot navigate their forced proximity, small-town gossip, and personal betrayals. There’s also the underlying theme of fighting for your future—whether that’s with the man you never thought you’d need or protecting your family’s legacy.

Cherished Lands is a steamy, heartfelt read that will have you hooked from page one. It’s the perfect choice for fans of fake marriage, enemies-to-lovers, and small-town romance with a healthy dose of emotional growth and sizzling romance. Highly recommend this book if you love a hero and heroine who have to learn to trust each other and themselves—and if you're ready for a love story that will make you believe in second chances and the unexpected twists of fate.

This was my first Lauren Kiser book, and it definitely won’t be my last. This story had everything I crave—snappy banter, slow-burn tension, delicious angst, swoony romance, a HEA, and a whole lot of spice to crank up the heat. Elliot and Tessa? Total fire. I loved how confident and bold Tessa was with him—she held her own and then some. And that ending, where she stood up for herself? So satisfying.

Elliot started out as the classic broody, arrogant control freak—but the way he melted for Tessa and would do anything to make her happy? Whew. That’s the good stuff. Their chemistry was off the charts, and the found family vibes added just the right amount of warmth to balance all the heat. At 280 pages, it was the perfect length—short, spicy, and addictively easy to devour.

Elliot and Tessa brought tension and spice in this small town marriage of convenience romance in which Tessa's attempt to carve her own path as a business woman by investing in her dad's rival business forces her to get married to Elliot so that her dad doesn't initiates non-compete proceedings.

Everyone in the town has seen the chemistry from day one but what made this story amazing was how everyone just came together. I loved how Elliot was so confident about everything except about her and his feelings for her.

This book was fun and the found family vibe Elliot's family gave especially her mom and dad was amazing!!

Thank you to netgallery and Lauren Kiser for the opportunity to read this ARC
pre thoughts
- small town romance

post thoughts
- I loved this book.
- The building of the characters was impeccable and i was invested from the very beginning of reading.
- It has the absolute best small town vibes.
- I will be reading the first book in the series ASAP.
- Elli9ot and Tessa are a great representation of enemies to lovers.
- The pacing was great and it is very well written.

Tropes
- enemies to lovers
- marriage of convenience
- only one bed
- found family

4.5/5 stars
3.5/5 spice

Elliot y Tessa han sido rivales toda la vida, pero lo que realmente oculta esa competencia es una tensión innegable entre ellos, una atracción que ambos se han negado a aceptar. Elliot, luchando por salvar el huerto familiar y con el tiempo en contra, ve en Tessa una solución inesperada cuando su padre amenaza con destruir sus sueños. La propuesta de matrimonio, inicialmente vista como una simple estrategia de negocios, se convierte en un campo de batalla emocional, ya que Tessa se ve obligada a unirse a él para preservar su futuro.

Tessa, por su parte, pensaba que invertir en el huerto Ever Eden le daría la independencia que tanto deseaba, pero se enfrenta a la presión de su familia y a un matrimonio forzado con Elliot. Lo que parecía ser un acuerdo puramente profesional pronto empieza a mostrar una faceta más profunda, en la que surgen sentimientos que ninguno de los dos esperaba.





Tiene buenos elementos, pero se centra en lo sexual y la relación no tiene un verdadero desarrollo.


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

Such a sweet enemies to lovers!! The rivalry has been going on for years between their families! Until Tessa decides she wants to invest in a local business which happens to be the local orchard which is starting a cidery.

The romance is a whirl wind but you can feel the chemistry between the two. The mmc Elliot isn’t sure if he hates or loves her but he definitely lusts after her, his attraction towards Tessa has been there for years.

I really enjoyed this romance! Such a quick, simple book to read. Would be a good palette cleanser. Would definitely recommend!

I was lucky enough to receive an ARC of Cherished Land, thank you Lauren Kiser & NetGalley.

Elliot is focused, organised and has a life plan. With business dwindling, he must look for an investor to salvage the long term family run Ever Eden Orchard.

Tessa has had enough of being seen as Daddy’s Princess, she is craving her independence and looking to put her trust fund to good use by investing in a local business with her bold and brilliant ideas.

When that business belongs to her lifelong family rivals, The Everton’s, sparks are sure to fly.

It’s giving:
🍎 enemies to lovers
🍎 small town romance
🍎 marriage of convenience
🍎 found family
🍎 only one bed

✨My Thoughts✨-
I loved the banter between Elliot and Tessa. It is evidently clear from early on that they are both perfect for one another.

Tessa is sassy and not afraid to speak her mind and Elliot, as much as he protests is in awe of her. The spice is SO hot, literally from the opening line we are treated with the perfect amount.

It’s giving found family which Tessa ABSOLUTELY deserves! I laughed SO hard during the proposal scene, it had me in fits of giggles.

The setting is also stunning, I love a small town romance and the attention to detail of the picture building of the town of Sable Point and its community is just lovely!

It is an easy 4 ⭐ read in my opinion, I’m looking forward to future books within the series!

If you’re just now getting into smalltown romance, or you want to. This is the perfect start. I am rating this a 3.5 because it was kinda hard for me to get into at the beginning but the second half really caught my attention.


Tropes:

🤠 Small town
🐮 Enemies to lovers
🤠Marriage of convenience
🐮 Secret pining
🤠 found family

🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 spice

With this book, I felt like it was nicely written. I would have loved a little bit more of the enemies to lovers. The main guy character kind of redeemed himself at the end. I love the MMC and everything she goes through in this book. I could connect you.

3/5!

A solid first impression of Lauren’s work with the second book of The Sable Point series. Cherished Lands is a rivals to lovers, marriage of convenience romance which I found to be fast paced, quick and easy read. I haven’t read the first book in the series ( I will be going back to read) and didn’t feel like I was missing any valuable information; so they could be read as inter-connected stand alones.

Sadly, didn’t love the book as much as I hoped, I found that the smut out weighed the actual romance aspect and the main plot seemed like an after thought until the last 50 pages.

Additional reviews posted on Goodreads and StoryGraph

Thank you NetGalley and Lauren Kiser for the Arc!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I was so excited to get an arc for this - I read Reclaimed Roots and just loved the Overtons family and the small town feel.

I love Elliot and Tessa. I am a total sucker for an enemies to lovers book and when I tell you they were on FIRE, the banter, the angst. I was hooked from page one (if you know you know🤣) Their families were rivals long before they were ever born but her father made sure to keep that rivalry in tact. Elliot and Tessa pined after each other for years. When they both wanted to save their families legacies, they had no choice but to use each other to do so. Elliot was strong willed and focused. He had his life planned out from the second he could make decisions. Tessa wanted more out of her life and was destined for greater things outside of being a rich man's daughter. I loved her wit and strength. The tension was HIGH and the spice was spicing.

This book was captivating and heartwarming. Lauren wrote this book with authenticity and such care. It was perfect parts spicy, swoony and emotional. I hope Chase is getting a book - I cannot wait to hopefully see his growth.

🍎 enemies to lovers
🤍 marriage of convenience
🍷 secret pining
🤍 long family feud

Thank you @netgalley and @laurenkiser for the opportunity to read Cherished Lands 🫶🏼

This was such a sweet wine country romance! Tessa & Elliot were such great characters and had amazing chemistry. I loved the whole “fake marriage” to real love genre but this one was done really well and believably so! I highly enjoyed it as well as the beautiful descriptions of the scenery!

Woooooow! This book had me hooked from the very first sentence—I had to do a double take to make sure I read that line right! And let me tell you, the energy from that opening did not let up.

I love a good marriage of convenience, especially when the couple pretends to hate each other but secretly cannot resist one another. The tension, the angst, the back-and-forth—it’s everything I want in a romance!

Elliott and Tessa are both fighting to save their families’ legacies, but while Elliott has his family’s support and just needs financial backing, Tessa is dealing with a father who refuses to take her ideas seriously. When they join forces to make their dreams a reality, Tessa’s father throws down an ultimatum: abandon the venture, or face a lawsuit. The only way forward? Marry Elliott.

The forced proximity, the longing, the undeniable chemistry—it’s all here, and it delivers. And let’s talk about the spice—oh, it’s there, and it’s good, but it never overshadows the heart of the story. The plot has plenty of depth, making this book more than just a steamy romance.

If you love marriage-of-convenience with high stakes, sizzling tension, and characters who push and challenge each other in all the best ways, Cherished Lands is a must-read!

Thank you to NetGalley and Lauren Kiser for the opportunity to read and review this book!

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC!
This is my first Lauren Kiser book and let me tell you, I am HOOKED. I love how short and sweet these are. While they are predicatble, I sorta love that; you know exactly what you are getting into.

Tessa and Elliot are like fireworks, and when they finally ignite, its magic. I cannot wait for more from Lauren!