Opposites attract, and then they’ll ignite
Alice Bloom plays by a book of rules that’s crushing her alive. She’s resigned to her safety-first lifestyle until she meets local heartbreaker, Jake Elliott. Jake is everything she’s not – smooth-talking, fearless, and inconveniently gorgeous. She has every intention of steering clear until Jake proposes a sexy bet. And then it’s game on.
Ride-like-there’s-nothing-to-lose bull rider Jake Elliott has nothing in common with the straight-laced, look-both-ways-before-crossing-the-street Alice Bloom. But when she tells him that he’s too wild, too reckless for her blood, he can’t get her out of his mind. Jake loves a challenge. And Alice might be his toughest one yet.
What have they got to lose? The problem is nobody planned on falling head-over-boots in love.
Titles in The Elliotts of Montana include – Christmas at Sleigh Bell Farm – Betting on the Bull Rider –
Love any story that involves Marietta, Montana? Then you’ll want to check out two pages here that focus on this small town (and some neighboring ones as well) for titles, series, authors, and links to reviews done here at Keeper Bookshelf. Please visit our Marietta, Montana pages.
Title: Betting on the Bull Rider
Series: The Elliotts of Montana #2
Author: Kaylie Newell
Genre: Modern Western Romance
Published: April 21, 2020
Publisher: Tule Publishing
My Rating: 4.5 stars
Betting on the Bull Rider takes us back to my favorite fictional small town of Marietta, Montana for the second title in The Elliotts of Montana series.
It would be so easy to categorize this story as an opposite attracts trope, and in many ways it is – but I saw it in a different light, as two people who have some deep-seated emotional fears that they have allowed to take over controlling parts of their lives. They simply needed the right person to knock them out of their comfort zones into living a full, and sometimes, risky life.
As Alice and Jake first meet in somber surroundings it’s a fun leap to see them beginning to challenge each other over a few drinks in town. Jake is the risk-taker, the adrenaline junkie, the brave (or foolish) bull rider who lives life to the fullest without regret. Alice is afraid of almost everything. There are reasons in both her past and her present that have helped to build the wall that she solidly erects between herself and the rest of the world. Yet, Jake is slowly, steadily tearing down that wall with his challenges that she simply cannot resist. They both are stretching beyond their own comfort zones in a big way – a personal way, that’s starting to feel like a forever together kind of zone.
I had such fun with Betting on the Bull Rider. Full of laughter, teasing, dealing with fears, and falling in love this story captured not only my imagination but my heart as well. As a non-risk taker myself, I know how hard it is to step outside of that comfort zone, but as I’ve learned, the rewards are so worth it and I’m glad to see Alice reap the benefits of letting go and living life as it comes. With secondary characters who enhance, and at times, steal scenes, Jake and Alice’s romance is realistic, believable, and well worth the time to enjoy.
*I received an e-ARC of this novel from Tule Publishing. That does not change what I think of this story. It is my choice to leave a review giving my personal opinion about this book.*
Available for the Kindle
