The Ride of Her Life

March 4, 2024
Dugan (Melt with You) underwhelms in this immature sapphic rom-com, with a cast of 20-somethings who behave like mean girl tweens. Narrator Molly McDaniel, 24, works as a barista, lives with her mom, and has put her dreams of becoming a wedding planner on hold because dreaming won’t cover her student loan payments. Mom is a soul-sucking helicopter parent who feuded with her own sister literally until the woman’s death—whereupon Molly inherits her aunt’s horse farm. The business is spiraling, but a nucleus of horse boarders remain, led by resident farrier Shani Thomas. Molly sees selling the property as a way to make quick cash; Shani, who Molly’s aunt fostered from childhood while Shani’s parents were on the road, is enraged by the prospective sale. She’s also gorgeous, which renders Molly equal parts lusty and whiny. Suspension of disbelief in the service of good tropes is no crime, and for a while the enemies-to-lovers structure carries the tale, but readers will grow frustrated as incongruities and dropped plot arcs accumulate. Meanwhile, the solution to both women’s problems feels glaringly obvious, but it takes them far longer than it takes the reader to figure things out. Shani and Molly inevitably get their happily ever after, but readers will wonder whether they deserve it. Agent: Sara Crowe, Sara Crowe Literary.

April 1, 2024
Opposites attract when a city girl inherits a horse farm--which also includes a gorgeous yet grumpy farrier. Molly McDaniel is obsessed with weddings, and she's always dreamed of starting her own wedding-planning company. Sadly, she's drowning in student debt and nowhere close to launching a business while she works two part-time jobs, as a barista and at a call center. When an estranged aunt dies and leaves her a barn, Molly at first believes her bad luck has doubled, but quickly sees the silver lining. If she can sell the barn and land, then she might have enough money to pursue her goal. The ramshackle barn comes with more than just horses and hefty repair costs, though. There's also Shani Thomas, a farrier who not only lives and works on the property, but also tended to Molly's aunt during her years of declining health. The two immediately butt heads, as it seems that Molly is only there to destroy what Shani helped build. As more and more people pitch in to help Molly with the renovation, she begins to be swayed by the community the barn has brought together and her growing attraction to Shani. The biggest detriment to this trope-filled romance with its grumpy-meets-sunshine couple and fish-out-of-water-plot is the main character. Molly is frequently a poor communicator even though people's livelihoods are on the line, and she often drops the ball in making Shani feel supported. For a good part of the book, Molly is selfish and short-sighted, assuming those around her will come to her aid at the drop of a hat, and it isn't believable that she'd be able to run a successful small business. She's a prime example of a partner and friend who takes way more than she gives. An unlikable main character frustrates what could have been a romance for grown-up horse girls.

COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

June 7, 2024

An unexpected inheritance is the catalyst for romance in this contemporary novel. Molly and her mother have been estranged from Molly's aunt for years, so Molly is surprised to inherit Aunt Christina's horse barn business. Molly plans to sell the property to pay off her student loans and realize her dream of owning an event-planning business, even if that means dissolving an inclusive community space and evicting Shani, the cute farrier who cared for Aunt Christina at the end of her life. Readers should expect a very slow start. The first chapters are heavy on exposition, and both Molly and Shani spend a long time staring longingly while starting arguments. Complicated relationships with friends, family, and money add dimension to a fairly predictable main plot. VERDICT Recommended for collections where Dugan's Love at First Set or Helena Greer's Season of Love have fans.--Katelyn Browne

Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.