I am officially obsessed with Chestnut Springs. I immediately loved this book. It sucked me in from the very first chapter. It’s adorable and just feels like home. The story is cozy and the characters are so so good and don’t even get me started on the spice. It’s funny, witty and steamy and I can’t wait to read the rest of this series. I hope there will be cameos from summer and Rhett!

I guess I'm into cowboy romances now. This book has small town, grumpy x sunshine, city girl x small town boy, dislike to friends to lovers, childhood crush, forced proximity, one bed, and apparently... whipped cream. Professional bull rider Rhett finds himself in PR trouble with his sponsors thanks to his distaste in milk! Summer, a recent graduate who currently works for her father's agency, is assigned to supervise Rhett over the next two months to help him manage his reputation. Rhett has two rules: keep his hands off his agent's daughter and stay out of trouble. What more could go wrong with these two? Other than the fact that Summer had a crush on him as a teenager... I appreciated the relationship that developed between Rhett and Summer: the hot moments, the sweet moments, the funny moments, and even the vulnerable moments. They were supportive of each other as individuals while unfolding their beautiful loving relationship. While Rhett's family wasn't supportive of his career, it was Summer who provided that support and encouragement along the way. They have amazing chemistry and the banter is all around fantastic. My favorite parts were the little text messages in the beginning of each chapter! "If these were your last moments, would you go happy?" Summer was such a beautifully written character. She had been through a lot in her life and it was great to see her overcome those obstacles in the past and put herself first. Her relationship with her dad was so wholesome. She was fierce, loyal, and saw through Rhett's BS. How can one not love her? "I am not possessive. I am protective. And I'll never stop protecting you." After peeling layers off Rhett's cocky and charming facade, we see him as an insecure and vulnerable who had no idea what he plans to do as his career is coming to an end. I loved that he was able to show his sensitive side to Summer. He was protective, sweet, and romantic in his own way. I'm still not over the words that came out of his mouth! I adored the Eatons, especially Cade and his never-ending scowls! This was my first Elsie Silver book and I immediately jumped into Heartless right after. I plan to read her Gold Rush Ranch series soon!

A bull rider and his agent—how did I not see this coming? Summer (h) is the “other child” of the family, conceived from a quick romp with a maid, and feels like she has something to prove, be it loyally following her father or nurturing those around her because “I’m an empath” (and no, not in the actual way, more like the Tumblr way). Rhett (H) is the youngest cowboy in his family (save his little nephew) and has built an unsupported career off the adrenaline rush of bull riding at the risk of worsening his injuries and running his mouth. When Rhett’s jokes and less-than-graceful handling of nosy journalists nearly tank his career, Summer is sent out as his glorified babysitter. And that’s how our small town, enemies to lovers story kicks off. I found the term “enemy” was a very, er, <em>inaccurate</em> way of describing our H and h. They are both victims of circumstance who don’t get along and have their little scuffles, but that doesn’t make them “enemies”. I’d say this is more of a <em>strangers to lovers</em> phenomenon than enemies. Enemies to lovers for me needs to be all about the mockery, the hurt, and one attempt of legitimately murdering the other (be it in body or in mind). I enjoyed this book subverted several tropes in such a <em><strong>natural</strong></em> way. For example, Summer may be unapologetically city girl, but she can ride horses, she’s not embittered at her father’s infidelity, she’s better at endurance training than the guys <em>without</em> monologuing about it, and she understands when she is hurt. I was very worried when Rhett got hurt that Summer would make up with him then. But when Rhett went all, well, <em>Rhett</em>, I was pleased she walked away and rightfully ignored him. I also very much liked she was unapologetically city girl and very brilliant without monologuing or exacerbating her differences between her and the country folk. I had a bit of an issue with all the “nibbling on her lips” and “I’m an empath—a nurture”. The verb <em>nibbling</em> requires both lips and picturing it (because, as some of us do, we create an entire feature film as we read) made me gloss over any of her “anxious tells”. I also liked how this was a subverted babysitter trope to a degree. I get annoyed at the whole agent/PR x athlete trope because the agent comes off as snarky and childish as they <em>literally</em> treat the athlete like a child who knows nothing or a “dumb jock” and refuse to apologize for it. The antagonism between these two were realistic, and I’m happy Summer knew better than to embarrass anyone while on the job and also took Rhett’s own emotions into account. I <em><strong>did</strong></em> like Rhett more towards the end than at the beginning. I especially loved when his father shut down Rhett’s “possessive Alpha” act with advice almost every MMC needs: stop focusing on the person eyeing your lover and focus on who your lover is eyeing. When people gawked at two of my previous partners, I felt pride because that means others were besotted with their charm as I was. And I felt so lucky someone so well-sought after was with me and I got to know them under all the vanity. Possessiveness and jealousy are actually darkly thrilling to read <em><strong>within the context of the story and/or character</strong></em>. Some authors make cinnamon roll MCs aggressively jealous as a way to “show a whole new side” but it feels shoehorned in. Rhett’s jealousy actually felt like one small part of his personality, and his father’s quick word of advice was perfect. No soapboxing. No shoehorning. No signing. Two sentences and we’re done with that ish. What prevents me from 5⭐️s is the use of family and the best friend. I’m sorry. I <em>hate</em> the “I have one sole bestie in this world” trope. Willa was nice, sure, but I didn’t vibe with her. Family as an external conflict away from the couple’s own issues is fine with me. The naming (Summer and Winter) was a little too much. And also, Kip might’ve been great in <em>some</em> aspects, but if his wife and daughter are causing so much distress to his much more beloved daughter, it begs the question why he never sought divorce. I do like, however, that Winter stayed cold until the end. Honestly, I’d like to see her with Caleb. I love the grumpy/grumpier trope which is a <em><strong>rare</strong></em> breed of story. But it’d be fascinating to see how even a grumpy Caleb manages to thaw Winter out of her ice queen persona and also help provide much more of a natural insight to Luke’s mum. Unfortunately, I have a feeling it’s Willa x Caleb and Winter x Beau. <em>Le sigh</em>. Anywho: good read. References to OW with a fake out and some good OM drama too. I’m not sure how the steam was. Little miscommunication outside a singular stupid moment. The main strife came from words spoken shots fired. 4.25 ⭐️s. 💜

This series ties in well with the ROSE HILL series. Each book is a fast yummy read. Only the Book with Jasper is hard to read because of poor publisher printing (ordered a replacement for the poor fist copy and it was worst, so called the publisher), but over all it had a good story. I'm almost finished with this series and expecting the second Rose Hill book this coming week. Glad I discovered Elsie Silver.