Review Tour: Reining Her In: Katie Ashley
REINING HER IN
Katie Ashley
RELEASE DATE AUGUST 15, 2019
Add to Goodreads
The last time I saw Declan St. James was at our rehearsal dinner. That was shortly before he jilted me at the altar. To avoid the swarm of whispers and finger pointing every time I dared to show my face in public, I fled two hours south to Atlanta and never looked back. Over the last decade, I’d planned hundreds of scenarios about how our next meeting would go down. The expletives I’d hurl at him. Which knee I might use to annihilate his balls. Which dimpled cheek on his ridiculously handsome face I would send a stinging slap across.
But being elbow deep in a cow’s ass was not one of them.
Normally, I didn’t get up close and personal to a bovine’s rectum. At least not since veterinarian school. But desperate times found me back home to attend my grandfather’s funeral, who happened to be the town’s large animal vet. Those two facts had left me wading through manure in Roy Wallace’s pasture to care for a distressed heifer.
While time and maturity seemed to have changed him from the boy I knew, I still wasn’t falling for his charm. Or his hard, chiseled body. Or ass you could eat dinner off of.
No, I wasn’t going back down that street again. Unfortunately, Declan didn’t seem to get the message. Instead, he seemed as stubborn as he ever was and ready for a fight. It’ll be the fight of his life for me to let him back in my heart.
Peyton Beasley avoids her hometown at all costs. But when her beloved grandfather passed away, there is no avoiding a return to her hometown. She knows she will run into Declan at some point, though she didn’t imagine she’d be shoulder deep in cow at the time, and the meeting only serves to highlight that she has not put the past behind her as she had previously thought. Ten years prior, Declan left her at the altar. Ten years is a long time to hold a grudge, and it is about time that they have it out so they can move on. But as they sort their past and Peyton decides to forgive his decisions, it becomes clear that neither has truly moved on.
Peyton Beasley is a big city vet who is devoted to her work. She's caring, funny, and not into serious relationships. She is guarded and has a strong fear of rejection...for a reason
Declan St. James was the town golden boy and he was her everything...until on the most important day of their young lives, he failed to show up. So she has stayed away from her hometown for ten years trying to avoid the past pain and humiliation and the one man that broke her heart.
But now she has no choice but to return home and face her demons. That means dealing with some awkward moments and the gossip mill in their hometown. It does not matter how good looking he still is, she is determined to hold a grudge and does not want to have anything to do with him. But now they are both in closer proximity and avoidance is easier said than done. He seems to be everywhere. And maybe that immature boy has grown up into a way-too-hot-to-ignore man. And he may just still be as determined, handsome, and tempting as he used to be. But she still hates him...right? But Declan has also proved to be unpredictable in the past, and her response to him is anything but predictable.
Peyton is kind of a hot mess but her awkward to mortifying moments did make me laugh. And Declan knew just how to poke at her and how to figure her out. They may have been apart for ten years, but their old connection and knowledge of each other was hard to deny.
Their history was both good and bad, but is there a chance to heal, move on, and find a brighter future?
This is a humorous, emotional, sexy, lovers-to-enemies-to-lovers rom-com with a lot of heart. It's about forgiveness, giving up control, vulnerability, honesty, and rebuilding a relationship. I loved the small-town setting, and coming home and second-chance storylines. I really liked Declan and Peyton even when they were not sure what they were feeling. The side characters, especially their families gave the story more depth. Their rapport was entertaining whether they were fighting or flirting. It had some really sweet moments that definitely made me smile.
Peyton Beasley avoids her hometown at all costs. But when her beloved grandfather passed away, there is no avoiding a return to her hometown. She knows she will run into Declan at some point, though she didn’t imagine she’d be shoulder deep in cow at the time, and the meeting only serves to highlight that she has not put the past behind her as she had previously thought. Ten years prior, Declan left her at the altar. Ten years is a long time to hold a grudge, and it is about time that they have it out so they can move on. But as they sort their past and Peyton decides to forgive his decisions, it becomes clear that neither has truly moved on.
I loved the moments early in their reconnection when Peyton’s anger was flying high. She doesn’t hold back when she feels something, and isn’t afraid of showing or telling Declan exactly how she feels. But I also loved that as she got to know the current him, she let go of the anger that had been fueling her for so long.
Yes, Declan made a mistake, but he also learned from all the mistakes he had made in the 10 years in between. Yes, he married another woman and had a child, but that child is now the center of his world. I loved seeing him living the life he had built, rolling with what life sent his way while also driving Peyton’s direction now that she was back in his life.
This was a light, entertaining read from start to finish. These characters have a history to work through, but despite some childish reactions at their first encounters after 10 years, they work through their past like adults. This is a second chance is the truest sense of the word. Neither character stopped living their lives or stayed in limbo waiting for the other to come around. They tried to form new relationships, they made decisions as individuals, and found themselves in a position to try again as more mature people the second time around. I may not have agreed with Declan’s decisions from 10 years previous (and neither did Peyton) but I quickly fell in love with the man he had grown into. Getting to know him in the present made it easier to forgive his actions at age 20 (because haven’t we all made bone-headed decisions in our early 20s that our later selves questioned?).
Thank you, Katie Ashley, for writing a light, entertaining read. This girl found it refeshing not to be slammed with so much angst it would make my head spin, especially with the topic at hand.
Thank you, Katie Ashley, for writing a light, entertaining read. This girl found it refeshing not to be slammed with so much angst it would make my head spin, especially with the topic at hand.
Was Declan a prick for jilting her? Yes. Absolutely. But they were 20 years old. Just babies. And a decade had moved on. Both parties dated and had sex with other people (a HUGE thank you to Ms. Ashley, for not making our heroine celibate!). Girl power and all that. There was no reason to make things contrived and stressful. I loved that Declan came in as a flirty ex, who knew he fucked up.
As for OW drama, there was another woman a year or two before Peyton came back in the picture. BUT NO DRAMA FROM HER. Declan is a single dad. A great dad, who had the cutest little boy 6 years after the wedding fiasco. The author could have built so much contrived drama around this. Thank god she didn't. Made me like our MCs that much more.
And Peyton, I loved her spitfire attitude. She gave Declan shit and didn't let him off easy.
I loved that there were some oh my god, did she really go there moments, some laugh out loud moments, some sad ones, and some are you fricken kidding me ones. Reining Her In was exactly what I needed after 5 overbearing, alpha male Gideon Cross books.
P.s. thanks for giving us bloggers/advanced readers a heads up that this copy was unedited and final edits are coming. I can't wait to read Declan and Peyton again in all their finished glory.
Katie Ashley is a New York Times, USA Today, and Amazon Best-Selling author of both Indie and Traditionally published books. She lives outside of Atlanta, Georgia with her daughter, Olivia, and her spoiled mutt, Duke. She has a slight obsession with Pinterest, The Golden Girls, Shakespeare, Harry Potter, Star Wars, and Scooby-Doo.
With a BA in English, a BS in Secondary English Education, and a Masters in Adolescent English Education, she spent eleven years teaching both middle and high school English, as well as a few adjunct college English classes. As of January 2013, she hung up her red pen and expo markers to become a full-time writer. Each and every day she counts her blessings to be able to do her dream job.
Although her roots are firmly planted in the red Georgia clay, she loves traveling the country and world to meet readers and hang out with fellow authors. When she’s not writing or chasing down her toddler, you might find her watching reruns of The Golden Girls, reading historical biographies, along with romance novels, or spending way too much time on Facebook.
Join Katie's Newsletter | Reader Group
0 comments