Trail Rides and Starry Eyes
A swoony, sweet YA rural romance between a rancher and the Hollywood hotshot she's tasked with turning into a cowboy—perfect for fans of Kasie West, Erin Hahn, and Kristy Boyce!
Sixteen-year-old Cassidy Sterling can't imagine life beyond her family's Wyoming ranch. Her days are filled with colt breaking, cattle rustling, and an online Intro to Astronomy class. Seventeen-year-old Wilder Nash also has his sights set on the stars—the ones on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. A teen heartthrob, he's now he's ready for the big time. To land a lead role as a cowboy in a prime-time mini-series, he must convince the casting director he's an experienced horseman. The problem? He’s all hat and no cowboy.
With less than a month to learn to ride, Wilder heads to Silver Stallion Ranch.
Cassidy's quiet life is disrupted when Wilder arrives. As he mucks out stalls and grooms horses, Wilder begins to see there's more to life than his looks. And Cassidy starts imagining a future beyond the ranch. The growing spark between them threatens to ignite into something more, but Cassidy must decide if she's brave enough to take the reins of her own life. Meanwhile, Wilder faces a choice: the glamorous life of a star or a simpler life under the stars.
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Community Reviews
Look, I’m not saying this book moves slowly, but I’m pretty sure I aged a decade waiting for Cassidy and Wilder to figure out what both of them announce—in every other paragraph—they’re already feeling. Cassidy is crushing on Wilder. Wilder is crushing on Cassidy. Cassidy thinks Wilder is cute but oh no, he’s a celebrity. Wilder thinks Cassidy is amazing but oh no, what if he won’t be ready to ride for the movie. Rinse. Repeat. Add horses.
That said? Young teens are going to eat this up like it’s a freshly baked batch of ranch cookies. It’s squeaky clean, wholesome as a Wyoming sunset, and built on every cozy YA rural romance trope that makes the middle school crowd swoon. You’ve got ranch chores, you’ve got colt breaking, you’ve got Hollywood-boy-must-learn-to-ride-before-he-disappoints-his-agent. And the chemistry, while aggressively announced, is adorably earnest.
Cassidy is a grounded, hardworking heroine who’s basically living her best “small-town girl with dreams bigger than the sky” life. Wilder is the “I’m famous but sad inside” celeb who slowly learns there’s more to life than perfectly styled hair and pretending he knows how to hold reins. Together, they are exactly the cinnamon-roll romance teens beg me to add to the library.
Did it work for me? Ehhhhh… let’s just say I’ve had faster-paced days waiting in the school copier line. But for the intended audience? Absolutely chef’s kiss. I’ll happily buy it for the library because this is precisely the kind of sweet, swoony romance young readers adore—and honestly, they deserve cute stories that don’t involve murder, trauma, or someone being secretly a fae prince (not that I’m complaining).
So yes, this is on my to-buy list for the teens who will check it out and come back demanding the next ranch romance immediately.
That said? Young teens are going to eat this up like it’s a freshly baked batch of ranch cookies. It’s squeaky clean, wholesome as a Wyoming sunset, and built on every cozy YA rural romance trope that makes the middle school crowd swoon. You’ve got ranch chores, you’ve got colt breaking, you’ve got Hollywood-boy-must-learn-to-ride-before-he-disappoints-his-agent. And the chemistry, while aggressively announced, is adorably earnest.
Cassidy is a grounded, hardworking heroine who’s basically living her best “small-town girl with dreams bigger than the sky” life. Wilder is the “I’m famous but sad inside” celeb who slowly learns there’s more to life than perfectly styled hair and pretending he knows how to hold reins. Together, they are exactly the cinnamon-roll romance teens beg me to add to the library.
Did it work for me? Ehhhhh… let’s just say I’ve had faster-paced days waiting in the school copier line. But for the intended audience? Absolutely chef’s kiss. I’ll happily buy it for the library because this is precisely the kind of sweet, swoony romance young readers adore—and honestly, they deserve cute stories that don’t involve murder, trauma, or someone being secretly a fae prince (not that I’m complaining).
So yes, this is on my to-buy list for the teens who will check it out and come back demanding the next ranch romance immediately.
