~Bite 3~
Rebel Blue Ranch Series by Lyla Sage
Done and Dusted
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Setting: fictional town named Meadowlark located in Wyoming
Main Characters: Emmy (Clementine) Ryder and Luke Brooks
Tropes: older brother’s best friend, childhood enemies-lovers
Plot:
This book follows Emmy (Clementine) Ryder, who has just returned home to Meadowlark after suffering a riding accident. Emmy was once at the top of her riding game, but now her brothers, father and friends do not understand what has brought her back home. Enter bad boy Luke Brooks—who has been a part of Emmy’s life for as long as she can remember. He is her older brother best friend. He now owns the Devils Boot—a local country bar in Meadowlark and once he sees Emmy walk into his bar he doesn’t want her to leave.
Overall Thoughts:
Before reading this book I had heard and seen a lot of praise for Lyla Sage’s books and when I knew her books focused on cowboy brothers, I was immediately sold. If you’re a girl who loves the “he falls first, but she falls harder” trope this book is for you. Emmy is lost in the beginning of this story, struggling to tell her family about her accident, but it is Luke who is able to help Emmy heal and get her back where she belongs—in the saddle. Emmy and Luke are so attracted to one another and in this book you genuinely just get to watch their connection unfold through yearning and crazy sexual tension. I am not normally a romance reader, but I cannot say enough good things about this first book in the series and I cannot wait to read book 2–Swift and Saddled.
My movie fan-cast thoughts:
It has not been confirmed yet whether these books will be turned into movies or a tv series, but I am hopeful, so I made my own fan cast posters for each book.
Danielle Campbell from Starstruck (if you know you know) and The Originals. I chose Danielle because she has such soft features, beautiful brown hair described in the books and she would look great playing opposite Taylor Kitsch. I mean the height difference alone—5’3 and 5’11.
Taylor Kitsch who played Tim Riggins in Friday Night Lights—I mean come on the way Lukes hair was described in the book it just makes sense and Taylor would make such a good looking rough around the edges cowboy.
Memorable/Favorite Quotes:
“Thats your best friends little sister dipshit” (Sage 15).
“Her hair was messy as usual. I wanted to be the one who made it that way” (Sage 80).
If you were a Heartland watcher or want to read about cowboy treating woman the way they should be treated, this book/series is for you.
One line to describe this book:
Home is a person, not a place.
~
Swift and Saddled
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Main Characters: Ada Hart and Weston Ryder
Tropes: forbidden romance, found family, themes of mental health
Plot: Ada Hart is a tattooed interior designer who has just been hired for a large design project at the Rebel Blue Ranch. A project that will be headed by Weston Ryder whom she kisses at the Devils Boot Bar and doesn’t realize until she shows up on the next day at the project site—he is her new boss and this is his project.
Overall Thoughts:
All the books in this series are interconnected and what I liked about Done and Dusted and Swift and Saddled was we get a lot of glimpses of side characters, but also glimpses into who the next book in the four-book series will follow. In both books we get glimpses of Teddy, who we follow in book three, as well as Amos Ryder, the father of Emmy and her brothers who becomes an important presence throughout the series. Throughout all her books, Lyla Sage talks about mental health in such a seamless, understanding, and powerful way which I think is important to note.
Getting into Swift and Saddled, I just loved this book and the relationship between Ada and Weston. Ada had this shy side to her being in the country, when she was used to this big city life, but she was also such a strong beautiful badass woman. Weston (Wes) is simply a nice guy. He is the epitome of every girls cowboy dreams and fantasies. He treats Ada with so much respect that she doesn’t even feel she deserves this treatment, having come out of an abusive and controlling marriage. This is a book romance/relationship that proves love is patient, love is kind.
Wes teaches Ada to drive stick in his truck because the car she drove in from the city is falling apart. He cooks her favorite foods to show her he cares and is thinking about her and he even goes as far as sketching her rose sleeve tattoos in his notebook—I mean come on ladies are you obsessed yet? Just read this book. You will not be dissapointed. The ending of this book is truly happily ever after—Baby Blue (the buidling project Ada had been working on is finished) and after her business takes off she comes back home to Rebel Ranch to find a cabin Wes had been renovating for the two of them to live in—truly just a beautiful and heartwarming love story.
My movie fan-cast thoughts:
For this book I immediately knew who I pictured as Ada and that is Camilla Mendes who played Veronica in the tv series Riverdale. In the show, she played this sassy, not-afraid-to-stand-out character and with that gorgeous black hair I was sold and personally, I think she would look so pretty with some blue streaks in her and a rose sleeve on her arm.
For the person who would play Weston, I had a bit more trouble because I couldn’t exactly picture it in my head, but I stumbled on a photo ad for Lucky Brand featuring British Model David Gandy. Now I know he’s not an actor and Weston isn’t British, but just look at this gorgeous man next to Camilla—I mean come on you understand.
Memorable/Favorite Quotes:
“Your staring is about as subtle as a gunshot” (Sage 61).
“I was wondering if I could ever live a life he wasn’t a part of) (Sage 206).
“You showed me love” (Sage 276).
One line to describe this book:
Stable love is real.
~
Lost and Lassoed
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Main Characters: Teddy Andersen and Gus Ryder
Tropes/Themes: Childhood Enemies-lovers, Found Family, Single Dad, Close Proximity, Mental Health
Plot: Teddy is the best friend of Emmy and we have seen many glimpses of her character throughout books one and two, but book 3 tells her story.
Teddy is a designer who is currently working at a local clothing boutique, while also taking care of her father who used to work at Rebel Blue with the Ryder family. The boutique owner decides to close the store, leaving Teddy jobless and wondering what is next for her.
Enter—Gus. A single dad who needs a sitter for his daughter while he is working on the ranch. Gus and Teddy have always hated eachother, having grown up together, but perhaps this new living situation will leave them with more than a new job/living arrangement.
Overall Thoughts:
Out of this whole series I was most excited to read Teddy’s story and I loved seeing her character development throughout the entire series. In the beginning of this book Teddy is lost, watching all of her friends move on with their lives, wondering when will it be her turn? Her favorite leather jacket is ruined, she lost her job, and she can’t stop worrying about her father. So, what she needs of course is to move in with her attractive-cowboy nemesis Gus who is in need of a sitter for his daughter Riley.
I am just starting to become a romance reader, but this book made me laugh and cry with every page. It has every thing a romance girly would enjoy in my opinion—I mean the banter alone between these two is just stunningly written. These two characters were bold, beatiful, and entertaining. I loved reading every part of their love story from getting stuck in a basement closet together to seeing Gus, Teddy, and Riley become a blossoming family of three. Truly a profound story of love and redemption and gosh, I love Lyla Sage’s writing and I cannot wait to read the last book in this series.
Movie Fan-Cast Thoughts:
As soon as I read the lines about Teddy’s red hair/saw the cover for this book I knew exactly who I would pick to play her in a movie—Madelaine Petsch. Clearly, a Riverdale theme going on here, but I mean come on her gorgeous locks, complexion, and red lip. It just makes sense for her to portray a bold, fiery, and creative character like Teddy Anderson.
For Gus I also knew who to pick right away when I read more about his character and saw the book cover. None other than Jensen Ackles from Supernatural—duh. I just think these two would look so sexy together and he would make a great rugged cowboy. I mean look at the picture again.
So many good quotes in this book so, I couldn’t list them all, but here’s a few to give you a taste of this fiery enemies-lovers love story…
“I hoped he’d get eaten by a demon” (Sage 8).
“But now she was living in my house, eating my food, and prancing aroud in her stupid outfits that felt like they were designed to drive me crazy”(Sage 99).
“Just because he’s a good dad and sometimes looks at you like you’re the only person in the room does not mean that he isn’t a dick” (Sage).
“ I wondered whether I could taste the sun on her skin. Jesus Gus. Do you think you’re a poet? Check yourself” (Sage 132).
“I tried to pinpoint it—the moment things had changed— but I couldn’t. There wasn’t one moment that stuck out for me— just a bunch of little ones, like matches I kept throwing onto the box of dynamite that was Gus, and eventually one had hit the fuse and blown up everything I’d ever thought I knew about him” (Sage 234).
~
Wild and Wrangled
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Main Characters: Camille Ashwood (a.k.a Cam or “Ash”) and Dusty Tucker
Tropes/Themes: Childhood friends to lovers, found family, single mom, redemption
Plot:
Camille is a single mom raising her daughter with Gus who’s story was plotted in Lost and Lassoed. Cam’s story opens up with her being left at the alter and who is there to pick the sad bride up off the floor? None other than her childhood best friend and first love Dusty Tucker.
One sentence to describe this book:
A beautiful end to an unforgettable series of interconnected stories.
Overall Thoughts:
I truly would stay in the Meadowlark universe forever. Every story was authentic, personal, and memorable and this story was no different. Talk about some invisible strings. This book had everything—cute and meaningful nicknames, note passing, and even matching tattoos. I mean come on—this man bought her dream house. Talk about how romance isn’t dead. You know how some people say relationships can feel like home? Well, I think Cam and Dusty were so tethered to one another, they were bound to be together. They truly found home in one another. When they were younger, they were still figuring out who they were as people, but as adults who found who they were individually, it was time for them to find happiness in one another again.
Movie Fan-Cast Thoughts:
For Cam, I chose Maria Avgeropoulos who played Octavia in one of my favorite shows The 100. She has such distinct and gorgeous fierce dark features—hair, eyes, eyebrows, that I felt it was the perfect fit for Cams character.
Dusty Tucker was a bit harder to figure out, seeing as though we need a blonde actor and the rest of the male characters were brunettes. I ended up choosing Matthew Nozka—known for his acting and modeling. This man is gorgeous and tall and I thought he would look so good standing beside Maria in a cowboy hat of course.
My Favorite Quotes:
“Dusty was my first everything, but not in a first love way. He was my first real friend. He was the first person who cared enough to get to know me, who peeled back the layers I had drawn around myself and liked what they saw. He made me want to like myself, too” (Sage 90).
“He was so kind, and I liked getting to know the man who still had parts of the boy I used to love— maybe the most important parts” (Sage 153).
“I’ll love you until we’re dust, Camille Ashwood” ( Sage 199).
Overall Series Ranking
1. Lost and Lassoed
2. Swift and Saddled
3. Wild and Wrangled
4. Done and Dusted