Out of the Gate A Small Town Second Chance Romance - An Origin Story Novella (Gold Rush Ranch, #Book 1.5)

Elsie Silver — 2021

Dermot Harding is ten years older than me. A family friend. An employee on my father's ranch. But I've loved him as long as I can remember. At eighteen, I kissed him and he pushed me away. He said I was too young. The army took him from me for three long years, but now he's back at Gold Rush Ranch-looking at me like he's never looked at me before. Letting his hands linger longer than they should. Offering to help me train the racehorse I've always dreamed of owning. I say that I've moved on, but our chemistry? It's electric. It's overpowering. And soon all our reasons for staying away from each other fall away, along with our clothes. He says he's too old and too broken for someone like me. He says we can never work. But his body tells another story. I put my pride on the line for him once before. Am I a fool to risk it again?

Reviews

Kass@kass_sheehan24

Jul 19, 2024

It was cute! It’s hard to get emotional depth with novellas since it’s so short but I liked getting the back story. And I loved the hay bales ;)

🥔@tati_be_reading333

Jul 16, 2024

Light hearted and cute. But I’m only giving it 4 stars because Dermot pissed me off. Like dude you’re 30 years old, OPEN YOUR MOUTH AND TALK! Way too grown for this type of behavior.

This review contains a spoiler

Scarlett @lottie23

Jul 15, 2024

Elsie silver’s writing is amazing, however I am not a fan of romances being short stories. I also did not care for the characters and found the unlikable for most of my time reading this

nanafark@nanafark

Mar 23, 2024

spice level: 🌶🌶 (2/5)

📕 | This book follows Dermot Harding’s story, the grandfather of Vaughn and Cole’s Harding. It’s an origin story about his love with Ada Wilson and how their family businesses started. Ada has been in love with Dermot since she was a kid and before he left for the Army she kissed him goodbye. Three years later he’s back, at age 31, struggling to adjust, and he’s back working at Gold Rush Ranch, where he’s been working for her family breaking horses for the summers since his twenties. Ada grew up there, she’s now 21 and once she graduates her dream is to race horses. But she needs Dermot’s help with her new horse… and we get to see how the story evolves with him feeling regretful about not kissing her back before he left, her being embarrassed about it and a tension between them bigger than their age gap.

👍🏼 | Finishing this book, I’m left quite satisfied. This is a feeling I always crave when I finish a book and to feel it with a book of 100+ pages only, it’s such a pleasant surprise.

✍🏼 | It’s a complete novella to me and it’s something that I tend to mention about novellas. It’s been crafted in a way that has enough depth to feel as though you know the characters well enough to be invested and excited to read more and learn more about what’s next. I seriously consider it a huge success when I read novellas with a steady pace that doesn’t rush it in the end!

💖 | It was a lovely and fast-paced story. I liked how we got to see Ada’s dream coming to life, her being persistent and putting the work and effort towards her dream. Being strong and also stubborn when it comes to him and at the same time, I liked how Dermot is struggling internally with the situation they’re in and believes that he’s not enough for her but is eventually working himself out to get the girl!

👎🏼 | Unfortunately, I didn’t feel connected with all the dialogues, especially on Ada’s part. She was often acting opposite to her internal dialogues, maybe immaturely and her lines were not my favourite. Also, I’ve read Off to the Races and A Photo Finish first, and I wish we could have seen more of the future in Dermot’s life, so we could see Vaughn and Cole in his life and their time together in Gold Rush Ranch. I believe that this, would have made Dermot’s story more complete and more tied with the rest of the books.

💬 | ❝ She’s practically glowing, and the smile she gives me now? It’s like looking into the sun—downright blinding. ❞

🗣 | If you enjoy second-chance and age gap (10 years) tropes and you like novellas (100+ pages), this one is for you. I’d also recommend reading the rest of the series, too, but to read this one first!

✨ | Overall, an enjoyable novella with a nice plot, some spice, solid characters and heartwarming moments!

🗂️ | tropes + micro tropes : second chance, age gap (10 years), childhood crush, small town, forced proximity, forbidden romance, sports/horse racing