Save a Horse, Read Elsie Silver
Save a Horse, Read Elsie Silver
by Charlotte Brandman
“Having you think I’m out fucking everything that moves when I’ve looked at nothing and no one since the first day I laid eyes on you. I stepped into that godforsaken boardroom and you practically demanded I become obsessed with you,”
- Rhett Eaton, Flawless
Welcome back to the safest place on the internet for romance lovers. I’m so happy you’re back for more book recommendations and hot takes from your favorite straight romance-loving sapphic writer.
Today is the day I introduce you to the romance reader who influenced me to start this blog: Rebecca “Becca” Kim. I met Becca in my first week at Emerson and we instantly bonded over the obscene amount of romance books we read a week. She was the person who got me addicted to hockey romance and more recently, cowboy romances. She begged me every day to start reading Flawless by Elsie Silver, and I finally gave in. And thank god I did because this series is slowly changing my life.
Becca has a specific way of introducing books to our friend group - with theatrics and melodrama. She’ll get on her feet in the middle of the study common room and bellow to us the plot of her newest romance read. With crazy hand motions—and sometimes fake tears—we’re all dragged into a new series before finishing the last one she recommended. That’s how she roped me into reading a five-part series about cowboys. But, as she clarified for me, these aren’t American cowboys - they’re Canadian cowboys, which only makes them more alluring.
Flawless starts us in on Rhett Eaton, a famous bull rider from Chestnut Springs, a small town outside of Calgary. That’s right, we’re going international this week. He’s the definition of a “fuck-boy” - never satisfied with the woman he’s with, never bothering to remember their names. Until he meets Summer Hamilton, the daughter of his agent, Kip Hamiton. Rhett gets into a little bit of trouble - there’s a news article released detailing secret tapes of Rhett admitting he hates milk. Why is his hatred of milk important? He’s sponsored by the dairy industry! The dairy industry subsequently drops his sponsorship and Summer is assigned to “babysit” Rhett on his travel games so he doesn’t do anything that stupid again. Who knew the dairy industry was so important…
You know me by now and therefore you know that I only like books with strong women as leads. Well, Summer Hamilton definitely provided enough sass to power a small engine. She is a master of keeping men like Rhett in line and he falls for her because of it. She’s the first woman to not fall head over heels for his sexy cowboy look, complete with long hair and a six-pack. But the gag is Summer had a poster of Rhett on her wall as a teenager… talk about a fantasy coming to life. It’s a running joke throughout the book that Summer has been in love with Rhett for years. And, let’s not lie here, she’s definitely still attracted to him. In love with his grumpy attitude? Not so much.
But like with any romance novel, Rhett makes an effort to fix his not-so-pretty attitude so that his pretty face can finally belong to Summer. I won’t tell you anymore because I want you to experience the drama and absolutely mind-melting cuteness that this book entails for yourself. As always, we have to ask ourselves - were the sex scenes good? Well, let me tell you, they had me sweating. Imagine my delight when Summer described the strength of Rhett’s back and thighs. And I’m sure you can imagine the type of scenes that come with a professional bull-rider.
But the best part about Flawless? There are four more books in the series. I’m currently off to read Heartless, a story about Cade, a single dad and Rhett’s older brother, and Willa, bartender-turned-babysitter. I’m a huge sucker for kids in books and I just know Elsie Silver is going to make me cry with this novel.
See you next read,
Charlotte
Photograph: Pinterest