Done and Dusted Review By Char
In the book industry, the Romance genre is one of the most popular and a front-runner in the ebook revolution. However, it’s also making a massive comeback in print. With romance, only bookstores are popping up in most major cities, including our own Minneapolis. Being a romance fan, I support the rise of this part of the industry. However, with thousands of books to read, I can’t help but also look at the backlist of romance books. When visiting Tropes and Trifles in Minneapolis, I came across this series, but because I was there for something else, I just added it to my list. This is where Done and Dusted ” by Lyla Sage caught my interest. While it took a few months to get back to it, I have decided to read it.
She’s off-limits, but he’s never been good at following the rules. For the first time in her life, Clementine “Emmy” Ryder has no idea what she’s doing. She’s accomplished everything on her to-do list. She left her small hometown of Meadowlark, Wyoming, went to college, and built a career doing her favorite thing: riding horses. But after an accident makes it impossible for her to get back into the saddle, she has no choice but to return to the hometown she always wanted to escape. Luke Brooks is Meadowlark’s most notorious bad boy, bar owner, and bachelor. He’s also the unofficial fifth member of the Ryder family. As Emmy’s older brother’s best friend, Luke spent most of his childhood antagonizing her. It’s been years since he’s seen her, but when she walks into his bar and back into his life, he can’t take his eyes off her. Despite his better judgment, he wants to do a whole lot more than look at her. Emmy’s got too much on her mind to think about romance. And Luke knows he should stay away from his best friend’s younger sister. But what if Luke is just what Emmy needs to get her spark back? Or will they both go up in flames?
It’s a pretty well-known fact that I love romance and always go back to it when I don’t know what to read. I talk about this a lot and also recommend it a bunch. So, when I was trying to plan out what to read, I noticed this series on the list of books that seemed interesting. I really liked the new paranormal romance that Layla Sage wrote. I’ll post a review about that one soon. So I decided to read a series that she had previously written. I think what made me hesitant about this series is that I don’t read many Western-style books. It’s not that I don’t find them interesting; it’s just very low on my radar. I was, however, pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this book. I really liked that Emmy, the main character, had ADHD, but it didn’t run her life; she found a way to live with it. I also liked the struggle of her mental block. Not only was her injury scary, but it also brought us some traumatic memories. Brooks was a great character as well. He had his own struggles in the book, but the two main characters worked on them together. Emmy’s family also created a fantastic dynamic among the side characters and a continuation of the story in the next round of books. While I am not a Western girl, I still found so much of this story enjoyable, and I would totally recommend this book to anyone who hasn’t dipped their toe into this sub-genre. I also listened to part of the book via audio and thought it was cast well.
