I try to avoid spoilers, but still read with caution!
⭐⭐⭐⭐ 🌶️🌶️🌶️ 403 pages Genre: Cowboy/sports romance
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Tropes and themes:
🤠Cowboys 🤠 Opposites attract
🤠 Bull rider x city girl 🤠 Forced proximity
🤠 Small town 🤠 Grumpy x sunshine
🤠 Hate to love
Link to purchase at bottom of this review!
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This is the first book in the Chestnut Springs series by Elsie Silver. Each book focuses on a different couple living in the small town of Chestnut Springs. The books are in chronological order, so you will see snippets of the previous couples in each new book. For example, book one is about Rhett Eaton, book two (Heartless) is about his older brother, Cade Eaton; so their stories overlap. I like this aspect of Elsie Silver's writing, as you never need to say a true goodbye to the characters.
My favourite quote: "What the hell is that cowboy hat rule?" - "You wear the hat, you ride the cowboy".
Characters: This book follows the relationship development between Summer and Rhett. Rhett is portrayed as a playboy, no cares, career-flying bull rider, who cannot risk losing any more sponsors due to careless behaviour. Summer, is the career-driven, newly graduated, daughter of Rhett's manager. She is sweet, sassy, and does not take any back talk from anyone. Overall, I liked both of the main characters, but I feel like the build-up of chemistry was a little skipped over. We went from no chemistry to sizzling. This did not, however, take away from the story. I will warn you though ... be prepared for a little cringe (I do mean a 'little' - I am not a fan of cringey romance, so it would have scored lower for me if there had been more). The Eaton family dynamic is a clear show of Elsie Silver's superior writing. I felt like part of the family, like I knew each member personally, and I loved it!
Plot: The plot was great - the story flowed smoothly and there were no points in which I was confused or felt like the timeline had skipped.
Emotions: My goodness, yes, this book will send you through some emotions. Elsie Silver's writing, in my opinion, is fantastic for this. She really had me absorbed into the characters' lives - when they were arguing, I was annoyed. When they were happy, I was over here elated for them!
World-building: I would like to live in Chestnut Springs please. Specifically on Wishing Well Ranch. We even get a feel for some local places, like their go-to bar, and some of the people who also live in Chestnut Springs, but have no impact on the story. The world-building was fantastic - I honestly came away feeling like I could picture their world.
Ending: The ending was soppy, in a good way! Not too much cringe, but a good happy ever after. What I really like about this ending is that we get to see Rhett and Summer's relationship continue in the background of the next book.
Spice: Open door, foreplay, lots of teasing and sexual tension throughout the book. The steamy scenes are quite detailed and there are quite a few. I wouldn't say they were repetitive, which is normally a complaint of mine.
Overall, the book was a solid four stars for me, with three spicy peppers.
Please keep in mind that the above notes are my opinion and your experience with Flawless may differ to mine. That being said, I hope you enjoy this story as much as I did.
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