⋆ ⁎ ★° ⁀ ➷ 3 steamy

Winter Hamilton is a doctor, recently divorced from her ex-husband - and her little sister Summer’s ex-boyfriend/groomer - Rob Valentine. Wanting to start over, and reconnect with her sister, Winter moves to Chestnut Springs. On her way to Wishing Well Ranch Winter meets and spars with Theo Silva. Wanting a rebound, and having admitted to herself that she finds Theo attractive, offers up the idea to Theo who doesn’t turn it down. A year and a half later, Winter is living a new life with a secret, and she isn’t happy with Theo Silva.

Theo Silva is a bull rider legacy, and protégé of Rhett Eaton. Theo is known as a ladies man, and is all-round happy all the time, and looks from the optimistic point of view. Sparing with Winter Hamilton ends up with Theo being intrigued in getting to know the woman known as the ice queen. After a one-night-stand where Winter leaves, Theo himself disappears and the pair doesn’t see each other for a year and a half. Unlucky for Theo, Winter isn’t all that happy to see him - and for good reason. The biggest problem? Theo doesn’t know why, and when he finds out, he is crushed.

I loved with book. I knew going into the book that a baby was involved, and I had so many speculations on what a ”secret baby” trope was. How the trope was used in this book is soul crushing, and I genuinely felt so horrible for Theo. I loved that Winter got her redemption arc, and I love that Theo saw Winter before everyone else - or even herself - did. He didn’t see her as this icy person. He listened to her childhood - which in comparison to Summer, wasn’t that great. Winter had a lot of trust and abandonment issues. I loved how they saw each other in things they didn’t know about themselves.
I also love that Elsie Silver included a scene where the character actually thinks about security cameras afterwards!

Content warnings:
Sexual content, Miscarriage, Emotional abuse
Tropes:
- He falls first
- Close proximity
- Single mom
- Secret baby
- Grumpy x Sunshine (reverse)