Elena Reviews: Lost Rider By Harper Sloan

Title: Lost Rider

{Coming Home #1}

Author: Harper Sloan

Publication Date: April 25th ,2017

Genres: New Adult, Contemporary, Romance

In Lost Rider, the first Western romance in New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Harper Sloan’s Coming Home series, an injured rodeo star encounters an old flame but will she be just what he needs to get back in the saddle?

Maverick Austin Davis is forced to return home after a ten-year career as a rodeo star. After one too many head injuries, he’s off the circuit and in the horse farming business, something he’s never taken much of a shine to, but now that it’s his late father’s legacy, familial duty calls. How will Maverick find his way after the only dream he ever had for himself is over?

Enter Leighton Elizabeth James, an ugly duckling turned beauty from Maverick’s childhood—his younger sister’s best friend, to be exact, and someone whose heart he stomped all over when she confessed her crush to him ten years back. Now Leighton is back in Maverick’s life, no longer the insecure, love-stricken teen—and Maverick can’t help but take notice. Sparks fly between them, but will Leighton be able to open her heart to the one man who broke it all those years ago?

Written in the vein of Diana Palmer and Lindsay McKenna, this Texas-set series is filled with sizzle, heart, and plenty of cowboys!
*I received this book by the publisher, in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.*

Lost Rider follows Maverick and Leighton, who reconcile after ten years apart and come to the conclusion that, they cannot live without each other. They fell in love when they were just kids, but Maverick had to get away from their small town and the demons that tormented him. So, naturally, before leaving, Maverick had to make sure that Leighton hated him in order to feel better about himself and make sure that, a relationship with her wouldn't hold him back. The guy just wanted to get away to pursue his dream of being a rodeo star. Goodbye true love, hello permanent career! That sort of thing.

And after a tragic event - well, technically, two tragic events - Maverick is forced to come back home after ten years. His absence has obviously hurt his family and of course Leighton, who tried to find someone to fill the void her cowboy left behind but couldn't. She kept comparing everyone she met to him until she realized that, nobody could replace the real deal. Can you imagine? To keep a very long story short, she's mad at him at first, then he pours his heart out to her and lastly, she forgives him. Some secrets *that didn't really make my jaw drop* were revealed and everyone lived happily ever after.

So, I was obviously a bit sarcastic and that is because this book did not, by any means, reach my expectations. I've read one of Harper Sloan's other books and really enjoyed her writing, which I can say about this books as well. It wasn't perfect but, it wasn't terrible either. Just somewhere in between. 

I didn't love the characters and unfortunately, I could not connect with them on a high level. I really enjoyed the fact that, the book was told in Leighton and Maverick's POV because that really allowed me to experience the story from both perspectives. What they both went through was very moving and I could totally understand Maverick's decision but I feel like he didn't have to be such a jerk. I was halfway through the book and I still could not get over his behavior. I was cringing so hard during the flashback of them at the party and wanted to shout at him for his idiocy. What is more, the secondary characters were likable enough and I really admired Quinn's fun spirit. 

The story itself had some very interesting elements to it, but I feel like they were overshadowed by this whole forgiveness thing that I personally did not agree with. The first couple of chapters were great, until it became obvious that, there would be no surprises waiting for me in the following chapters, nor any plot twists that would blow my mind and make me fall in love with this book. 

What I also found very tiring was the narrative itself. The internal monologues were way too long for my liking which, combined with the fact that there wasn't anything interesting going on throughout the book, left me very disappointed. The story wasn't intriguing enough to keep my attention and make me anticipate what would follow.

Last but not least, we have the forgiving progress which was very quick and left me questioning Leighton's way of thinking. I can understand what she went through and the fact that she wanted to make up for lost time but, I've been in a similar position a few times and I can definitely tell you that, forgiveness doesn't work that way. You have to work for it and not the other way around. Either it be a a relationship between lovers, friends, family. The process itself just dragged on and on and I could not wait for it to actually be over...

Overall, Lost Rider was an okay book for me. The story started out being very interesting but, after that, it was like everyone was stuck on the same page, the events of which were repeated throughout the book. Harper Sloan's writing was great and I will definitely check out the rest of her work.
Until the next post,

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