Out of the Gate by Elsie Silver

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Getting back to Elsie Silver's Gold Rush Ranch series, the next book I had was the novella Out of the Gate. It is listed as 1.5 in the series but is chronologically set before the main books. I used this for the prompt set on a farm or ranch for the Fall in Love board 2. I just want to note, I purchased this on kindle, but you can receive this novella free when you sign up for Elsie's newsletter.

We go back in time from Off to the Races and get the story of Vaughn's grandfather Dermot. He's returned from a stint as a soldier and has returned to Gold Rush Ranch to help with the foals over the summer. After confessing her love and being rejected before his deployment, Ada is torn on Dermot coming back. She's had a crush on him since she was ten years old and followed him around constantly. When that crush grew to love and she was rejected, she's had a hard time moving on.

First off, this was such a sweet and yet angsty read. I really enjoyed it, despite it having some things I don't usually enjoy. I'm not the biggest fan of 2nd chance romances, mostly because of the way it gets handled. Somehow, it gets handled like that here, but I still enjoyed it. The angst is all internal and mostly coming from Dermot constantly pushing Ada away. Not only was he dealing with feeling odd since he knew her as a child and the 10 year age gap, but now he feels broken after his service. Dermot is dealing with PTSD and still dealing with a good brunt of it since it's pretty close to his discharge.

I loved when they finally both gave in to their feelings they were so cute and combustible. This just didn't get 5-stars for me because he pushed her away too many times for my enjoyment. I still really enjoyed their banter. We also get more fun horse times and learn about Ada's wish to turn the cattle ranch into a racing horse ranch. It's also fun to see the start of the Gold Rush Mining company, which is the other major company the family owns.

I really enjoy Elsie Silver's writing and can't wait to read more in the series. This was such a fun peak back into the man that Dermot was and to see how his relationship was established. When paired with knowing how it affected Vaughn in the future it makes it even sweeter. I can't wait to continue the series and am excited to find a newer author that I really enjoy!

Have you read Out of the Gate?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Out of the Gate, Elsie Silver, 4-stars, 0 days, eBook, 112 pages, published in 2021