The Front Runner by Elsie Silver

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After getting through my book club books and the Historical Romance Readathon, I knew I had to finally pick up The Front Runner by Elsie Silver. I sped through the rest of the series last month and was so happy to see that The Front Runner would be out December 3rd! This is the third book in her Gold Rush Ranch series. I was able to use this for the prompt book Shelby made a post about for Winter's Kiss, The Grinch (enemies to lovers) prompt for Merry + Bright and small town romance prompt for Banging Through the Snow.

Mira is the veterinarian for the horse ranches nearby and also friends with Billie and Violet. While she doesn't have the disdain for Stefan Dalca that Billie does, she does recognize he doesn't always make the best choices. When a mare passes giving birth at Gold Rush Ranch and shortly after a foal dies on Stefan's ranch, they want to try to get the mare and foal together to save the foal's life. Stefan proposes to take Mira on three dates and they make a deal. As Mira learns more about Stefan and who he really is the attraction for him she's held back starts to boil over.

Oh my gosh, this book. I couldn't put it down and only did because I couldn't keep my eyes open anymore. I loved the tension between Stefan and Mira. And the things that Stefan would say, oh gosh. So freaking hot. I loved seeing past the façade that Stefan perpetuates and how strongly he loves the people he lets in. There's a lot in his backstory and holds onto a lot of guilt, even when he probably shouldn't be feeling guilt for it. We also get to see DD's first colt (DD is the main horse in Off to the Races). Speaking of, I want to give a trigger warning for pet death. We see the aftermath of a red birth of a foal that doesn't make it. We aren't quite connected to this foal like other horses in the series, but I wanted to mention it because it's really sad. There's also talk about a mare dying. So DD's colt loses his Mom and they are looking for a mare to try to take to him so he can get the nutrients he needs. When Mira shows up at Stefan's ranch to help, but is late she has the idea to try to fit the colt with the now childless mare. Thankfully she takes to him and Stefan ends up naming him Loki.

Loki is the freaking cutest ever and I loved the relationship that formed between Loki and Stefan. So freaking cute and broke my heart when Stefan would get worried about him. I also loved getting to learn more about Mira. She's half Indian and I loved how Stefan stood up to her family. The connection between them was just everything. There's more drama that I don't want to spoil, but I love how much that Stefan loves Mira. They were just completely drawn to each other. Also, we know Billie from Off to the Races and how Stefan tried to underhandedly buy DD from her. She has hated him since then, but her grudge did bother me a little bit here. I just felt she took it a little too far, even for her. I did like that she came around and started to back off for Mira.

We also get to meet Stefan's younger sister Nadia there was a blurb in the back of the book that she is getting a book and it's potentially coming in March. I can't wait and am so intrigued on who she's going to be paired with. I can't wait to see what Elsie does next and am so freaking excited. Seriously, read this book, read this series, join Elsie's newsletter and follow her everywhere. I am officially obsessed!

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: The Front Runner, Elsie Silver, 5-stars, 1 day, eBook, 313 pages, published in 2021