Title: Lost Rider

Author: Harper Sloan

Rating: 3/5

Synopsis: 

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!

Review:

I received this box from Fresh Fiction Box Not to Miss!  This is a great subscription box for those who love new women’s fiction.

I have to admit that I am very picky when it comes to romance/erotica novels.  When I do read erotica novels I stay within the cowboy/Western genre, so I was very excited to receive this book in my Fresh Fiction Box Not to Miss!

Lost Rider by Harper Sloan is the first book in a new series, and this book follows a bull rider named Maverick on his way back to his childhood home.  But the book also follows Leighton, a girl who had a huge crush on Maverick growing up, and how she is still hung up on Maverick after all of the years that they were apart.  Lost Rider essentially takes place after Maverick comes home and he and Leighton end up falling in love.

However, I did have one big issue with this novel.  In the beginning of the story, Leighton is made fun of by Maverick for “trying to be sexy when she looks like a twelve year old boy”.  Even though this was in a flash back, it showed how Maverick didn’t recognize Leighton when he came back to town because she had “grown breasts”.  Leighton also talks about how she got a boob job because she was self – conscious about her body.  Sloan seems to insinuate that Leighton wasn’t important enough to be noticed unless she had large breasts.  I just thought that it was shallow of Maverick to not recognize Leighton because her body had changed, and he only seemed to like her once she had filled out.  This was very chauvinistic, and it didn’t sit with me well.

But Lost Rider is a great page turner.  Despite multiple grammatical errors, the story was a quick read and it did keep me interested.  The erotic scenes were few and classy, and the romance between Leighton and Maverick ended up being endearing.  I just wish – as a female author – Sloan wouldn’t have body shamed Leighton.  Even though she did have Leighton fight back against Maverick, it just seemed that he kept Leighton in her place by making her feel self – conscious about her body.  I just expect more from female romance authors in this day and age, and I hope that Sloan will improve how her male characters treat her female characters in the future.  Readers learn from books, and we don’t need more men judging women by their looks.

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