Red Rock Ranch by Brittney Joy Book Review (KISS #3)

Sixteen year old Lucy Rose is spending her first summer away from home and she has two things on her mind: an abandoned, violent horse and a blue-eyed cowboy. Only neither is hers.
Lucy has never attracted much attention from boys, but she can't seem to ignore her blue-eyed co-worker, Casey Parker. A true cowboy, Lucy is fascinated by his gentle way with the horses at Red Rock Ranch. However, she is very aware that Taylor Johnson, rodeo queen extraordinaire, already has her spurs in him.
And, there's no crossing Taylor. . . . Not until a mysterious horse appears on the ranch and pushes Lucy and Casey together. The two are willing to do anything to save the black gelding that doesn't want a thing to do with them or the human race. But, every step forward with the broken animal makes Lucy fall harder - for him and for Casey.
***Saddle-up with a sweet, wholesome young adult equestrian series full of first loves, friendship, and horses. Get ready for a summer packed with trail rides, horse shows, rodeo, campfires, and kisses.

Good Afternoon!

I hope your enjoying a great read this week or are at least stocking up on some potential summer reads!

Today I’m bringing you a review of the third book in my KISS review series, Red Rock Ranch by Brittney Joy. This YA book is a sweet little read that will have you saying “aw” at the end.

Pages: 122  

Publisher: Brittney Joy

Price: $3.99 (was Free at time of purchase – June 18th)                                                                    

Place: Amazon, Goodreads,

This read was a true summer beach book. It’s a quick read about a sixteen-year-old girl finding her confidence and strengths. Lucy is a lover of horses and excited to be at the ranch for the summer working as a stable-hand. In the beginning she’s trying to find her place among the people at the ranch–feeling a little alone and homesick. Until one day while out on a trail ride and a mysterious and dangerous horse appears. Casey is able to rope him down the mountain to the ranch where Lucy finds a connection with the black horse. After a few days she begins to gain his trust and Lucy finds a kindred-soul.

What was great about this novel was that it was well-written with very little if any grammatical errors. The main characters were all well developed with just a few fuzzy details. I found myself unsure of Casey age and the ranch owner, Mr. Owen, wasn’t around much in the story to see full details of.

I really enjoyed seeing Lucy’s struggle to gain the horse’s trust and eventually have him riding in a race. Lucy’s growth as a character came out really well as she worked with the black horse she perfectly named Chance. The novel seemed to focus more on Lucy and Chance then it really did with Lucy and Casey.

With Lucy and Casey’s romance it was a little unclear at some parts. It really seemed like a one-sided affair from Lucy until close to the end. I never really saw any hints from Casey that he liked her. It was mostly him being nice to her and helping her out with Chance. The novel was written in first person so this could be a reason why Casey’s interest in Lucy as more than a friend didn’t come out as clear to the reader.

The only real problems I had with the novel were the ending and my overall interest. First, with the ending I felt it was cut very abruptly. I didn’t find that the story actually closed. It was like ‘oh wait it ended?’ I had no idea the story was over until when I went to swipe to the next page nothing appeared. I was a little confused on why Joy would end the novel right at that moment. It seemed like something else needed to be said or shown to the reader.

Secondly, my overall interest in the novel was weak. Although it was a cute read, it isn’t one I’d see myself rereading. I enjoyed the challenging-horse story line with a little romance thrown in, but it just didn’t hold my interest in it to leave me wanting to revisit the story. It might be that the story just wasn’t in my current genre or maybe that I’ve outgrown this type of story line. Either way it was a nice read that I would recommend to others. It just wasn’t a comeback read for me.

Final Grades

My Grade: B+
Kindle Rating: 5/5; 6 reviewers

Have you read Red Rock Ranch? What are your favorite horse-related novels? Tells us in the comments below or tweet us @PopCrunchBoom or with the hashtag #PCBreaders! 

As always,

Happy Reading!!

xo,

NicoleLynn