On Her Own Two Wheels

by Stacy Xavier

Just three years out of college and Cassie Wright has hit a dead end. Still living at home with her mom and dad and dating the same writer masked as a waiter, Devon, for just as long, she knows she wants more out of life. Motorcycle lessons seem like a fun idea and the perfect escape. Cassie soon finds herself breaking away from her dull life and starts on a journey to self-confidence as she learns how to make each day extraordinary.

While driving home from visiting her grandmother in Wisconsin, she drags a reluctant Devon to a local biker event at a motorcycle dealership. From there, she becomes inspired to take riding lessons for some much needed fun and adventure. In time, she meets Marcus, the part-time riding instructor and full-time college administrator. He is drawn to Cassie’s ambition and adventurous spirit, and a romance quickly blossoms, forcing Cassie to realize she deserves better than what Devon chooses to give.

Becoming more confident in her everyday life through her riding, Cassie quits the electronics shop to become the motorcycle dealership’s new marketing director, opening herself up to an entirely new set of professional and personal obstacles. Cassie must learn to approach her issues in a whole new way while striving to be the type of woman she herself would want to emulate.

An inspirational coming-of-age novel for any woman who has ever settled for less, romantically or professionally, On Her Own Two Wheels tells the moving tale of a young woman finding the courage to challenge herself, break the mold, seek adventure, and make the ordinary in her life extraordinary as she truly comes into her own.

Genres: Romance

152 pages, Paperback

First published November 5, 2012

About the author

Based just outside of Chicago, Stacy Xavier is a practicing attorney with her own small law firm. She makes regular appearances each season at the Bristol Renaissance Faire, where she assists with the Pub Crawl and gets to let out her saucy side. When she's not working, crawling, or writing, she can be found reading, or spending time with her three adorable rescue dogs, Scout, Taunie, and Luna, or her 26 chickens, dubbed "The Fellowship of the Egg."

Reviews

[Sue Gerhardt Griffiths]

The author made motorbikes seem cool and fun but I still wouldn’t ride one for all the tea in China! I thoroughly enjoyed this story. A cute, fun and easy read.

Held up in a traffic jam owing to a motorcycle show, Cassie, the driver and central protagonist turned into the shows entrance thinking it might be fun and cool to check out motorbikes, also needing to stretch her legs after a long drive. Devon her self-centred boyfriend, is not happy about it. Waiting to pay for an item Cassie is purchasing a pamphlet about a new riding school is handed to her. And this is where the story turns fun fun fun and interesting and we see Cassie go from being a pushover to a gutsy, self-confident heroine.

I thought the writing was nice and the content appealing.

*Book 'X' of the a-z author challenge 2018

[Leslie aka StoreyBook Reviews]

I picked this book up to fill the X spot on the author alphabet challenge. It isn't a long book but I enjoyed Cassie's journey from leaving an unfulfilling relationship to expanding her wings in her career and standing up for herself and for the attitude of men that seemed to harass her in various aspects of her life.

[LORI CASWELL]

Dollycas’s Thoughts

Cassie Wright is trying to find her way in life and makes a spur of the moment decision to take a motorcycle riding lessons. Her parents are very supportive, her boyfriend not so much. Three years out of college she is realizing her relationship with Devon is going nowhere and her life is not heading where she wants. She decides to have a fun escape that helps her grow more in one week than she has in years. There were bumps along the way and I know this is just a short snippet in her life. Who knows what happened after the last page.

This was a fun quick read! Part self-awareness and part romance this book is a feel-good novel for women young like Cassie and old like me. I enjoyed following Cassie on her short journey. I liked the way her confidence bloomed. The ending was as expected, but it as a nice little distraction from real life.

[Sadie Forsythe]

This was light and fluffy, but I also thought the writing quite pedestrian and the plot shallow. I very much appreciate the themes the book took on—sexism in the workplace, respect in relationships, finding yourself after college, etc. But the solutions were presented as too simple to be believed. She shattered long engrained sexual harassment habits in a garage full of men with professional dress and a quelling glance, for example.

I think my biggest issue with the book however is that it starts with the main character deciding to change her life and she does, in big ways. But we're never given any reason for this change in her attitude. It feels anchoress and random. If she's such an outspoken, feminist, respect driven woman why has she let her life get to the point it has. If she hadn't been up until the beginning of the book, what changed? I feel the book really needed that information.

All in all, not bad but not great either.

[Linda]

I originally picked up this book only because the author's surname began with an X; I have only encountered eight of those in my reading career. However, the synopsis sounded interesting, and I was not disappointed.

Cassandra "Cassie" Wright goes from being almost a doormat, with a second-rate job and a third-rate "boyfriend", to a woman who makes decisions for herself and demands respect. Maybe the motorcycle lessons had something to do with it; learning how to control such a powerful machine certainly gave Cassie some much-needed self-confidence. I wouldn't mind seeing a sequel.

[Elizabeth]

Very simple book. Easy read. Not a lot of depth but quick.

[Musings of a Middle-aged Mum]

On Her Own Two Wheels is my X in my list - nearly finished now!

It is about a woman called Cassie who decides that her life is a bit same-old, same-old. In an argument with her boyfriend she says she might want to learn to ride a motorbike, and he dismisses her. However, as the days go on, the idea takes hold, and she decides to take an intensive motorcycle course, with or without her boyfriend's permission.

This is an easy to read book that I finished in a couple of days. I thought the first part of the story (where she is learning to ride and changing her life) was really gripping, and I think it could have ended there and be published as a novella. The book did continue, but I wasn't as hooked by it, though I can't really put my finger on exactly why that is the case? It wasn't bad at all, I just... I don't know. Maybe I simply thought the first bit was so good, that it was hard to maintain the pace. I don't know.

Overall, however, I would say that it is a light, enjoyable read.

[Ashley]

This was a good, enjoyable short story. Cassie is living at home, at a dead end job and tired of her boyfriend. She decides to add some adventure to her life, get her motorcycle license. She decides to live the life she wants and finds who she is.

This is a good story about Cassie discovering what she wants and making life changes.

This was good and if you are looking for a short story, I recommend reading this.

[Shirley McAllister]

Lighthearted reading

A cute story about a girl learning to ride a motorcycle and finding her independence in the working world. Easy lighthearted read. I enjoyed the book.

[Phannie]

I think this was supposed to be a girl power book, but it was so slow. She didn't defend herself when I wanted her to. The best parts were the beginning.

[Sneh Pradhan]

This one starts off quite spiritedly but gradually teeters off on a slow tangent ..... The book gives a half-baked feel ....and quite leaves much to be desired.

[Marie (UK)]

easy to read but not life changing

[Elyse]

Forgot to review this from December 2017! I needed an X author for my ABC Challenge. This book wasn't very good. Not really my type of book, a find yourself book. It's pretty cheesy.

[L.J. Farrow]

Cute, easy read. Similar to Flirting with Forty - fun and funny with a heroine who is relatable and smart. Keep it up, Stacy X!