Reckless Hearts

by Jessa Wilder

I swore I wouldn’t fall for a cowboy.
Definitely not two.

Colt Lawson—the wildfire I couldn’t help chasing, even when I knew he’d burn me.
Maverick Kane—the quiet fighter who never knew how much space he took up in my heart.

Once, they were inseparable.
Now, they’re rivals—fighting in the arena, fighting each other, and maybe, just maybe, fighting for me.

There’s too much history between us.
Too much anger.
Too much want.

And the deeper I fall for both of them, the more impossible it gets to choose.
Because the truth is—I was never meant to pick just one.
And they were never meant to let me go.

Loving two cowboys isn’t just reckless.
In this world, it’s a guaranteed heartbreak.

Three broken hearts.
One dangerous summer.
And a love that was never meant to survive.

What to expect:

MMF
Childhood friends to rivals to lovers
bi-awakening
My boyfriends are boyfriends
Rival Bull Riders
Only for one summer

Genres: Why Choose, Westerns, Romance, M M F, Friends To Lovers, Enemies To Lovers, Sports

494 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 29, 2025

Reviews

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

What to expect:
🐂 Bi-Awakening
🍓 MMF
🤠 One Bed
🫶🏻 Sharing is Caring
🐂 Rival Bull Riders
🍓 I Hate You So Much I Kissed You
🤠 It’s Always Been You
🫶🏻 Childhood Friends To Rivals To Lovers

Jessa Wilder is a new-to-me author and.. she just made a fan out of me! I LOVED this book, and I truly cannot wait to read more from her!

This is exactly what I want when I read a why choose with MM and second chance vibes: they’re all equal.
Do I want to read how much they love each other? Yes.
Do I want the smut? Obviously.
But what I need is to feel that they don’t work unless all of them are in it together. That it’s everyone or no one. Does that make sense? Because it does to me. A lot.

The tension. The anger. The unaware longing. The fight and then… the fireworks.
I mean… THAT KISS, YOU GUYS. 👏 Absolute Chef’s kiss. That scene lives rent-free in my mind.

And the first “I love you” scene? I’m unstable. 🤧

Also, can we PLEASE take a minute to appreciate this cover? It’s so freaking cute! And this is one of those rare cases where YES, you can absolutely judge a book by its cover because the story is just as stunning as the outside! 🫶🏻

P.S. I know I always find the silliest things to moan about, but please, for the love of god… CALLIE, KEEP THOSE FEET FAR AWAY FROM ANY WINDOWS!

P.S.S. CHAPTER 44. I’M UNWELL. 🥵 And Chapter 49? My brain is still on overload.

Thank you to the author and @TheSmuthood for sending me an e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Callie is over here just living every reader's dream with two boyfriends that are ALSO boyfriends. Callie, Maverick, and Colt were childhood besties until Callie left town after loosing her dad. Sadly, Maverick and Colt's friendship didn't survive over the years Callie was gone and they soon became enemies and rivals in the rodeo & bull riding circuit. Now Callie is back for the rodeo season and trying to bring them all together again. This story is so much deeper and emotion packed than I was anticipating. I loved the mental health representation with Callie's anxiety and panic attacks. It was raw and well written.

I was so invested Callie, Colt, and Maverick's relationship and was rooting for them the whole time. Nothing is better to me than a enemies to lovers x bi-awakening story, especially when its two ruggedly handsome bull riders. It was definitely a slow burn between them, but I was at the edge of my seat waiting for the moment they became lovers and it did not disappoint.

This book is full of emotion, second chances, forgiveness, and finding happiness. The cover is also super cute and totally fits the book. Overall I really enjoyed this one from Jessa.

[lorena ♡ (semi ia) · Rating 4 out of 5]

jessa wilder, i'm gonna need you to keep writing polyam mmf romances forever, because while this one didn't hit like 'rules of our own', it was still pretty good. i doubted it a bit in the beginning but the angst, denial, and pinning won me over; i got more invested in colt, callie and maverick the more i read. and the sex scenes?!?!?! so good they had my jaw dropping 😮‍💨

[Kseniia ✨️ · Rating 3 out of 5]

➸MMF
➸childhood friends to rivals to lovers
➸bi-awakening
➸bull riders
➸summer romance

I was expecting an emotional second chance and instead of it I got this. What a disappointment.

Eight years after parent loss Callie came back to her home town. She needs final good bye to move on and start new life far away from here. But after returning she discovers that her childhood friends are stuck in rivalry. So, her genius plan is to get close to them, bring their friendship back to life and leave them behind. AGAIN. Silly? Yeap.

It was... a little bit boring. I don't know why it felt so long. There's a little plot, not so much smut and a lot of descriptions and inner monologues. It's so pointless. I was skimming some parts.
It was my first meeting with the author and I'm not sure I liked her writing. Shallow and not deep enough for me. And. It's. All. In. Short. Sentences.

The boys are idiots, the reason they hate each other is so dumb.
It's insta-love, their feelings appeared out of nowhere. Usually I like bi-awakening cuz it's sensitive and vulnerable. But in this story boys are not questioning their feelings, they just plunge into it. However, the only thing that was pretty good is smut.

[Janie · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you’re craving a hot-as-hell cowboy throuple with emotional depth, a bit of rivalry, and a glorious bisexual awakening, saddle the fuck up, Reckless Hearts is about to lasso your whole heart.

Callie, Colt, and Maverick aren’t just walking thirst traps in cowboy hats (though, like… yee-fucking-haw). Each of them has emotional wounds that add real weight to the story. Callie is grieving her father’s death and trying to keep it together while watching Colt and Mav live the exact dangerous lifestyle that took him away. Meanwhile, Colt and Mav are childhood besties turned rivals turned oh shit why is your face so close to mine and yes, the tension is divine.

The connection between all three of them? Slow-burning, tender, and absolutely filthy in the best way. You will feel the yearning. You will feel the spice. And when Colt and Maverick start catching feelings for each other and realising they’re not quite as straight as they thought? It is the most glorious bisexual awakening and I am still fanning myself.

Don’t get me wrong there’s enough smut to short-circuit your Kindle, but this book also has a legit storyline that had me misty-eyed and full-on ugly crying at one point. I went in for the cowboys and chaos, but ended up catching a full-blown case of the feels.

So if you’re after a romance that’s equal parts steamy and soulful (with bonus bi boys and enough emotional gut-punches to make your therapist concerned) Reckless Hearts needs to be on your TBR immediately.

📖 ARC received from The Smuthood

Fave quotes

Dedication - Dedicated to everyone who’s ever looked at two rivals and thought: “Why not both?”

“Surviving her leaving once was hard; doing it again would be impossible. Not that I’d let her get away. There’s nowhere she can go that I won’t follow and bring her home. And as much as it kills me to admit it, Maverick belongs with her too. So long as he keeps his distance from me, we’ll work it out.”

“You’re not gonna survive being loved properly, are you?” Maverick teases, voice soft and smug. Colt mumbles something about “inhumane treatment” and “filing a complaint.” Maverick just leans back with a pleased little hum.

[zoe · Rating 3 out of 5]

i don’t care if living on a ranch with two hot men happened to you, it should’ve happened to me instead

[Aleksandra [semi hiatus] · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ehhh it was okay, nothing special.

As I’ve mentioned while reading, it would be much better as a MM romance instead of MMF. Callie was annoying and she didn’t have much of a tension and chemistry with both of the boys.

It’s a second chance romance, and the reason for all of them not talking to each other was so dumb. The boys became “enemies” because of some kind of stupid miscommunication. Like couldn’t it be cleared up years ago??? Do you really mean to tell me that they stopped being best friends for 8 years just because some stupid ass shit? No, thank you. Callie left them because her father died, and then she saw one of the boys getting hurt, so she decided she’s moving out. Also, could be cleared up years ago. Don’t get me started on how she just turned up one day after all those years and they all became lovers literally the same night lmao.

Thank god for no 3rd act breakup and no OW and OM drama (just some jealousy). No mentions of their past sexual life (we just find out that Colt was kind of a playboy, but he hadn’t had sex for months so he’s not much of a manwhore anyway), not much other info.

Would love to have some more plot. Because all they do is bull riding, travelling from town to town, have sex and argue. I was bored midway through and I started skipping sex scenes 🥱🥱🥱

[abby :) · Rating 3 out of 5]

it’s a 2.75 but we’ll round up for now

jessa wilder can write this trope so well. like i’ve read other books by her that are just regular romances and they’re not good. give her two broody men and a girl they’ve known forever and she can’t help but cook.

sometimes i need randomness to pass the time, this was one of those times. this wasn’t literature it was just for fun. the writing is at times insanely melodramatic but we’ll let it slide because nothing happens in the book so you need drama somewhere i guess.

[all.the.smut.things · Rating 5 out of 5]

RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
SPICE: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️


This book! THIS BOOK! I’m absolutely obsessed and this has became one of my absolute FAVORITE MMF books I’ve ever read.

And make them rival cowboys who hate each other but want the same girl. And good thing… she is wants then both… and then they want each other.

✨ Cowboy Romance
✨ Rival Bronc Riders
✨ it’s always been you
✨ Childhood Friends to Strangers to Lovers
✨ MMF ( the boyfriends are boyfriends)
✨ golden Retriever and Black cast boyfriends

Callie, Maverick and Colt are all amazing and I love them both separately and together. I love something about rivals that become lovers, and when it’s these tough bronco rider cowboys who are in love with the same girl and each other… the tension is 🥵🥵🥵🥵

I was panting.

These three were childhood friends until Callie left and the boys friendship fell apart and now that she’s back, all the old feelings and memories come rushing back.

I love how this story progressed and loved how all three of them melted into the relationship and realized early on that they were all tangled together in ways they could never forget. I swear I was screaming until these three got together and then screaming even more once they do get together!!

Because they are so so good together. I love that Colt is this golden retriever and Maverick is the broody take control type, and Callie just gets to reap all the benefits!

And can we sing praise for the fact that there was no third act break up. And the spice… the spice was absolute immaculate.

I never thought anted this book to end! I could read about these three forever.

[Raquel Rolen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I opened this for the sexy cowboys and stayed for the heartbreak, bisexual chaos, and enough tension to light up a whole rodeo. Callie, Colt, and Maverick are three broken souls who’ve been orbiting each other for years, and when Callie rolls back into town after eight long years, everything hits like a storm. Secrets come out. Feelings get loud. Clothes come off. I was not okay.

Callie is tough, grieving, and trying to hold it together with grit and hope. Colt is all simmering intensity and quiet heartbreak. And Maverick? That man is danger in a cowboy hat with a take-charge attitude that had me blushing like I just sinned in church.

Their chemistry is unreal. This is not some love triangle drama. It’s an aching, beautifully messy, soul-deep connection that feels real and raw. The longing, the rivalry, the unresolved feelings bubbling just under the surface made every scene feel electric. When the emotional walls finally crumble and the truth spills out, I was fully wrecked.

Umm.. Miss Ma’am, J. Wilder, I need more.

[kaleigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Safety info:
• no v, no manwhores (?) one of the guys was said to be a playboy but he hasn’t been with anyone in a while. Only mentioned 2 or 3 times
• childhood bffs to rivals (the guys) to lovers… eight year separation
• MMF
• no past hookups show up
• no real OW/OM drama but people do hit on the MMCs and FMC but they have no interest in them
• strict t/b for the MM relationship
• no one on one sex scenes, all group scenes

[AB · Rating 1 out of 5]

Homegirl didn’t need to be there.

[Jenni · Rating 4 out of 5]

★★★★✩ 4.0

This is the bisexual cowboy throuple I didn't know I needed.

Reckless Hearts gives you childhood friends-to-rivals-to-lovers with a side of bull riding, grief, unresolved tension, and so much yearning it practically sweats off the page. Callie, Colt, and Maverick all have their own wounds, but the way they circle each other, emotionally and physically, is tender, messy, and hot as hell.

I loved how the story didn't rush the connections. The bi-awakening was done with care, and the Colt/Mav dynamic felt just as central as either of their relationships with Callie. Also, it’s one of the rare “why choose” books where the triangle makes sense, you feel why these three work better together than apart.

Was it over the top sometimes? Sure. But it owned it. The rodeo world gave just enough grit and heartache to balance out the spice, and by the end I was rooting for their tangled little trio like my life depended on it.

Yeehaw and also… emotional damage.

[Zen · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 stars

I know there is a reason that I rarely read cowboy romances. Growing up in the west, it is easier for the shine to wear off and for the parts that are unrealistic to stand out more, souring the whole experience, so Ill chalk this up to a me thing.

[Bea la_lectora · Rating 5 out of 5]

Este libro ha sido todo lo que necesitaba y más.

Tres mejores amigos que por circunstancias de la vida se vieron separados y años después se reencuentran para pasar un verano en el circuito de rodeos.
Esto es: amor, amistad y un todos para uno.

En el libro se tratan ciertos temas commplicados como la muerte de un familiar o los ataques de ansiedad, pero se hace de manera muy respetuosa y tienen un papel muy claro en la trama.

Un 5/5 rotundo! Y de spicy no va nada mal!!
Si os gusta un cowboy romance, friends to lovers y MMF es lo vuestro!

[Courtney ☮️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an ARC for this book.

Tropes:
Second Chance
MMF - Bi-awakening
Friends x Rivals x Lovers

Triggers:
Death of a parent
Panic Attacks

Callie thought she left it all behind—dusty rodeo nights, and the two boys who held her heart in ways she didn’t understand at fourteen. Now she’s back, eight years later, and the boys she knew are men now. Instead of being inseparable as she had hoped, they are at each others throats. There’s history between them that Callie can’t quite see, and a tension that crackles in every glance, every almost-touch. She’s caught in the middle of a storm she helped create. And maybe… she’s not the only one who never stopped wanting more. Three hearts. One dangerous summer. And a love that’s hotter, deeper, and more complicated than any of them are ready for.

Cowboy romance never disappoints. Maverick and Colt both have egos as big as the open range, which makes it all the more satisfying when they let their guards down—for each other. And Callie? She’s hit the jackpot. If those boys can handle a bull, just imagine what else they’ve got the skills to ride. 😜 This was a great second chance and bi-awakening book. I wish there was a little more about the boys and if they had ever had feelings for other men or if it was more of an attraction to each other only. But overall, I highly recommend!

[Sisitt · Rating 5 out of 5]

ARC Review – Reckless Hearts by J. Wilder

Okay, Reckless Hearts totally roped me in from the first page. This book is intense in all the right ways emotionally charged, sexy, and deeply character-driven. It gave me all the feelings tension, longing, angst, softness... and that undercurrent of recklessness that fits the title perfectly.

The chemistry between the trio is electric. There’s so much buried emotion, unresolved tension, and that delicious mix of love and rivalry that makes every interaction feel like it could combust. Colt and Maverick are complete opposites, but also somehow exactly the same. They mirror each other in the most unexpected ways both fierce, both loyal, both carrying more weight than they let on. And Callie? She’s the glue holding all the chaos together while dealing with her own storms. I loved her journey her strength, her vulnerability, her heart.

It’s messy in the way real emotions are. Tender, wild, and kind of addictive. One of those reads that has you pausing to breathe because the feels hit that hard. Definitely a ride I didn’t want to end.
I also want to thank you to the smuthood and J. Wilder for this amazing opportunity to read my first ever ARC ❤️✨

[shan ༝༚༝༚ · Rating 5 out of 5]

ARC Review ✦ MMF ✦ 🌶🌶🌶.5 ✦

✦ bull riding rivals
✦ friends > rivals > lovers
✦ angst, slow burn > 🌶🌶🌶🌶
✦ ONE BED
✦ when he talks her through it 🥵🫠😮‍💨

As teenagers Callie, Colt & Maverick were inseparable.

Nearly 10 years after suddenly leaving, Callie returns to the town she loved and the boys who were her home - only everything’s changed.

This was such a beautiful, and also sexy story of second chances, love & loss. I am now a certified Jessa Wilder fan. This is just under 400 pages and moved from angsty slowburn to 🌶🌶🌶🌶 effortlessly and without ever feeling rushed.

The dynamics, chemistry and not to mention the filthy mouths on these men - was perfection!! This was an easy 5⭐️ 3.5🌶 easy read! Loved it x

[Megan&Clara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always have a good time reading her books and when I do I usually finish them in one sitting and this one had me hooked from the first chapter. I loved the drama and the conflict between the characters and of course the spice was written really well. I would definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a fun MMF romance 😍 I read anything she writes and I can’t wait to see what she writes next.

[Emma Evans · Rating 2 out of 5]

Love a little throuple where the boyfriends are boyfriends too but the writing was just not giving what it needed to give

[Isabella Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

“𝓨𝓸𝓾 𝓽𝔀𝓸 𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓵𝓵𝔂 𝓴𝓷𝓸𝔀 𝓱𝓸𝔀 𝓽𝓸 𝔀𝓻𝓮𝓬𝓴 𝓪 𝓰𝓲𝓻𝓵.”

I have been personally victimised by Jessa Wilder and I’m here to say “thank you, can I have some more”, because HOLY AMAZEBALLS THIS BOOK WAS EVERYTHING!! Smit with plot. Smut with plot. SMUT WITH PLOT!!!! Is it normal for kindles to be visibly steaming while reading? No? I’ll…have to check on that. ANYWAY…this book had me sweating…swooning…clenching my pearls and my thighs and everything in between.

Callie is best friends with Maverick and Colt…growing up in the rodeo scene. Life is great until it’s not. At 14 her father dies in a tragic rodeo accident and she swears off rodeos and bull riding…disappearing for 8 years…leaving her best friends wondering what comes next.

8 years later Callie is back in town and everything has changed. She goes looking for her best friends but when she finds them, they are not how she expected. They are deep in the bull riding scene and rivals who loathe each other. Maverick and Colt know that they can’t lose Callie again. She’s the glue that held them together and they need to figure out if the hate they have for each other is worth losing the girl they love forever.

There’s a lot of push and pull between all three. Callie is riddled with anxiety and still grieving and processing the trauma from her father’s death. Maverick is grumpy but also protective. His past is just as tumultuous as Callie’s. And Colt is sweet….overtly cocky but that’s only hiding his own set of issues. Plus he blushes at the drop of at hat which 🥹🥹🥹 tough boys blushing ??? 🫠🫠🫠

These three spend time together sorting out feelings, discovering NEW FEELINGS (holy hot bi awakening Batman). Both men realise that they desperately want and love Callie. But more than that , they realise that they want each other too. That the bubbling anger and tension between them was more than fighting the undeniable attraction to each other and feeling like they needed to fight it. Callie helps them realise that love isn’t linear. They can have everything together. And that they really only work best when they ARE together. And once that realisation hits…. HOLD ONTO YOUR COWBOY HAT! 🥵🥵🥵

The spice was OFF THE CHARTS! Let’s be honest, I wasn’t getting into heaven anyway…but after reading that??? I’ve been black listed from the pearly gates and I am A OK WITH THAT!!! The shmexual tension between and heat between the three of them AND between Maverick and Colt???? Whole new meaning to riding that bull 😉

I loved the way Maverick took care of his loves. He was there to protect and care for them. Show them what real and true love is and feels like. Colt learned to stop hiding behind his cocky facade and be vulnerable. And sweet Callie…she finally learned that it’s OK to ask for what you want and need…and the right person will always be there to give it to you without making you feel bad for it.

This book healed something deep in me that I didn’t even know I needed. I wanted more. I need more. I need all three of them to live on forever. This was such a beautiful story and I will definitely be re-reading it again very soon🩷

Thank you SO MUCH Jessa Wilder and The Smuthood PR for the PRIVILEGE of ARC reading this incredible book. Jessa…I’ll be sending you my therapy bill 🙃

🐂Cowboy Romance
🍓Bi-Awakening
🐂MMF
🍓One Bed
🐂Rival Bull Riders
🍓Grief
🐂Anxiety Rep
🍓Childhood Friends to Rivals to Lovers
🐂”It’s Always Been You”
🍓I Hate You So Much I Kissed You
🐂Sharing or Caring
🍓Death of a Parent
🐂Panic Attacks
🍓DVP/DP
🐂Group Scenes
🍓No 3rd Act Breakup
🐂Forced Proximity
🍓Only for the Summer
🐂Multi-POV

[Maddee Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was blessed to be an ARC reader for this amazing book and I can’t believe how in love with it I am!

I’ve read Jessa’s writing before and it kills me every time!

The juxtaposition of the fast paced romance between the two MMC’s Maverick and Colt and the FMC Callie and the slow burn between the men is simply phenomenal! She captures the raw emotions so well it’s almost as if you’re feeling them for yourself.

The story is full of love and true honest friendship, with a surprise appearance of Mia, River and Alex from Rules of Our Own is truly fantastic!

I cannot recommend this book enough 🩷

[Ashley Roberts · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this ARC and devoured it in 1 day. I wish it was longer🤣 Childhood friends to enemies to lovers with MMF bi awakening.

The way the characters came back together after 8 years was amazing. The tension between Mav and Colt was 😘chefs kiss. Callie is such a fun FMC.


This book is very spicy and the spice is 🥵

Tropes
📚childhood friends x enemies x lovers
📚MMF
📚bi awakening
📚bull riders

4.5🌟
3🌶

Triggers
Panic attacks
death of a parent

[Amanda - leftamongthepages · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one had all the ingredients I should have loved—bull riders, second chances, a messy trio dynamic, but it just didn’t hit as hard as I hoped. I loved Colt and Maverick. Their tension, their history, their quiet moments together? Perfection.

But Callie just didn’t click for me. I never really connected with her, and I was hoping for more angst, more drama, more of that messy, emotional chaos. Instead, it all felt a little too easy going.

If you’re into small town summers, rodeo cowboys, and a low-angst “why choose” romance with found family vibes, this might be your thing. I just needed a little more grit in the saddle.

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was *chef's kiss*. I loved this!! The connection that Maverick, Callie and Colt have is so heartfelt.  The way the trio was inseparable when they were kids.  To coming back together years later and their connection growing even more.  This why choose, bi awaking is so 🔥🥵 and I'm all for it.  I devoured this book and absolutely fell in love with these characters. This is my first book by J Wilder and it will for sure not be my last! Definitely go get yourself a copy!

[Vivi · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cowboy romance that’s MMF, now that’s a combo I didn’t know I was missing out on! The MMCs being rivals while also being loyal to Cassie, and eventually each other, made for some great character development. Callie was the missing piece they needed to bring them all together, and bringing out their vulnerability. I am so happy I got to read this powerful and just electric story!

[Christina (christinareadsbooks)]

Around 55% I started skimming and skimmed until the end. I was not a fan of this one. I didnt feel a connection to the characters and the spice was meh.

If I had to rate this... I would give it 2 Stars. The spice was there, but it wasn't great (goes back to connection).

[C · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.75⭐️

[Leanna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh boy, do I have some thoughts about this one... Buckle in, this is going to be a long one.

This was my book club's pick for the month and we can be a generous bunch, but the highest rating on this one was a 2.8/5.

This book did have potential. I thought it would be at least a 3 star read for the first chunk of the book. Wilder's writing isn't bad (though the editing left a lot to be desired), and it was a very quick and easy read for how long it is. I finished it in 2 days, no problem. Though I don't think the book should ever have been 490 pages, it would probably have been much better if it had been kept to a tight 350.

However, I had some major problems with the book:

1. The entire conflict of the book relies on the idea that the main male characters, Cole and Maverick, are unable to put the puzzle pieces together that the reason Callie disappeared 8 years ago and is still planning on leaving them at the end of the summer is because they're bull riders and her dad died bull riding. That's just dumb. "Oh why would Callie have left a month after her dad died while bull riding and we can't shut the fuck up about being bull riders?" Give me a break.

2. I did not like Maverick and did not think enough was done to explain why Colt would open up to him prior to getting an apology from him, nor did I think enough was done to resolve the hurt between them. Maverick and Colt were best friends with Callie and each other in childhood, but at the beginning of the book, they despise each other.

We end up finding out that the rift happened because, in their rookie season, they got in a fight right before Colt goes out to ride. Maverick misses his ride and finds out later that Colt took a hard fall. Colt reveals that he went to the hospital and couldn't feel his legs; he was terrified and alone, and his best friend didn't come to see him. Instead, Maverick takes the opportunity to get ahead and ends up winning Rookie of the Year because of it. (Also, this injury and what actually happened is never mentioned again, and Colt is fine two days later.)

Now, in Maverick's perspective, we find out that he was told that Colt was getting checked out but fine from other bull riders. Now, I didn't find this a great excuse in the first place because this was still your best friend and you didn't check on him after finding out he took a hard fall because you'd had a fight? Not a great friend, but I thought, "Well, sounds like he didn't know Colt went to the hospital, so he didn't know it was very serious." But, like 300 pages later and only after Colt opens up to Maverick, isintimate with Maverick, and is fine with him being intimate with Callie, despite this betrayal, Maverick ends up finally apologizing to Colt and reveals he DID know that Colt went to the hospital (I thought he'd assumed that Colt had just been checked by the on-site medics). Dude, you suck! And Colt literally never tells Maverick about his scare that he'd been paralyzed. Missed opportunity for a bit of angst!

3. The book relies far too heavily on the relationship the characters had at 14 and doesn't bother to build the relationship between Callie and the guys basically at all. There are maybe 2 flashbacks in the entire book and they're not particularly illuminating. We just have to accept that they were best friends in middle school, and they still are obsessed with her 8 years later.

4. I find double bi awakenings in MMF rarely feel like an earnest attempt at representing bisexuality and more lean into "it would be hot if the guys kissed too." I like MMF books, but I find that all the ones I really enjoy have established MM. It's not that anything is inherently bad or problematic within the book; it's just that the book would have been 10 times more interesting if one or both had known they were bi. (Though there was an odd line from Colt after Maverick fingers him, where he asks Callie, "Am I the bottom?" which was just weird and off-putting to me.) It could have been a good contributor to the rift between Colt and Maverick if one knew he was attracted to or loved the other and pulled away because of it. Or if they'd gotten together and then broken up. But needing the girl to be there for them to be attracted to one another just falls flat for me.

The book also chooses not to contend with homophobia at all. I have mixed feelings on this. On the one hand, being queer should not be a problem. Colt and Maverick should be able to be affectionate with each other and Callie anywhere they'd like and be safe. On the other hand, we are talking about notoriously conservative rodeos and deep red states. The reality is that they likely would not be safe. Every reader who knows anything about the culture inherently knows this. To not at least acknowledge the possibility does lean more into the concern that the men were not written to be queer; they were written to be able to make out. I love a queer normative world, but I do have concerns based on the handling of the bisexuality, that it was less queer normative and more an attempt to ignore the reality of homophobia. (Though I have not read any other books by this author, and I could see this opinion changing based on how she writes homophobia in her other books.)

5. All that being said, this book would have been better as an MM and not an MMF. No shade to Callie, and like I said, I like MMFs, but there was no relationship development or character development with her! Both her relationships with Colt and Maverick are kind of dull and are not really unique from each other. Colt and Maverick's relationship is FAR more interesting. If Wilder had just been able to focus on them (and write about 150 fewer pages), I think the book would have been so much better, and we hopefully wouldn't have gotten only that half-hearted reconciliation. I thought it was maybe just me as a major MM reader thinking that, but even the primarily MF readers of my book club agreed the book would have been better if we'd just ditched Callie, who just didn't add anything that interesting to the plot.

6. Oh boy, the sex. Book club literally pulled out a whiteboard to figure out some of the positions they were attempting. The most egregious example is the first time Maverick fucks Colt, while Colt is fucking Callie. I highlighted the entire passage with the comment "terrible positioning" lol. Rather than Callie being on the bottom, Colt in the middle, and Maverick behind Colt, which is the by far most logistically feasible way to have a connected threesome like that (especially for Colt's first time on the receiving end), they choose to have Colt face up on the bed, Callie reverse cowgirl, and Maverick (who is like 7 feet tall) fucking Colt from the edge of the bed. Insane positioning.

The sex definitely got gratuitous and boring. There was never any real development of the relationship in the sex, especially not between Callie and the guys. Everyone in our spicy romance book club admitted to skimming most of the sex scenes because they weren't that interesting and frankly weren't that hot either IMO (except for the girl who only read the sex scenes and nothing else... love her).

There were a couple of cardinal sins in the sex as well. Cum is used as lube for anal - pls save your holes and do not do that. Maverick deep throats Colt on the first try and is described as doing it with "practiced ease" - LOL. I've read about 1000 romance books in the past 5 years or so - this was the first book where I had to read the words "post-nut clarity." Birth control is discussed but STIs and sexual history is not and of course they never even attempt to use a condom in the book!

Also, Colt never rides Maverick. Like, come on! They are bull riders!!!

7. There's an obvious cameo from another book of Wilder's that Callie runs into towards the end. These people are strangers to her, and yet she immediately info dumps all her issues onto this random throuple. This seems to be the author not trusting the reader to have picked up what is, again, the most obvious fucking conflict in the world - that she doesn't want to be with Colt and Maverick if they continue being bull riders because her dad died bullriding. It was dumb and took me out of the book. I also hate overly obvious cameos from former book leads - if you have to shoehorn them in, you just shouldn't do it in the first place.

8. Something everyone commented on during book club was how the championship ride was incredibly short and anticlimactic. Compared to the previous bull riding scene that had taken up quite a few pages and was high drama and actually quite well done, we could not believe that the final ride was two paragraphs long. My Kindle comment on the scene: "boring."

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After that whole essay - I didn't hate the book. None of my book club hated the book! The thing about me is I am a serial DNFer, I will almost never finish a book that I don't like and I figure out very quickly if a book is not going to be for me. So when I read a book club book and force myself to read it all the way through, despite it not being for me, I always end up with a lot to say.

The book leaves a lot to be desired in the relationship development, pacing, and construction. But overall, I did find it an easy read and pretty decent prose (even though it definitely should have been edited down a bit).

However, if you're looking for a book to lead to an entertaining book club discussion, I would actually recommend this! We actually had a great discussion about it lol. There was obviously just SO much to say about it! I left out a ton of my notes because this is already wayyyy too long of a review.

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

ARC via the Smuthood PR.

Callie, Colt, and Maverick grew up together on sun-drenched farmland and wrapped up in the rodeo circuit. They had a childhood bathed in love and light, one they all view with a longing nostalgia, because Callie left them after the death of her father while bull riding. For 8 years, she left them behind and tried to therapize her demons. Now she's back for closure and a long goodbye. Innocent but real childhood love has blossomed into something else now that they're all adults - and now that Colt and Maverick have spent years as rivals on the circuit, their friendship broken. All three of them have to heal in different ways, and Callie's decision to summer on the circuit with them is going to fix them and break them in brand new ways.

Obviously, hot spiciness, but the kisses in this one are especially romantic. They're deep expressions of emotions and needs, not just physical attraction. It's a demand for oxytocin, to physically and hormonally express what they feel before the words can catch up to them. It takes a little longer before things fully cross the physical lines because it HAS to be all of them - the reason Jessa's throuples always feel so real is because it's all three together, not taking turns breaking into pairs. The girlfriend has two boyfriends and the boyfriends are boyfriends, sincerely. It what makes the emotions SO GOOD.

I cried at least three times as they were finally able to start articulating how they felt - not just on a romantic level, but about the pain of their pasts, their futures, and the countdown happening in the present.

The other thing I love about Jessa's books is every character she writes feels like someone I could be friends with, and that you feel truly delighted to see them happy. I'm not the kind of reader that self-inserts, so to me, that's an essential thing.

Another absolute banger from Jessa Wilder. It'll hit you for a lot longer than the 8 seconds of a bull ride.