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Carried Away
Holly has always been a lucky girl. Opportunities follow her like a promise, and she almost always gets what she wants. So, when a handsome cowboy catches her eye during a quick trip to Nashville, she assumes he’s just another lucky distraction. Until fate throws her back into Dallas’s orbit, this time in Cape Cod. And the cowboy isn’t just a cowboy after all. A Vermont local, Dallas finds himself juggling farm chores, shifts at his aunt’s market, and the pressure of settling down. Wanting to please the people he loves, Dallas makes Holly an offer she can’t refuse—anything she wants in exchange for playing his girlfriend. Pretending is easy. Reminding herself that it's fake is the hard part. And Dallas is hiding a secret that could ruin not only his reputation but his deal with Holly if the truth comes out. But she won’t find out, right?
394 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 20, 2026
About the author
Gracie Madison Elizabeth
4 books13 followersGracie Madison Elizabeth was born and raised in the United States. She is a dog mom and a recent college graduate. When she’s not chasing her puppies around, she’s reading, writing, baking, or watching romance movies.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
March 28, 2026
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Spice: 🌶️🌶️ (multiple closed door scenes between an unmarried couple)
Language: !@#
Drug/Alcohol Content: 🍺🍺🍺 (characters drink alcoholic beverages, one character gets drunk, one character smokes)
*I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Spice: 🌶️🌶️ (multiple closed door scenes between an unmarried couple)
Language: !@#
Drug/Alcohol Content: 🍺🍺🍺 (characters drink alcoholic beverages, one character gets drunk, one character smokes)
*I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
August 22, 2026
Respectfully, this was not for me. This felt like two teenagers who are playing house.
They meet when they are both randomly in Nashville and he pays for her meal since she doesn’t have cash.
Then a year later they randomly run into each other in cape cod and remember one another despite saying less than 5 words to each other in Nashville and they start hanging out. THEN he asks her to be his fake girlfriend to make his family happy…when they both clearly like each other, but he withholds communication from her far past an acceptable point.
They both constantly lie to each other. He tells her she’s overreacting several times when she tells him she doesn’t like that he lied to her.
The FMC is way more concerned about looking good for Instagram photos than trying to fix anything in her life.
Honestly these two do not have a fully developed frontal cortex and should not be in ANY relationship, let alone one with each other.
This has some closed door spice, but nothing explicit. There is cursing.
Tropes: fake dating, strangers to lovers, new adult romance, trust issues
They meet when they are both randomly in Nashville and he pays for her meal since she doesn’t have cash.
Then a year later they randomly run into each other in cape cod and remember one another despite saying less than 5 words to each other in Nashville and they start hanging out. THEN he asks her to be his fake girlfriend to make his family happy…when they both clearly like each other, but he withholds communication from her far past an acceptable point.
They both constantly lie to each other. He tells her she’s overreacting several times when she tells him she doesn’t like that he lied to her.
The FMC is way more concerned about looking good for Instagram photos than trying to fix anything in her life.
Honestly these two do not have a fully developed frontal cortex and should not be in ANY relationship, let alone one with each other.
This has some closed door spice, but nothing explicit. There is cursing.
Tropes: fake dating, strangers to lovers, new adult romance, trust issues
April 11, 2026
HOW FRICKIN CUTE WAS THIS BOOOOOK!!! fake dating, meet cute vibes and cowboys hahaah. the ending made me giggle and kick my feet!! the only thing i didn’t LOVE about this book (will not spoil) is i do think some parts moved very fast but overall it was a super cute storyline and the cover art is one of my favorites
August 20, 2026
Comfortable
A story for every generation when they find their soulmate. Captures the essence of young twenty something love including the angst.
A story for every generation when they find their soulmate. Captures the essence of young twenty something love including the angst.
March 17, 2026
2 ⭐️
I’m really disappointed to say that Carried Away by Gracie Madison Elizabeth didn’t quite work for me. The premise itself is genuinely sweet—two people crossing paths in Nashville, reconnecting in Cape Cod, and building something that feels more grounded than a fairytale romance—but the execution made it difficult to stay engaged. The pacing leaned very slow without offering the depth or detail that typically makes a slice-of-life story feel immersive, so it often just felt stagnant rather than intentional.
One of the biggest challenges for me was the writing style and structure. Transitions were often abrupt and confusing, with time jumps happening mid-paragraph and little to no indication that weeks had passed. There were also multiple instances where scenes opened with dialogue but didn’t clarify who was speaking for quite a while, which made it hard to stay oriented in the story. Some of the dialogue and phrasing felt out of place or inconsistent with the characters, and it pulled me out of the experience. Because of this, it took me over halfway through the book to feel any real emotional connection, and even then it never fully clicked. The FMC’s personality and choices were frustrating at times, and while the MMC became more developed later on, his personality and character felt underwritten for much of the story. Unfortunately, the emotional payoff at the end didn’t feel as strong as I had hoped.
That said, there were still elements I appreciated. I really enjoyed that this was a spice-free romance, and the overall storyline had a lot of charm and potential. The way their relationship unfolded across different locations felt refreshing, and the MMC’s family added a lot of personality and warmth to the book. There were also a few genuinely sweet and memorable moments in the final portion of the story that stood out. While this one ultimately wasn’t for me, I can see how readers who enjoy gentler, slower-paced romances might still find something to love here.
Thank you to the author and BookSirens for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I’m really disappointed to say that Carried Away by Gracie Madison Elizabeth didn’t quite work for me. The premise itself is genuinely sweet—two people crossing paths in Nashville, reconnecting in Cape Cod, and building something that feels more grounded than a fairytale romance—but the execution made it difficult to stay engaged. The pacing leaned very slow without offering the depth or detail that typically makes a slice-of-life story feel immersive, so it often just felt stagnant rather than intentional.
One of the biggest challenges for me was the writing style and structure. Transitions were often abrupt and confusing, with time jumps happening mid-paragraph and little to no indication that weeks had passed. There were also multiple instances where scenes opened with dialogue but didn’t clarify who was speaking for quite a while, which made it hard to stay oriented in the story. Some of the dialogue and phrasing felt out of place or inconsistent with the characters, and it pulled me out of the experience. Because of this, it took me over halfway through the book to feel any real emotional connection, and even then it never fully clicked. The FMC’s personality and choices were frustrating at times, and while the MMC became more developed later on, his personality and character felt underwritten for much of the story. Unfortunately, the emotional payoff at the end didn’t feel as strong as I had hoped.
That said, there were still elements I appreciated. I really enjoyed that this was a spice-free romance, and the overall storyline had a lot of charm and potential. The way their relationship unfolded across different locations felt refreshing, and the MMC’s family added a lot of personality and warmth to the book. There were also a few genuinely sweet and memorable moments in the final portion of the story that stood out. While this one ultimately wasn’t for me, I can see how readers who enjoy gentler, slower-paced romances might still find something to love here.
Thank you to the author and BookSirens for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
August 8, 2026
i have mixed feelings about this book. the concept was great, i loved the characters, i am a sucker for fake dating tropes - it just felt a little rushed to me at some points.
the first half of the book was awesome. i liked the pacing. the trip to nashville, the way her lucky broken bracelet really did show some bad luck on that trip. we did not really see that bracelet again - i wish we did because it seemed like such a huge part of holly’s life for it just to be brought up very minimally throughout the rest of the book. i loved the reconnection in cape cod! it was like it was meant to be when they had met in two different places, with so much time in between them. THAT was cute. the way they AGAIN reconnected over the bracelet!!!! i feel like that should have been more of a staple for holly and even dallas for returning it.
the second half of the book lost me a bit. things just blended together - time, conversations, sometimes i was not sure what character was talking. there were a few typos - not holding against the author at all! just felt like some things were rushed in the timeline. i thought dallas’ birthday was coming up way quicker than it was. holly’s even came and went before his. that was made to be a huge thing because he hated celebrating, but he was accepting for holly. payton’s character was also just so forgotten for a bit - which holy admitted. yes, holly and dallas called each other their best friends, but if i were payton.. id be a little pissed i was hearing radio silence from my best friend that quick.
the forgiveness that holly had over and over.. and over. i know its realistic. i’ve been that forgiving once before, but she was just back at a snap decision or it was like dallas never lied or did something to bother her. and vice versa - they argued so much that it was not a very safe relationship at some points. did i ever think dallas would get violent? no. but he was painted as such a bad guy and then it was brushed over and forgiven like it was almost nothing.
also… points for a character named morgan. although she was a very minuscule character - she dropped the tea and changed the story in my opinion.
the first half of the book was awesome. i liked the pacing. the trip to nashville, the way her lucky broken bracelet really did show some bad luck on that trip. we did not really see that bracelet again - i wish we did because it seemed like such a huge part of holly’s life for it just to be brought up very minimally throughout the rest of the book. i loved the reconnection in cape cod! it was like it was meant to be when they had met in two different places, with so much time in between them. THAT was cute. the way they AGAIN reconnected over the bracelet!!!! i feel like that should have been more of a staple for holly and even dallas for returning it.
the second half of the book lost me a bit. things just blended together - time, conversations, sometimes i was not sure what character was talking. there were a few typos - not holding against the author at all! just felt like some things were rushed in the timeline. i thought dallas’ birthday was coming up way quicker than it was. holly’s even came and went before his. that was made to be a huge thing because he hated celebrating, but he was accepting for holly. payton’s character was also just so forgotten for a bit - which holy admitted. yes, holly and dallas called each other their best friends, but if i were payton.. id be a little pissed i was hearing radio silence from my best friend that quick.
the forgiveness that holly had over and over.. and over. i know its realistic. i’ve been that forgiving once before, but she was just back at a snap decision or it was like dallas never lied or did something to bother her. and vice versa - they argued so much that it was not a very safe relationship at some points. did i ever think dallas would get violent? no. but he was painted as such a bad guy and then it was brushed over and forgiven like it was almost nothing.
also… points for a character named morgan. although she was a very minuscule character - she dropped the tea and changed the story in my opinion.
April 8, 2026
I received an ARC of Carried Away by Gracie Madison Elizabeth and unfortunately, this one just did not work for me.
I ended up DNFing it at around 30%.
The premise sounded so good. Fake dating, slow burn, tension, and big life decisions, it had all the elements I usually love. We follow Holly, who is stuck choosing between going to her dream university and taking on 100k in student loan debt, or staying home and remaining debt free. During a vacation with her best friend, she loses her lucky bracelet and from that point on, everything seems to go wrong. She meets a cute boy, Dallas, who later finds his way back into her life months down the line.
I really wanted to like this, especially because I enjoy a good slow burn. But this felt like a slow everything. The pacing made it hard for me to stay engaged, and I just could not connect with the story. It felt forced at times and, for me, something about it just did not feel right.
I did have a feeling that Dallas might be hiding something, which could have been an interesting twist. However, the book did not give me enough to stay and find out.
I ended up DNFing it at around 30%.
The premise sounded so good. Fake dating, slow burn, tension, and big life decisions, it had all the elements I usually love. We follow Holly, who is stuck choosing between going to her dream university and taking on 100k in student loan debt, or staying home and remaining debt free. During a vacation with her best friend, she loses her lucky bracelet and from that point on, everything seems to go wrong. She meets a cute boy, Dallas, who later finds his way back into her life months down the line.
I really wanted to like this, especially because I enjoy a good slow burn. But this felt like a slow everything. The pacing made it hard for me to stay engaged, and I just could not connect with the story. It felt forced at times and, for me, something about it just did not feel right.
I did have a feeling that Dallas might be hiding something, which could have been an interesting twist. However, the book did not give me enough to stay and find out.
February 20, 2026
The slow-burn romance between Holly and Dallas is beautifully paced, filled with playful banter, quiet tension, and moments that make you cheer for them both. I loved how the story balanced humor, farm-life authenticity, and the small-town charm of Cape Cod and Vermont, giving the setting as much personality as the characters themselves.
Dallas’s secret adds a layer of suspense and depth that keeps the “fake” in fake dating from feeling predictable, while Holly’s mix of cleverness and vulnerability makes her a heroine you root for every step of the way. This is a story about connection, compromise, and the messy, irresistible path from pretending to truly falling.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Dallas’s secret adds a layer of suspense and depth that keeps the “fake” in fake dating from feeling predictable, while Holly’s mix of cleverness and vulnerability makes her a heroine you root for every step of the way. This is a story about connection, compromise, and the messy, irresistible path from pretending to truly falling.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
October 31, 2026
Full disclosure: I received this book on Goodreads’ giveaways.
The story was “okay” in terms of the writing itself, but it definitely reads as if these adults are actually teenagers wanting to play house. The best friend of the FMC had me wondering why they’re even friends. At 40, am I’m too old to appreciate the immaturity of the characters? Or are those girls (not women) really that annoying? I kind of like Dallas, but his reasoning seemed immature at times, too.
The story was “okay” in terms of the writing itself, but it definitely reads as if these adults are actually teenagers wanting to play house. The best friend of the FMC had me wondering why they’re even friends. At 40, am I’m too old to appreciate the immaturity of the characters? Or are those girls (not women) really that annoying? I kind of like Dallas, but his reasoning seemed immature at times, too.
April 4, 2026
This story is a bittersweet romance with a taste of humor. The characters are easy to connect with and during this story you follow them along their path to discovery and belonging.
The book is beautifully written and the charming setting adds personality to the story.
The slow burning electricity is nicely captured.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
The book is beautifully written and the charming setting adds personality to the story.
The slow burning electricity is nicely captured.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
May 9, 2026
Dalles is shy and Holl is outgoing, they are opposites, from the start the interaction between them was sweet a slow burn, humor, and the farm life was great.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Review of advance copy received from Indie Reviewers
Found this story hard going.
No excitement just everyday living.
No excitement just everyday living.
May 19, 2026
This was such a cute book! I absolutely loved the characters and loved the story. I kept wanting to read each page. I would recommend this for sure! Loved it!
July 27, 2026
I’m not a big fan of romance books but I LOVED this book!!! The cover is so cute! Highly recommend!!
April 21, 2026
A contemporary YA romance with the main characters of Holly and Dallas. Their paths cross when Holly and her best friend are on holiday in Nashville. A year later Holly runs into Dallas again running in Cape Cod. This time around circumstances bring them together and they become good friends.
Holly and Dallas have a strong connection and good chemistry. She agrees to faking a relationship with Dallas to help him save face with his family. Over a short period of time that fake relationship turns into a real one with mutual feelings. The only problem is that Holly knows that pretty soon she will be moving away for grad school to another city.
The couple have to face a lot of obstacles within themselves and in their knives to get there forever future. The main characters showed a lot of growth during the storyline and the supporting characters of their family and Holly‘s best friend Peyton were truly amazing.
Highly recommend 👍🏻
Holly and Dallas have a strong connection and good chemistry. She agrees to faking a relationship with Dallas to help him save face with his family. Over a short period of time that fake relationship turns into a real one with mutual feelings. The only problem is that Holly knows that pretty soon she will be moving away for grad school to another city.
The couple have to face a lot of obstacles within themselves and in their knives to get there forever future. The main characters showed a lot of growth during the storyline and the supporting characters of their family and Holly‘s best friend Peyton were truly amazing.
Highly recommend 👍🏻
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews