For What It's Worth


Friday, February 7, 2025

Review: Lost & Lassoed (Rebel Blue Ranch #3) by Lyla Sage

Lost & Lassoed by Lyla Sage cover
She thrives in chaos. He prefers routine. The only thing they have in common? How much they hate each other. From the author of Done and Dusted and Swift and Saddled, the highly anticipated next book in the Rebel Blue Ranch series, a small town romance featuring enemies to lovers and forced proximity.

Teddy Andersen doesn't have a plan. She's never needed one before. She's always been more of a go with the flow type of girl, but for some reason, the flow doesn't seem to be going her way this time. Her favorite vintage suede jacket has a hole in it, her sewing machine is broken, and her best friend just got engaged. Suddenly, everything feels like it's starting to change. Teddy's used to being a leader, but now she feels like she's getting left behind, wondering if the life she lives in the small town she loves is enough for her anymore.

Gus Ryder has a lot on his plate. He doesn't know what's taking care of his family's 8,000 acre ranch, or parenting his spunky six-year-old daughter, who is staying with him for the summer. Gus has always been the dependable one, but when his workload starts to overwhelm him, he slips up, and he has to admit that he can't manage everything on his own. He needs help. His little sister's best friend, the woman he can't stand, is not who he had in mind. But when no one else can step in, Teddy's the only option he's got. Teddy decides to use the summer to try and figure out what she wants out of life. Gus, on the other hand, starts to worry that he'll never find what he needs. Tempers flare, tension builds, and for the first time ever, Gus and Teddy start to see each other in a different light. As new feelings start to simmer below the surface, they must decide whether or not to act on them. Can they keep things cool? Or will both of them get burned? ~ Goodreads

Source: Libro.fm ALC in exchange for an honest review - (audiobook) Narrated by Jason Clarke, Samantha Brentmoor

Review: Once my go-to genre, I have struggled with romance the past few years. Not too many have kept my attention past the first one or two chapters but I saw someone I trust give this one a rave review on Instagram and had it pop up on Libro.fm for review at the same time, and thought I'd give it a go. I'm SO glad I did! 

Aside from being off romance the past few years, I really hate romance on audio - yet this one worked for me - even with a growly hero. I usually hate hearing that lol

Gus, the aforementioned growly hero, is drowning under the weight of responsibility. He has his 6 year old daughter, Riley, for the summer, while her mom, Cam is away for work. He runs the family 8000 acre Rebel Blue Ranch and feels the pressure to live up to his dad's legacy as he takes over, while moving the ranch forward to meet modern times.

Gus can't be everywhere at once and he slips up, big time, when he forgets to pick up Riley at an after school practice. His family forms an intervention and proposes a solution in the form of Teddy Anderson - his little sister's best friend and, in the words of Gus, a chaos demon.

Teddy is creative, flirty, bold and yeah - a little chaotic but she's at a crossroads after her best friend, Emmy becomes engaged, she loses her job and she worries about her aging/ailing father.

Gus offers Teddy the job of watching Riley on the days he's working the ranch, which includes staying at their place a few nights a week so she can be with Riley first thing in the morning. 

To say these two are oil and water would be an understatement. Where Teddy is spontaneous and flirty - Gus is measured and controlled. They have fought for years & most of their friends and family - despite suggesting this arrangement in the first place - aren't sure they won't kill each other lol

Hate to lovers is my favorite trope and this one was done so well! They truly don't like each other but slowly come to understand how similar they are. They love big, often sacrificing their own dreams and happiness and neither asks for or accepts help easily. 

There is conflict, but this is, thankfully, pretty low drama. While it starts as hate - it's more of gentle needling on Teddy's part and grumpy grunts from Gus. Neither is actually cruel - they just don't like each other and that's fine. But over time, they start to see the burden the other carries and step up to share some of the load.

I love how once they got past the - oh shit - I actually like this person stage - they never really pulled back. They kept being there for each other and admitted when they were confused or scared. There's also no drama when it comes to Cam, Riley's mom, and I adored that! 

I have not read the first two books in the series but that wasn't necessary - other than missing some of the bonds they share - like Emmy and Teddy's friendship. Emmy came off as selfish to me despite being told they were best friends. I'm sure I would have had better context had I read Emmy's book first. 

Another highlight of Lost & Lassoed was Teddy and her dad's relationship. It's just been the two of them and he has a few health scares that rock Teddy and, as someone who mostly grew up with just my dad, I got that. 

My minor, reader specific nitpick, is the there's a lot of dirty talk for the sex scenes. I'm not a prude, I like a good sex scene lol but I'm, personally, not a fan of explicit dirty talk - but to each their own. I also didn't love the from out of nowhere nickname - Teddy Baby.

All the love for this one and bonus points for an illustrated cover that doesn't blend into the sea of illustrated covers! It's unique and fits the story perfectly. 

Tuesday, February 4, 2025

Tell Me Something Tuesday: My least favorite thing about winter.

4 women of various races sit on a blue sofa thought bubbles about their head that say Tell Me Something Tuesday
Tell Me Something Tuesday is a weekly discussion post where bloggers discuss a wide range of topics from books and blogging to life in general. 

It is co-hosted by (Linda from Book Girl of Mur-y-Castell, Roberta from Offbeat YA, Jen from That’s What I’m Talking About, Berl's from Because Reading is Better than Real Life  and me) 

Join in by answering this weeks question in the comments or on your own blog.

If you would like to join TMST and receive periodic emails of upcoming topics, please fill out this GOOGLE FORM. TMST is a laid back meme – join in or opt out depending on your interest in topics or schedule.

Question: What is your least favorite thing about winter?

If you are not familiar with PNW winters - they are rainy. So. Much. Rain. All day. All night. All day the next day. For days. Into months. It's cloudy and gloomy and drippy and seemingly never-ending. The weather people run out of ways to describe rain. It gets dark early in the afternoon and stays dark well past sunrise.

It typically starts late October and, even though we've had one or two early springs, it usually lasts until May-ish.

I hate it and it drags me down. Kevin has tried changing all the bulbs to daylight bulbs in the house for the winter, using one of those winter lights but nope. I just get SO mopey. My personality flips like a switch with the teeniest touch of sunshine lol 

I love gardening, flowers and just generally being outside here. The summers are spectacular. Mild temps, no bugs, no humidity, lots of flowers. I love it and I mentally shut down without it.

A small spare bedroom with tan sleep sofa/slash office space with dark brown desk, laptop and other office supplies. A long cabinet against the window with various plants. Yellow gold curtains on either end, with leaf patterned sheers in middle.
I'm really making an effort to do better with it this year. Kevin and I have started going walking with the dogs, even if it's not perfect weather. 

I added a lot of indoor plants to my (redecorated/brighter) office and that REALLY helps me. (shout out to Ethan who told me about coffee grounds to save my dying plants lol) I've added more since this picture and there's a big Monstera in the corner. The light hits the plants in such a pretty way, even in winter.

Two plants with filtered light


We found a year round farmers market in Portland, OR and, if you know me, it's all about plants and food (& dogs lol) and that's been a huge mood boost having that every Saturday. Bonus for it being near Powell's Bookstore. 

We're also going to try to go see a few old movies. We have several small indie theaters that have older movie programs in the winter. Even silent films with live orchestras.  

I'm taking up a few hobbies too. I'm learning Chinese on Duolingo. We have a large Asian population out here, including botanical gardens, restaurants, and grocery stores & I thought would be nice to know what I'm looking at lol

embroidery learning set from amazon
I got an embroidery kit  to learn the stitches. Not because I want to embroider but because I wanted to try the Japanese art of mending: Shashiko. You basically mend, say, the your hole in your jeans with a patch - but then add a pretty/colorful stitch or pattern to reinforce it. I have no idea how long I'll stick to this hobby lol but I have a hole in my jeans and had this great idea to to fix it using the shashiko technique. 

And, of course, I bake! 


What are your least favorite things about winter? 



Friday, January 31, 2025

Review: The Life Impossible by Matt Haig


When retired math teacher Grace Winters is left a run-down house on a Mediterranean island by a long-lost friend, curiosity gets the better of her. She arrives in Ibiza with a one-way ticket, no guidebook and no plan.  

Among the rugged hills and golden beaches of the island, Grace searches for answers about her friend’s life, and how it ended. What she uncovers is stranger than she could have dreamed. But to dive into this impossible truth, Grace must first come to terms with her past.

Filled with wonder and wild adventure, this is a story of hope and the life-changing power of a new beginning. ~ Goodreads

Source: ALC in exchange for an honest review via Libo.fm

REVIEW: A review!!!! Do I still know how to do this??? lol I picked a tough one too. The summary doesn't give too much away and I don't want to either so, proceed with caution if you hate spoilers. I will stay vague about details but will reveal more than the synopsis above.

Grace, a retired math teacher, in her 70's, inherits a home on the island of Ibiza. After losing her son in a bike accident, then later, her husband, she's drowning in decades of guilt and grief and curious as to why a casual friend, Christina, whom she hasn't seen in decades, would leave a run down house to her. With absolutely no attachments and nothing to lose, she travels to Ibiza for answers.

Instead, she unravels mysteries of the universe itself in the deep waters off the Mediterranean coast.

There are legends about the water surrounding Ibiza. "Gifts" that are imparted upon certain people that enter the water. Grace becomes one of the recipients of those gifts. I won't say what they are, but I will say it gives her a heightened awareness of both the beauty of and danger to the environment and people surrounding her. 

Grace is a perfect, skeptical, foil for this touch of supernatural. She's stubborn, set in her ways, and guilt has made Grace deem herself unworthy of happiness, never mind gifts of such magnitude and responsibility. As a math teacher, everything must be mathematically proven and represent patterns and this is certainly beyond that scope.

The Life Impossible is about many things - human interactions that send seemingly random ripples of interconnectedness for generations, deep grief and guilt that stop you from living a full life and the beauty and possibilities of the world around us.

There are a quirky set of characters, an island rich with history, beauty, magic, danger and mystery. It could be, in turns, funny, gut wrenching, heartwarming and action packed - yet - something about it didn't really pack the punch the author was going for.

So much of what was going on with Grace could have been even more magical but mostly happened within her inner monologue, as she worked through everything as if it was a math problem. Not dry, because Grace is a fascinating character, but not as impactful.

For example SPOILER -> she could hear the thoughts of animals, feel the earth in ways no one else can but that was rarely seen in action (although she does use these gifts in big ways) - just her in awe that she COULD do it and what that means for her <- END SPOILER 

I wouldn't say everything was tell and not shown but so much was about Grace coming to terms with her past and how her new found gift impacted that. I loved that for what it was - but then it missed the mark as a transformative LIFE IMPOSSIBLE feeling, if that makes sense. I understand how Haig needed both the magical & logical to spur the Grace's healing. Both - independently were wonderful - but they didn't always flow seamlessly together.

This would be a book for fans of Fredrik Backman or stories about how random people seem to connect and change each others lives. Also, for anyone dealing with guilt, grief, aging. It was refreshing to read about an older woman finding new purpose and doing things that women "her age" shouldn't do - like traveling alone, diving, dancing. She has limitations but you can still find new purpose at any age.

This was a lovely story, beautifully narrated by Joanna Lumley - gentle, life affirming. I'm glad I listened to it but it did miss the mark as a great read - in comparison to a similar book and favorite 2024 read of mine - Remarkably Bright Creatures.