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A small-town, late brother's best friend, cowboy romance with a plus-size female main character.

BLAKE TANNER never thought she’d return to her hometown after her brother Reed died in a tragic accident. But when her mom gets injured, she comes home to help out on her family's ranch. Now, only five years after her brother's accident, she can’t hide from the grief, the people, or the guilt that she's been running from.

GAVIN MONTGOMERY didn’t plan for his life to be this way. He didn’t ask to be stuck with a pile of debt, the responsibility of a failing family business, or a little brother with a drinking problem. But when his dad died nine months ago, Gavin had no choice but to step up and take care of his family, even if that involved hiding the truth from that they’re about to lose everything.

When Blake reluctantly agrees to attend a charity “date auction” at the local townie bar, she figures supporting the family of her late brother's best friend is the right thing to do. Only Gavin is no longer the sweet young boy she remembers, and when he challenges her to ride the mechanical bull in front of the whole town, what choice does she have but to saddle up.

But getting back in the saddle might be a mistake. Because even if she's an expert rider, there’s no way in hell she's letting that cowboy hold the reins.

Will Blake and Gavin find a way to work through their grief and ride off into the sunset?

Or will they be over faster than an eight-second ride?

Authors Rein Me In is the first in The Cowboys of Night Hawk series. This book can be read as a standalone novel and has a HEA. Please know that while there are lots of fun and uplifting moments in this book, the characters also deal with themes of loss, grief, alcohol abuse, and depression.

332 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 22, 2023

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Kayla Grosse

12 books1,634 followers

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5 stars
2,030 (25%)
4 stars
3,189 (39%)
3 stars
2,314 (28%)
2 stars
443 (5%)
1 star
93 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,027 reviews
Profile Image for Lilyya ♡.
491 reviews3,012 followers
February 1, 2024
only a cowboy romance can cure a reading slump🤠
Profile Image for Eleanor .
287 reviews587 followers
July 11, 2023
4.5 Cowboy Riding ✨'s

This book was the perfect combination of romance, steam, and emotion! The story follows Blake, who returns home after leaving 5 years ago when her brother passed; and Gavin, her late brother's best friend, who recently lost his dad and is struggling to keep the family ranch afloat. The two meet and while they get off to a rough start, they both eventually find themselves gravitating towards each other and unable to stay away.

The connection between Gavin and Blake was palpable, they both encouraged and uplifted each other while grief was heavy on the mind and heart. Thankfully the story was written very well and the grief was apparent but not full of angst (I don't need to be crying my eyes out while reading a romance). I can't wait to read more from Kayla Grosse and explore the Cowboys of Night Hawk!
Profile Image for Whitney Atkinson.
1,041 reviews13k followers
August 3, 2024
3.5 stars

BOOM BOOM CLAP, BOOM-DE-CLAP-DE-CLAP MOTHERFUCKERS

as a fat texan horse girl, this book felt personal. it was one of the books i was most excited to read on my plus size readathon tbr, so i tackled it first. and although this book is probably only worth 2 stars on writing merit alone (editors, i see you. your jobs are SO important), i can't in good faith sit here and lie and say this book didn't make me kick my feet and even shed some tears!! personally, as someone who cannot ride horses anymore due to my weight, it was nice to experience it from another curvy girl's shoes.

the plot in this got REALLY good in the last 25% and i found the resolutions for all the characters very sweet. also this book was pretty plot focused on grief and money and family problems, but once the romance between these two characters got going, it GOT GOING. very steamy, even though it was pretty vanilla. (i only say that because i've started book two and WHEW)

don't go into this expecting beautiful writing and realistic dialogue, but if you have a soft spot for western stories then i think it's totally worth a shot. tropes include best friend's brother, small town, running from your past/unresolved emotion scars.

but for the love of god, blake, if your brother died from falling off a horse WHY ARE YOU NOT WEARING A HELMET?!
Profile Image for Christy.
4,306 reviews35.3k followers
January 3, 2024
3.5 stars

Cowboy take me away... I'm not going to lie, after reading some really amazing Cowboy romances in the last year or two I feel like I'm in my 'Cowboy Era' so when I saw this book floating around I thought I would check it out.

Rein Me In was my first book by Kayla Grosse and I enjoyed her writing styles. I liked both Blake and Gavin and parts of the story were really good. I did, however, find myself getting distracted a lot while listening to this one. The narration was fantastic, so it wasn't that. I'm not sure if it was the book or me, but I disconnected while reading a lot and never truly felt connected to the book because of that.
Audio book source: Hoopla
Story Rating: 3.5 stars
Narrators: Grayson Owens & Desiree Ketchum
Narration Rating: 4.5 stars
Genre: Romance
Length: 9h 49m


Profile Image for Ashley.
510 reviews2,132 followers
July 25, 2023
If you’re in your cowboy romance era READ THIS.

This was super fun read but it also had some sad/ serious topics. I personally loved the FMC and her character growth throughout the book.

Cowboy romance
Small town
Childhood friends to lovers
Plus size FMC
Reverse age gap
He falls first
Profile Image for Inna (Semi-Hiatus).
1,624 reviews356 followers
December 5, 2023
3 stars. Very much… just ok. It’s insta lust from both MCs, but the hero acts like an idiot so the heroine doesn’t immediately fall into bed with him. But it was still fast, and their relationship was based on 100% lust without much actual relationship building.

I also skipped through the sex scenes because I wasn’t feeling them at all. They were all very long and drawn out… which would have been ok if I felt the chemistry, which I didn’t. I just didn’t even care that the sex scenes were included in this book… AND I ALWAYS WANT SEX SCENES!! Also, the entire epilogue is just one long sex scene… 😒😒😒😒

Safe
No virgins
Hero has been celibate since catching his ex girlfriend cheating on him a few months back
No major OM/OW drama, but some jealousy
Hero’s ex does make some appearances but it’s mostly when heroine isn’t around and it doesn’t cause any issues for the MCs
No scenes with OM/OW
No cheating



This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 19, 2024
4.5 ★

This was cute. I loved the romance between Gavin and Blake and the bickering was so funny. I do feel like it was a little rushed but that’s okay! I also wasn’t feeling the smut scenes. And in every early chapter with Gavin he was horny and it put me off a bit like sir stfu and control yourself. Other than that I really enjoyed it. The messages about grief I found so relatable and it made me feel seen. Gotta love a small town romance.

Remember, save a horse, ride a cowboy 🤭
Profile Image for Lyss ꨄ.
203 reviews
October 25, 2024
“We may be new, Blake, but you can’t deny we fit together. It’s been too long since I’ve gone after what makes me happy, and you make me happy.”

𝘚𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘺
Blake has returned to her hometown after abruptly leaving 5 years earlier. For weeks, all is well, as she stays isolated on her family farm. But after refusing one too many invites out, she finally decides to go. What is supposed to be a quick night out turns into her riding a mechanical bull and coming face-to-face with her late brother's best friend Gavin, who brings back all the emotions she tries to keep hidden away.

𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 & 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴
The way this book was set up, I anticipated it would be very emotional and heartfelt. To my surprise, this was a simple cowboy romance with low angst.

To be honest, I would have enjoyed this more if it had more of an emotional kick. No clue what that says about me. All I'm saying is, it feels like the author teetered on the line of this being an emotional romance or a lighthearted one. Otherwise, this was a standard cowboy romance that was mostly enjoyable.

𝘎𝘦𝘯𝘳𝘦𝘴
🍂 contemporary romance

𝘛𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘴
🐎 small town
🍂 he falls first
🐎 plus size fmc
🍂 reverse age gap
🐎 cowboy x cowgirl
🍂 late brother’s best friend
Profile Image for Andrea 🍉 .
592 reviews89 followers
February 6, 2024
3 ⭐️ Cowboy x Cowgirl Reverse Age-Gap Romance.

I'm going to try to keep this review as short and sweet as I can, while also trying to be as honest as possible. Usually, teetering this line is no issue for me, but this book was an oddity for me. I picked it up because, first of all, cowboys -duh-, and second of all, I have a massive thing for reverse age-gap romances. So this book sounded great, right? Well...

It made me cry. And, admittedly, I tend to like books that manage to do it for the right reasons. This one wasn't like that, but it wasn't necessarily in a bad way either. One of the main themes in this book is grief, getting over the loss of a family member, and unfortunately for me, I am well acquainted with loss and grieving. There's no right way to grieve. I've said it once and I will say it again a hundred times if I need to. It's always painful, and it always shows you parts of yourself you never wanted to know, but also can't imagine not knowing now. Writing and talking about a loss like that must be incredibly difficult, so I do give props to the author for that.

Unfortunately, that's about where the 'props' are going to end. I disliked every single character in this book. I liked the MMC best -he was sweet and all the book-boyfriend things-, but I have a hard time calling him my favourite character since he did and said many things I disagree with. Almost every character in this book felt trapped into a gender stereotype while trying to toe the line of 'what if this wasn't super paternalistic' and utterly failing. Both MCs families have insufferable people being insufferably themselves. I almost DNFed this multiple times because I truly couldn't find a single thing to look forward to. I probably should have, but I soldiered on, carried myself through the finish line and I've given myself a couple of days now after finishing the book to write this review and sit with my thoughts a little bit.

I still can't say I'd recommend this book, but if you don't mind sexist/paternalistic stereotypes and you want to read about cowboys falling in love, maybe this might be for you. It just wasn't for me.

🌶🌶 - This book is open-door. There are only a couple of spicy scenes, but there's well-written, at least.
Profile Image for Katie.
688 reviews648 followers
July 10, 2023
"It's been too long since I've gone after what makes me happy, and you make me happy."

Another cowboy romance for the books! Set in a small town in Texas, Blake is recently returned home after the traumatic death of her brother five years earlier. She is drowning in guilt and grief. Gavin was her brother's best friend, and when he sees her again, he can't help but remember his childhood crush. Gavin pursues Blake, but she is so hesitant and closed off after all of the trauma she has been through. At its core, this is a book about grief. Gavin and Blake both have their ghosts, but together they are able to work through what is troubling them. This love story felt very authentic and raw. Blake is a barrel racer and Gavin is a true ranch-running cowboy, and I felt so authentically planted in the small-town cowboy culture. Blake is also a plus-sized character, and I like that in this book is was simply one of her characteristics instead of a focal point of the plot. If you have been loving cowboy romances lately, you definitely don't want to miss this one!
February 22, 2024
2.5 stars ✨

I’m so sad, I loved the first half of the book so much with Blake battling grief and anxiety and with Gavin struggling to stay afloat and it seemed to come so perfectly together. It was only after the halfway mark that there was a complete 180 and it flipped from lit fic to romance (and a crappy cringey one at that too). I wish the author drove the book straight into literary fiction and kept the characters true to their development instead of them relying on each other to hold the other up.

Sad. Disappointed. Started off 📈, ended up 📉

Siiiighhhhhhhhhh
Profile Image for Lisa (Remarkablylisa).
2,399 reviews1,851 followers
December 2, 2023
I didnt think this book would be as deep as I first thought! Our heroine is deeply scarred by a tragic past and holds a lot of guilt. Meanwhile, our hero is burdened by his late father and the poor decisions he made before he passed. Loved it. It was body positive as well!!
Profile Image for Ava.
1,087 reviews1,634 followers
June 18, 2023
Blake Tanner is back in her small country town after five years of her brother's passing. She never expected her late brother's best friend to swing in and persuade her to ride a mechanical bull at the town bar. Ever since that night, the two of them can't stop thinking about each other. Gavin and Blake have recently had close family members pass, and are dealing with their grief in their own ways. Gavin is all in with Blake, but she's wondering if she will ever be truly happy after what happened to her brother.

I loved this small-town romance!! Gavin and Blake were amazing characters to read about, both individually and as a couple. I love how smitten Gavin was with Blake, he made me swoon numerous times!! I also really appreciated the discussion of grief, I thought it was incredibly done. I can't wait for the next books in this series!!

MEMORABLE QUOTES:
"Good God, Blake Tanner is perfect...maybe too perfect for someone like me. But I'm too selfish to let her go now. Not that I could."

TW: loss, grief, alcohol abuse, depression

TROPES: brother's best friend, character-driven, cowboy, damaged heroine, has a mouth on him, hero falls first, kindle unlimited, no 3rd act breakup, older woman, plus size rep, possessive hero, small town, tall heroine
Profile Image for Tia.
689 reviews4 followers
October 4, 2023
Oof I really didn’t enjoy this one which is a shame because I love cowboy romances and I was excited for the curvy representation.

Firstly, I didn’t really like any of the characters. Gavin (the name was a turn off tbh) was sweet but I was so annoyed that he didn’t just tell his family about the financial issues??? It just didn’t make sense to me why he would keep that from them??? Blake was so fkn annoying and kind of dumb and she was literally horrible to her parents. And don’t even get me started on Kade, what a piece of SHIT he was!!!!!

I didn’t enjoy the writing style, it felt really over-descriptive and clunky and lots of the scenes made me cringe (especially the spicy scenes lol).

The premise was cute but it just missed the mark for me. I think 5 years was too long for Blake to be away for, and it also didn’t really make sense to me that she and Gavin were like “we can’t be together” because there was literally nothing stopping them from dating. Also the Kade incident at the end was just a bit bizarre and Reed’s voice in italics was also so fkn weird.
Profile Image for Bailey.
374 reviews32 followers
May 21, 2024
I wasn't feeling this at first, but it really reined me in eventually. Haha. Get it?

But truly, I was quite invested in this love story between Blake and Gavin, especially considering they were both dealing with grief and familial expectations. One of those couples were you really feel like they were made for each other... because they were, of course! I think this had just the right mix of cheesiness, steam, and angst to keep me reading. Definitely looking forward to the next!
July 22, 2024
Nesitikėjau, kad bus tokia emociškai sunki pradžia - įtikinamai perteiktas gedulas, šiaip iš esmės istorija visai patiko, skyrėsi nuo kitų skaitytų kaubojiškų meilės romanų. Vertinimą numušė kiek per greitai sumegzti veikėjų santykiai ir mikliai išspręsti esminiai konfliktai, plius labai nuspėjama pabaiga, ne, kalbu ne apie "gyveno kartu ilgai ir laimingai" - tas ir taip aišku, kad bus, ir privalo būti, turiu galvoje kulminacinę sceną. Be to, man tikrai nereikėjo antro epilogo, kuris iš esmės yra kinky sekso scena arklidėse - visai ne į temą, kai ankstesnės scenos buvo visiška vanilė. 3.5/5
Profile Image for Amy | Foxy Blogs.
1,726 reviews1,039 followers
January 4, 2024
REIN ME IN
● Blake & Gavin
● both are struggling with things in their personal life
● Gavin's family ranch is in debt and he's keeping that a secret from them
● Blake is struggling with the death of her brother
● small town
● 5 year age gap
● late brother's best friend
● cowboy romance

Audiobook source: Hoopla
Narrator: Grayson Owens & Desiree Ketchum
Length: 9H 49M
Profile Image for nitya.
449 reviews335 followers
June 3, 2023
Older woman x younger man ☑️
Plus size protagonist 😎
Small town shenanigans 🙌
Horses!!!! 💯

I will read anything Kayla Grosse writes at this point

Content warning: death of loved ones, grief as a theme, explicit sex scenes, alcoholism
Profile Image for Tea&Biscuits.
169 reviews8 followers
December 5, 2023
Not my usual type of read but I was pleasantly surprised. I listened to the audiobook and it was perfection. Top notch narration by Desiree Ketchum and Grayson Owen’s.

Rein Me In is well written with relatable characters. A cowboy romance that will hit at your heart strings but leave you feeling completely satisfied. Pair that with the superb narration and this wonderful audiobook is the result. I’m not a big cowboy fan and I like a bit more drama with romance but I’m not complaining. By the end i was shopping for cowboy boots, looking for the closest honky-tonk and singing “Save a horse, ride a cowboy”. 🤠
Profile Image for Laurens.Little.Library.
485 reviews3,848 followers
December 4, 2024
A very solid 4 star!

Loved how the heroine was comfortable with her body, and it was never treated as a big deal by any of the other characters.

Both narrators do well bringing each POV to life.

If you loved Elsie Silver’s book, look no further for your next western romance.
Profile Image for Christi (christireadsalot).
2,427 reviews1,013 followers
November 29, 2023
Rein Me In has been on my TBR for a while, but it is finally now on audio so I binged it! Check your library resources (if able), because it is on hoopla and Libby. I ended up really enjoying this one. This is a small town, (late) brother’s best friend, cowboy romance, with a plus size heroine who is older than the hero and a hero who has crushed on her!

Blake returns back home after 5 years when her mom gets injured and needs help around their family’s ranch in Texas. Blake never thought she’d come back to her small town after the loss of her brother, but now she’s back and runs into Gavin, one of her brother’s best friends. She ends up reluctantly on a mechanical bull ride and isn’t too happy with Gavin at first, but that of course changes. Gavin recently lost his father and he’s worried about keeping the family’s ranch in business. He’s all in with her and I liked seeing her fall for him, she’s older than him as well (she’s 29, he’s 24). This book handles grief and loss for both characters, and I loved that we get sweet, steamy, and emotional all rolled into one yeehaw read!

CW: grief, loss, alcohol abuse, depression
Profile Image for hellyeahmaddie.
17 reviews
January 27, 2024
i love a cowboy romance, but this one just didn’t do it for me. the dialogue was corny, most of the characters were annoying, and kade sucks.
the fact that the MMC suggested they play 20 questions gave me war flash backs.
Profile Image for Parrish.
9 reviews1 follower
July 28, 2023
love a man whose purpose on earth is to worship a plus sized queen
Profile Image for Bay.
298 reviews9 followers
August 24, 2023
incredible how much i hated every character. but especially kade bc what the FUCK.
Profile Image for Korrie’s Korner.
1,310 reviews13.4k followers
December 15, 2024
This was my first Kayla Grosse book and it will not be my last. I love the thicc girl representation. Blake was sexy and knew how to handle her curves just like that mechanical bull the story started out with. This book had heavy themes : death, grief - but was written very well. Narration was chefs kiss. Blake & Gavin were fire 🔥. Blake was 28 to Gavin’s 24 and I loved it! They both have a grief journey they’re on and it was beautiful to read. Those spicy scenes were also extra crispy and delicious. Loved the descriptive words that the author used. Made the visuals extra…I’m in my Cowboy era and I love that the heroine was a cowgirl too.
Profile Image for Lindsay♫SingerOfStories♫.
964 reviews115 followers
May 31, 2023
4.5 Cowboy wrangling, barrel racing stars! 🤠

This book started off decently okay but then it just got better and better. The characters and their grief, their family ties, their relationship with each other--all of it was built up so well to me. Sometimes MMC Gavin was a little cheesy in that his switch flipped so fast from I-am-a-mess-I-don't-want-to-date-anyone to instantly she's-the-one-I-want-to-wake-up-to-every-morning-for-the-rest-of-my-life. But all was forgiven and forgotten because Gavin and Blake were just so good together. And the cast of side characters was so fun--I am ready to read about the other Cowboys of Night Hawk whenever Kayla Grosse is ready to give them to us!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,027 reviews

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