Book Review: ‘Alive and Wells’ by Bailey Hannah (grumpy sunshine Western romance)

My love for Western romance is still alive and well so it wasn’t a surprise that I snapped up ‘Alive and Wells’ by Bailey Hannah when I spotted it on NetGalley.

I was a bit hesitant about the ex-husband angle of ‘Alive and Wells’ but everything else about it completely ticks my boxes and I really did enjoy it! I’m so glad to have another Western romance series to work through, even if book two contains by least favourite trope…

The last place city girl Cecily Kennedy expected to end up was a cattle ranch. But she needs a job-and refuge from her abusive soon-to-be-ex-husband.

If only her new boss, Austin Wells, would make it clear whether he hates her or wants her. His gaze makes her feel things she hasn't in years. Though getting over her ex by getting under her grumpy boss isn't worth the potential fallout.

Austin's a gruff, no-nonsense rancher who's seriously regretting letting his head cook hire her own help. As far as he's concerned, Cecily won't be sticking around for long. Nobody ever stays. And the wedding ring indent still on her finger makes her more trouble than she's worth.

When Cecily's past catches up with her, Austin discovers that she's already placed a branding iron on his heart. He wants her to stay. But first he needs to keep her safe . . .

Wells Ranch is an idyllic place to recuperate and heal for Cecily and I quickly became swept up in the rich landscape of rural Canada and fell in love with the cast of characters. While mostly cowboys, and one rancher, and only a few women on the land, Cecily quickly falls into comforting new routine and starts to build new friendships that quickly turn into a found family. I’m a real sucker for this type of sprawling cast and the interpersonal dynamics across the ranch were rich and ripe for moments of humour, moments of connection, and of course, burgeoning love between Cecily and Austin, our rancher. He is not a cowboy.

There was definitely a vibe of a real working ranch compared to most cowboy romances as it featured some of the less savoury bits of ranch life: vaccinating cattle, branding, and shipping the cattle off for their next…adventure. I also liked that we visited the rodeo, even if we didn’t actually see any of the rodeo, and an auction too; it felt like a little more well-rounded of this type of life and setting when the community around the ranch were on page too.

The romance is both very sweet and wholesome, but also filled with electricity and does get pretty spicy in the latter portion of the novel. Cecily’s soon to be ex-husband and the way he treated her has made her a little jumpy and she needed time to recover and heal, forcing her relationship with Austen to move more slowly than usual in Western romance, but I really enjoyed the slow burn in ‘Alive and Wells’. I did think it was a strange choice to have Austin be really rude and dismissive of her for the first part of the novel considering her past experiences. It ended up working out though!

‘Alive and Wells’ was a lot of fun and I devoured it in two sittings - it’s so nice to have another small town western romance to work my way through this year!

Thank you to Orion and NetGalley for the review copy.

Written by Sophie