The Ride of Her Life by Jennifer Dugan

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Before I get going, here’s the blurb:

Molly has always loved weddings, ever since she was a little girl, and for nearly as long she’s dreamed of starting her own wedding planning company. But that dream has remained stubbornly out of reach, and between Molly’s first job as a barista, her second at a call center, and her crushing student loans, it seems farther away than ever. The absolute last thing she needs is to inherit a run-down, struggling horse barn, courtesy of her estranged late aunt.

Molly is so ill-equipped to run the barn, it’s laughable. She certainly doesn’t know how to save it, no matter how much faith everyone who loved her aunt has that she will. But maybe her aunt left Molly a blessing in disguise—if she can sell the land, the profits could be the small-business seed money miracle she’s been waiting for. Doesn’t matter if she’s starting to love the mismatched family this barn brought together, and feeling closer to the aunt she never got a chance to know.

The real snag in her plan is the woman who took care of Molly’s aunt in her last days, and still lives and works on the property as a farrier: Shani. Judgmental, grouchy Shani, who thinks she’s so morally superior because she hasn’t given up on the crumbling barn while Molly wants to “destroy” everything her aunt built; who’s really good with the horses, and always comes whenever Molly calls her in a panic; and is actually kind of thoughtful, and obnoxiously hot, and unfailingly loyal…and oh no, has Shani become an entirely different kind of problem? One Molly can’t possibly solve, no matter how much her heart wants to?

This was my second Dugan book. I very much enjoyed the first, Love at First Set, and had high expectations for this book. Until I saw the reviews. I didn’t look too closely but saw plenty of “not my favorite of her books” and the like.

So, I’m reading along and thinking, “What are they all talking about? This is delightful! Sure Shani is fairly non-communicative and might show avoidant behaviors when issues come up but they’ll figure out that communication is key. I’m sure of it!”

She doesn’t. And the way that all shakes out was more than ridiculous. It was also a little tough to get behind how Molly’s mom and friends treat her. I loved the premise and most of the characters but some of the issues were too hard to get beyond. I guess I’ll echo the others, it’s not my favorite. But I have an ARC of her upcoming release and I’m hoping for redemption.



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