Review: "Flawless" by Elsie Silver (Chestnut Springs #1) ★★★★

Review: Flawless (Chestnut Springs #1) by Elsie Silver

This grumpy meets sunshine, forced proximity small-town romance between an ambitious career woman and a rebellious bull-rider is a rocky start but an overall enjoyable ride. ✨🤠🐂

“This thing between us? For me? It’s everything. It’s it. You’re it. I’ve spent years thinking I didn’t have someone who really supported me. But that was only because I hadn’t met you yet. You were out there, wanting me. And all it took was one meeting with you for me to want you too. A few weeks for me to know that I’d do anything to support you too.” He shakes his head and peers out the window. “You were out there this whole time, and now I know you exist, and I can never go back. Wouldn’t want to if I could.”

[Contains some spoilers]

PLOT SUMMARY
In Canada, 32-year-old professional bull-rider and womaniser Rhett Eaton is in trouble for hating on milk unknowingly in leaked BTS footage. This causes some of his biggest dairy sponsors to pull out. His agent Kip Hamilton decides to assign his 25-year-old daughter Summer Hamilton, as his media liaison but ultimately a babysitter. An intern at Hamilton Elite, set to take over her father’s business, Summer is to ensure Rhett behaves himself on tour.

Most people including his family expect/want Rhett to retire, but he is determined to become Three-Time World Champion before he’s out. Bull-riding is everything to him, and he desires to earn enough to save the family’s Wishing Well Ranch. Summer desperately wants to prove herself to her father and her extended family hence why she helps with Rhett’s training, though she secretly aspires to be a fitness instructor.

The more time they are forced into each other’s proximity, the more they fall helplessly and dangerously for each other. Between Rhett’s lack of self-worth and Summer’s fear of letting someone break her heart again – not to mention the toxic exes and rivals, family dynamics, and the risk on their careers – they are not meant to be. But perhaps they both have to stop caring about what others think and stick it in the saddle together.

“That was...” Her dark eyes go wide, sparkling like stars, and those cherry lips pop open wordlessly. “Just incredible. I think my heart is still racing.” Her excitement over my ride is real—not at all forced. The skin beneath the sprinkling of freckles across her nose and cheeks is a soft pink, and she sounds out of breath.
Her encouragement shouldn’t feel this good. I shouldn’t like that she’s excited. So, I just say, “Welcome to the wild side, Princess.”

This is told from the first-person present-tense POV of Rhett and Summer.

OVERALL OPINIONS
Everyone has been raving about Elsie Silver’s works, and said they are *the* cowboy romance books to read. I finally had some time to dig in, like the prospector I am. I came out of this informed about the sport but rather conflicted about everything else, I won’t lie.

ㅤ🏜️🐂a Scottish experience🐂🏜️
When I tell you I RUSHED to Google when Willa said Rhett looks like “the hot guy from Hell on Wheels”. And DAYUM! Anson Mount is a fine lookin’ man! THAT’S WHAT MR. RHETT EATON IS MEANT TO LOOK LIKE? Excuse me, why are we even questioning anything about his intentions? ✋🏻 Save a horse, ride a cowboy! Y’know what I’m sayin’? I’ve seen some Westerns but I wasn’t aware of this one. Probably popping that on the watch list now teehee. I digress!

As a Scotswoman, it’s no surprise bull-riding is something I know very little of (though I did watch The Longest Ride when it came out so I remembered the 8-second part, but I remembered nothing else). I did really appreciate the explanation here of it. And Rhett details it so well. For the girlies who have no idea either, here you go:

“So, you’ve got two judges. Each judge gives the rider a score out of twenty-five and the bull out of twenty-five add them up and you get an overall score out of one hundred.”
“And what are they judging on?” My hope is that if I can get him talking about something he likes, he’ll warm up a bit.
“Several things. Their agility, speed, whether they turn. You pull a bull that runs down the arena in a straight line and you aren’t going to get good style points. But you pull one that wants to kill you and will spin in a circle and toss his hooves to the roof? Then you’re talking… Now the rider is more about his form. His balance. His control.” He shows me how that looks by moving his hands into the position. “The way he covers the bull. If you can spur ‘em, they buck harder and there are extra points for that. And of course, you’ve gotta hang on for eight whole seconds.”
“And if you don’t?”
He clicks his tongue and tilts his head. “No score then.”

Won’t lie, I’ve never heard of buckle bunnies before this haha! ㅤ🏜️🐂rough stock and real scars🐂🏜️
I really like the parallels between Rhett and Summer. Both of them want to prove that they are more than labels and to preserve the family legacy: Summer is considered privileged though has never fitted in with her extended family so is determined to show her gratitude to her father by working hard; Rhett is a reckless liability, and many including his own family believe he’s too old to be bull-riding, but he is determined to prove everyone wrong by working hard to get his goal before he retires for good.

Silver did a good job in making me sympathise for both Rhett and Summer in their own way. Rhett has never had anyone support his career choice, and has never been taken seriously which must be truly awful. His crashout to Summer in Chapter 15 is the most valid thing I’ve ever seen. I like that this story covers the fact that men do indeed not talk to each other about feelings, and the issues surrounding that within the Eaton family. Summer has never had a real family so seeing her reaction to Rhett’s family, and how welcoming they are to her was incredibly heartwarming to read. I was especially impressed by Summer’s character arc. She has a very messed-up history, born out of an affair her father had, and was later groomed by the doctor who treated her heart surgery. She goes from thinking she is a burden and avoiding confrontation to finally standing up for herself to her stepmother, turning away from the toxic dynamic with her ex and accepting the person she is.

While I was disappointed things did not get resolved between Summer and her sister Winter as their dynamic was an interesting add to this story (and *that* plot twist that I didn’t expect at the end? Goodness!), I’m sure this is picked up in another book. I looked into it and from my understanding, this resolution is its own slow burn, and Winter has her own Book 4.

ㅤ🏜️🐂such a way with words🐂🏜️
Silver has such a way with words, descriptions or banter. I was surprised by the poetic descriptions that cropped up here and there. The one that stuck with me was Wishing Well Ranch, it was so descriptive I could visualise the stone façade and sage vinyl siding.

But I also really enjoyed the spicy scenes. Not going to lie, I had a feeling it would not disappoint but I was worried that if it was the wrong thing I’d hate the book. I will be thinking of that whipped cream scene for a veryyy long time to come. That has to be the hottest thing I’ve actually read in a while. Need I say more? Maybe I should. Haha but perhaps another time.

His thumb strokes the sensitive spot beneath my ear as he grips the back of my neck. “Now, tell me honestly, Summer. If this were your last moment on earth, what would you want me to do?”
I don’t even need to think about it. I know what I want from him.
“Ruin me.”
“Good. I’m about fucking done being a gentleman with you. And the only thing I’m ruining you for is anyone else.”

However, there are other times where I really didn’t think it was the same author writing this as I shall explain in the next section.

ㅤ🏜️🐂the cringiest cringe and biggest yikes🐂🏜️
Some moments weirded me out or made me cringe, and that really took a way a lot of moments I wanted to enjoy or laugh about. Barely into the book, Chapter 2, and her father is telling a grown man of 32 years old in a professional environment, to keep his hands off his “princess” – who is literally right there in front of them! This is something she herself objects to in a later chapter. Never call her that in public please, and for goodness sake take the man aside to tell him this??

Think that’s bad? Think again, because Summer’s responses are just as baffling, if not worse! And then Kip texts her saying “Don’t let that asshole in your pants.” an odd way to phrase it – but then what is Summer’s response? “I’m really more of a skirt gal.” Eww! What an odd text exchange! I understand their dynamic is different, that they are more friends than father-daughter but really now! I would be horrified, I would be “How could you think that of me?”, I wouldn’t deem that appropriate to be talking about. It was deeply uncomfortable. Similarly, he says “Don’t let that fucker charm his way into your bed” and she smiles and says “What about his bed?”. Summer, what are you doing?

Oh, and don’t get me started on Rhett. Despite how fine he looks, there’s some things I simply will not overlook. He’s barely known her (I’m talking 20% of the way through the book) and he imagines her doing things to him. Sit down, old man! And what sane person gets a boner staring at a person while they’re laughing? LAUGHING! If it was something seductive, sure, but that’s the most innocent thing to do. Also, not him noticing the scar on her chest – but not wondering about it at all or any other thoughts about her ceasing to exist, nooo, he skips STRAIGHT to her nipples and imagining what they’d look like. Yikes! He thankfully does improve further into the book.

ㅤ🏜️🐂to conclude🐂🏜️
This was a 3.5 star read for me, the tricky part is deciding whether to round it up or down. Still have issues with this but I think a lot of them improved as the story went on. My head says 3 because of all the yikes moments and it definitely would be that if I hadn’t enjoyed the spice and the way things were resolved. My heart says 4 for the latter things. So I will round this up to 4, but I’m still truly on the fence about this.

<< Positives >>
🠚 Vivid, poetic descriptions of the ranch and scenery.
🠚 Educational and clear breakdown of bull-riding rules.
🠚 Deep character growth and relatable emotional trauma.
🠚 Sympathy for both characters.
🠚 Heartwarming found family dynamic.
🠚 Explosive chemistry and memorable spicy scenes.
🠚 Unexpected plot twist.

<< Negatives >>
🠚 Baffling and inappropriate father-daughter text exchanges.
🠚 Cringey “princess” label in a professional setting.
🠚 Uncomfortably fast early attraction and fantasies from Rhett.
🠚 Conflicting writing quality between banter and plot.
🠚 Unresolved tension between Summer and her sister.
🠚 Pointless text exchanges at start of chapters.
🠚 Weird moment where Rhett is licking whipped cream off Summer in a bar in public, in front of Emmett.
🠚 Red flag description of watching Summer “sleep like a lovesick Ted Bundy”. Didn’t sit right with me at all!!!
🠚 Another red flag moment when Rhett checks if Summer is okay after he enters because he essentially can’t hold on being gentle much longer. I get the desperation but a man should always be patient.
🠚 Rhett pulling her down onto his face while Rob is calling also didn’t sit right (pun intended). I would have much rather preferred she told Rob to never call again, block the man, and then they do that in celebration.
🠚 The description of “She looks like a little rodeo doll down in front of me”. Both “little” and “doll” makes me feel uneasy here.
🠚 “he looks so rough and tumble” made me chortle and cringe at the same time bc nooo. Rough and tumble is an expression for animals or children or something. Not a grown 32-year-old man!
🠚 The line about wanting to “Thanos” the place – “snap my fingers and make everyone else disappear”. That’s not how it works haha, Thanos made half the population disappear. Try again.
🠚 Freckles spelling things is cute at first but the “Will you marry me” one??? Really?? You connecting all those dots? I can imagine Summer standing there struggling to read it in the bathroom mirror hahaha that’s not romantic, that’s insane and low effort! At least “Mine” was easier to read, goddayum.
🠚 Plot hole at start. I feel like if Kip and Rhett have known each other for 10 years, he’d definitely therefore know of Summer. Kip would surely have a picture on his desk or show Rhett some photos or something seeing as they are very informal towards each other.
🠚 The book’s concept is a plot hole. I know that Kip knew Summer likes Rhett but it really was a problem initially for me reading it because I was asking why would her dad make her, a woman, the babysitter for him, a womaniser? Hahaha. Even when knowing why Kip did I’m like… why would you actively choose that for her “Ah yes let’s pair her with the guy she crushed on when she was little and who has a lot of experience with women”???

CHARACTERS
-ˋˏ ꒰ Summer꒱ ˎˊ-
↳ I’m an empath too. And I really related to getting that feeling of validation from someone who isn’t the right person for you. Seeing how confident she becomes thanks to Rhett, her self-empowerment and finding the strength to cut off Rob was beautiful. I really related to the moment where Rhett wonders who is taking care of her. I love how much she supports him too, constantly travelling to be there for him. Adore every time she whistles for him too! I’m glad she was brave enough to say what Rhett needed to hear too.

-ˋˏ ꒰ Rhett꒱ ˎˊ-
↳ Wow, just wow. And whipped cream. That is all. I really love how much he looks out for Summer. That he is pissed when they don’t fix the heater in her room, encourages her to eat because she hasn’t. The way he opens the car door for her despite being grumpy and rude haha. Of turning her own quote of “If this were your last moment on earth, what would you want me to do?” back on her. Oh and him buying her those chaps, bless! I do relate that he feels burdened by the people who are invested in him to do well.

FAV QUOTES
• But he smiles at me. And it stuns me. All masculine confidence and playful allure. I think it might be the sexiest smile anyone has ever given me.
• I scrub at my beard, feeling a little embarrassed by her involvement here, but also relieved. Because I’m tired. Tired of hurting. Tired of knowing my body isn’t keeping up but pretending it’s fine. It’s nice not having to pretend in front of someone.
• Safely on the sidelines, the first place my eyes go is to where Summer was sitting. For the second night in a row, she’s on her feet, whistling like a grizzled, old sports fan. It makes me laugh. When she sees me laughing, she gives me a timid thumbs up, followed by a shy smile. And fuck, it feels good. Because that—right there—is not part of her job description.
• Long months spent in a hospital gown have made me appreciate all things that make me feel pretty. Sexy. Even the angry red scar down the center of my chest doesn’t take away from that for me anymore. I’ve outgrown that insecurity.
• I hear the even rhythm of his breaths and feel his exhale across my chest. I fall asleep like that, lulled by the gentle steady sounds of him, by the solid comfort of him. My hand held tight in his, my feet cradled against his skin, and my heart warm wrapped up in his words.
• I want to do distinctly ungentlemanly things to Summer Hamilton. But I also want her to warm her cold feet up on me again. Anytime she wants. The thought of her being cold and uncomfortable infuriates me. I want to take care of her, even though she doesn’t need taking care of.
• She’s healthy, and strong, and resilient, and yet so fragile. She feels small in my arms, and the way she clutches at me borders on desperate. I wish I could ease all her hurt, all her worry, all her anxiety. It’s almost like she doesn’t see what a force she is. But I do. I wish I could make her see that too.
• With everyone around me screaming his name and cheering for him, someone who’s been *theirs* for over a decade now, he feels like mine. Because he’s staring at *me*. He doesn’t feel like theirs when he looks at me like that. I wonder for a moment if he feels like I’m his. This one person in the crowd that he continues to seek out. • “I said not a fucking chance. I know your games. Play them somewhere else. Breathe on this girl the wrong way, and I’ll end you right here rather than just kicking your ass in the ring.”
• These butterflies almost hurt. They feel like they’re writhing beneath my skin, taking over my stomach, impeding my vision. Because all I can see is Rhett. On the back of my eyelids when I sleep, and with me all the fucking time when I’m not asleep. It’s like he’s become an extension of me, a necessary part of my personal ecosystem. Infatuation by proximity. It’s like I never even had a shot.
• He’s staring at me like he wants me. *Really* wants me. Like he aches for me. Like he might melt, just for me.
• I don’t know what this is between Summer and me, but I want to worship at her throne. I want to give her the best of everything. The best of *me*.
• “Have I got your attention now?” | “You’ve always had my attention, Rhett.” Her confession comes out quiet and soft. Like a secret shared between lovers. And like a balm to my deepest wounds.
• “Oh, good. Another Rhett. Just what this world needs,” my dad jokes. I laugh, but it’s half-hearted, because the first thought that jumps into my head is, *Rhett is irreplaceable*.
• “Think about being everything with me. I’ll keep coming back, no matter what. You’re my priority. I’ll keep trying because I’m not quitting on you. Ever.”
• Then she mouths, *I love you*. My jaw clamps down and something snaps inside me. That fear hits me like a tidal wave, and I yank my hand out, reaching for the fencing to pull myself up.
The fame. The buckle. None of it matters. Not one bit. All I want is to hear those words from her lips.
I don’t want to spend my last moments on a bull. I want to spend them hearing her whisper that in my ear.