⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️.5
-Small Town
-Grumpy X Sunshine
-FMC on the Run
- Found Family
-Boss / Employee
-Dual POV
-Protective MMC
- Slow Burn
- no 3rd act break
Y’all!!! This is an AMAZING debut! Check triggers but it was so well written, gosh that first chapter just hits so hard!
I LOVED their interactions and the banter! Fantastic side characters and Beryl is EVERYTHING!
Both MCs come so far and I was so impressed with both of their development!
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Popular Highlights in this book
“On the off-chance you stay until next spring, you’ll never have to think about him again.”Highlighted by 1,446 Kindle readers- “You do. When the time comes where I can do this,”—his rough hand gently cups my chin and his throat bobs with a hard swallow—“without feeling every muscle in your jaw tense, I’ll kiss you until you’re unable to breathe. And a whole lot more, if you’ll let me.”Highlighted by 1,372 Kindle readers
- She’s the sunshine of this ranch, bringing light into the parts of me that I thought I’d always keep hidden in the dark.Highlighted by 1,332 Kindle readers
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Reviews with images
4/5
Spice: 2.5/5Plot: 4.5/5Well, it’s official….reading this book was like stepping back in time and reliving some of the best and some of the worst parts of my twenties. Now grab a coffee, this is gunna take a few minutes cuz I have a lot to unpack lol.Alive and Wells is about a woman named Cecily who escapes an abusive relationship and ends up working on a cattle ranch in northern BC, heck yea Canada! Now, I find that a lot of authors these days fail to convey the emotional turmoil that a woman in that situation struggles with, but Bailey did a phenomenal job of accurately portraying that internal battle and the back and forth that actually happens. I feel like one of the things that a lot of people don’t realize about healing from an abusive relationship is how long it actually takes. The PTSD from it, the unexpected things that can trigger you, it’s a lot to deal with and Bailey absolutely hit the nail on the head with both the story arc and Cecily’s.Austin was….. I honestly don’t even know how to describe Austin lol. And not for lack of character development or anything like that but just because he reminded me of bits and pieces of a couple different people all rolled into one guy lol. The way he calls Cecily darlin’ - lord help me, the swoon is real. I can hear it in my head perfectly but it’s in my ex’s voice (not the abusive one lol) and I take issue with that because I don’t want to be reading about this amazing man and hearing an ex’s voice in my head, no matter how amazing that voice was lol. Thankfully the rest of Austin and the way he treats Cecily and his personality reminds me of my husband so it did kind of even out, but it was a real weird character experience for me. Again, not in a bad way - it was just a very odd personal thing. Plus the way Austin was both dominant and protective, yet gentle and understanding with her despite his own past trauma, was really beautiful.The rest of the book was perfection and gave me some decent Yellowstone vibes. Bailey hit it out of the park with the representation of ranch life and how cowboys really are and it was so refreshing. PLUS we’ve finally got a bronc rider on the roster and dang am I excited!! All you ladies getting excited about these little bull riders in other books, you don’t even know lol. Not to mention, I’m sitting there reading about one of Austin’s friends/workers named Colt who’s just an absolutely adorable idiot and wouldn’t you know it, one of my best friends and the guy always getting into stupid stuff when we’d go to Cabs (here in Alberta, we call rodeo barn dances Cabaret’s aka Cabs) was named Colter lol. Um, I’m sorry… is this my life I’m reading about? lol. And it’s just little things like that throughout this entire book that really made it such a good read for me. So so much of it resonated with my real life experiences and I was completely here for it!Exhales loudly… alright so that’s it lol. I mean it’s not, cuz I could keep going on about how much I loved this but you guys really just need to experience it for yourselves!Bailey, this was one hell of a debut!! Congratulations!! And if you ever wanna do rodeo season Alberta style, lemme know lol.Xo- J
Top reviews from Canada
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Reviewed in Canada on March 22, 2024
Verified Purchase
Spice: 2.5/5
Plot: 4.5/5
Well, it’s official….reading this book was like stepping back in time and reliving some of the best and some of the worst parts of my twenties. Now grab a coffee, this is gunna take a few minutes cuz I have a lot to unpack lol.
Alive and Wells is about a woman named Cecily who escapes an abusive relationship and ends up working on a cattle ranch in northern BC, heck yea Canada! Now, I find that a lot of authors these days fail to convey the emotional turmoil that a woman in that situation struggles with, but Bailey did a phenomenal job of accurately portraying that internal battle and the back and forth that actually happens. I feel like one of the things that a lot of people don’t realize about healing from an abusive relationship is how long it actually takes. The PTSD from it, the unexpected things that can trigger you, it’s a lot to deal with and Bailey absolutely hit the nail on the head with both the story arc and Cecily’s.
Austin was….. I honestly don’t even know how to describe Austin lol. And not for lack of character development or anything like that but just because he reminded me of bits and pieces of a couple different people all rolled into one guy lol. The way he calls Cecily darlin’ - lord help me, the swoon is real. I can hear it in my head perfectly but it’s in my ex’s voice (not the abusive one lol) and I take issue with that because I don’t want to be reading about this amazing man and hearing an ex’s voice in my head, no matter how amazing that voice was lol. Thankfully the rest of Austin and the way he treats Cecily and his personality reminds me of my husband so it did kind of even out, but it was a real weird character experience for me. Again, not in a bad way - it was just a very odd personal thing. Plus the way Austin was both dominant and protective, yet gentle and understanding with her despite his own past trauma, was really beautiful.
The rest of the book was perfection and gave me some decent Yellowstone vibes. Bailey hit it out of the park with the representation of ranch life and how cowboys really are and it was so refreshing. PLUS we’ve finally got a bronc rider on the roster and dang am I excited!! All you ladies getting excited about these little bull riders in other books, you don’t even know lol. Not to mention, I’m sitting there reading about one of Austin’s friends/workers named Colt who’s just an absolutely adorable idiot and wouldn’t you know it, one of my best friends and the guy always getting into stupid stuff when we’d go to Cabs (here in Alberta, we call rodeo barn dances Cabaret’s aka Cabs) was named Colter lol. Um, I’m sorry… is this my life I’m reading about? lol. And it’s just little things like that throughout this entire book that really made it such a good read for me. So so much of it resonated with my real life experiences and I was completely here for it!
Exhales loudly… alright so that’s it lol. I mean it’s not, cuz I could keep going on about how much I loved this but you guys really just need to experience it for yourselves!
Bailey, this was one hell of a debut!! Congratulations!! And if you ever wanna do rodeo season Alberta style, lemme know lol.
Xo
- J
Plot: 4.5/5
Well, it’s official….reading this book was like stepping back in time and reliving some of the best and some of the worst parts of my twenties. Now grab a coffee, this is gunna take a few minutes cuz I have a lot to unpack lol.
Alive and Wells is about a woman named Cecily who escapes an abusive relationship and ends up working on a cattle ranch in northern BC, heck yea Canada! Now, I find that a lot of authors these days fail to convey the emotional turmoil that a woman in that situation struggles with, but Bailey did a phenomenal job of accurately portraying that internal battle and the back and forth that actually happens. I feel like one of the things that a lot of people don’t realize about healing from an abusive relationship is how long it actually takes. The PTSD from it, the unexpected things that can trigger you, it’s a lot to deal with and Bailey absolutely hit the nail on the head with both the story arc and Cecily’s.
Austin was….. I honestly don’t even know how to describe Austin lol. And not for lack of character development or anything like that but just because he reminded me of bits and pieces of a couple different people all rolled into one guy lol. The way he calls Cecily darlin’ - lord help me, the swoon is real. I can hear it in my head perfectly but it’s in my ex’s voice (not the abusive one lol) and I take issue with that because I don’t want to be reading about this amazing man and hearing an ex’s voice in my head, no matter how amazing that voice was lol. Thankfully the rest of Austin and the way he treats Cecily and his personality reminds me of my husband so it did kind of even out, but it was a real weird character experience for me. Again, not in a bad way - it was just a very odd personal thing. Plus the way Austin was both dominant and protective, yet gentle and understanding with her despite his own past trauma, was really beautiful.
The rest of the book was perfection and gave me some decent Yellowstone vibes. Bailey hit it out of the park with the representation of ranch life and how cowboys really are and it was so refreshing. PLUS we’ve finally got a bronc rider on the roster and dang am I excited!! All you ladies getting excited about these little bull riders in other books, you don’t even know lol. Not to mention, I’m sitting there reading about one of Austin’s friends/workers named Colt who’s just an absolutely adorable idiot and wouldn’t you know it, one of my best friends and the guy always getting into stupid stuff when we’d go to Cabs (here in Alberta, we call rodeo barn dances Cabaret’s aka Cabs) was named Colter lol. Um, I’m sorry… is this my life I’m reading about? lol. And it’s just little things like that throughout this entire book that really made it such a good read for me. So so much of it resonated with my real life experiences and I was completely here for it!
Exhales loudly… alright so that’s it lol. I mean it’s not, cuz I could keep going on about how much I loved this but you guys really just need to experience it for yourselves!
Bailey, this was one hell of a debut!! Congratulations!! And if you ever wanna do rodeo season Alberta style, lemme know lol.
Xo
- J
Images in this review
Reviewed in Canada on November 20, 2023
Verified Purchase
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Tropes
- Close Proximity
- Slow Burn
- Small Town
My initial reaction to reading this one, was denial that it is a debut novel.
Obsessed.
To say I’m excited for the next instalment is an understatement.
It did start with more of a suspenseful beginning, which is a little bit different for a romance novel. I admire how it touched on domestic violence, and what recovery from that can look like.
Cecily arrives at Wells Ranch not in the most conventional of ways, as a result Austin does not want a city girl on his ranch.
Austin himself is also broken for various reasons mainly revolving around abandonment, which has left him with deep scars.
The banter between these two, while they are both pining for each other is chefs kiss 💋
Watching the way these two enable each other’s healing process to begin, and the patience that they both have for one another was so soul filling
Images in this review
