Jed is happy. He has his ranch, his horses, and his sister, and his niece. His good-for-nothing father Buddy only contacts Jed when he needs something. After leaving the ranch in Jed’s care, Buddy reinvented himself as entertainment royalty. One of the stars he manages, Remy Sean, needs someplace to lie low and recuperate after an attack during his last concert. Jed doesn’t want anything to do with Buddy, but instead of saying no, he sees an opportunity to negotiate. If Buddy agrees to escort his daughter, Melanie, down the aisle at her upcoming wedding and if he finally agrees to sell the ranch to Jed, then Jed will host Remy for a few weeks.
Remy shows up but he is not what Jed expected. Remy is cheeky and cheerful, but Jed soon learns it is an act to cover Remy’s extreme burnout and trauma. After his fans stormed the stage at his last concert, Remy suffers from severe stage fright. Even though Buddy says he wants him to recover, he’s made it clear that he expects Remy to return to touring as soon as possible.
Jed and Remy have some history, although Remy is the only one who remembers it. Before he joined the ranks of Disney’s child performers, Remy spent some time at the ranch with Buddy and his family. Without knowing it, Jed’s kindness and attention protected the smaller, shyer Remy from the other kids who bullied him. He always admired Jed and developed a teenage crush on him.
This book was very cute and an easy read. It’s a classic grumpy/sunshine, with Jed’s guarded grumpy rancher versus Remy’s extroverted entertainer. Despite his best efforts, Jed gradually lets Remy in. Remy is traumatized and is looking for something to hold on to when his schedule of constant performing is disrupted. Remy doesn’t want to go back to his life as he becomes reenergized and inspired by Jed’s quiet kindness and patience. They develop mutual crushes on one another but fight against it as their lifestyles are so different, not to mention the vast distance between Jed’s ranch and Remy’s life in LA.
At times, Remy’s flirty cheekiness got on my nerves as much as it did Jed’s, but he mellowed out once he realized he didn’t need to perform constantly to win approval. I skipped over most of the side story with Buddy and his eventual bullying of Remy in favor of the developing romance between Jed and Remy. Overall, this is a sweet, low-stakes slow burn that was a charming and chill read.
