After Gus Ryder accidentally forgets his daughter Riley at soccer practice while his coparent is out of town for the summer, his family convinces him that he needs some help. When Teddy Anderson loses her job at the local boutique, the Ryders convince Gus that hiring Teddy to be Riley’s live-in-nanny for a few days a week is the perfect solution, despite that fact that Gus and Teddy can’t stand each other. But, as Gus and Teddy spend more time together, their negative assumptions about one another begin to shift; they start to open up to each other and witness how much they both deeply care for the ones they love. Gus and Teddy aren’t typically relationship people, so as their growing mutual attraction for each other nears its breaking point, Gus and Teddy must decide if acting on their desires is worth risking their hearts.
Lost and Lassoed is the third book in the Rebel Blue Ranch series and an “enemies to lovers” smalltown cowboy romance featuring the single dad with nanny, grumpy with sunshine, and forced proximity tropes. It deals with themes and topics like parenthood, work life balance, family, appearance versus reality, health, friendship, love and heartbreak, fear of failure, art and creativity, change versus tradition, and loneliness. This would be a great read for fans of Heartless and Wild Eyes by Elsie Silver, The Off-Limits Rule by Sarah Adams, The Au Pair Affair by Tessa Bailey, Love Unwritten by Lauren Asher, The Nanny by Lana Ferguson, In the Weeds by B.K. Borison, and To Hate Adam Connor by Ella Maise.
Firstly, author Lyla Sage describes the setting of Lost and Lassoed (Meadowlark Wyoming) in such beautiful detail that it creates a vivid picture in my mind; I absolutely loved getting to revisit Rebel Blue Ranch whilst I was reading! I’m a huge crafter, so I loved that Teddy was so creative and into projects like painting, decoupage, sewing, fashion design, and embroidery (including embroidering flowers on her jeans, which I definitely want to try out!) with a highlight moment involved a sweet and sentimental embroidery project that Teddy creates for Riley. Enemies to lovers is one of my all-time favourite tropes, so I really enjoyed both Teddy and Gus’ needling and spicy chemistry. It was great how the ending of Lost and Lassoed set the stage for the next book, Wild and Wrangled, which is about Riley’s mother and one of Gus’ friends. Furthermore, I appreciated that the main characters in Wild and Wrangled were present throughout Lost and Lassoed as it made me really invested in and excited to read their story when it comes out in April 2025—I have already added it to my TBR list!
One negative for me was that I felt like Lost and Lassoed was kind of slow to start; having already read the first two books in the series, I found that I was already very familiar with Teddy and Gus (and all of the Rebel Blue Ranch characters) and therefore didn’t need a lot of the background that was present at the beginning of the book. However, this does make it so that Lost and Lassoed can be read as a standalone, which I’m sure readers who are new to the Rebel Blue Ranch universe will appreciate.
Overall, Lost and Lassoed was an enjoyable read and would highly recommend it to fans of spicy contemporary enemies to lovers and grumpy with sunshine romances!
Lost and Lassoed is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore.
Will you be picking up Lost and Lassoed? Have you read it already? Tell us in the comments below!
Synopsis | Goodreads
She thrives in chaos. He prefers routine. The only thing they have in common? How much they hate each other. From the author of Done and Dusted and Swift and Saddled, the highly anticipated next book in the Rebel Blue Ranch series, a small town romance featuring enemies to lovers and forced proximity.
Teddy Andersen doesn’t have a plan. She’s never needed one before. She’s always been more of a go with the flow type of girl, but for some reason, the flow doesn’t seem to be going her way this time. Her favorite vintage suede jacket has a hole in it, her sewing machine is broken, and her best friend just got engaged. Suddenly, everything feels like it’s starting to change. Teddy’s used to being a leader, but now she feels like she’s getting left behind, wondering if the life she lives in the small town she loves is enough for her anymore.
Gus Ryder has a lot on his plate. He doesn’t know what’s taking care of his family’s 8,000 acre ranch, or parenting his spunky six-year-old daughter, who is staying with him for the summer. Gus has always been the dependable one, but when his workload starts to overwhelm him, he slips up, and he has to admit that he can’t manage everything on his own. He needs help. His little sister’s best friend, the woman he can’t stand, is not who he had in mind. But when no one else can step in, Teddy’s the only option he’s got. Teddy decides to use the summer to try and figure out what she wants out of life. Gus, on the other hand, starts to worry that he’ll never find what he needs. Tempers flare, tension builds, and for the first time ever, Gus and Teddy start to see each other in a different light. As new feelings start to simmer below the surface, they must decide whether or not to act on them. Can they keep things cool? Or will both of them get burned?
