Reckless (Chestnut Springs, 4)

"I should channel my maturity and not flirt with her by infuriating her. But I’ve always been a little reckless." I have loved every book in the Chestnut Springs series but there was just something about this one that stuck with me. A small-town sports (bull riding) romance with second-chance vibes and so much redemption and character development, it simultaneously felt like a warm hug and refreshing therapy session. If that’s what you are looking for, with a reverse grumpy/sunshine couple, this is the perfect story for you! I was so looking forward to reading more about Theo but ambivalent about Winter because of how she treated her sister in previous books in the series. But Winter has been redeemed, ya’ll! She loves her sister with all her heart, and you really FEEL that through her POV. The strength of her character is staggering, but her insecurities were heartbreaking. Theo was the perfect golden retriever to her black cat energy and I adored watching him prove himself to her, building her up one swoony line at a time. “Don’t you get it? I only see you. You’ve got all my attention. Every last bit of it.” Theo and Winter’s first sight of each other was random and wholesome and cute, but when they realized they were both part of a tight-knit core group of people in common (Winter’s sister is engaged to his close friend/mentor), sparks fly. I absolutely loved their banter from their first meeting! His laid-back humor and her cuttingly quick wit matched each other and had me laughing out loud. Winter’s mother is a massively toxic person, and you start to see how that poisoned her upbringing, outlook on life, and relationship with her sister. As we get more of their interactions, you start to understand Winter more and feel bad because she has had to deal with fighting this person’s influence over her naturally kind and nurturing heart all her life. “I don’t want to be like my mom, but I worry I already am.” After a casual hang-out during which Theo convinces uptight Winter that she needs to give less of her limited “cares” to people and issues that aren’t worth her energy, Winter decides that they should spend the night together. “For science.” She insists that it can’t go farther than that, but his inner dialogue promises that he wants more. Not just with her, but for himself with his career and image. “I don’t kiss and tell. Especially where Winter is concerned. I’ll be taking this one to the grave. Unless she comes back for more.” That one night indeed leads to more than either of them imagined. My heart went through so many emotions; heartache for Winter’s desperate desire to be a mother, elation, then a brief (but loud) freak-out and Theo-bashing session. 18 months after their one night together, they are reunited and Theo quickly won me back over with a heartbreaking revelation, swoon-worthy moments with baby Vivi, and utter devotion to doing right by his woman…but can he win over the ever-jaded and stubbornly prickly Winter?

Winter is a grumpy girl, trying to reconnect with her sister summer and divorce her current husband after she finds out he basically groomed her sister when she was his patient as a teenager. As soon as she meets Theo the bull rider they both bicker back and forth and he lights a fire in her she’s never felt. They agree to have a one night only and never speak again kind of night that was amazing and one they both won’t ever forget. Theo goes back on the road and decides he wants to change his life and be the man that winter deserves when he makes it back to chestnut springs so he gets a new phone and focuses on himself. Unknowingly that winter try’s to contact him to tell him she’s pregnant with his daughter. 18 months later Theo comes back with a broken collar bone and moving in next door to recover. This book was so sweet and from the moment Theo found out about Vivi he was all in 100% taking care of the both of them. He brought out winters softer side and made her feel safe like she never has before and was so good at being a dad and making sure winter had time to relax and had help that he was damn near perfect. I also liked the side plot of summer and winter getting closer and finally standing up and reporting her ex husband for everything he had done. The spice was good, Theo was funny and a sweetheart to literally everyone and basically a dream guy.

4.5 stars!! elsie silver is my hero. idk how she does it. all hits no misses this woman!!!!! theo and winter stole my heart so mf fast! there is something about an ice-queen fmc falling in love that tugs HARD on my heart strings!!!! seeing winter go from someone who feels so unworthy of love to seeing them genuinely happy and being adored is absolutely beautiful. winter hasn’t been painted in the best light due to her relationship and upbringing with her sister summer. so everyone in the chestnut spring gang has their guard up around her as she starts to join their circle. except for theo!!!! he saw winter and was immediately enamored by her spunky and sassy attitude. he saw a challenge and wasn’t afraid to push her buttons. this made for some incredible banter. and one night together in secret changed everything for them. I was so nervy to see how elsie executed the secret baby plot bc I was like WHAT? what do you mean secret baby? did theo not know? was he not there for the pregnancy?!!! so many questions! but elsie delivered the storyline exceptionally! it had my heart ripped out and crushed and but slowly put it back together!!!!! seeing theo enter into winter and vivi’s orbit was so dang sweet! he jumped right in and meshed well into the family. it’s was like he was the missing piece 🥹 and you guys theo mf silva!!!!!!!!!!! good lord! this man is everything. he is such a sweetheart which I didn’t expect!!!!! he knew all the right things to say at the perfect time which had me swooning SO HARD! he is the perfect guy for winter and I loved seeing him treat her like the queen that she is. winter has been through so much and is an exhausted single mom. theo always knew what she needed and how to help lessen her heavy load. it was hard for winter to go from the independent single mom who has all the weight on her shoulders to learning to accept help and realize she didn’t have to do it all on her own 🥹 she found that she had support in so many people— summer, sloane, harvey, theo, and his mom. it was so beautiful to see winter rebuild her relationship with summer. they have such a special bond and I loved seeing them on the same team 🫶🏼 honorable mentions— harvey remains a king! love him and his one liners. he has my heart and is an absolute gem!!! I loved seeing winter and sloane’s friendship. sloane was one of her first real friends in chestnut springs and that made me so happy. I love seeing all our fav chestnut springs people together— there were so many eaton family get togethers and I was living for all of it!!!! one of my fav fictional fams of all time 🥰

I love a smitten man, especially one who doesn't hesitate to step up to a challenge. This sunshine hero fell for his sharp-tongued, complicated woman the moment he laid eyes on her, and I kinda loved that. It didn't have instalove vibes for me because of the way their love story progressed, but I adored the fact that our hero knew she was it for him. There was no one else for this playboy hero after that, which made the romance that much sweeter. I loved how steadfast and determined he was to make things work, and I even loved that he knew he needed to work on himself to earn that right. It's the kind of love story that would usually turn me off, but I couldn't help but fall for these two. We've seen Winter as this cold and aloof woman throughout the series, so it was fantastic to see that she could come alive with just the right person. It's a messy, emotional love story, but one that proved to be worth the struggle - I loved it! The story follows Winter, a woman most would consider an ice queen. Her past experiences have made her put up some walls, and that means she can come across as cold and unfeeling. When she finally makes the decision to leave her (terrible) husband, Winter knows she's about to start making some important changes in her life. Little does she know just how many. While trying to make amends with her estranged sister, Winter meets an incorrigible flirt, Theo. He's a bull rider with a reputation as a ladies man, but he's starting to realize that he's going to need to make some changes himself if he wants people to take him seriously. And if he wants a chance with a woman like Winter for more than one night, then he's going to need to put in the work. So when their one night stand results in a pregnancy followed by some serious miscommunication, Theo has his work cut out for him. Winning over a woman like Winter was always going to be a challenge, but now her walls are higher than ever. I always say that second chance romances are tough for me, but the only trope that I NEVER voluntarily read is secret baby - and this was billed as a combination of both. So I was very hesitant to jump into this, despite the fact that I'm a big fan of the series. And no one is more surprised than me that the secret baby scenario actually worked for me, mostly because it doesn't follow the traditional trajectory. (MINOR SPOILER) Winter reaches out to Theo as soon as she finds out she's pregnant, but someone else responds to the messages. That results in a separation where they're thinking very different things about each other, and it creates a lot of hurdles for Theo that he wasn't even aware of. The moment he meets his daughter for the first time absolutely ripped my heart out, and I knew that I was all in on the love story after that. It's heavier and more emotional than I expected, but I loved both characters. I liked seeing a different side of Winter for sure, but Theo steals the show here. He really steps up, and I loved the way he was with both of his girls. It's angsty and swoony in equal measure, and the slow-burning romance won me over in a big way. Another excellent installment in the series, this was a fulfilling read. Audio note: The audio is great! I've been listening to more Joe Arden recently, and I really love his voice. It's deep and gruff, and he's able to infuse so much emotion into his vocal performance. I've always been a fan of Savannah Peachwood, and she does a stellar job here as well. Her crisp voice works well for Winter, and the combination made for an enjoyable audio experience. The runtime (about 10 hours) meant that I binged over the course of two days, but I was always excited to get back to the book. I'm not sure I'd recommend this one for a workday listen - the spice doesn't really kick in until the back half, but I got pretty emotional at times. And once the spice kicked in, it was pretty intense. Other than that, highly recommended in the format!

The only thing that kept this story from 5 stars is because the of the two chapters telling about their night together near the end. If we needed it, it should have been where it happened at the beginning, not pulling us out of the story near the end. Other than that, it was a great love story.

This is so very refreshingly good. It’s not overly complicated or flashy. It’s simple love with imperfect people who find perfection in one another in this messy life. This is my first time I’ve read this author as I had been putting her off. But I’m glad to say she lived up to the hype with how well she writes such crisp characters. And such heartfelt moments. Theo is so dang yummy with his super cheerful swagger and a touch of bad boy. I just ate up how much he loved winter when she was all riled up with her claws out. He likes her feisty and fighting for herself especially once you realize winter is a bit broken. Like a cat that was alone and gone feral. She needed time and soft words and dedication to get her to finally accept him. And I loved it. I especially loved their little bundle of joy in the middle. I’m eager to now go read all her backlog if she can write such vivid characters and complex stories that feel as effortless as this one

Reckless (Book 4 in the Chestnut Springs series) by Elsie Silver 3/5 ⭐️ 5/5 🌶️ Please note, my star rating is just based on the other books in this series. I have to be fair and say that the love story in this book even though it’s beautiful in its own way, it does feel rushed, it does feel a bit overused and I don’t know, I just can’t give it 4+ stars when it felt just - meh. There was a point though in this book early on where I knew I wanted to own this book and I will re-read it again in the future because it is an EASY and 🌶️ read, but honestly I’m not quite sure that’s enough to earn 5 ⭐️. This book tries to redeem Winter, and honestly it does a good job of that - trying. But to me, I never felt her to be redeemable and I wasn’t exactly happy to see her be redeemed because of the way she treated Summer in previous books and made Summer out to be someone who “deserved” what happened to her or that Summer was in the wrong - and that is something that was hard for me to overcome - especially because I’m a victim like Summer was and anyone who treats you that way like Winter did Summer, I just don’t feel like they deserve this redemption. Theo is beautiful. He is everything you could want out of a book boyfriend and a Daddy. Like, literal Daddy not that *Daddy* haha. He is so patient, so loving, and so kind - and even though he does some things that are a bit like “eck Theo why???” He truly does have his heart in the right place. And the epilogue … what was that? Gosh I just feel like this entire story was just so rushed. With the others it was a waiting game, an angst, a need - this … this just kind of frustrated me. Like there are tons of things missing - plot holes with the Rob situation - idk I just think this wasn’t enough. 📚

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ A sizzling small-town romance that had me hooked from page one! This book was everything I love in a romance—gritty emotion, irresistible chemistry, and a hero who is pure trouble in the best possible way. Theo Silva is the ultimate book boyfriend—cocky, charming, and unexpectedly sweet beneath all that swagger. The way he pursued the heroine, even when she put up every wall imaginable, was heart-melting. Their chemistry? Absolutely off the charts. That one night they shared was scorching—but it was the emotional vulnerability that really sealed it for me. Winters journey was powerful, too. Watching her reclaim her strength after a toxic marriage while trying to resist the pull of someone like Theo felt real and raw. I appreciated that the story didn’t shy away from the messy parts of love or the complications of unplanned surprises (hello, plot twist!). That little plus sign? Whew—I gasped. This isn’t just a sexy romance—it’s a story of second chances, unexpected beginnings, and a reminder that the right person won’t be scared off by your baggage—they’ll help you carry it. Highly recommend for fans of small-town heat, bull-riding bad boys, and emotionally layered love stories. Can’t wait to read more from this author!