ARC Review: Love, Canter, Action by Katie Gilbert

I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Love, Canter, Action by Katie Gilbert
Published by Union Square and Co on May 13, 2025
Genres: YA Contemporary Romance
Pages: 288
Source: the publisher
Format: ARC
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My Rating:

Blurb:

Saddle up for this swoony enemies-to-lovers romance, full of giggles, snark, and heart, perfect for fans of Kasie West and Emma Lord.

Nora Green wants out. Out of rural Georgia—and, more importantly, out of the house she’s been resentfully occupying with her father and his wife. It’s been five months since her mama died and the state dumped her on her father’s doorstep, and Nora’s been counting every second.

With the sudden closure of the Shep horse ranch, Nora’s last home-away-from-home, comes two surprises: news of her admission to a prestigious equine training program in Montana, and a job wrangling horses on a movie set to cover the costs.

To her eternal nightmare, she discovers that the movie stars teen heartthrob Alexander Mathis, hot off the heels of a very public scandal. Not that Nora cares who he is—to her, he’s just the obnoxious stranger who interrupted her dinner the night before.

When photos of their argument are misread as a passionate affair, the Internet falls head-over-hooves for Hollywood’s newest couple. Eager to capitalize on the press, Alec offers Nora a deal: go on three fake dates with him, and he’ll cover her ticket to Montana.

But the lines between script and reality have a way of blurring, and when the truth about Alec’s scandal catches up to him, Nora has a choice: continue shutting everyone out, or open her heart to the love that’s always been around her.

My Review

I don’t read a ton of westerns or books about horses, but when the publisher reached out to me about this one, it just sounded so cute! And really it was a mostly predictable story, but in a good way! I enjoyed this sweet story and just knowing how it would go. It was enough that the big dramatic bit at the end did actually have me tearing up a bit so that is good.

I loved the horses and the movie being filmed. Nora’s friends were fun and good friends as well. Her dad and stepmom even were more than she assumed they were, and I loved how that story came around in the end as well. There were a few “bad guys” in the story, Alec’s ex, an old classmate of Nora’s, as well as someone in Alec’s world. One of them the author gave them a little bit of empathy, even if what they did sucked. I did mark it down a half star on my blog review for the bit of misunderstanding issue at the end, even if I guess it was understandable.

Alec wasn’t the dashing hero to start, it was definitely an enemies to lovers trope. And while it seemed way over the top how he reacted in his and Nora’s first meeting, it made sense once we learned what he’d been dealing with. A fun movie star falls in love with a normal girl story, and I’m not usually a fan of those, but this was done perfectly.

So glad I got to read this one!