Review: Boots Beneath Her Bed by Taylor Esposito

Boots Beneath Her Bed by Taylor Esposito

Blurb from Goodreads:

A mysterious horse trainer with a dark past ropes the heart of a guarded ranch foreman in this steamy cowboy romance by debut author Taylor Esposito.

Grace Underwood has been hiding a dark secret about the night her parents died. Only her tyrannical Uncle Bellamy knows the truth, and he’s been using it against her ever since. He’s been treating her like dirt for a decade, forcing her to work tirelessly on his ranch, but once he crosses the line too many times, Grace finally risks everything to walk away. With nowhere to go, she can’t pass up the horse trainer position that lands in her lap at Halcyon Ranch, one of the biggest ranches in the state­–and her uncle’s most despised competitor. But the foreman, who’s also the owner’s son, isn’t going to make her job easy.

Crew Caldwell knows that any association with Bellamy spells bad news, and he’s not about to allow anyone to come in and sabotage his ranch. Still, he can’t deny Grace’s talent for breaking horses, or how quickly she’s embraced by the other ranch hands, and his family. If she’s hiding something, he knows he’ll have to work fast to uncover it before she works her way into their hearts… and possibly his too.

As Grace tries to keep her distance, it gets more and more difficult to resist the heat between her and Crew. With her deepest secrets still hidden and business with her uncle unfinished, will she lose the only place—and person—that has ever felt like home?

My Review:

So, so good!  Especially for a debut!  I could hardly put this down -- definitely some dramatic and hard to read scenes but well worth it for this slow build.  When it got there, the steamy scenes were amazing.  Also, a fantastic ending.  I can't wait for more from this author!!

Boots Beneath Her Bed comes out next week on April 21, 2026, and you can purchase HERE!  

Grace decides then, even if just for a moment, she can be brave.

She wants—needs--to see what he looks like, looking at her. Crew has looked at her many times, for many reasons, with everything from irritation and impatience to concern and curiosity. In his gaze now is something else. Something brand-new that she can't quite put a finger on. It's more of a flurry of feeling than one specific emotion-somewhere in the realm of wonder, maybe a sprinkling of awe. She catalogs as much as she can, an exhilarating warmth starting to bloom in her belly.

This moment, and this moment only, was time given to her when it was acceptable to think and do nothing whatsoever. It was quite possibly the most at peace that she felt throughout the entire day.

Eriko savoured this little scrap of freedom, which lasted until her neatly organised desktop materialised on the screen in front of her.