Heartless: A Chestnut Springs Special Edition

I've read books with the single dad trope, but for some reason, this one did something entirely different to me. It was so wholesome, sweet, and infectious. A big part of that comes from Luke. He was just as cute and sweet as he could be. I was literally gushing over a fictional kid. Add in Willa and my heart absolutely melted. The moments between them were so heartfelt. I loved the way Willa treated and loved him. Even more, I loved that she fell for Luke before she fell for Cade. I knew from the first book that I loved both Willa and Cade independently. And I honestly thought with Willa's personality, she would end up with Beau (sorry Cade). But boy was I wrong. Opposites attract after all. They were perfect for each other and Willa was exactly what Cade needed. I could say the opposite is true as well, but I honestly think the that Cade needed Willa more. And y'all I seriously love Willa. She's funny and has a great sense of humor. She's relatable. She's definitely more of free spirit and go with the flow kind of gal, never really staying in one place too long, just going with the opportunities that are presented to her. She's incredibly loyal and actually kind of longs to have a family of her own. However, when that opportunity is present to her in the form of Luke and Cade, she kinda just won't jump at it. Despite Cade telling her he's sure of what he wants, that he want's her to stay, and he doesn't want her to go back to the city, she still can't tell him that she wants the same thing. AND SHE DOES. She gives him half truths that don't really reveal how she's feeling causing Cade to then be unsure about where her head is at so he does everything he can not to push her so he doesn't scare her. It's the miscommunication trope that drives me nuts. Let it be known that I hate this trope with a passion. Even more than I hate love triangles and that's saying something. And honestly, it wasn't even a large factor in this one compared to other books I've read. It was subtly there. It just felt like it was conflict for conflict's sake and wasn't necessary. Same thing with his occasional mindset about their age gap. I mean Cade's 38, acting like she's 18 sometimes, when she's 25. And he's acting like he's ancient at 38. Otherwise, I really did love it. It was funny. I didn't say this in my review for Flawless because I think I forgot, but I love the text messages at the start of every chapter. Those are hilarious and never fail to crack me up. And just like Flawless, I love the family vibe and banter. Not to mention those little moments between Willa, Cade, and Luke that have a hold on my heart. The Eaton boys are some of my favorite characters I've read in a long time. To put simply, it was heart - warming, hilarious, and steamy. Rating: 4.5

Anything and everything by Elsie Silver is pure gold. The plot, the characters, the dialogue, the funny moments, the romance, and the emotional pull she infuses in her stories are always an absolute joy to read. This book is filled with small town romance, nanny x boss, single dad, grumpy x sunshine, age gap, single dad, country boy x city girl, forced proximity... and did I mention single dad... ? 38 year old Cade Eaton spent his entire life running the family ranch and being the caretaker for his family. His 5 year old son, Luke, is out of school for the summer and Cade is desperate to hire a live-in nanny to watch over his son while he's working the ranch. After running out of options, Summer suggests hiring her best friend for the job. Enter Willa Grant, a 25 year old spitfire with no experience with kids, but is willing to help out and go with the flow. Cade being the grump to Willa's sunshine was amazing. He comes off as brash at first, but he's really just an introvert who is very private about his life. When Willa is able to break his walls down, he turns out to be the most selfless, thoughtful, caring, protective, and loving man. It warmed my heart to see how hard he was trying to be a good father to Luke. Willa's fiery, friendly, and bright personality is the perfect complement to the Cade and his moody scowls. He appreciates her for the force of nature that she is. One of my favorite moments was Willa's bonding relationship with Luke. It took Cade a bit to warm up, but Willa's actions soon show she isn't who he expected her to be and she actually has a good influence on his son. The spice in this book was incredible. There were some very passionate, fiery and intense moments that definitely left me blushing. The absolute filth coming out from Cade's mouth... yeah, he's Daddy Cade for a reason.

I should have known that I would be gone for this book. It’s grumpy/sunshine, single dad/nanny, age gap, forced proximity, small town perfection. I loved Flawless so much and it was fantastic to go back to Chestnut Springs. If you haven’t read Flawless (book 1 of this series), I definitely highly recommend reading that first and reading it ASAP, because you need Rhett and Summer in your life. Heartless follows Rhett’s oldest brother Cade, and Summer’s best friend Willa. When the meet cute begins with Cade saying to Willa “You, uh, dropped your panties, ma’am” with a sly little grin, it’s going to be gold. Where does it even go from there? Well I’ll tell you. She shows up on his doorstep, turns out Summer talked her into applying to become the new nanny for his 5 year old son Luke (who is THE MOST precious boy in the world). The way Cade and Willa just start to completely fall in love with each other, and the way Willa also falls hard for little Luke, is so freaking heart warming. Cade has not had an easy life at all and doesn’t get to enjoy things. Willa is lost and underneath her brashness really lacks confidence in herself. They center each other and the three of them form the most adorable family unit. She brings out his fun side, and he brings out a lot more confidence and stability in her. The banter is top notch, patriarch of the family Harvey steals the show multiple times, we get to see Rhett and Summer again, and the STEAM. The uber responsible, grouchy cowboy has THE most deliciously filthy mouth. Holy hell, I wish I could get into a hot tub with Cade Eaton sometime. Saddle up and enjoy another fantastic entry in this series!

Cade and Willa are my favorite hands down! This may be one of the best single dad stories that I've read and the found family in this series is peak.

Reached in perfect condition!

5⭐️ This has got to be one of my new favorite books I’ve read. The characters, their relationship, the ✨spice✨ Everything about this book I adored. Would definitely recommend

How’s that song go again? Save a horse, ride a cowboy? 🥵 Ughhh, Daddy Cade! Raw, next question… ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ • Dual POV • Small Town Romance • Nanny x Single Dad • Age Gap • Grumpy x Sunshine • Forced Proximity “𝘐’𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘻𝘺 𝘣𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘩 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘺 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘪𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘥, 𝘈𝘭𝘦𝘹.“ This is my first 5 star read of the year! (I know, I’m super picky. It’s not you it’s me…) “𝘓𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘯, 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥. 𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘢 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩. 𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮” As much as I love love loved Cade, Willa absolutely carrieddddd this book, she is one of the funniest FMC’s to exist. Period. Every interaction with her had me giggling. The biggest sell in a book for me is banter. banter. banter. And Willa’s was top tier! 👌🏼 Watching our grumpy, heartless cowboy fall head over heels for her was so much fun! “𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘩, 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘨𝘦𝘵 t̶̶i̶t̶t̶y̶-f̶u̶c̶k̶e̶d̶ 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘶𝘣, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘣𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘦𝘴?” Don’t be like me. If this book is on your tbr, do yourself a favour and pick it up! Don’t put it off for 2 years like I did because regrettt. 🥺

“𝐵𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢’𝑣𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙮, 𝑊𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑎” Do you know when you find an author and you peer pressure everyone to read their books, and then they do, and the author starts to gain momentum (rightfully so), and you’re so so SO happy for the author because they absolutely deserve it but the tiniest part of you wishes you gatekept their books all to yourself? Cause same 😂 If you’ve ever interacted with me, you know how much I (violently) recommend Elsie’s books. I’m so happy that she is getting the recognition she deserves 🥹🥹🥹 Heartless may be the name, but this book was jam packed with all the humour and feels. Small town, single dad meets nanny, and the cutest kid? Check, check, all the checks! It was such a joy to read. Not only do you still get a dirty talking, broody, grumpy hero that Elise is known for, we get a heroine that despite her insecurities, is still the sunniest sunshine heroine we all love and gravitate towards. I loved seeing all of the Eaton clan together again - putting it out there that Harvey is the MVP of Chestnut Springs - and that the banter is still just as top notch as it has been in all of her previous books. As an aside, brain short circuited when I saw the name of the band Willa’s dad is in, that I had to dig out my old music book again. If you go to my Instagram, you’ll see 13 year old me’s list of possible band names when my brother and I were starting our band as tweens. You may spot something familiar after you read this book 😂 Elsie, I’ve said this to you (and about you) so many times, but I will repeat it once again: if you write it, I will read it. Thank you to Elsie for sending me this ARC, I am voluntarily leaving this review.

i really inhaledddd this book, it was so easy to read and was perfection — i wouldn’t change a single thing. flowed so easily, the spice was great, the dirty talk from cade was *chef’s kiss*🤭 the plot kept me engaged and invested, i loveddd it. ate up the whole thing in less than 24 hours. love the whole eaton family / family friends, they’re such an adorable bunch of people🥹 luke is the cutest and funniest little kid, and willa is so sassy and funny she made me laugh with her flirty banter and winding up grumpy cade. my soul needed this fun read, exactly what i wanted🥰 can’t get enough of willa and cade🫶🫶 obsessed.