There are a lot of reasons people can pick up a book, escape into a exciting magical place, witness daring action or attempting to solve a deadly murder before the secret is revealed but sometimes its just abou Review of Ride It Out, a friends-to-lovers contemporary queer romance by Jenna Jarvis
There are a lot of reasons people can pick up a book, escape into an exciting magical place, witness daring action, or attempt to solve a deadly murder before the secret is revealed. Still, sometimes, it’s just about hanging out with two well-developed characters and watching them fall in love. Now, I had previously read Digging for Destiny by Jenna Jarvis, and I knew she could spin a tale of a far-off fantasy land, so I was curious to see how she would handle a story set in the “real world.” She does not disappoint.
Ride it Out is the story of two women at a crossroads in their lives. Mick is a doctor who has inherited a house from a grandfather she never met and sees it as an opportunity to recover from a mental health crisis. Katy is her new neighbor who is still mourning Tom, Mick’s grandfather, as well as dealing with the fact that the independent theater she is working at is facing financial hardships. Their lives are further complicated when COVID strikes and forces them to take a hard look at their lives and what they want from them.
While the book does not have dragons, it does have a lot of what I look for in books. The characters are well developed, especially Mick and Katy, who are fully formed and could walk right off the page. Their first date ends with a spicy lovemaking encounter, and while they fight shortly after eventually gather together into a close and wonderful friendship. A friendship that is so precious to them that they struggle to take the next steps to become a couple for fear of what they may lose. The book displays their struggles with mental health realistically and with empathy, which I found refreshing.
If I had any reservations about the book, I would say that I wish the subplots could have been developed a bit more. I think there was more story waiting to be told, but that did not detract from the focus of the book on the two main characters and their love story.
If you are a fan of friends-to-lovers romance, then this book belongs on your bookshelf (or Kindle, I guess, since this is 2025).
t hanging out with two well developed characters and watching them fall in love. Now I had previously read Digging for Destiny from Jenna Jarvis and I knew she could spin a tale of a far off fantasy land so I was curious to see how she would handle a story set in the “real world”. She does not disappoint.
Ride it out is the story of two woman at crossroads in their life. Mick is a doctor who has inherited a house from a grandfather she never met and sees it as an opportunity to recover from a mental health crisis. Katy is her new neighbor who is still mourning Tom, Mick’s grandfather, as well as dealing with the fact that the independent theater she is working at is facing financial hardships. Their lives are further complicated when covid strikes and forces them to take hard looks at their lives and what they want from them.
While the book does not have dragons it does have a lot of what I look for in books. The characters are well developed especially Mick and Katy who are fully formed and could walk right off the page. There first date ends with a spicy lovemaking encounter and while they have a fight shortly after eventually gather together info a close and wonderful friendship. A friendship so precious that both of them struggle to take the next steps to become a couple for fear of what they may lose. The book displays their struggles with mental health realistically and with a empathy that I found refreshing.
If I had any reservations about the book I would say that I wish the subplots could have been developed a bit more. I think there was more story that waiting to be told but that did not detract from the focus of the book on the two main characters and their love story.
If you are a fan of friends to lovers romance then this belongs on your bookshelf (or kindle I guess since this is 2025).
Available Feb 1st at
Paper Phoenix ink 