Review: The Rebel with Broken Strings by Stacey Kennedy
Sometimes you’re in the mood for a little heat—and if it also comes packaged in a wounded cowboy-adjacent country star? Well, saddle me up because my heart absolutely took notice.
The Rebel with Broken Strings kicks off with a seriously spicy “not-quite-one-night-stand” that promises all kinds of emotional payoff. That week Aubrey and Gunner spend together lingers like smoke—something tasted once, impossible to forget, and destined to haunt them both. And haunt they do…for years.
What Worked
🔥 The chemistry.
Aubrey and Gunner have the kind of charged, delicious spark that hits instantly and keeps humming under the surface. Even when Aubrey is busy pretending she’s never seen this man in her life (girl… please), the connection is right there waiting to combust.
💔 The longing + tension.
Gunner is all in. Like, “this man would swim through emotional molasses just for five minutes of conversation.” He tries—again and again—to bridge the gap. And you feel his frustration, his sincerity, his desperation to get a second chance.
🌲 A charming small-town backdrop.
Timber Falls and its cast of side characters add warmth and momentum. The community center scenes? Lovely. The wedding setup? Immaculate. Stacey Kennedy knows how to stage a moment.
🎸 A hero worth rooting for.
Gunner’s recovery journey and his desire to build something better—personally and professionally—ground the story in something real. His scenes with the kids at the music center were honestly some of the best in the book.
What Didn’t Quite Hit
⏱️ The time jumps.
The timeline bounces around like a loose calf at the rodeo. We start with the week they spend together, then abruptly leap forward, then skip again once they reconnect. The rhythm never fully settles, and it pulled me out of the emotional arc more than once.
🧱 Aubrey’s emotional walls.
Look, I understand why she’s guarded. Truly. But the full-on “you must have the wrong girl” routine? In a tiny Montana town? With mutual friends everywhere? Not even Taylor Swift could pull off that level of denial. Her refusal to communicate stretched past “protecting herself” and wandered into “you’re testing my patience, girl.”
🎤 The ending.
No spoilers, but… the final choice pulled me sideways. It’s satisfying, sure, but a little hard to believe long-term based on how their fears and desires were presented earlier. And Gunner’s sudden flip-flop near the end? Felt like we briefly stepped into an alternate draft.
Overall
The Rebel with Broken Strings is sweet, steamy, and easy to devour in one sitting. The vibe is very “small-town second chance romance with cowboy-flavored musician angst.” The chemistry works, the emotional beats are there, and the final chapters offer a warm, full-circle ending.
It’s not without hiccups—timeline jumps, a few character choices that tested my patience, and an ending that required me to suspend a little disbelief—but for fans of Elsie Silver, Lyla Sage, and slow-burn longing with a spicy payoff, this will absolutely scratch the itch.
This feels like a satisfying conclusion to the Naked Moose series. All the couples get their bow-tied endings, and Timber Falls gets one more little love story carved into its snowy mountains.
⭐ Rating: 3 to 3.5 stars
⭐ Heat: Spicy, right from page one
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