Reviewed by: Sue Eaton
TITLE: Dusty Ropes and Rusty Spurs
SERIES: Bucket List Buddies #4
AUTHOR: JP Sayle and Lisa Oliver
PUBLISHER: Self Published
LENGTH: 202 pages
RELEASE DATE: June 4, 2026
BLURB:
Rick isn’t looking for an omega or beta—will a Bucket List Buddies event find him his perfect match?
Rick, an alpha bear, once upon a time, worked the rodeo circuit, now he’s content working in the florist business with his best friend. Or so he thought after he takes a chance and some unsolicited advice, and buys a ticket to a “Cowboy for a Day” event.
Ian, an alpha honey badger, seeing his best friends find their mates, yearns for what they have. Just he has a secret—he wants an alpha, not some sweet omega. Given a ticket to the next Bucket List Buddies event, Ian grumbles and complains. Except cowboys in tight jeans and Stetsons, what more could an alpha ask for?
Finding they are mates is the straightforward part for Rick and Ian. Discovering common ground between them is something else when Rick rekindles old friendships, and his dangerous past come with old scores to settle.
Will Ian and Rick get their HEA, or will a bull called “Devil” take it from them?
REVIEW:
Rick absolutely did not expect one themed cowboy day to knock loose every dusty, half‑buried rodeo instinct he’d spent years tamping down under layers of flower‑farm serenity. But the moment he stepped into the Bucket List Buddy event; the smell of leather, the sound of hooves, the whoop of a lasso cutting air something in him went, “Oh. I remember this. I used to be good at this.”
And that’s the problem. Rick didn’t leave the rodeo because he stopped loving it. He left because; his body had opinions, the lifestyle was chaos and he wanted roots, not arenas
But the cowboy day gives him a taste of the old adrenaline the kind that makes his bear puff up like, “We could still do this. We could still win. We could still show these pups how it’s done. It’s nostalgia mixed with ego mixed with the intoxicating thrill of being seen.
Ian, being a honey badger, approaches the situation with his usual blend of blunt honesty, protective instincts and the emotional subtlety of a brick through a window. He gets the temptation. He respects it. But he also knows the rodeo circuit chews people up and spits them out and he’s not about to let Rick get dragged back into a life that nearly broke him.
Ian’s stance is basically, “If you want to chase a bull for fun, fine. If you want to chase your past because you’re doubting your worth, absolutely not.” He’s not threatened by the rodeo. He’s threatened by the idea of Rick forgetting how far he’s come.
Rick’s friends watch him spiral into “maybe I could go back” territory with the same energy as people watching a toddler reach for a hot stove. They love him. They support him. But they also remember, the injuries, the exhaustion, the way he used to live out of a suitcase and a prayer. They’re rooting for him, not the rodeo version of him, but the man he’s become.
Rick’s temptation isn’t really about the rodeo. It’s about, feeling relevant, feeling powerful, feeling like he hasn’t aged out of being extraordinary. The cowboy day reminds him of who he was. Ian reminds him of who he is. And the flower farm reminds him of who he’s allowed to become. The tension is deliciously emotional, can he honour his past without being swallowed by it? Can he let himself be happy without needing to prove anything?
Ian is an absolute menace in the most entertaining, honey‑badger‑coded way possible. If Rick is the steady, quietly powerful ex‑rodeo bear, Ian is the chaotic gravitational force that drags him back into feeling alive again.
Ian walks through life like every obstacle is personally insulting and every challenge is an invitation to throw hands. He’s small, fast, and built like someone who has never lost a fight because he simply refuses to acknowledge the concept of losing. He’s the kind of alpha who doesn’t need to posture everyone can feel the danger humming under his skin.
Ian feels everything at 200% intensity, but expressing it? Oh no. That would require vulnerability. So instead he, glares affectionately, insults people he likes, threatens violence as a love language and gets flustered when Rick smiles at him for too long. He’s not cold. He’s just emotionally constipated with a side of “I will absolutely bite you if you push me.”
Ian has the energy of a man who has spent his entire life being underestimated and has turned that into a personal vendetta. He’s fiercely proud, fiercely capable, and fiercely unwilling to let anyone including Rick think he needs protecting.
Which is hilarious, because Rick’s bear is constantly hovering behind him like a giant, worried bodyguard. Ian will throw himself into danger without hesitation if someone he cares about is threatened. He will also pick fights he shouldn’t, defend Rick even when Rick doesn’t need defending, growl at anyone who looks at Rick too long and pretend he’s not jealous while absolutely being jealous. He’s a honey badger. Territorial is in the job description.
If there is trouble within a five‑mile radius, Ian will find it, glare at it, and then escalate it.
He doesn’t mean to. It just… happens. Rick finds this both terrifying and weirdly endearing.
Ian, who trusts no one, who relies on no one, who has built his entire identity on being untouchable falls for a gentle, grounded, flower‑farming ex‑rodeo bear.
In the end, this is the story of two stubborn alphas who never expected to find home in each other, yet somehow do. Rick learns he doesn’t need the roar of the rodeo to feel alive when Ian is right there lighting him up from the inside out, and Ian discovers that loving someone doesn’t make him weaker it gives all that fierce honey‑badger fire a purpose. With friends cheering them on, meddling just enough to keep things interesting, and a future that blends wild adventure with quiet, blooming stability, Rick and Ian prove that love doesn’t have to be perfect to be powerful. It just has to be chosen, again and again, even when the spurs are rusty and the ropes are frayed.
RATING: 
BUY LINKS:
Amazon
