ONE MONTH until release!
*proceed to scream incoherently*
I can’t believe it’s only ONE MONTH until Back in the Saddle is out in the world! The eBook and audiobook will be released everywhere, with the paperback coming out in the UK. North American paperback will be published on 10 March 2026.
If you’re based in the UK, there’s still time to pre-order your copy from the phenomenal Book Lovers Bookshop. You’ll receive a signed and personalised copy of Back in the Saddle as well as some goodies:
While supply lasts, you’ll also get an incredible character art print illustrated by talented Isabelle Martinsen:
There are two things to celebrate ONE MONTH until release with:
A brand new character art of Caroline and Hunter, showing one of my favourite scenes in the book. Look at the intensity of their gazes, the longing… I love it SO MUCH! <3 Nel Kingman (@moth.deity) did a fantastic job.
I decided to share the short, old prologue which takes place four years prior to Back in the Saddle. When we meet Caroline at the start of chapter one, she’s sat in a whisky bar in Oklahoma City, mourning the fallout of her marriage. We know she’s heartbroken and we know that the split had nothing to do with the lack of love. As someone who had experienced a very toxic marriage breakdown when my parents divorced, and someone who had struggled at the start of her own marriage, I really wanted to write a character like Caroline - because as much as we love love, it isn’t enough to make marriage work. Finn, her ex husband, isn’t a villain in this story. Neither of them is, not really. They were just not right for each other.
Even though the prologue didn’t make it into the final version of the book (which was my decision), I have a huge sentiment when it comes to it as I think it does a great job in setting up a scene to Caroline’s heartbreak. It provides a glimpse for the reader as to WHY she mourned the end of her marriage so much.
So, without further ado, please enjoy meeting Caroline for the first time (unless you’ve read the eARC!). She’s twenty-seven years old, in love and ready to spend the rest of her life with her childhood sweetheart. Which we already know didn’t happen…
Prologue
(NOT INCLUDED IN THE ACTUAL BOOK)Four years ago
Caroline sank lower into an armchair, letting out a contented sigh.
This was what pure happiness felt like.
She focused her eyes on the tall, blonde man standing with his back to her and filling two champagne flutes.
When he turned round, he gave her the most brilliant, genuine smile.
‘I think it’s time we toast. Just the two of us.’ He put the champagne flutes on the small coffee table and sat in front of her on the mahogany floor. His extended hand was a silent invitation for Caroline to join him.
She took it, smiling from ear to ear. As soon as their palms touched, he pulled her down, so she sat between his legs.
‘Finn!’ His name was followed by a giggle.
He ignored her feeble protest, wrapping his arms around her. He rested his chin on her bare arm, sending a shiver down her spine.
‘Did I tell you how beautiful you looked today?’
Caroline laced her fingers with Finn’s and leaned back into his embrace. ‘You did, but you can certainly tell me that again.’
She wasn’t vain and normally felt shy if anyone, even Finn, complimented her appearance. But today, she had felt like a million dollars. Her dress was a picture of elegance: a strapless satin gown with a full princess skirt and a row of buttons going down from her waist all the way to the bottom of the skirt. Her skin seemed to have glowed from within, softened by scented moisturisers. All the tangled worries and hesitations massaged away during a blissful spa outing with her sisters and stepmother yesterday. It was only a brief respite from the never ending anxiety coating her nerve endings, but it was something.
‘You were the most beautiful woman there,’ Finn said. She laughed and playfully shoved her elbow into his side. ‘So that’s it, eh? We’re really married?’
‘You’re having second thoughts already? That didn’t last long.’
He didn’t answer.
Caroline turned her head to look at him.
He cupped her cheek with a tenderness that took her breath away. ‘Never.’
The atmosphere in the room changed in an instant. She didn’t think she could love him any more than she already did, but every day proved her wrong. She loved that when they were out, he checked if she was cold. He covered her with a blanket if she fell asleep on the sofa. If she had a tough day at work, he cooked her favourite curry and gave her a foot massage. He drew her baths, always remembering to keep the shelf stocked up with various bath bombs and melts. Finn was attentive. Loving. Dependable.
Finn was perfect.
And today was the most glorious icing on the cake. It was so wholesome, so perfect. So them. She dreamed about their wedding day even before they got engaged. But even she couldn’t believe how wonderful it turned out.
Speechless, she looked deep into his brown eyes and closed the gap between their lips, putting all the feelings she didn’t know how to articulate into a slow, deep kiss. After a few moments, she felt Finn’s smile against hers.
‘I think we should make that toast before all the fizz is gone.’ He cocked his head to the side, motioning towards the coffee table.
Caroline leaned forwards and took both flutes. She handed Finn one of them and then raised hers.
‘To you, Finn McCarthy. You’re the most amazing, kind, and loving man that I’ve ever met. And I feel so privileged that I can now call you my husband.’
They both smiled and drunk to it in comfortable silence.
‘To you, Caroline O’Kelly. I know that it seems silly, but I knew from the moment I saw you that you were special. I know, I know – I was only eight years old, and I was the weird “new kid”. But you took my breath away then, and you still take it away all these years later. I can’t imagine sharing my life with anyone but you.’
Tears pricked at the corners of Caroline’s eyes.
This is it, she thought. The promise of everlasting love. In sickness and in health. The beginning of their forever.
Till death do them part.
And to finish off, I wanted to share what’s on my *immediate* TBR (not sure how fast it’ll go as I have OSCEs in June):
Heavenly Bodies by Imani Erriu (currently reading)
You Between the Lines by Katie Naymon
The Ornithologist's Field Guide to Love by India Holton
Out of the Woods by Hannah Bonam-Young
A Fate Forged in Fire by Hazel McBride
The Friendship Fling by Georgia Stone
Audiobooks, I’m currently listening to Let’s Call a Truce by Amy Buchanan and I’m having SUCH A GREAT TIME with it! <3
You, Again by Natalie Cooper is going to be my next audio.
That’s it from me for now, I think. I’ll try my best to be more consistent with posting here but honestly, we know what they say about good intentions… The next post will be some recommendations of cowboy romances I’m excited to read this summer! <3 And no, mine isn’t one of them - I read it enough times :D
All the love and smiles.
MAGGIE ECKERSLEY