REVIEW: Burning Love by Ashley James (Sweet Briar #1)

- August 29, 2026

BURNING LOVE

Sweet Briar - Book One

by Ashley James

Release Date: August 27, 2026

Review

Such a beautiful tale that had me tearing up more than a few times. One of those epic, stories that spans many years, uncovers years of history, tragedy, and a second chance.

To say Chesney and Jasper have a complicated past is an understatement. And complicated relationships with their families, it’s history, and it’s future. So much pain, and loss, and hurt.

But being forced together, forced to reckon with the past, and their feelings that have never really gone away made for an amazing story.

Truly a wonderful story.

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Synopsis

One year. Two ranches. A secret neither of them can outrun.

Chesney Jennings is the last person Jasper Smith ever expected to see back in Sweet Briar, Wyoming. So when Jasper’s grandfather dies and leaves half of Wind River Ranch to him and the other half to Chesney, heir to the family they’ve been feuding with for generations, he’s blindsided.

But the will comes with one non-negotiable condition:

To claim the inheritance, they must run the ranch together for one full year.

Jasper has spent his whole life holding Wind River together with grit, loyalty, and stubborn determination. The ranch is struggling, and his family is running out of options. The last thing he needs is help from a Jennings—especially one who disappeared years ago and left a hole in Jasper’s chest that never quite healed.

Chesney never planned to return to Sweet Briar. Not after spending years trying to outrun the town, the feud, and the devastating memories he left behind. But refusing the inheritance isn’t an option, and neither is avoiding the man who once meant more to him than anyone else.

Forced into long days, sleepless nights, and a partnership neither of them wants, the tension between Jasper and Chesney sparks fast—and burns hotter than either man is prepared for.

Secrets come out, lines blur, and somewhere between shared burdens and stolen moments, resentment turns into something far more tumultuous.

But in a town where everyone remembers everything—and families don’t forgive easily—loving each other might cost them more than the ranch.

It might cost them everything.

About Ashley James

Ashley James is an LGBTQIA+ author who enjoys writing (and reading) the toxic, swoony, broody, filthy talking, red flag men. She is originally from Washington State—and no, not Seattle—but now resides in South Carolina with her two daughters and her three Sphynx kitties, Goose, Maverick, and Houston. And if you’re wondering if those names are Top Gun references, you would be absolutely correct.

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