Flawless

Flawless (2022), the first book in Elsie Silver’s Chestnut Springs cowboy romance series, follows bad-boy bull rider Rhett Eaton, whose career is in trouble after a public scandal. Summer Hamilton, the daughter of Rhett’s manager, is tasked with cleaning up his public image, but as their professional boundaries blur, their growing romance forces them to confront their fears and decide what they truly want from life. Flawless explores themes of Family Dynamics and Expectations, The Transformative Force of Love, and The Tension Between Public Image and Private Reality. 

The Chestnut Springs series focuses on the Eaton family and their close friends, Jasper and Theo. Silver is known for writing small-town romances with strong-willed alpha heroes. Hailing from Canada, Silver pens novels that are set in rural areas with richly drawn atmospheres. Silver’s other series include the Rose Hill and Gold Rush Ranch series. Her third Chestnut Springs novel, Powerless, was nominated for the 2023 Goodreads Choice Awards. 

This guide refers to the 2023 Bloom Books e-book edition. 

Content Warning: The source material and guide feature depictions of emotional abuse, death, and sexual content.

Plot Summary

Rhett Eaton is a professional bull rider who is known for his confidence and recklessness. When he makes a problematic comment about milk, he alienates a key sponsor. Rhett’s agent, Kip Hamilton, assigns his daughter, Summer Hamilton, to manage Rhett’s image and ensure that he stays out of trouble. Knowing Rhett’s reputation, Summer initially hesitates to take the assignment, but because she is anxious to prove herself to her father, Summer agrees to move to Rhett’s family ranch in Chestnut Springs, where Rhett lives with his father, two brothers, and nephew. Summer is immediately enamored by the beauty of Wishing Well Ranch and finds herself charmed by Rhett’s family, but she and Rhett clash at every turn because he resents her assigned task of “babysitting” him. Even so, Rhett cannot deny his physical attraction to Summer.

As Summer accompanies Rhett to his competitions, she begins to see a different side of him, especially when observing his dedication to bull riding. Summer dedicates herself to learning about the sport and enjoys the thrill of watching Rhett compete. Rhett, whose family opposes his career and does not attend competitions, enjoys Summer’s enthusiastic support. Rhett’s teasing, flirtatious nature initially irritates Summer, who is determined to maintain proper professional boundaries, but she soon finds herself attracted to Rhett’s rugged good looks and confidence. Summer also sees firsthand the physical toll that bull riding takes on Rhett, and he confesses to her that he has a painful shoulder injury: a fact that he hides from everyone else. Summer encourages Rhett to take better care of his body, and she takes him to the gym and gives him therapeutic massages.

Rhett knows that he is getting too old for the sport, but he is chasing one last championship before he retires because he wants to win the prize money and use it to help support the ranch. 

When the heater breaks in Summer’s hotel room, she and Rhett are forced to share a bed. Rhett describes the pressures of his career and reveals that he lost his mother when he was young. Summer explains that she is the product of her father’s affair with the nanny, and as a result, her stepmother, Marina, and her half-sister, Winter, despise her. When she was a child, Summer developed a heart condition that required surgery. She spent most of her teenage years in the hospital due to post-surgery complications.

Rhett is drawn to the tenacity that lies beneath Summer’s polished exterior. Despite their growing romantic connection, they both remain hesitant to act on their attraction. Summer fears jeopardizing her career, while Rhett remembers Kip’s warning to keep his hands off Summer. Rhett senses Summer’s desire to find greater independence and embrace a new life beyond the expectations that she places on herself. As they spend more time together, their chemistry becomes undeniable. After his rival, Emmett, makes a romantic overture to Summer at a bar, Rhett becomes jealous and reveals his feelings to her. They return to his hotel room and finally consummate weeks of sexual tension. After spending a night wrapped in Summer’s arms, Rhett knows that he never wants to be without her.

Summer reveals to Rhett that her heart surgeon, Rob, began a romantic relationship with her as a teenager. Rob then left her to marry Winter but still calls Summer to manipulate her. No one in Summer’s family knows about this, and she swears Rhett to secrecy. 

When Kip has a minor heart attack, Rhett encounters Rob at the hospital and publicly reveals details about Summer’s former relationship with the man. He then punches Rob. Devastated that Rhett has broken her trust and revealed information that he promised to keep quiet, Summer asks Rhett to leave. At the competition, Rhett’s teammate and mentee, Theo, is nearly trampled by a bull, and Rhett must jump in to save his life. In the process, Rhett sustains broken ribs, and Theo gets a concussion, but they both still plan to compete. Summer races to the hospital and begs Rhett not to compete. In the throes of intense pain, Rhett lashes out, telling her that she can’t dictate his actions. Hurt by his dismissal of her feelings, Summer cuts off all contact with him. Rhett immediately regrets his actions, but Summer won’t answer his texts or calls.

Kip fires Summer from her job as a way of freeing her from his expectations, and Summer’s best friend, Willa, arranges for her to fly to Las Vegas, Nevada, to see Rhett compete in the World Championship. When Rhett sees Summer in the stands, she says that she loves him, and he jumps off the bull and runs to her. 

A year later, Rhett has retired from professional bull riding. He and Summer have built a house on Wishing Well Ranch, and Summer has bought the local gym and begun chasing her dream of becoming a personal trainer. Rhett is now a bull-riding coach. When he proposes to Summer, she accepts.