Reins and The Rim

Elsie Novak has lived between two worlds her entire life. Discovered as a teenager, she grew into an international supermodel, polished, poised, and always prepared with an exit plan. But the place her heart has never left is her family's horse farm in Slovenia, where the air is quiet, the work is honest, and the only expectations are patience and care.

When a towering Serbian basketball star arrives one afternoon to buy a horse from her father, Elsie expects a routine transaction. What she doesn't expect is to tell Nikola Jokić "no" and mean it. Refusing to sell her personal horse is easy. Resisting the calm, curious man who isn't used to being denied is not. Nikola is intrigued by the girl who stands her ground, who loves fiercely, worries endlessly, and plans for every possible ending.

Elsie is unsettled by the man who takes life as it comes, who lives in the moment, and who makes her wonder what it might feel like to stop holding the reins so tightly. She may not give him her horse, but she does agree to one date. And in the space between careful and fearless, between pasture and packed arenas, Elsie discovers that some loves aren't meant to be managed, they're meant to be trusted.

Denver Nuggets series Book 1