Flawless by Elsie Silver is a small-town enemies to lovers romance. This isn’t a book review but an actual summary of what happens in the story, so keep in mind there will be spoilers ahead.
Flawless is the story of a bull rider and his agent. And it’s a good one. So buckle up, and let’s get into all the down and dirty details.
- Book Title: Flawless
- Author: Elsie Silver
- Publication Date: June 24, 2022
- Print Length: 428 Pages
Rhett Eaton is a professional bull rider with two championships under his belt. Summer has recently graduated from law school and works for her father, Kip, who is Rhett’s agent. Rhett is in trouble with sponsors because of a video clip that linked him talking to another rider, Theo, about how much he hates milk.
It’s an issue because his biggest sponsor is a dairy company. Rhett is known as a womanizer and a bit of a loose cannon. When Kip, Summer, and another employee are trying to brainstorm what to do about Rhett, Summer jokingly suggests getting him a babysitter. Kip goes for the idea and assigns Summer to spend the next two months with Rhett until his championship is done.
Rhett hates the idea. He is instantly annoyed with Summer, who he thinks smirks at him and is amused by the situation. When she shows up at his family farm, he is unhappy, especially once his brothers, Cade and Beau, and his father, Harvey, realize that she is essentially a glorified babysitter and tease him. Summer gets along instantly with Harvey and Beau, as well as Cade’s son, Luke. She, Beau, Rhett, and another friend, Jasper, head to a bar.
Summer is unsure of how to handle part of her job, which is to ensure that Rhett doesn’t sleep with anyone. Rhett has no intention of sleeping with anyone in town and is also cognizant of the damage to his reputation and the way he disappointed the fans who believed in him, but Summer doesn’t know that. Beau pays the bartender to bring milk-based drinks over to Rhett and says they’re from his future wife.
Initially annoyed, Rhett comes over to join them and finds he enjoys time with Summer. That night, she tells him that she is on his side but that he needs to be part of a team rather than constantly fighting her. Summer talks to her best friend, Willa, about Rhett. Willa thinks she should ride the cowboy.
During his last competition, Rhett had a bad fall. Now that he is 34, he is much older than most riders and is aware he needs to retire soon. This is exacerbated by his family’s attitude towards his riding. They are all opposed to his job because of how dangerous it is and refuse to come to watch him even when his competitions take place nearby. While they are on the road for a competition, Summer realizes that Rhett is injured. Watching him compete and do something so dangerous when she knows he’s injured is terrifying. At the competition, so many people are still angry with him that she is one of the only ones who cheers for him.
She can’t convince him to go to a doctor, so she buys him pain medication and ointments. She also creates a custom exercise routine for him to help him build his strength back up and stretch regularly. He can’t apply them to his shoulder himself, so she helps.
The next day when he rides, he knows it helped, but he also realizes he’s coming to the end of his career. He used to feel like he could ride a bull forever, but now he just wants off. After, he and Summer talk with some of the guys. He tries to convince her that he’s not the womanizer he once was, and she says she knows. That night, her ex, Rob, calls and says he saw her on TV. He wants her to be careful around Rhett. She still answers when he calls because she worries it’ll be an emergency. Rhett comes to check on her and realizes she doesn’t have heat in her hotel room.
There are no spare rooms, so he makes her stay the night with him. Rhett likes spending time with Summer. He wants to kiss her, but she pulls back. He also likes that she is the only person not pushing him to retire. They share the bed because of his injuries. Summer can’t sleep, so they talk about their moms. His passed, giving birth to his younger sister, Violet. Hers was the nanny and left when she was born. Her stepmother, Marina, and older sister, Winter, were always cold and rude to her. Kip did his best to compensate and be everything she needed. Summer had an undiagnosed congenital heart defect, and when she was sick and spent a long time in the hospital, Kip spent as much time with her as he could and never made her feel unwanted or like a burden. Rhett lets her warm her feet on his legs. Rhett wakes up first but lets Summer keep cuddling with him while he looks at her freckles. He wants to sleep with her.
Summer insists on going to a doctor’s appointment with Rhett even once they get back to the farm. He tries to convince her that he’s changed since he was younger and that it is frustrating to be stuck with his family viewing him as a child and the world viewing him as the young and dumb rider he was ten years earlier. Summer’s sister, Winter, is there because she is a doctor. Winter is rude to Summer and reveals that Summer had a picture of Rhett from an ad tacked up in her bedroom for years. Summer is embarrassed, but Rhett refuses to give Winter an inch. Outside the hospital, Summer sees Rob watching them from his car, so Rhett kisses her.
He also points out that events aren’t usually televised, so Rob must have known where Summer would be and found a livestream to try to watch her. They agree it’s creepy. She tells Rhett her history with Rob on the ride back to the farm, which is big because no one except for Willa knows the story. He was her surgeon when she was a teenager, and when she hit eighteen, they started sleeping together. He always wanted to sneak around, so no one ever knew. Rhett is furious on her behalf and thinks she should report him.
Summer has to go into the city for a meeting. She is worried that Rhett will do something irresponsible while she is gone. He does. He, Beau, and Cade TP the neighbors’ tractor because it was purposefully parked on their property. The neighbors show up and are annoyed. Beau and Cade get away, but Rhett’s horse spooks. So he finished TP’ing the inside of the tractor and then walked back. Summer shows up on his horse. He gets on behind her, and they enjoys riding together. He makes a joke about how she is a people pleaser, and it must be boring to only live for other people. She gets upset and insists on walking back. He gives her space.
Later, she explains that she is doing her first real job and trying hard not to disappoint anyone. And he isn’t making it easier. He hugs her and apologizes because he has been selfish. She plays this game with herself, always asking if it were her last moment on earth, would she be happy? He can tell she wants to kiss him, so he asks her what she would do if it was her last moment on earth, but she pulls away because it isn’t her last moment, and she still needs to be responsible.
The next morning, Cade and Rhett get into an argument because Cade feels he’s always the responsible one, taking care of the farm, while Rhett is off risking his life and sleeping around. Summer warns Cade that Rhett is planning on using his money to help the farm and that he cares deeply about his family but that they are hurting him. Summer and Rhett head to another competition. As she’s watching, she realizes she wants to make herself happy for once. She sees Rhett talking to a woman and thinks he’s flirting, but the woman is actually interested in Theo. Theo’s father was Rhett’s mentor before he was killed by a bull. Rhett sees himself as a mentor to Theo. Hurt, Summer flirts with another rider, Emmett. They all go to a bar together, and Summer wears Emmett’s hat.
This angers Rhett because she doesn’t know the rules of wearing a cowboy hat and might not intend to sleep with Emmett. When Rhett interrupts them, she makes him do a body shot. He takes her back to the hotel and tells her to go to bed before he does something ungentlemanlike. She tells him to ruin her, and they have sex. She makes sure he knows that she wants him and wants to be the only one he’s with. He calls her Princess and promises she’s it for him.
Rhett has another interview and manages to keep some of his other sponsors. He loses another competition narrowly to Theo but isn’t bothered. They keep having sex. For the first time ever, Summer is doing what she wants. She admits she isn’t sure she wants to be an agent, and he replies that her dad would be understanding of whatever she wants to do. While they are in bed, Rob calls multiple times. Finally, Rhett tells Summer to answer and then eats her out while she’s on the phone. Rob warns her to be careful of men like Rhett.
When they get back to the ranch, his family knows what’s up almost immediately. Because Summer cares what others think of her, she is uncomfortable. Rhett doesn’t care. Summer tries to convince his family to come to a close competition, but only Jasper agrees. Harvey convinces Rhett to stop being jealous of other men around Summer because she only has eyes for Rhett.
Rhett gives her a pair of chaps she tried on at their first competition. She’s slowly moving away from her fancy wardrobe, which always made her happy after she got sick, to more practical clothing, at least for competitions and while on the ranch.
Summer, Jasper, and Rhett are out to dinner when Winter calls. Kip had a heart attack. When Summer and Rhett get to the hospital, Summer is furious with Winter for not calling sooner. It is revealed that Rob is Winter’s husband, which Summer never told Rhett.
Her relationship with him ended when he began a public one with Winter and asked her never to tell. Rhett is pissed at him for being rude to Summer and reveals that Rob preyed on a teenage patient and bullied her into keeping it a secret.
Summer tries to stop him because she never told Winter, but it all comes out. Her dad hears as well. Summer asks Rhett to go. She talks to her dad, who is furious with Rob but wants to know what is going on between Rhett and Summer. He’s always liked Rhett, as grumpy as he acted, and so isn’t surprised that Rhett and Summer love each other.
Marina shows up hours later and kicks Summer out of the room. She finds Rhett in the waiting room, and they fight. She doesn’t feel she can’t trust him because he shares her biggest secret without thinking about the consequences. She also wants him to get rest before he rides. He leaves. The next day, she and Kip watch a livestream of Rhett’s event together. Theo is thrown, and the bull is about to run him over. Rhett throws himself on top of Theo. Summer is terrified and goes to find him.
Rhett has broken ribs but is shrugging off medical attention because he needs to know Theo is okay. Summer finds him and is terrified. Rhett doesn’t know how to be taken care of and is scared she’ll ask him not to ride. He tells her that they’ve just been sleeping together and that she should leave. This is a low blow because it echoes what Rob said to her years ago. Cade tells Rhett that he lost a good thing with Summer and that he loves his brother too much to want to watch him risk his life. Rhett doesn’t know who he is without bull riding and is scared to find out.
A week later, Kip is out of the hospital and back at work. He fires Summer because she is unhappy at work; his desire has always been for her to know she can follow her passion. She walks by Rhett while he’s in a meeting, and he chases after her. He promises he loves her and will always be there. She can take as much time as she needs. When she’s ready, he’ll be there. She isn’t ready and spends the next week moping until she goes out for drinks with Willa. Willa thinks she needs to talk to Rhett, so she books them both flights to Las Vegas to see the championship.
Rhett thinks he is all alone there. He is riding last, and he can’t watch the other riders for the first time. He doesn’t know if he can do this anymore. It’s down to a competition between him and Theo when it’s his turn. For the first time, looking at the bull, he feels fear. He gets on anyway and is about to start when he sees Summer in the audience. He gets back off the bull, announces he’s retiring, runs to find her in the stands, and kisses her. He’s finally learned how to prioritize her, and she is brave enough to go after what she wants and love him back. Theo wins the competition.
In the epilogue, Summer owns her own gym a year later, and she and Rhett are building a house on the ranch. He has transitioned to coaching other riders. She secretly fixed up his truck for him and painted it the color of his mother’s eyes. While she is mostly happy, she still hasn’t fixed her relationship with her sister. Rhett proposes.
Flawless by Elsie Silver is now available on Amazon.
The rules were simple. Keep my hands off his daughter and stay out of trouble.
But now I’m stuck with her. There’s only one bed. And well, rules are made to be broken.
I’m the face of professional bull riding—the golden boy. Or at least I was, until it all blew up in my face. Now my agent says I have to clean up my image, so I’m stuck with his ball-busting daughter for the rest of the season as my “full-time supervision.”
But I don’t need a goddamn babysitter, especially one with skin-tight jeans, a sexy smirk, and a mouth she can’t stop running.
A mouth I can’t stop thinking about.
Because Summer isn’t just another conquest. She sees the man behind the mask, and she doesn’t run—she pulls me closer, even when she shouldn’t.
She says this means nothing.
I say this means everything.
She says there are boundaries we shouldn’t cross. That my reputation can’t take any more hits—and neither can her damaged heart.
I say I’m going to steal it anyway.
