In a Heartbeat

A Small Town, Enemies-to-Lovers Romance (Rosewood River Series, Book 5)

By: Laura Pavlov

Narrated by: Samantha Brentmoor, Alex Knox

A Small Town, Cowboy, Friends-to-Enemies-to-Lovers, Standalone Romance from USA Today and Amazon #1 Bestselling Author, Laura Pavlov.

Wren Waterstone isn’t just one of the most decorated equestrians in the world—she was also my best friend for as long as I can remember. Until she wasn’t.

Now she’s back in Rosewood River, and thanks to a temp agency, Wren has been placed at my ranch. I have no intention of allowing my ex-best-friend to work for me, but when I see the desperation in her eyes, I can’t turn her away, even though I know I should.

Old habits die hard.

Seeing her every day is more challenging than I expected. She’s guarded. Wounded. And she looks at me like I’m the enemy. I need to know why. The more time we spend together, the more the lines between past and present blur—and we find our way back to one another. The only problem is, she’s got big dreams to chase.

And I only want to chase her.

I’ve loved this girl my entire life, and our time apart didn’t change that. I let Wren Waterstone get away once. Am I really going to make that mistake again?

**This is book 5 in the Rosewood River Series. Each one can be listened to as a complete standalone. A HEA is guaranteed!**

Rosewood River Series:

Steal My Heart

My Silver Lining

Over The Moon

Crazy In Love

In A Heartbeat

Whisper Sweet Nothings

©2025 Laura Pavlov (P)2025 Laura Pavlov

Brilliant & Beautiful, Story & Narration🎧

Laura Pavlov has outdone herself once again, penning another incredible novel set in her fabulous “Rosewood River” series, a captivating small-town romance that warms your heart. This fifth book in the series is Wren Waterstone and Axel Chadwick’s story, a story that stands on its own, but I highly recommend all the books that come before this because they are just as amazing, plus characters crossover into each other’s books and seeing them again is like seeing an old friend. Wren, aka horse girl, is an equestrian who has made a name for herself, winning competitions around the world, and an injury brings her home to Rosewood River to recuperate, but there is more to her story and her return. Axel and Wren were best of friends growing up, each other’s everything, until they weren’t, and Axel never knew why Wren stopped talking to him. He tried moving on, but his feelings for her had morphed into something so much more, but it was a missed opportunity that would never happen now. He started his own business, a successful business that has grown, and he is struggling to keep up with the growth, and when his employee quit, leaving him dry, he went to an employment agency to hire someone to run the office. Wren's showing up as the new employee took him by surprise, and he was not sure how he felt about it, though it did not take him long to warm up to her, especially after finding out all she had been through thanks to her father and brother. It was great watching these two rekindle their friendship and then open up to each other about what really happened two years ago. I loved all the layers of the story and how it all played out, with the perfect balance of drama, angst, charming humor, witty dialogue, hilarious group chats, heartwarming moments, heartfelt emotions and a steamy romance. I love these characters, the camaraderie between them, and it was great to see Cutler again too. Laura Pavlov, thank you for another wonderful story, the laughs and the emotional rollercoaster ride.

🎧📚🎧 And for the fabulous audiobook listen performed in duet by the wonderfully talented Samantha Brentmoor and Alex Knox, who were absolutely fantastic with voicing the characters. Embodying their characters completely for a spot-on portrayal, with Brentmoor nailing it as Wren and Knox as Axel. Both were amazing at performing the roles of the secondary characters too. They set the ideal tone for the story, and they conveyed all the characters’ emotions in their performance, making you feel them all. These two are entertaining storytellers, and their captivating performance keeps you glued to the story.

My new fav in the series!

This one hit me right in the feels🥹. Wren and Axels story is one that was a long time coming but so worth it🩷

I fell for Axel right away. I love how loyal and protective he is. AND how obsessed he is with Wren 🤭Wren is strong and dealing with a lot. Watching her find her voice and stand her ground was one of my favorite parts of the story. The chemistry between these two was off the charts 😮‍💨The banter, the yearning, and the forced proximity was 🤌🏻💋.I LOVE this series so much and so sad that it is almost over😭 Wren & Axels story is my new fav!

P.S. I love how with each book Laura ties in the title into the story! It’s so good! 🥹🩷

4.5 ⭐️ 🌶️.5 spice

I absolutely loved this book, and it’s probably my second favorite in the series. Axel was so freaking sweet and understanding, and Wren knew what she wanted for herself and what she didn’t, making her such an incredible FMC throughout the entire book. The whole Chadwick crew honestly gets better and better in each book, and the girl crew had me rolling in laughter. This was a quick 4.5-star book for me, and I can’t wait for the next one!!

Friends to lovers, cowboy, small town romance!

In a Heartbeat is book 5 in the Rosewood River small town romance series from Laura Pavlov. This is a childhood best friends to lovers romance with a bit of a second chance for them (they hooked up in the past) and cowboy romance vibes.

Wren and Axel have been friends for years, we see them in high school in the prologue and then continue to get flashbacks to their past throughout different chapters. They did stop speaking for a while and went their separate ways after a miscommunication. I will say the reasoning behind their separation didn’t work for me quite that well. Wren has a lot of family trauma drama with her father who she caught cheating on her mother, they’ve since divorced and he’s now expecting a child with his new partner. A lot of the story really does center around Wren’s family drama and Axel being there for her through it all (their siblings were once together too if you’ve been keeping up with the series).

Wren is a “horse girl” as Axel calls her and quite the equestrian, we do see a lot of her time doing western activities for her career. Axel makes custom horse trailers and his business is booming. After a tumble on her horse and her beloved horse being sold out from under her, Wren returns home and starts working for Axel’s booming business. While not my favorite in the series, this was a quick read!

absolutely perfect !!!

Loved every moment!! These narrators brought these books to life beautifully! I definitely will be relistening!!