Lost and Lassoed Summary, Characters and Themes
Lost and Lassoed by Lyla Sage is a heartfelt small-town romance filled with sizzling tension, emotional growth, and the undeniable chemistry between two unlikely lovers.
Set in the rugged beauty of Wyoming’s Rebel Blue Ranch, the novel follows Teddy Andersen and Gus Ryder—two opposites who have spent years butting heads. When circumstances force them into close proximity, long-buried emotions rise to the surface, challenging everything they thought they knew about love, responsibility, and commitment. With a blend of humor, heartache, and fiery passion, this enemies-to-lovers romance explores the power of second chances and finding home where you least expect it.
Summary
Teddy Andersen has never been one for plans. A free-spirited fashion designer running a boutique in her hometown of Meadowlark, Wyoming, she thrives on spontaneity.
But lately, life seems to be moving forward without her. Her best friend, Emmy Ryder, is getting married, her beloved boutique is closing, and her father’s health is declining. For the first time, Teddy feels adrift, questioning whether staying in Meadowlark is truly what she wants.
Gus Ryder, on the other hand, has always been the responsible one. Running Rebel Blue Ranch and raising his six-year-old daughter, Riley, leaves little room for anything else. Gus is a man of order and routine, the complete opposite of Teddy, who he’s spent most of his life clashing with.
To him, Teddy is impulsive and reckless—someone he can’t rely on. But when his workload becomes overwhelming, he has no choice but to accept help, even if it comes from the last person he’d ever want it from: Teddy.
Forced to spend the summer working together, Gus and Teddy’s long-standing animosity simmers with unresolved tension. They’ve always had an undeniable chemistry, though neither would ever admit it.
Seven years ago, a drunken night led to something more—something neither of them have spoken about since. As they’re thrown together day after day, memories of that night linger, making it harder to ignore the pull between them.
Teddy bonds with Riley, taking on a bigger role in the little girl’s life than she ever anticipated. Gus watches, conflicted, as the woman he’s always considered unreliable proves to be nurturing and steadfast. Meanwhile, Teddy is forced to confront the roots of her fear of commitment—her mother abandoned her as a child, and she’s always believed that if she lets herself care too much, people will leave.
As tensions build, their attraction grows impossible to ignore. When a moment of jealousy at a community event pushes them over the edge, Gus and Teddy share a heated argument that nearly turns into something more—only for Gus to push her away again, afraid of risking his heart.
For Gus, losing control over his emotions is terrifying, especially after Riley’s mother walked out on them. He convinces himself that Teddy, too, will eventually leave.
Hurt and frustrated, Teddy considers leaving Meadowlark for good. But when her father’s health takes a serious turn for the worse, she realizes that staying isn’t about being trapped—it’s about choosing the people she loves. At the same time, Gus’s walls start to crumble.
When Riley falls sick, it’s Teddy who steps up, proving to him that she isn’t going anywhere.
Realizing he’s been pushing her away out of fear, Gus finally lets himself admit the truth—he loves Teddy. He confesses his feelings, telling her that he doesn’t care about the past or his fears anymore; he just wants a future with her. Teddy, in turn, acknowledges that staying doesn’t mean losing herself. She chooses Meadowlark, not because she has to, but because she wants to.
In the epilogue, a few months later, Teddy has opened her own Western fashion business in town, finally carving out a place for herself. She and Gus are happily together, and Riley adores having Teddy in her life. The novel ends on a heartwarming note, proving that love isn’t about avoiding risks—it’s about taking them, even when they scare you.
At its core, Lost and Lassoed is a story about breaking down walls, overcoming fears, and embracing the unpredictable nature of love. Through witty banter, emotional depth, and sizzling romance, it delivers a heartfelt journey of two people learning that sometimes, the person you least expect is exactly what you need.
Characters
Teddy Andersen
Teddy Andersen is a woman caught between two conflicting desires—her need for freedom and her deep-rooted longing for stability. She thrives on spontaneity, fashioning her own path with a boutique and an e-commerce business that reflect her creative spirit.
Yet, despite her outward confidence, she struggles with an unspoken fear of being trapped. The lingering scars of her mother’s abandonment make her hesitant to settle down, as staying in one place feels synonymous with vulnerability.
Her friendship with Emmy acts as an anchor, but as Emmy moves forward in life, Teddy is left feeling adrift. Her journey is about reconciling her need for independence with the understanding that true belonging does not equate to losing oneself—it means finding a place and people who make staying worth it.
Over the course of the novel, Teddy is forced to confront the possibility that change isn’t something to be feared when it leads to the right kind of permanence.
Gus Ryder
Gus Ryder is a man defined by duty. The weight of running an 8,000-acre ranch and raising a six-year-old daughter alone has shaped him into someone who equates love with obligation.
He is steady, reliable, and utterly terrified of uncertainty. His perception of Teddy as reckless stems not from true disdain but from a deeper fear—he does not know how to navigate unpredictability, and Teddy represents the kind of untamed spirit he believes will ultimately abandon him.
His past with Riley’s mother has only reinforced his belief that people leave. As much as he begins to see Teddy differently, he struggles to trust in anything he cannot control.
Gus’s growth lies in his ability to relinquish the need to have everything in order and instead embrace the messy, uncertain nature of love. Teddy does not fit into the neat and structured life he has built, but instead of pushing her away, he learns that love isn’t about certainty—it’s about choosing to stay even when the future is uncertain.
Hank Andersen
Hank Andersen may not be a central romantic figure, but his role in shaping Teddy’s fears and desires is undeniable. As a man who raised Teddy alone after her mother walked away, Hank embodies the quiet, unwavering love that Teddy both admires and fears.
His presence in her life has been steady, but his declining health forces her to confront something she has always avoided—what it means to truly stay.
Hank’s love is unconditional, but Teddy, shaped by her mother’s absence, has always feared that love is something that can be taken away. His illness serves as a turning point, forcing Teddy to re-evaluate her priorities.
She comes to understand that staying for love does not mean sacrificing herself; rather, it means choosing to build something meaningful with the people who matter.
Riley Ryder
Gus’s six-year-old daughter, Riley, represents everything Gus wants to protect and everything Teddy is afraid to embrace. She is bright, full of life, and entirely unafraid to love.
Her innocence and unwavering affection for Teddy force both protagonists to confront their fears. Gus must recognize that protecting Riley does not mean shutting people out, and Teddy must understand that love, at its purest, is not conditional.
Riley’s presence softens the barriers between them, allowing Gus to see Teddy’s true depth. At the same time, Teddy realizes that staying does not mean being trapped—it means being part of something greater than herself.
Themes
When the Fear of Abandonment Dictates the Way We Love
Both Teddy and Gus are shaped by their fears of loss. Teddy’s fear manifests as an inability to commit, while Gus’s manifests as a refusal to take emotional risks.
Teddy’s belief that love is fleeting comes from the wounds left by her mother. She hesitates to trust in relationships that require permanence.
Meanwhile, Gus has been abandoned by Riley’s mother and has since equated love with responsibility. He believes that keeping people at a distance is the only way to avoid pain.
Their love story is not just about attraction but about unlearning these fears. Love is not about whether someone will leave but whether they choose to stay despite the risks.
It is only when Gus realizes that pushing Teddy away does not protect him from loss, and when Teddy recognizes that commitment does not mean suffocation, that they are truly able to embrace their love for each other.
The Illusion of Control and the Liberation in Letting Go
Gus’s entire life is built on structure. As a rancher, his world is governed by predictability—cattle need tending, land needs managing, and schedules need to be maintained.
Control is his safety net, the thing that keeps him from spiraling into uncertainty. Teddy, by contrast, represents the chaos he has always feared.
Her free-spirited nature disrupts the order he has imposed on himself. Her presence is both infuriating and intoxicating.
But the irony is that Gus’s attempts to control his world do not protect him from pain. They only isolate him.
His fear of things going wrong keeps him from experiencing the depth of love that Teddy—and even Riley—offer. His journey is about understanding that control is an illusion.
True security comes not from rigid order but from trust. It is in the moments where he lets go—where he allows himself to be vulnerable, to admit he needs help, to open himself up to love—that he truly finds freedom.
The Unspoken Battle Between Individuality and Belonging
Teddy’s entire arc revolves around the tension between staying true to herself and finding a place where she belongs. From the very beginning, she has been resistant to the idea of staying in Meadowlark, not because she does not love it, but because she fears it will confine her.
She equates staying in one place with losing her independence. This belief is rooted in both her mother’s departure and her need to carve out a life on her own terms.
But what she fails to realize is that belonging is not about losing oneself. It is about finding people who make the idea of staying feel like home.
Her struggle is one of identity, of reconciling the part of her that craves movement with the part of her that longs for connection.
It is only when she realizes that staying does not mean giving up on her dreams—that she can have both love and independence—that she is able to truly embrace the life waiting for her.
Love as a Choice, Not Just a Feeling
At its core, Lost and Lassoed is a story about choice. Love is not simply about chemistry or fate—it is about the conscious decision to stay, to trust, to build a life together.
Gus and Teddy do not fall into love easily. They fight it, resist it, fear it.
But their journey is about realizing that love is not something that happens to them. It is something they actively choose.
Gus must choose to trust Teddy despite his fear of loss. Teddy must choose to believe that staying does not mean losing herself.
Their story is one of two people who have every reason to walk away but instead decide to hold on.
In the end, their love is not a passive thing. It is an active, deliberate decision to be together, despite the risks, despite the past, despite their fears.
And that, more than anything, is what makes their story so powerful.