What do you think?
Rate this book
Cattle Valley #9-10
Cattle Valley Vol. 5
"The road to the future is paved with letting go of the past."
Gone Surfin'
Since the age of six, Kai Hachiya's entire life has been centred on surfing. Now, at the age of twenty-six, he's begun to drop in the rankings. Memories of a small-town mayor have him completely off pace, and only one thing can fix it, finding that man.Winters in Cattle Valley are torture for Mayor Quade Maddison. The only thing that gets him through the cold, lonely months is his annual vacation to Hawaii.When a gorgeous professional surfer washes up at the grand opening of the Tall Pines Lodge, Quade knows his Christmas prayer has been answered.
The Last Bouquet
Tyler Manning hates seeing Hearn Sutherland mourn over a jerk like Mitch Lanham. Every week Hearn comes into Tyler's shop to pick up fresh flowers for his lover's grave, and every minute spent with the good-looking man makes Tyler love him more.When Tyler convinces Hearn to run for mayor against Cattle Valley's own favourite son, Nate Gills, Hearn knows he's in for a bumpy ride.Nate has his own bumps in the road to overcome. With the threat of a long-time secret being exposed, Nate must finally come to terms with his past.
Gone Surfin'
Since the age of six, Kai Hachiya's entire life has been centred on surfing. Now, at the age of twenty-six, he's begun to drop in the rankings. Memories of a small-town mayor have him completely off pace, and only one thing can fix it, finding that man.Winters in Cattle Valley are torture for Mayor Quade Maddison. The only thing that gets him through the cold, lonely months is his annual vacation to Hawaii.When a gorgeous professional surfer washes up at the grand opening of the Tall Pines Lodge, Quade knows his Christmas prayer has been answered.
The Last Bouquet
Tyler Manning hates seeing Hearn Sutherland mourn over a jerk like Mitch Lanham. Every week Hearn comes into Tyler's shop to pick up fresh flowers for his lover's grave, and every minute spent with the good-looking man makes Tyler love him more.When Tyler convinces Hearn to run for mayor against Cattle Valley's own favourite son, Nate Gills, Hearn knows he's in for a bumpy ride.Nate has his own bumps in the road to overcome. With the threat of a long-time secret being exposed, Nate must finally come to terms with his past.
264 pages, Paperback
First published July 21, 2009
About the author
Carol Lynne
251 books1,199 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
erotic & gay romances
erotic & gay romances
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
November 1, 2012
The series is back on track
Warning: This review might contain what some people consider SPOILERS.
Rating: 7/10
PROS:
- There are some subtle little details in this story that help to create more well-rounded characters, settings, and situations than in some of the previous volumes. I laughed out loud when Kai is surprised to learn how well blowing on your hands works to warm them up. (I did raise an eyebrow when he doesn’t know what frostbite is, though. I know he grew up in Hawaii, but come on…he didn’t have television?)
- Lynne is still setting up future romances and bringing in characters from previous stories. Unlike with some of the earlier books, though, I didn’t find the number of characters in this volume overwhelming. And many of the secondary characters who play key roles in these two stories are my favorite characters from earlier installments.
- The second novella in this volume is one of the best written in the series. It’s got a sweet romance--and a heartwarming element involving Gracie, a six-year-old girl--but there’s also a nice amount of gravity. “The Last Bouquet” has one of my favorite endings of any of the Cattle Valley stories.
CONS:
- Everything in this series happens quickly, so there’s not a lot of tension or build-up. When Kai arrives in Cattle Valley, for example, after almost a year of not seeing Quade, he spots Quade right away. I was expecting (or at least hoping for) a brief pause describing Kai as he stood there drinking in the sight of his lover, admiring how beautiful Quade is, etc. But instead, Quade looks up and sees Kai right away too. The moment I craved just didn’t happen.
- The editing and Lynne’s writing are much improved here, but there are still some fairly consistent errors in certain areas. One is the use of question marks on sentences that aren’t really questions: “He wondered if his face showed the desperation he felt, not only for Kai’s body, but for his heart as well?”
- Nate, who is perhaps my favorite Cattle Valley character, figures into the second story here in a pretty major way (along with his partners, Rio and Ryan). I love them. But I was a little turned off by some of the descriptions of Nate that I felt were inconsistent with how he’s been portrayed in earlier stories. He’s flamboyant; I got that. But he’s incredibly emasculated in parts of the second novella here. Here’s an example of something Ryan says to him: “You just stick that pretty little bottom lip back in and let Rio take care of you.”
Overall comments: I was disappointed in Cattle Valley 4 and worried that it was an indication that the series was headed downhill. But this might be my favorite volume of the series. I’m sure any one of the books could stand on its own just fine, but I recommend reading them in order, if only because the reappearance of characters from earlier stories is so much fun.
Warning: This review might contain what some people consider SPOILERS.
Rating: 7/10
PROS:
- There are some subtle little details in this story that help to create more well-rounded characters, settings, and situations than in some of the previous volumes. I laughed out loud when Kai is surprised to learn how well blowing on your hands works to warm them up. (I did raise an eyebrow when he doesn’t know what frostbite is, though. I know he grew up in Hawaii, but come on…he didn’t have television?)
- Lynne is still setting up future romances and bringing in characters from previous stories. Unlike with some of the earlier books, though, I didn’t find the number of characters in this volume overwhelming. And many of the secondary characters who play key roles in these two stories are my favorite characters from earlier installments.
- The second novella in this volume is one of the best written in the series. It’s got a sweet romance--and a heartwarming element involving Gracie, a six-year-old girl--but there’s also a nice amount of gravity. “The Last Bouquet” has one of my favorite endings of any of the Cattle Valley stories.
CONS:
- Everything in this series happens quickly, so there’s not a lot of tension or build-up. When Kai arrives in Cattle Valley, for example, after almost a year of not seeing Quade, he spots Quade right away. I was expecting (or at least hoping for) a brief pause describing Kai as he stood there drinking in the sight of his lover, admiring how beautiful Quade is, etc. But instead, Quade looks up and sees Kai right away too. The moment I craved just didn’t happen.
- The editing and Lynne’s writing are much improved here, but there are still some fairly consistent errors in certain areas. One is the use of question marks on sentences that aren’t really questions: “He wondered if his face showed the desperation he felt, not only for Kai’s body, but for his heart as well?”
- Nate, who is perhaps my favorite Cattle Valley character, figures into the second story here in a pretty major way (along with his partners, Rio and Ryan). I love them. But I was a little turned off by some of the descriptions of Nate that I felt were inconsistent with how he’s been portrayed in earlier stories. He’s flamboyant; I got that. But he’s incredibly emasculated in parts of the second novella here. Here’s an example of something Ryan says to him: “You just stick that pretty little bottom lip back in and let Rio take care of you.”
Overall comments: I was disappointed in Cattle Valley 4 and worried that it was an indication that the series was headed downhill. But this might be my favorite volume of the series. I’m sure any one of the books could stand on its own just fine, but I recommend reading them in order, if only because the reappearance of characters from earlier stories is so much fun.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews