Clouds and Rain by Zahra Owens

[Octobercountry]

I still haven't read too many westerns, so I suppose I should make a note of those few that I have read, and that includes Clouds and Rain by Zahra Owens.

Flynn Tomlinson has drifted for several years, working odd jobs when he needs the money and moving on when he doesn’t. He’s content with his freestyle life, not tied down, not responsible for anyone but himself. Then he comes across a Help Wanted ad in a post office in Idaho and meets Gable Sutton.

Gable can’t pay Flynn until he sells his horses, but a serious accident has left him unable to work his ranch alone. Working with horses beats stacking shelves at the supermarket, and so Flynn agrees to Gable’s terms. What Flynn doesn’t bargain for is being captivated by this gentle, lonely man who captures his heart and moves Flynn to take on an incredible burden: saving Gable’s ranch.

While this story can obviously be filed in the “western” folder, to be more specific I’d call it a “contemporary ranch romance” --- complete with a number of racy scenes between the two protagonists, for those interested in such things (the text contains somewhere between five and ten moderately explicit passages, I daresay).

As I began reading, I was thinking that the story was okay, while also rolling my eyes a bit at the “insta-love” on display. (We never do get a sense of why Flynn fell so quickly and easily for the gruff, taciturn rancher.) But a few chapters in, the older of the two fellows has to deal with a serious physical disability, and instantly my interest in the tale sharpened, because I could totally relate to this. (I helped take care of a family member who had a very similar experience, though sadly enough in that case it was more a matter of making him comfortable until he died, rather than trying to keep him going through a rehabilitation process.)

The story of how Flynn did decide to stay and take care of someone he had come to love added some emotional depth to what is otherwise a rather unexceptional story. I did get wrapped up in the proceedings enough that I found a couple of the supporting characters to be quite irritating---seriously, with friends and former lovers like these, who needs enemies! But in general, once again, I’m going to call this one a “pleasant diversion”---I enjoyed reading it well enough, but in the end it isn’t a novel that stands out a great deal from so many other similar light-weight books.

This is the first in "The Wranglers" series; the stories are each loosely related, in that the minor, secondary characters of one book may feature as the primary characters in another. Earth and Sky is the second book, and that's followed by Floods and Drought . I can’t exactly say that I want to rush out and buy these books, but on the other hand I wouldn’t mind reading them, either.

I do think this book has a gorgeous cover---and for once, the details of the image actually fit the text quite well.

(PS---I wonder, was it an inside joke that the author gave his characters the names “Flynn” and “Gable”---two early matinee idols in motion pictures?)