Rainbow Reviews

BOOK BLURB:
The night his brother, Simon, was killed in an accident, Dylan took on a double load of guilt. Guilt for walking away unscathed.and for secretly loving Simon's partner, Wade. Unable to bear the pain, Dylan left the Lazy G ranch to rebuild his life elsewhere. A year later he reluctantly responds to his sister's plea to come home, where he finds the Lazy G falling apart. And so is Wade. Wade has stopped caring about the ranch, about everything that should matter most to him. Though there's more ranch work than one man can possibly handle, Dylan throws himself into the task. Wondering how he's going to find the strength to pull Wade out of the fog of grief when his own is still as raw as a fresh wound. Wondering when Wade will finally see that his second chance for happiness is standing right in front of him.

BOOK REVIEW:
I love cowboy stories. And when those cowboys are hurting and need mutual comfort, I’m in heaven. Ms. Flint does a first-class job of describing the desolation that was Wade and Wade’s house. On entering the bedroom, Dylan discovers, “No Wade in sight, just a bed that looked like it hadn’t been made after a wrestling match and a previously wooden floor that was now sporting a new rug I’d call 'dirty laundry.'” This, along with countless other examples shows Ms. Flint’s mastery of words, telling us, often with humour, what’s happening.

The story’s greatest strength is how it shows the slow coming together of Wade and Dylan, as both men heal from Simon’s death. The pacing is just right. Sure, there was a hot shower scene between the two men early on, but this only went to prove that they’d gone too quickly, too soon so they backed off. But this only makes Dylan’s wanting all the more delicious to observe.

The whole leaving sketches as a form of encoded message thing was really cute and inventive. Being guys of course Wade and Dylan couldn’t just come out and say what was on their minds, it had to be achieved through a more indirect method. I think this is where the author derived her title, the sketches were the various ways Wade saw Dylan. I laughed out loud when Dylan finally decided he needed to talk with Wade, after a particularly erotic drawing was discovered. “I found Wade mucking stalls, not surprised that most of the meaningful conversations in my life have taken place around horse shit.”

If you like reading about strong men healing through the power of love, of cowboys loving fellow cowboys, this book is for you.

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