Rainbow Reviews

BOOK BLURB:
Kelvin doesn't mind running an old fashioned pawn shop in Santa Fe. He meets a lot of folks, hears a lot of life stories. Like the story cowboy Cody Mack brings in, along with an antique belt buckle. Cody's grandfather loved the Navajo who made that buckle, and the cowboy is trying to find the man and give it back.

More than willing to help, Kelvin sets out to find Cody's jewelry maker, and finds more than he bargained for. He gets a great story out of the bargain, and a great friend in Cody, but Kelvin wants even more. Can he find a way to let Cody know how he feels?

BOOK REVIEW:
Two generations of Texans find love in the dry heat of New Mexico in this charming, engaging story of Cody’s quest to find his grandfather’s hidden lover. Talbot delivers a beautifully drawn tale as Cody and Kelvin meet over an antique belt buckle, then join forces to find it’s original owner; offering hints of a parallel to Cody’s grandfather’s story.

After his grandfather had died, Cody came across a box with love letters, carefully maintained and obviously well read. When the letters reveal the belt buckle’s maker was also his grandfather’s past lover, Cody decides to return both the letters and the buckle to the rightful owner. However, the whim is not as easy as it first appears and Cody ends up down on his luck, far from home in Santa Fe.

Hoping to pawn the buckle, with the goal of eventually getting it back, Cody gets his first stroke of luck in meeting Kelvin. Kelvin runs his family’s pawnshop, passed through the generations and more caring for the items and the people who owned them, then the dollar amount attached to them. Kelvin is instantly attracted to the lean, sexy cowboy and offers to help, thinking he could see more of Cody and when is that a bad thing?

Cody is a classic cowboy with the whip-lean strength, rugged handsome looks and sex appeal that sparks without even trying. He is timeless and has the aura of never being hurried, regardless of the situation. Kelvin fits in with the cowboy with his work rough hands and easy, sexy demeanor. Both are attracted to the other, but slow to test those desires.

The story moves along easily, the relationship a slow shimmer rather than a wild fire. It has a classic Talbot feel, allowing the characters to know each other and let their passion build instead of instantly giving into their desires. The character of Elias Yazzie, the buckle maker, was unexpectedly charming. His ageless and timeless appeal was just enough to spark curiosity about his relationship to Cody’s grandfather.

This was a lovely story with sexy men and an interesting quest. It was an easy read, being a short, satisfying glimpse at the beginning of the love story of Cody and Kelvin. I found myself really curious about Elias and Randall and their forbidden but clearly lasting love. I can only hope Talbot will revisit all of these men in the future.

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