Reviewed by Vicki
TITLE: McFarland’s Farm
SERIES: Hope #1
AUTHOR: Cardeno C.
PUBLISHER: The Romance Authors
LENGTH: 56 pages
BLURB:
Wealthy, attractive Lucas Reika treats life like a party, moving from bar to bar and man to man. Thumbing his nose at his restaurateur father’s demand that he earn his keep, Lucas instead seduces a valued employee in the kitchen of their flagship restaurant, earning himself an ultimatum: lose access to his father’s money or stay in the middle of nowhere with a man he has secretly lusted over from afar.
Quiet, hard-working Jared McFarland loves his farm on the outskirts of Hope, Arizona, but he aches to have someone to come home to at the end of the day. Jared agrees to take in his longtime crush as a favor. But when Lucas invades his heart in addition to his space, Jared has to decide how much of himself he’s willing to risk and figure out if he can offer Lucas enough to keep him after his father’s punishment is over.
REVIEW:
I seem to unintentionally be on a short story kick lately…. Some have been ok, some good, and some great! This one was great! I always enjoy books by Cardeno, she consistently writes a good sweet story. Sometimes they can be a little sappy, this one wasn’t that way. It was short, but somehow didn’t feel rushed. I try not to say “I wish this book was longer”, I’ve seen authors complain about readers saying that in reviews, but I wish this book was longer! I know it’s a short story and meant to be a certain length, and I’m honestly not complaining about the length, I just liked it and wanted more good stuff!
Lucas is a spoiled little shit from LA, living a useless life, sleeping his way around town, more interested in his clothing and hair than anything else. He is beautiful, pampered, and did I mention spoiled? His daddy owns restaurants and finally makes Lucas work a bit, only to have Lucas make a big old mess. I won’t tell you what he does, but it is naughty! His punishment is banishment to his half sister’s ex-boyfriend’s farm in Hope Arizona. Ugh.
Poor Jared… He’s had a rough life. He married young, trying to avoid the fact that he was gay, and was left with an ex-wife who is his best friend. He owns a farm, growing organic vegetables, some of which are sold to his ex-wife’s father for use in his high end restaurants in LA. Jared is a loner, never having a relationship with a man, just the occasional hook up now and then. Jared is shy, quiet, and a big, strapping man. His life changes when his ex-wife tells him he has a visitor on the way…
So Lucas is horrible, I didn’t like him for close to half the book. I was concerned, I didn’t like him, didn’t like him for Jared, it was just not right! He was rude and nasty! But I trusted Cardeno, and she got me there. Gradually he grows on you. And on Jared apparently! This turned out to be a nice little romance, with characters that had some real meat to them. Jared’s story slowly comes out, and I see why he’s so shy, and caring of the community he loves in. Lucas’s bad behavior is explained as well, it rarely is the fault of the spoiled child that they are so spoiled, and that is the case with Lucas. I found a fair amount of sympathy for him, and decided he wasn’t as bad as I thought! It is a short story, but takes place over several weeks, so it wasn’t insta-love, and I appreciate that. These men had to work to get to where they end up. There’s some drama, mostly about their own issues and building trust between them, but it’s not an overly angst ridden story. There’s not a lot of external drama or action, it’s pretty well contained between the two of them. Which was fine, it worked very well as it was written.
I started off not liking Lucas, but once I understood him, I liked him. I liked Jared just fine, he was the true star of the book, with his calm patience. Once they realize what is between them, and the passion kicks in, the sex is very yummy! They are a good match eventually, I liked them as a couple. The plot is not huge, but it was contained and controlled and worked very well in the short time we had to get it. Like I said, not sappy or overly dramatic, but interesting non the less. The writing was great, the focus jumps back and forth between Lucas and Jared, I like to see that so we see in each characters head. I see it is book one in a series, I’m already looking forward to more! Will it be more of these guys? Or another couple? We’ll see!
RATING: 
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