Reviewed by Kat
TITLE: The Second Time Around
AUTHOR: Rowan McAllister
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 200 pages
RELEASE DATE: September 11, 2018
BLURB:
Though born into wealth and privilege, Jordan Thorndike can’t keep pretending. He’s never going to become the lawyer his parents hope for… or provide the daughter-in-law and two-point-four grandkids they expect. Faced with an ultimatum—carry on living the lie or get out—Jordan leaves with only what he can pack in his BMW.
Homeless, jobless, directionless, Jordan heads to one of his mother’s pet charities: Better the Second Time Around Rescue ranch. With his family name and charm, he has the staff eating out of his hand in no time—except for one man.
Russ has never been handed anything, and he resents the spoiled rich brat using the ranch to live out a fantasy. Though Jordan is determined to prove himself to Russ through hard work, family and old wounds complicate matters. Will Jordan realize that what he sees as an escape is real life for most people? And can Russ accept that Jordan can grow—and that he wants him?
REVIEW:
Sometime you get that rare moment when you get so much more than you ever thought to imagine…this book was one of those special times!
Jordan Thorndike was born into wealth and privilege. He was in the home stretch to obtaining the law career that he had studied for. From the outside Jordan looked like the golden child…gorgeous, the body of a god, money, family connections. Jordan seemed to have it all…unfortunately Jordan didn’t have what he really wanted. He wanted to be loved for who he really was. He wanted to pursue a career that he wanted to do, not what his father had chose for him. And he wanted, with his whole being, to be accepted for the real person he was…a gay man. But that wasn’t it the cards for Jordan. The moment that he finally couldn’t take it any more and broke down and told his parent everything was the last moment that he was welcomed in the family home. His father through him out, cut him of completely and disinherited him. His mother just sat there and was mortified. Lost and hurt, Jordan gathers everything that he can fit into his convertible and heads out on the road without any kind of plan. When he discovers that his father immediately cut him off from all finances he is destroyed. He has never had to fend for himself and has no idea what to do. When an alert on his phone reminds him that he and his mom were suppose to go to Texas later in the summer to check on one of her favorite charities, a animal rescue ranch in Texas, he decides to drive there and see if he could volunteer for a bit until he figures out what to do with his life. He has fond memories of the ranch that their family used to go to on vacation to and he connected well with the ranch and the horses. A little hard work never phased him. But what is he to do when one of the first two people he lays eyes on is one of the hottest cowboys he has ever seen?
Children being thrown out of their home by their parents because they are gay, and that goes against their narrow minded religious beliefs, has always baffled and infuriated me. You boost that you are a strong Christian but you throw away the gift that was given to you by God because they are an abomination. Really! That is how you see you are suppose to act. Yes, Jordan has been a spoiled and pampered man. But he is also your blood! How can you, in any consciousness, believe that throwing away your child is the right thing to do! I saw way too much of this in my years of public education. Students that had been tossed away – disposable if you will – because they came out to their fine upstanding religious parents. Couch surfing so that they had a roof over their head so they could graduate and try to get somewhere in life. It makes my heart hurt that these so-called parents think this is okay!
As you can probably tell, my heart went out to Jordan immediately. I wanted him to just have the time, in a safe place, to work out where he goes from here. That is where Phyllis “Phyl” Wharton and the BSTAR ranch comes in. I would hope that I could be seen as the compassionate, caring Mom of the ranch that she is. Yes she is tough but she also has a heart for all creatures that need a little TLC and a second chance. She is the kind of person that I would look up to and admire. I loved that she opened her heart and home for the young man that she remembered so fondly and stood beside him while he tried to figure out where he was going and what was next in his world. Everyone needs a “Phyl” in their lives, a person that believes in you and has your back when you need it most!
I get where Russ was coming from. Here comes in this gorgeous guy, driving a fancy little sports car and dressed to impress. He name drops his family name in order to hang out at the ranch. But he didn’t know the real story behind Jordan. I was thankful that he finally listened to his heart and Phyl and took a second chance at love. He had been burned before and his trust level was so minute that he seemed so harsh and cold. The couple ex’s of his that showed up at the ranch could have blown what little confidence that Jordan was finally achieving. I get Todd as a bit of drama but the angst that Isaiah caused could have totally destroyed poor Jordan. I am just thankful that Russ pulled his head out of his ass and realized that he could lose “the one” that was right in front of him.
I also appreciate Gemma, Jordan’s little sister searching out for her brother and being willing to champion his cause. She might have been a spoiled little princess but it was obvious that she loved her bigger brother and wasn’t going to let her dad’s idiocy make her lose him. Let’s hope she is successful in making her mom come to her senses, not that Jordan and Russ need the family to make it but I know that it would help heal a hole in Jordan’s heart.
I’m sure that you have figured out that I am a huge fan of this book and this new-to-me author. I can’t recommend this book enough, I loved it that much! It is one of my Book of the Year books for me and a must-read in my opinion!
RATING: 
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