Reviewed by Valerie
TITLE: Signs of Spring
SERIES: Wild Ones #2
AUTHOR: Rachel Ember
PUBLISHER: Chestnut Press
LENGTH: 273 pages
RELEASE DATE: March 12, 2021
BLURB:
Their unlikely connection grows stronger every day, but to stay together they have to believe not only in each other, but also in themselves.
Lance never believed the stars could align for him to have a real chance with Robbie, and even though they’ve spent every day—and night—together for weeks, a part of him still isn’t convinced it’s all real. But until the inevitable moment he loses Robbie, Lance intends to savor what they share. When Lance is dragged back to Chicago, he’s both relieved and terrified when Robbie offers to come with him.
Robbie loves his family’s Nebraska ranch, but he’s also been solely responsible for keeping it afloat since he was eighteen. He’s always wanted to experience life outside his rural hometown. His glimpse into Lance’s friends and work in Chicago is bittersweet. On the one hand, it’s all too easy to picture a future in Lance’s city and at Lance’s side. On the other hand, it seems impossible given Robbie’s responsibilities to the ranch, and he doesn’t want to hold Lance back from the life and career he’s made.
REVIEW:
Signs of Spring is the sequel to Long Winter which is the origin story of Lance and Robbie. They grew up on neighboring farms in Nebraska where Lance developed a crush on Robbie at an early age. However, Robbie, being fourteen years older than Lance, regarded the boy as family. Devastated after being rejected, Lance left town at sixteen and didn’t return to Nebraska for six years. Having no family of his own, Lance stays with Robbie on his farm and the men become romantically involved now that Lance is an adult.
Signs of Spring begins with Lance needing to return to Chicago to take care of unfinished business. When Lance returned to Nebraska, he escaped a toxic relationship with Niall, an emotionally abusive, much older man. Niall controlled every aspect of Lance’s life, so Lance doesn’t have much hope that he’ll be able to recover many, if any, of his belongings and regain control of his bank account. But of utmost importance is trying to obtain the rights to his photographs that will soon be shown in a gallery. This is the beginning of Lance’s professional artistic photography career but it seems that Niall currently has control of the images, too.
Robbie joins Lance on the trip to Chicago where he has the opportunity to meet Lance’s best friend Maisie and a handful of other friends. When an emergency requires Robbie to return home prematurely, Lance’s insecurity and defeatism get the better of him and put the couple on rocky ground.
I enjoyed this story more than its predecessor. It wasn’t as overly descriptive and, at times, tiresome as Long Winter. My biggest complaint about Long Winter was all the confusing, non-sequential flashbacks. Signs of Springs contains flashbacks but I didn’t find them annoying, thankfully. The secondary characters are enjoyable and include Lance’s colorful Chicago friends, Lance’s sister and niece, Megan, Johnny, and briefly, Danny.
Overall, this is a solid continuation of Lance and Robbie’s relationship. It is definitely not a standalone. I recommend this book for readers who enjoyed Long Winter; I think you’ll find it to be a satisfying conclusion.
RATING: 
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