Reviewed by Larissa

TITLE:  The Blacksmith and the Ex-Con

SERIES:  Farthingdale Ranch Book 2

AUTHOR:  Jackie North

PUBLISHER:  Self-published

LENGTH: 312 pages

RELEASE DATE:  May 25, 2021

BLURB:

“If anybody ever needed him, Ellis did. Ellis was broken. Jasper liked to fix things.”

Jasper has the perfect life. He’s a blacksmith at a small guest ranch in Wyoming. The last thing he needs is to have that perfect life interrupted by a shifty-eyed ex-con, but the ranch needs the tax benefits the ex-con program will bring.

Traumatized by his time in prison, Ellis can barely speak. He’s about to be offered parole. He knows he will hate working on the guest ranch, but what other option does he have?

It’s not love at first sight. It’s not hate at first sight, either, but something in between.

A gay m/m cowboy romance with age gap, hurt/comfort, opposites attract, forced intimacy, emotional scars, trauma leading to mutism, grumpy/grumpy, and baths. A little sweet, a little steamy, with a guaranteed HEA.

REVIEW:

The Blacksmith and the Ex-Con is the second book in Jackie North’s Farthingdale Ranch series.  As we learn in Book 1, The Foreman and the Drifter, Farthingdale Ranch is the guest ranch featured in Honey From the Lion, Book 2 in Jackie’s North’s Love Across Time MM time travel romance series.  The main character in that book, Laurie Quinn, disappeared from Farthingdale Ranch when he time-traveled back to 1891.  His unexplained disappearance severely impacted the financial stability of the guest ranch as people began canceling reservations and new bookings slowed.  

When The Blacksmith and the Ex-Con begins, we see the ranch is on the road to recovery but still has a long way to go.  The humble and generous farm workers strive every day to keep the farm afloat.  In an effort to bring additional money in, the ranch decides to take in an ex-con as part of a parole program.  But to keep him separate from the guests, he’ll be living with Jasper Nash, the ranch’s blacksmith and farrier, in Jasper’s cabin, located about a quarter-mile from the main part of the ranch.  Jasper is tasked with supervising the ex-con, training him to work as Jasper’s apprentice, and helping him acclimate back into society.

So when Ellis arrives, Jasper expects the worst.  He doesn’t trust Ellis, but he gives him the benefit of the doubt.  Jasper displays a level of patience and caring that I frankly did not expect based on how he was portrayed in Book 1.  The glimpses we got of him there showed him to be gruff and withdrawn.  But here, we see Jasper’s hidden depths.  While he is an introverted, ex-military, regimented man with a burly, intimidating appearance, we see he’s actually a marshmallow of a man, truly kind and generous. Jasper inherently understands Ellis and what he needs.  More importantly, Jasper understands Ellis’ thoughts even though Ellis cannot verbalize them.  

Ellis Bowman dedicated his life to his mother and trying to beat the cancer that ultimately takes her life.  But Ellis’ misguided attempts to save her cause him to abandon his job as a teacher. He turns to dealing drugs in order to pay for any and every treatment available to help her.  Ellis makes the wrong choice and even though it’s for the right reason, he suffers the consequences. 

After two years in jail, including three days in solitary which, combined with his mother’s death, provokes his traumatic mutism, Ellis is a broken man whose only wish is to see his mother’s grave and apologize for failing her.  After that, his life holds no purpose or meaning.  Yet when he arrives at Farthingdale Ranch to serve his parole, Jasper’s gentleness, patience, and accommodation shock him.  He soon realizes that maybe, thanks to Jasper, he may have a second chance at life, a new beginning, if he’s willing to take it.  In the gentle, beautiful calm of Farthingdale Ranch and the cocoon of Jasper’s protection, Ellis’ hope begins to grow.

Ms. North spotlights Jasper and Ellis’ improbable, age-gap, opposites attract, against the odds romance through her inimitable, detailed, vivid, impactful prose.  True to Ms. North’s style, the story does not depend upon action to propel the plot.  Certain events pop up throughout the story, adding dynamics and differentiation in pacing that textures the underlying character exploration that serves as the mainline story.   

Jasper and Ellis fall in love in close proximity.  They exist in a bubble, set off from the rest of the ranch in Jasper’s small, homey cabin.  No frills and completely serviceable, calm and orderly, an accurate reflection of the man that lives in it.  We see how each man fills in the spaces of the other to allow healing and a rebirth of sorts to happen.  The connection between them is instant and so strong that they understand each other completely without the need for words.  Their dynamic is intimate in a way you don’t typically see in a romance.  It’s extremely understated yet highly impactful and the juxtaposition is breathtaking.

Every time I read a book penned by Ms. North, the uniqueness of her writing style strikes me.  She tells her story with exceptional, vibrant detail which translates to top-notch world-building.  You can see Farthingdale Ranch in your mind’s eye, feel the baking heat of the sun, smell the scents of grass, shrub, and river.  Her unhurried pacing and deliberate delivery give the impression of unaffectedness, while the emotions inherently evoked by her words affect deeply.  Between that and her multi-dimensional, endearing characters, Ms. North achieves an altogether absorbing read.

In The Blacksmith and the Ex-Con, Ms. North tells a beautiful, emotional story that latches on to even an impatient reader.  Her prose is captivating and you won’t want to miss a word of it.  You do not need to read Book 1, The Foreman and the Drifter first.  However, if you haven’t read it, I recommend you do.  It is an excellent story, similar in feel to The Blacksmith and the Ex-Con.  It will give you further context that, although not necessary, adds to the immersive experience of this story, which I hope you read whether you choose to do so as a standalone or part of the series.

RATING: 

BUY LINK: 

Amazon