Reviewed by Sadonna

TITLE:  Sparrow

SERIES:  Rebel Sky Ranch

AUTHOR:  Kelly Fox

PUBLISHER:  Self-published

LENGTH:  2xx pages

RELEASE DATE:  September 15, 2021

BLURB: 

I like horses better than most people. After years of supporting our local equine rescue, it’s safe to say that I have a certified hate-on for the rodeo. So why is Luke McCall, injured rodeo diva, in my training paddock?

I feel bad that he was outed by the media, and I get the need to regroup out of the spotlight. I might even be willing to admit that he’s a little more vulnerable than his Rodeo King persona would suggest.

But, seriously—why does he have to recover in my bunkhouse?

I thought volunteering at a queer-friendly horse ranch was a stroke of brilliance—I’d get to hang out with horses while rebuilding strength and mobility after my injury. Win-win, right? Wrong.

Rebel Sky’s gorgeous foreman hates my guts on sight, even if he is willing to protect me from the bigots who just want a shot at the fallen cowboy.

What would it take to get him to see that I’m a good man with a soft heart and a helpful little rope kink?

Enemies-to-lovers, opposites attract, hurt-comfort, rope play.

REVIEW:

NOTE:  This is the second book in this series and while it can be read as a standalone, there are major spoilers for the first book 🙂

Luke McCall is a closeted rodeo star.  He’s a national champion and he’s a lover of horses.  He’s had some bad injuries, but when something goes horribly wrong with a messed up ride, he suffers a shoulder injury so devastating that he might not make it back.  Even worse, he’s outed after he is injured and he’s not interested in capitalizing on it.  He just wants to get away from things to rest, recuperate and hopefully heal enough that he can get back to the only thing he knows – riding and rodeoing.

Sebastian Gorrion, aka Sparrow, is the foreman at Rebel Sky Ranch.  He’s needed to hire another hand to help with the horses for some time.  But he’s not been satisfied with anybody.  When Luke McCall, the Rodeo King shows up, Sparrow isn’t interested.  But Trip, the owner’s son and the boss,  overrules him, he takes on Luke – extremely begrudgingly.  He hates the rodeo and he always has.  He’s not interested in making things nice for Luke.  He barely gives him the time of day and usually glares at him far too much.

Luke does everything he can to do a good job.  He’s great with the horses and he’s getting things done one-armed and dealing with a still healing broken hip as well.  He’s in constant pain, but he won’t take painkillers – he’s seen that go bad waaaaay too many times.  He really has no support except for his right-hand guy, Colt.  But his family background isn’t good and his mother is a leech who only wants his money.  He’s got some terrible relationships in his past.  He really is on his own and it’s more than a little sad.  Especially because he really is a very good guy.

Sparrow has a real chip on his shoulder when it comes to Luke.  He automatically assumes the very worst at every turn.  Only when he sees how he gets along with the horse that bites everyone and he figures out what her problem is immediately does he grudgingly realize that maybe Luke isn’t totally what he assumed.  He’s having a very hard time admitting he was wrong though.  Finally, he understands just how lonely and beat down Luke is and he gives in to his desire for him 🙂  And it turns out that they are very compatible in the bedroom 😉

As the two men grow closer, Sparrow begins to feel a lot of guilt in how he’s treated Luke.  Luckily for Sparrow, he’s got wonderfully supportive and super smart and insightful parents 😀  They each try to help him see the way forward.  Luke unfortunately has only one completely awful and non-supportive parent.  Well she’s supportive of him risking his body to keep her in the style to which she has become accustomed.  Other than that, she’s patently awful!

When an incident occurs that further pushes Luke into the spotlight – totally without his approval or consultation – he’s devastated.  He’s tried so hard to live his life and not be pitied or scorned or even be known for anything except his skills.  When this is taken away from him, it’s quite a blow.  Thankfully Sparrow and the rest of the guys at the ranch as well as his friend Colt are there for him.  He’s finally found the support and the family that he’s always yearned for 🙂

Well I just loved this story.  I felt so bad for Luke – getting horribly injured and outed without his knowledge or consent.  The only person who really cared about HIM was Colt.  His mother, his agent, his horrid ex-boyfriend – they were only concerned about their cash cow!  Awful.   When Luke went to the ranch to see if he could just hide away to rest and recuperate, I just know that this would be a good move, despite Sparrow’s mistrust.  Trip seemed to be a much better judge or character 😉  In the beginning, Sparrow had what I like to call the Chase Gioberti syndrome.   I’m dating myself here, but for any Falcon Crest fans, Chase Gioberti was the self-righteous character played by Robert Foxworth and was the character I absolutely detested on that show.  He he ALWAYS right in his mind.  He never every gave an inch or recognized that his life was not everyone else’s.  Anyway, I digress.  I wanted to slap Sparrow upside the head more than once with the way he treated Luke.  His just assumed everything about him – so much so that he couldn’t even see what was right in front of him.  Then there was the unwanted attraction 😉  Hahahaha!  I knew he wasn’t going to shrug that off.  I loved that Sparrow’s parents were the ones to get him to pull his head out of his ass and just embrace what he knew to be the truth and a good man 😀  I LOVED both his parents.  I wish we’d get a book about his father, but he was one of my favorite characters of the whole book and the source of a great deal of humor 😀  Wick and Colt were hilarious on so many levels.  I loved seeing more of Wyatt and Desi and Sam and Trip and even the Bash twins.  But the absolute best part of this whole book was getting to see Luke finally cut the toxicity out of his life and embrace his full self and live his truth with his wonderful found family.

I can’t wait for more books – hopefully starring Wick and Colt and Wyatt and Desi and the rest of the gang too 🙂  This series is so good and I hope we’re in for a long a fun ride with this group.  I’m looking forward to at least the two additional books that I know are planned.   Highly recommended for fans of cowboys, enemies to lovers, rope kink and happy endings served up with a healthy dose of personal growth, love and humor!

RATING:

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