Reviewed by Larissa
TITLE: The Cowboy and the Hoodlum
SERIES: Farthingdale Valley, Book 2
AUTHOR: Jackie North
PUBLISHER: Blue Rain Press
LENGTH: 316 pages
RELEASE DATE: May 31, 2023
BLURB:
Bad boy, bad boy, whatcha gonna do when I fall for you?
A job in the valley provides the break Royce so desperately needs from his regular life. Fresh air, plenty of sunshine, and hard work? That’s the ticket. Evenings around a campfire? Sign him up.
But when a new group of ex-cons arrives, ex-cons he’s responsible for, Royce realizes he is woefully unprepared. Not for the task of being team lead, he’s fully capable of that. No, it’s the bad in one particular bad boy that he is drawn to. The challenging mind beneath that messy dark hair, the insouciant slouch, and the long legs in grease-stained blue jeans and disreputable black motorcycle boots.
It’s more than Royce is prepared to resist.
The bad boy in question, Jonah, has a telling I-don’t-care shrug that reveals a heart-stopping vulnerability—and now all is lost as Royce falls hopelessly in love.
A gay m/m cowboy romance with opposites attract, fish out of water, first time, falling for the bad boy, slow burn, endless flirting, birdwatching, and s’mores around the campfire. A little sweet, a little steamy, with a guaranteed HEA.
REVIEW:
The ironic juxtaposition of Jackie North’s picturesque Farthingdale Ranch against the raw gritty, hardened criminals seeking a second-chance through the ranch’s Farthingdale Valley parole rehabilitation program is unmissable. The only thing more ironic, more unexpected, is the absolute purity of love that develops between Royce and Jonah. It’s sweet and gentle and thrives like a flower blooming in the vast Wyoming landscape. Even the best friends forever relationship between Jonah and Beck takes root and thrives in Farthingdale Valley – and takes a turn I did not at all expect.
The Cowboy and the Hoodlum presents a fish-out-of-water story that pairs North’s gorgeous, sweeping, completely immersive imagery and deliberate, considered, impactful prose with an equally beautiful love story that features fully realized, lively characters, unique and colorful. Pure beauty in setting meets pure beauty in love meets pure beauty in writing – and it’s a fantastic combination. The swoon is off the charts and I adored how North takes the ordinary, everyday events in these men’s lives and makes them extraordinary.
Royce and Jonah make an unpredictably sweet couple. I didn’t feel a whole lot of chemistry between them, but the affection and devotion leaps off the page. I particularly enjoyed the two epilogues, one from each man’s point of view. The Cowboy and the Hoodlum is a refreshing story with a different spin than the other stories in this universe, while always staying true to North’s authentic voice. I recommend it, as well as the entire Farthingdale Ranch series that precedes this series. You do not have to read that series first, nor is it strictly necessary to read the first book in this series, The Cowboy and the Rascal, although it does help for context. Recommended.
🤠🐴🌳🌞💓🍳
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