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?
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Cat gives this one 4 Meows with a 3 Purr heat index...
Jordan expected his coming out to his parent to be bad but not being disowned. As long as he did as his father wanted, becoming a lawyer and marrying a woman they would let things slide, but Jordan decides not to hide any longer. With nowhere to go and is credit cards canceled he decides to go to the charity his mother supported an Animal rescue called the Second Time Around Ranch. B STAR for short.
Phyllis welcomes him with open arms and offers to let him stay for room and board since he is good with the animals, However, the foreman, Russ wants him gone ASAP. He doesn't have time to coddle spoiled little rich kids.
I liked all of the characters in the story. I even liked that at first Russ comes off as a major butthead, but is redeemed by the end of the story. I loved Jordan and how he was from money but had no problem working to prove his worth. I adored Phyllis. She is just wonderful and the glue that made the story stick.
I liked the storyline. There is a lot of raw emotion, and I love the hurt/comfort trope and May/December. You could even say a second chance at life. There are some animals that play a large part in the story as well. so if any one of these or all is your thing I highly recommend this book.
I will say that I wish the ending had been a little more conclusive and a more solid HEA but it was a good HFN.
Excerpt...
Chapter One
“OH SHIT!”
Tires squealed and gravel ricocheted off the undercarriage. The back end of his pretty red BMW 4 series convertible kicked up a cloud of dirt and rocks, fishtailing toward the drop-off. His hands locked on the steering wheel, and his foot tried to slam the brake pedal through the floor as he spun out and his heart lodged itself firmly in his throat.
His life could be ending—right there, right then—and the best he could come up with was “oh shit”?
When the car finally rocked to a stop, the pounding of his heart was almost deafening in the sudden quiet. The whole terrifying ordeal had taken only a few seconds at most, but it felt like years had been shaved from his life.
Cracking open one tightly clamped eyelid, he half expected to find himself teetering over the edge, seconds away from toppling down the side of one of the foothills he’d been speeding through. But no, all four tires were safely supported by an extra-wide gravel shoulder, apparently designed to save assholes like him who weren’t paying attention and took that last turn way too fast.
Drama queen.
The voice in his head was his father’s, though Jordan was pretty sure William Alexander Thorndike II had never actually spoken that particular phrase aloud in his life.
With a grimace, he pried his cramped fingers off the leather-wrapped steering wheel and flexed them a few times before shutting off the engine with one shaking hand. Closing his eyes again, he tossed the keys on the passenger seat, let his head flop back against the headrest, and just breathed. He needed to calm down. He needed to get his head together before he got back on the road, or he really would end up killing himself.
He could see the headline now: Millionaire Banker’s Son Killed in Tragic Crash!
His father would probably be overjoyed. Tragic death in the family would beat out disinheriting gay son scandal any day of the week. Both his parents would get all kinds of sympathy from their country club friends without being tainted by the ugly truth. Win-win.
Except Jordan wouldn’t give them the satisfaction.
“Fuck them.” And because he liked the way that sounded, he lifted his head and shouted it to the hills and trees and birds. “Fuck them!”
Fuck them all. They could keep their perfect firstborn and their darling baby girl. The middle kid always got the shaft anyway, didn’t they? He’d been doomed from the start.
Once his heart slowed to something approaching normal, he climbed out of the car on stiff, shaking legs, rested his palms on the uncomfortably warm glossy red hood, and hung his head. He was being unfair to his siblings. Will Jr. couldn’t help that he was so goddamned perfect, and Gemma would probably be stuck as the baby her entire life. They all had issues, though none of them had ever fucked things up quite as much as Jordan had this time.
He was good at that, if nothing else.
Writer, art quilter, furniture refinisher, fiber snob, foodie, drinkie, pet mommy, romantically pragmatic Jill of all trades. Rowan McAllister is woman who doesn’t so much create as recreate, taking things ignored and overlooked and hopefully making them into something magical and mortal. She believes it’s all in how you look at it. In addition to a continuing love affair with words, she creates art out of fabric, metal, wood, stone, and any other interesting scraps of life she can get her hands on. Everything is simply one perspective change and a little bit of effort away from becoming a work of art that is both beautiful and functional. She lives in the woods, on the very edge of suburbia- where civilization drops off and nature takes over- sharing her home with her patient, loving, and grounded husband, her super sweet hairball of cat, and a mythological beast masquerading as a dog. Her chosen family is made up of a madcap collection of people from many different walks of life, all of whom act as her muses in so many ways, and she would be lost without them.
Congrats on the new release! Thank you for the excerpt =)
ReplyDeletecongrats and loved the excerpt
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