Title: Clouds and Rain
Author: Zahra Owens
Cover Artist: Anne Cain
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Buy Link (Kindle): Buy Link Clouds and Rain
Buy Link (Paperback): Buy Link Clouds and Rain
Genre: Cowboy, Contemporary M/M
Length: Novel (250 pages, word count unlisted)
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
A guest review by Buda
Summary Review: What begins as a fun cowboy-on-cowboy tale loses steam about midway, then jumps the shark around three-fourths through and becomes an infertility tale about a secondary character.
The Blurb:
Flynn Tomlinson has drifted for several years, working odd jobs when he needs the money and moving on when he doesn’t. He’s content with his freestyle life, not tied down, not responsible for anyone but himself. Then he comes across a Help Wanted ad in a post office in Idaho and meets Gable Sutton. Gable can’t pay Flynn until he sells his horses, but a serious accident has left him unable to work his ranch alone.
Working with horses beats stacking shelves at the supermarket, and so Flynn agrees to Gable’s terms. What Flynn doesn’t bargain for is being captivated by this gentle, lonely man who captures his heart and moves Flynn to take on an incredible burden: saving Gable’s ranch.
The Review:
Flynn Tomlinson takes a job at Gable Sutton’s one-man ranch with the understanding that he won’t get paid until the horses have sold at auction. Having decided that getting back to ranch work suits him more than working as a short-order cook or in a grocery store, Flynn is content enough to work hard along side Gable until the job is done. He is immediately attracted to Gable, the ranch owner, but the two don’t fall easily into a relationship. For starters, Gable is much older (though how much is never determined), not a talkative type, and has a wounded foot that causes him much pain, which makes him a bit surly. Still, Gable appreciates Flynn’s hard work and the delicious meals he prepares for them.
My favorite line appears early:
[Gable had] eyed his cute little butt as he was walking down the barn, admired the long legs and the lean back. Of course he could only imagine that last bit, since it was hidden underneath a suede jacket and a denim shirt, but when he’s turned around earlier, Gable had practically heard his body wolf whistle.
The intense attraction the two have for each other flashes to life when Flynn is working with a young horse and a rattlesnake spooks both of them. Flynn dives away from the rearing horse just as Gable shoots the snake. Fearing Flynn has been bitten, Gable is all over Flynn trying to find the bite before Flynn can react. That leads to their first wild sex, which is unsatisfying for Flynn, who feels used. This is a recurring theme. It stems from Gable’s previous relationship with a man named Grant, who took whatever Gable offered sexually, while keeping him shut out emotionally. Grant left the ranch the night before Gable was injured and hasn’t been seen in the more-than-a-year since.
Flynn and Gable have just taken the first steps into a tentative relationship when they have a bitter fight, leading Gable to retreat to the stables to think. When he gets there, he re-injures his foot and so begins a long hospital drama complete with amputation. While the book is told in alternating third-person POV, when it’s Gable’s tale, his emotions about the loss of his foot are always couched in his feelings about Flynn: will Flynn leave now as Grant did, won’t Flynn stop (s)mothering Gable, etc. Gable’s recuperation from the amputation is handled well otherwise.
Calley, Gable’s best friend, and her husband Bill, the veterinarian, have very minor parts in the story, even while Gable is in hospital, until the three-quarters mark of the book. Then the shark is jumped and the book morphs into an unlikely story of Calley and Bill’s infertility, including a lengthy, lengthy passage about Gable in the semen-donation room. Quite frankly, I didn’t care for this story line and I don’t think it added anything to Flynn and Gable’s story.
Overall, I wasn’t impressed. Flynn and Gable are interesting enough individuals and together they’re in turns amusing and exasperating, as are most people in a relationship. What I found irritating was that at a year into their relationship, Gable is still hiding a secret (related to Calley) from Flynn, which much later leads to a stupid misunderstanding. The secondary coupling of Gable’s friend and neighbor Hunter with Grant was amusing and kind of cute. Frankly, the fertility story ruined my enjoyment of the book because a) it wasn’t necessary and b) it turned Flynn from a confident cowboy into a whiny pain in the ass whose attitude is only bound to cause trouble in the future. Another revelation about Bill, and Gable’s feelings about (not for) him, occurs so late in the story, with no hints given earlier, that it made me question everything I thought I had learned about the characters.
Zahra Owens is a new-to-me author, as this is the first book by her that I have read. Hopefully, fans of her previous work will like the book. I just couldn’t sustain my early enjoyment through the whole story.
I have had this book on my Wish List but was waiting on a review before I decided to buy it. Zahra Owens is kind of hit or miss. I think I’ll pass on this one. Thanks for the review.
Thanks for the comment, Laura. I haven’t checked out any other reviews for the book, perhaps someone else liked it better? If you do decide to read it, good luck! I hope you enjoy it. 🙂
I read this book when it came out so it’s not exactly fresh in my mind. My overall impression was positive, although the fertility story line was annoying – once again. Why is it that 9 times out of 10, perfectly good story gets ruined by some version of the fertility farce? 🙁
As for Zahra Owens, I really like Facade, which has a rather unusual storyline but I haven’t particularly liked couple of other stories, so she’s a hit or miss author for me as well.
Hi, kaija! I have to say, I can’t remember reading any other m/m book where another couple’s fertility problems were an issue. It was a new one for me and totally threw me for a loop. Maybe I’ll check out Facade later since I haven’t explored this author yet. Thanks for the comment.
I was thinking in more general terms of the main couple going on happily without a child, never talking about it or expressing an interest in having one and then suddenly it’s the big deal in the book. Although that’s not the case here, in my mind I’ve categorised this one in the same “Pet peeve: sudden appearance of a baby/child towards the of the book” box. I’m OK with the sudden child syndrome if it’s part of the book from the beginning, such as Manny by Sara Bell, which I liked. I haven’t thought about it before but central part of the plot in Manny is IVF and less than ethical fertility treatments.
I confess I haven’t read Manny, though it was once on my wish list. Perhaps it still is. I’m not overly fond of children anyway (niece/nephew overload when I was growing up, I guess), so this plot device is mostly wasted on me. If the children already exist, as you say, that’s totally different. I thoroughly enjoyed the Faith & Fidelity series by Tere Michaels, which had several children in it. The storyline here just didn’t work with the rest of the book, IMHO.
Buda, the more of your reviews I read, the farther up my Top Reviewers with Similar Taste list you go (you’re gonna have to wrestle with Aunt Lynn soon, though, as she’s held a spot near the top for a while).
In other words, I think this review is spot-on. 😀 Give You Can’t Choose Your Family a try; it’s the only Zahra Owens book I’ve rated 4 stars. Coincidentally (?), Lynn gave it 4.25 stars when she reviewed it here. Diplomacy is consistently highly rated, and was the first book by this author I read. I thought it was okay, but didn’t understand the fuss and didn’t read anything else by her until You Can’t Choose Your Family, the only book by her I’ve actually loved.
p.s. with the Sharks winning in OT, the playoffs are off to a good start this year. Just thinking about our common interests. Is Lynn a hockey fan, too? It could explain so much… 🙂
Wow, Jessica! :god: Thank you so much. It means a lot to me that you would put me anywhere near The Great Aunt Lynn’s league. She gives great book, doesn’t she? 😉
Thanks for the rec. I’ve downloaded the sample for my Kindle. I’ll get to it eventually. lol I remember I tried the sample for Diplomacy when it was new, but even that much didn’t work for me. I didn’t connect the author with that book until just now.
Can you believe I haven’t been able to watch even a period of the playoffs so far? I’m totally freaking out. My Avs aren’t in (obviously), so I’m having trouble deciding who I want to win. I’m torn between Vancouver, Boston and Philadelphia. Of course, if Niemi could win again, that would be a total FU to Chicago, which would be so worth it! Hmm. I’ll have to give that some thought. :crystalball:
Hockey’s not really my thing but unless you live in a cave, it’s impossible to avoid in Finland 🙂 I guess part of the reason why I try to avoid watching hockey (World championships and Olympics) is because it’s an excercise in frustration for a Finn, as Finnish national team always manage to lose the important games 🙁
The funny thing is I do keep track of what Finnish NHL players are doing and Niemi was followed very closely in the papers last year, probably because he hadn’t previously been considered among the best of Finnish goalies (Kiprusoff, Lehtonen etc.). This year is all about Selänne – at least for now.
Kaija, whatever happened to Vesa Toskala? He went from Toronto to…nowhere. I always liked him. As an Avalanche fan, I still have issues with Selanne. He came to Denver with so much hype and completely threw away the season. :grumble:
All I could say after I read this book was “Yay for Kindle Borrow” as I immediately returned it to the owner. Your review was spot on.
Thank you for the comment, Luci. I’m sorry to hear you didn’t enjoy it more than I did. One of these days I will utilize that borrow/lend feature!
Great review Buda! I would respond similarly with this story line. Thanks for your review and the time and energy put into it.
BTW- what is “jumps the shark”? I’ve never heard that. Is it a saying for “self destruct”? I’m so far behind the times! 😯
Thank you, Reggie. 🙂 “Jumping the shark” is that moment you know it’s all down hill. It’s actually a reference to a “Happy Days” episode. Here’s the link to Wikipedia’s explanation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jumping_the_shark
I like the cover, very fitting with the title, but I don´t think the book is for me the way it goes the last part :sceptic:
Thank you for your review 😎
Hi, Helena. That cover is beautiful, isn’t it? I’m not one for twinks, but that young cowboy on the right might could change my mind! lol The last part of the book. Well, let’s just say I was inordinately glad to be done with it. Thanks for the comment!
Thanks Buda I think I’ll give this a miss, it doesn’t sound very special.I had rather liked the cover though.
Hi, Raine. I liked the cover a lot, liked the majority of the book, too, but not enough to compensate for the rest of it. :/ Thanks for the comment.
Buda
I read and enjoyed Diplomacy because I love those types of plots, but this one would not be a favourite.
The whole fertility and “baby” theme is one of the reasons I don’t read het romances any more. Second, this plot seems far fetched and incomprehensible in turn, so definitely a miss for me.
You had a great run last week but now you’re back to the so so books like most of us. 🙁
Thank you for another fine job Buda.
Hey, Wave. I did have a good run, didn’t I? Did I say thank you for that yet? (See, I still remember what side my bread’s buttered on!) 😉
You know, if it weren’t for the fertility thing and the secrets, I would have probably rated this one higher. The writing was engaging and the characters likeable enough. But that thing coming out of nowhere just blew it for me.
Thanks for commenting. 🙂
Wave,
The whole fertility and “baby” theme is one of the reasons I don’t read het romances any more.
Same here!
It’s a shame that the book didn’t live up to the cover. That’s a great cover. Infertility? Yeah, no. Thanks for the review, Buda.
Hi, Marilyn. Great cover, no? I have a sneaking suspicion this one wouldn’t rate highly for you. We’ll see what we can cook up for next week. 😉 Thanks for the comment!
Nice review, but I enjoyed the book 😎
Thanks for the comment, Kathy. I’m glad you liked the book! That’s the wonderful thing about books–opinions about them are as varied as the people who read them. 🙂
Hi Buda,
I wouldn’t have read this book anyway since the blurb didn’t sound too intriguing, but I’ve read some of Zahra Owens before and was interested in your opinion.
I’ve read Diplomacy early in my “m/m reading carreer”. Back then, I liked it immensely, and I’ve reread it now and again since. As far as I know, Diplomacy was the author’s first, and in my opinion, by far her best book so far.
What can I say, Feliz? I was in the mood for some hot cowboys! 😉 I liked the concept of Diplomacy, but the Kindle sample didn’t work for me at the time. Maybe I’ll try it again later. Thanks for the comment!
I felt about what you did for this story. It started off great, and even when I had a good eye-roll with all the hospital drama, it was still okay. The whole thing with Grant and then Calley, though, killed any enjoyment with the story I had.
The author has some stories that aren’t bad, but I won’t just buy anything right off the rack again. I’ll wait until someone reviews it first.
Hi, Merith! Thanks for the comment. The Grant story line didn’t bother me a bit (although I did have some niggles about the house-building timeline and adding him to the donor list seemed like an extraordinarily bad idea). It does seem to have been an issue for a lot of readers, though. If only the fertility story line hadn’t came out of nowhere, I might have rated the book higher. Alas.
Maybe I’m not as nice as others are, but it would take more than a few pretty words and a lunch to get me to forgive someone like Grant. I also had a hard time with the so-called best friend not only having sex with Gable’s boyfriend, she allows him near Gable while he’s in the hospital.
😕
Oh, that whole Calley with Grant thing? Yeah, they’d’ve both been missing some essential anatomy if they’d been my friend and lover. It’s one thing to cheat, but with the best friend? Na-uh. I certainly couldn’t have forgiven either of them for that, and can be damn sure Grant leaving wouldn’t have been his idea. His stuff would have been in ashes on the front lawn as soon as I found out. Yes, I’m a vindictive bitch like that. Wanna cross me? 😉
Finally read the thing. I was about 1/3 into the book when the review was posted. Unfortunately your review was pretty spot on. While Gable and Flynn worked ok as a couple, and I didn’t mind Hunter and Grant’s pairing either, what pretty much ruined the overall impression was Calley. And I’m not talking about the whole infertility thing either. I’m talking about the Calley and Grant bomb that was dropped along the way. I’m sorry but Grant having cheated on Gable is one thing, but Calley being one of the people he’s cheated with is straight out of a soap opera. The only difference being that in for some reason Gable was fine with that 😯 😕 At that point I was seriously thinking about not finishing the book. I mean she’s supposed to be his BFF. BFFs don’t do that to each other, no matter how unhappy/frustrated she was with her life/marriage/husband of WTF ever. So, yeah Calley was a major issue for me and IMO the book would have been better without her in it. After all it’s not like side story that involves her contributed much to the main plot line, or the development of Gable and Flynn’s relationship.