Rancher's Law by Diana Palmer
My Rating: Four and 1/2 out of Five stars.
My Review on Goodreads
This is a bind up of a novel Rancher’s Law and a novella, Guy.
Review of Rancher’s Law:
Amelia Grayson nurtured an unrequited love for her troubled neighbor Cal Hollister who viewed her only as a friend and off limits romantically. She was determined to enjoy their time together, with the understanding that they would never get a happy ending. He “wasn’t the type to settle down,” something that her grandfather continually reminds of her. When tragedy strikes, they part in the worst of ways, misunderstanding and distrust between them. Years later, they run into each other again in Jacobsville. Amelia has moved on with her life (as best as possible), and Cal is not in a good place emotionally. Cal has realized Amelia is the one who got away, but can he convince her to give him another chance?
This is a heartfelt, second chance-at-love with plenty of angst, and Diana Palmer’s characteristic gentle humor. Fans of Diana Palmer’s Long Tall Texas series will appreciate getting a chance to spend more time with beloved characters and to see a new couple’s relationship come to fruition. Dark content, such as war and violent death during war, child death, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, grief, toxic family relationships, alcoholism and drug abuse feature in this story, but are dealt with sensitively. The values and traits of many of the characters do feel dated (although this may be the norm in small towns?), which may not appeal to some readers who like their romances with a very contemporary feel. I do think there was an opportunity to humanize Edie (the other woman) and explore her complexity as a person. (Honestly, I was thinking it would be cool to have a story about Edie where she finds a happy ending). There was quite a bit of editorializing via character speeches in this book that may annoy some readers. I was able to shrug that off personally, but I can see that being off putting to some.
As usual, Cal has the Diana Palmer hero trait of being very emotionally mean to Amelia (for reasons that are very frustrating to me, and his viewpoint is really archaic). I did like that he was very remorseful and did grovel in a satisfactory way. Amelia comes off as very young, and in some ways, unbelievably innocent (for a 21st Century young woman). You can’t help but love her (in my opinion, Diana Palmer heroines are always likable).
As a lifelong fan of Diana Palmer, it was nice to get an opportunity to spend time with her characteristic storytelling. I am able to shrug off some of the dated aspects and enjoy her writing. (I just remind myself that her stories exist in some sort of time bubble and it makes things more believable). While I like romances with on the page sex scenes, I think sometimes they can be over the top and I get kind of burned out and put off by it, if I’m honest. It’s nice to read a romance that isn’t too descriptive with the sex scenes that focuses on the sensuality and emotion. Because that’s what I read romance for (if you can get good love scenes that are nicely sexy too then that’s great). I would love to see some black people in Jacobsville. There are literally zero.
It wasn’t perfect, but it was a good read and it calmed me down and relaxed me to read this on my Kindle after work. 4.25/5.0 stars
Review of Guy
I really liked this story. I don’t know why, but it flowed a lot better for me, and there weren’t any things that rubbed me the wrong way. I love me some angst, and there was some great angst in this one. Both Guy and Candy are both very tortured by past traumas, and carry scars and wounds. I love an imperfect, physically ailing heroine, so that drew me in. I think I remember Guy from previous Long Tall Texan stories, and he seemed a lot more lighthearted in those. He’s pretty dark and taciturn. At first, they don’t get along, but as they spend time together and get to know each other (and each other’s trauma), they find a bond with each other. Even though things move very quickly, it felt authentic and possible. I loved how they were there for each other. Although it wouldn’t seem very interesting, I liked the tidbits about raising cattle and how to feed them (and moving towards organic and humane care for them) because I’m a nerd. It was a sweet and meaningful romance. Yeah, I loved everything about this story. 5 stars.
Overall rating: 4.5 (technically it was 4.6 stars doing the math)/5.0 stars.
Review of Rancher’s Law:
Amelia Grayson nurtured an unrequited love for her troubled neighbor Cal Hollister who viewed her only as a friend and off limits romantically. She was determined to enjoy their time together, with the understanding that they would never get a happy ending. He “wasn’t the type to settle down,” something that her grandfather continually reminds of her. When tragedy strikes, they part in the worst of ways, misunderstanding and distrust between them. Years later, they run into each other again in Jacobsville. Amelia has moved on with her life (as best as possible), and Cal is not in a good place emotionally. Cal has realized Amelia is the one who got away, but can he convince her to give him another chance?
This is a heartfelt, second chance-at-love with plenty of angst, and Diana Palmer’s characteristic gentle humor. Fans of Diana Palmer’s Long Tall Texas series will appreciate getting a chance to spend more time with beloved characters and to see a new couple’s relationship come to fruition. Dark content, such as war and violent death during war, child death, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, grief, toxic family relationships, alcoholism and drug abuse feature in this story, but are dealt with sensitively. The values and traits of many of the characters do feel dated (although this may be the norm in small towns?), which may not appeal to some readers who like their romances with a very contemporary feel. I do think there was an opportunity to humanize Edie (the other woman) and explore her complexity as a person. (Honestly, I was thinking it would be cool to have a story about Edie where she finds a happy ending). There was quite a bit of editorializing via character speeches in this book that may annoy some readers. I was able to shrug that off personally, but I can see that being off putting to some.
As usual, Cal has the Diana Palmer hero trait of being very emotionally mean to Amelia (for reasons that are very frustrating to me, and his viewpoint is really archaic). I did like that he was very remorseful and did grovel in a satisfactory way. Amelia comes off as very young, and in some ways, unbelievably innocent (for a 21st Century young woman). You can’t help but love her (in my opinion, Diana Palmer heroines are always likable).
As a lifelong fan of Diana Palmer, it was nice to get an opportunity to spend time with her characteristic storytelling. I am able to shrug off some of the dated aspects and enjoy her writing. (I just remind myself that her stories exist in some sort of time bubble and it makes things more believable). While I like romances with on the page sex scenes, I think sometimes they can be over the top and I get kind of burned out and put off by it, if I’m honest. It’s nice to read a romance that isn’t too descriptive with the sex scenes that focuses on the sensuality and emotion. Because that’s what I read romance for (if you can get good love scenes that are nicely sexy too then that’s great). I would love to see some black people in Jacobsville. There are literally zero.
It wasn’t perfect, but it was a good read and it calmed me down and relaxed me to read this on my Kindle after work. 4.25/5.0 stars
Review of Guy
I really liked this story. I don’t know why, but it flowed a lot better for me, and there weren’t any things that rubbed me the wrong way. I love me some angst, and there was some great angst in this one. Both Guy and Candy are both very tortured by past traumas, and carry scars and wounds. I love an imperfect, physically ailing heroine, so that drew me in. I think I remember Guy from previous Long Tall Texan stories, and he seemed a lot more lighthearted in those. He’s pretty dark and taciturn. At first, they don’t get along, but as they spend time together and get to know each other (and each other’s trauma), they find a bond with each other. Even though things move very quickly, it felt authentic and possible. I loved how they were there for each other. Although it wouldn’t seem very interesting, I liked the tidbits about raising cattle and how to feed them (and moving towards organic and humane care for them) because I’m a nerd. It was a sweet and meaningful romance. Yeah, I loved everything about this story. 5 stars.
Overall rating: 4.5 (technically it was 4.6 stars doing the math)/5.0 stars.
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