Title: Floods and Drought
Series: The Wranglers 03
Author: Zahra Owens
Genre: Western, Contemporary
Length: Novel (300pgs)
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (9th March 2012)
Heat Level: Explicit
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥3 ½Hearts
Reviewer: Pixie
Blurb: Tim Conroy knows all about patience. He’s waited three years for Rory McCown to get out of jail after doing time for stealing horses from the Blue River Ranch. Now that Rory is eligible for parole, Tim makes it his goal to persuade his boss, Hunter Krause, to give Rory a second chance.
He almost regrets it when Hunter agrees. Rory is a morose loner one moment, then arrogant and overconfident the next. The attraction between them is still there, but as soon as they start to get close, an old enemy throws a wrench in the works… and their fledgling relationship may not be strong enough to weather the coming storm.
Purchase Link: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=2812
Review: Tim has been keeping tabs on Rory while he has been in prison. When he is eligible for parole, Tim gets Rory a job on the ranch. The same ranch where Rory got into trouble in the first place. Tim takes on the responsibility of Rory and has to fight hard to prove that Rory deserves a fresh start with a clean slate. Rory doesn’t know why Tim has gone to so much trouble, but is thankful. Rory has some secrets that he keeps hidden, but as he gets closer to Tim he decides it is time for him to get clean.
This was very well-written and I did like the dynamics between Tim and Rory and the progression of their story. Rory has had a crap hand dealt him and there are vague references to things that have happened to him in the past. When Rory and Tim meet up again, the sparks are still between them, but Rory has a lot he needs to work through before he is truly comfortable. And Tim has a hard time trying to get people to accept Rory, especially his brother.
There is conflict where there needn’t have been any, if certain people had kept their noses out. As Tim and Rory had enough to deal with and because of one person’s interfering Rory nearly loses everything. Even with Tim standing by his side it is still a near run thing. Tim is a lovely character and he is far from as gullible or naïve as some people think him to. He is strong-willed when he believes in something and he believes in Rory 100%. Rory really isn’t sure about Tim at first and it takes him a while to realize that Tim is serious about him and won’t let him down.
Tim and Rory are really hot together and are well suited. They complement each other and each has something within themselves that the other needs. We also briefly catch up with Gable and Flynn, Hunter and Grant (grrr) and some of the other characters from both Clouds and Rain and Earth and Sky and for me some of them are still not likeable.
So ,with this one I am going to recommend it to those who love troubled men, hot cowboys, hot sex, a bit of danger, a bit of angst, a strong-willed young man and a happy ever after.