Weber comes into town and calls Cyrus looking for a place to stay. Cyrus drops everything to pick up Weber and take him to his place. Cyrus and Weber have had an off-and-on relationship for three years. Weber had left to go back on the rodeo circuit, but he did not make the big final. Cyrus is a neurosurgeon. They come from different worlds but cannot stay away from each other. Weber is too proud to accept Cyrus' offer. However, Weber is able to help Cyrus' sister whose husband walked out on her. He becomes the nanny for her children. Will that work out? Will Weber stay this time?

I loved this story. It's low-key but I felt good after reading it. Weber helps Cyrus' nephews a lot. He becomes the rock that they all lean on. One of the boys cannot talk due to trauma but Weber gets through to him and gets him. The younger boys take immediately to Weber. He is calm. Cyrus' family comment how different Cyrus is with Weber. I liked that they could see it and comment on it.

I look forward to more stories by this author. ( )

synopsis:
weber (which i seriously keep wanting to pronounce weeber) is a rodeo cowboy who, other than going from rodeo to rodeo, has only held part time or seasonal work. he meets cyrus, a neurosurgeon from san fransisco when he is working at a dude ranch for a summer. cyrus and weber have an instant connection, and every time weber is near san fransisco he stops in to see cyrus, but weber doesn't feel as though he could stay with cyrus for long because his appeal is the fact that he leaves. this time, though, weber has decided that he can't rodeo anymore, and he's headed to alaska for a job. he stops by on the way through and falls into the middle of a domestic crisis. cyrus' sister's husband has just run off with their nanny, leaving her desperate for help, because her boys have time off over christmas. when she sees how good weber is with the boys, she asks him to be her nanny for a couple of weeks until they go back to school. weber gets introduced to cyrus' family and feels as though it will be harder to leave this time around, especially since he's staying longer than he ever has before. as cyrus and weber come to realize what they are both doing to hurt each other, their relationship starts to grow.

what i liked: i liked that weber was a natural with the children, and that he was himself around them. i also liked that his attention was always focused on the children when he was in the same vicinity as they were, even though it wasn't his job to be looking after them at that time. i also liked that he opened cyrus up, and that cyrus softened him up.

what i didn't like: that weber seemed to take over in the parent department at the end; that their mother didn't seem to have a clue what was going on. ( )

4.5 stars - I didn't care for most of the epilogue. But the voice, Web's voice throughout the novel, is just fantastic. He is all cowboy, and I was raised around cowboys. I kept having flashbacks! ( )

OMfuckingG that was one of the hottest opening scenes ever! UNF!!!

Yeah, yeah Weber is über perfect but dang I want me one just like him! And I really liked Web and Cy together. They brought out the best in each other. I absolutely loved Cy's family's reaction to him around Web.

Yup, a definite comfort read from now on! :) ( )

This is, without a doubt, a special book. Not one with much outward conflict, so I suspect many will dismiss it as not ‘action/adventure’ enough. Thing is though, the entire focus is on the fascinating characters and their battles with inner demons, people’s expectations, and their lover not wanting what they want – or so each thinks. Stories like this are difficult to pull off, but Mary Calmes does it with flair and enough emotional drama that I was breathless throughout most of the book. Man, what a ride!

Weber is a former bull rider, desperately in love with Cyrus, not that he will admit this, and the man whose inner battles are front and center as the story progresses. He came to life for me like only the best characters ever do: he is proud, stubborn and determined not to give in to what he sees as a weakness: his love for Cyrus. The key question he has to answer before he can settle down is not an easy one to deal with: who is he now that he is too old to participate in rodeos? What makes him the man he is and how can he respect himself if he isn’t able to provide for himself financially? And why does Cyrus even love him?

Cyrus is Weber’s complete opposite. He is a neurosurgeon, emotionally detached (except around Weber), and very wealthy. He loves Weber with every fiber of his being and despairs at getting the man to admit it and come live with him. He desperately needs Weber, but has no idea how to convince him of this fact. Luckily, he is as stubborn as Weber and his determination and persistence serve him well.

I loved reading about these two, even though I was ready to smack Weber upside the head a few times so he’d see what’s what. He was so believably absorbed in his own issues that I couldn’t even blame him for being obtuse – it just took him a while to figure out that the values he had been taught and the role he’d learned to play, were not really going to serve him well in the second half of his life. In many ways this is a coming of age story, even though it takes place when most people have a midlife crisis (Weber is forty-four). The moment when he finally does ‘see the light’ was beautifully emotional and made me ridiculously happy. I had grown so attached to him that I was truly relieved he’d finally gotten the message.

If you like character-driven stories, heroes who drive you up the wall but at the same time make you pray they figure it out, and if you enjoy reading about hot men battling it out between the sheets as well as in daily life, you will probably like this book. I totally adored it!


NOTE: This book was provided by Dreamspinner Press for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews. ( )