Rating: 3 stars
Buy Link:
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Length: Novel

 

Growing up, Lance’s dream man was Robbie Chase. Lance never thought he would have any chance with the man and even now that he spends all of his time with Robbie, Lance can’t let himself believe it can all be real and permanent. Lance wants a home in the small town where he grew up, and while he still has issues to settle, Lance’s going to enjoy every moment he can with Robbie. Some of the issues Lance needs to resolve regarding his ex, Niall, are back in Chicago and Robbie, who rarely leaves the ranch, offers to come with him.

Robbie has been doing it all since he was eighteen. After his father died, he was left to run the family ranch and raise his two younger brothers and he’s legally tied to the ranch. Robbie wants a life with Lance, but he also sees the potential Lance has for a career in a larger city. The men want to be together, that’s the easy part, but they will have to figure out how the city can meet the country.

Signs of Spring is the direct follow up to Long Winter in the Wild Ones series. It continues Lance and Robbie’s story and the books should be read in order. I liked their story in the first book and when they were left with a HFN, I did want to see them get to their HEA.

This book starts as a soft, quiet story as we mostly see the men day to day on Robbie’s ranch. They are growing closer and, while Lance wants to stay, he doesn’t think that he can ever have Robbie for all time and Lance has things to settle with his ex-boyfriend back in Chicago. Everything Lance has is tied up with his ex, including personal items, money, and a photography project that is Lance’s passion. He needs to go to Chicago and when Robbie offers to go with him, he’s both excited and nervous.

There is some of the “cowboy” in the big city vibe as Robbie is exposed to a more extravagant lifestyle than he is used to seeing. The story picks up a little in movement then and Lance looks into legal options for dealing with Niall and then has a confrontation with the man himself. Robbie hasn’t been able to travel at all do to legal complications with the ranch and it’s the ranch that calls to him, even in Chicago.

This is said to be a two-book series with this being the final book. However, there was a lot left unfinished in this story—too much. There were major storylines introduced and then just left wide open. The ranch is tied to Robbie’s uncle and there are criminal incidents brought to light that had damaging effects to Robbie’s life and they are never addressed. There is no confrontation with the uncle and there is no report filed. There is nothing done and there was nothing to prevent the uncle from continuing, putting Robbie and everyone on the ranch at serious, life threatening risk and that was too much to leave unfinished for me. Robbie also has issues with both of his brothers and those storylines are completely unfinished as well. As for Niall, Lance is able to work out one of the issues, mostly off page, but again, there were so many other things that were not resolved and that was one of the main conflicts to his story.

The times that Robbie and Lance are building their relationship are sweet and heated as they reach for a life together and I did enjoy those isolated scenes. But for the larger story, there was too much left unfinished to be able to fully recommend this two-book series.