Title: The Cowboy and the Pencil-Pusher
Author: S.C. Wynne
Genre: M/M Romance
Release Date: October 27, 2016
Blurb
Paul Smith prefers his calculator to people. People are annoying and demanding, but numbers will never let you down. He works tirelessly for his dad’s mortgage firm, foreclosing when it makes financial sense, and not losing any sleep over it either. Paul’s dad has always been a demanding taskmaster. But when he has a major health scare, Paul’s dad see’s the error of his ways. He decides he wants to change to a more benevolent business model. After having decades of harsh business practices drilled into him, Paul is not a fan of his dad’s new idea.
Cort Callahan lives and has worked on his granddad’s ranch most of his life. But times are hard and they’ve fallen behind on their mortgage. When Paul’s dad decides he wants to offer them a way out of debt, if they’ll just go along with his unorthodox idea of turning the spread into a dude ranch, it’s hard to tell who thinks it’s a worse idea: Paul or Cort.
But when Cort and his granddad take the deal, Paul is forced to work closely with Cort. The two men are surprised to realize they share an intense attraction that only grows stronger the more they’re around each other.
The problem is Paul has spent his life trusting numbers and calculations. No matter how much he wants Cort, when he looks at how different they are from each other, the two of them just don’t add up.
Purchase Links
Excerpt
“We should probably discuss what Marty’s decision is about the dude ranch.” I examined my fork as I spoke. “If you’re going to tell me to stick it up my ass again, I should get my steak to go.”
He lowered his menu and winced. “Yeah, sorry about that; Marty and I feel better after talking to Frank.”
I set my cutlery down and met his gaze. “So do I take my food to go or not?”
“If we say no to your proposal what happens?”
“I go back to LA.” I left unsaid what we both knew; that if they rejected our proposal I’d be initiating foreclosure proceedings against Marty. “Are you going to say no?”
Cort leaned forward. “Maybe we should wait until the drinks come before I answer.”
“That doesn’t sound promising.” I had mixed feelings. I knew my dad would be happy if Marty said yes, and I liked it when he was happy because then he stopped harping at me. But if Marty agreed to the project I was stuck in this little town for at least three months. My dad had it in his head it was good for me to supervise these ventures of his because it got me away from my computer.
As if on cue the waitress brought our drinks and after she walked away Cort finally spoke, “Who manages a project like this?”
“Me. For now. Just like I did in Texas. My dad isn’t up to it yet since he gets tired easily.” I felt breathless as I held his enigmatic gaze. “So what’s Marty’s decision?”
He sipped his beer, wiping foam from his lips with one tanned finger. “Marty wants to go for it.”
“Yeah?” A strange feeling akin to relief washed through me. I was confused by why that would be, but there was no denying I felt like a weight had been lifted off of me. “I won’t lie. I’m surprised.”
“You put the fear of God into Marty. He knows he won’t get any mercy from you if he says no.”
My face warmed but I held my expression steady. “He’ll thank me in the end. He’s going to be a wealthy man.”
“Some would say he already is.”
“You probably mean something sappy like already he’s rich with friends and family?” I arched one brow.
“Yep.”
He lowered his menu and winced. “Yeah, sorry about that; Marty and I feel better after talking to Frank.”
I set my cutlery down and met his gaze. “So do I take my food to go or not?”
“If we say no to your proposal what happens?”
“I go back to LA.” I left unsaid what we both knew; that if they rejected our proposal I’d be initiating foreclosure proceedings against Marty. “Are you going to say no?”
Cort leaned forward. “Maybe we should wait until the drinks come before I answer.”
“That doesn’t sound promising.” I had mixed feelings. I knew my dad would be happy if Marty said yes, and I liked it when he was happy because then he stopped harping at me. But if Marty agreed to the project I was stuck in this little town for at least three months. My dad had it in his head it was good for me to supervise these ventures of his because it got me away from my computer.
As if on cue the waitress brought our drinks and after she walked away Cort finally spoke, “Who manages a project like this?”
“Me. For now. Just like I did in Texas. My dad isn’t up to it yet since he gets tired easily.” I felt breathless as I held his enigmatic gaze. “So what’s Marty’s decision?”
He sipped his beer, wiping foam from his lips with one tanned finger. “Marty wants to go for it.”
“Yeah?” A strange feeling akin to relief washed through me. I was confused by why that would be, but there was no denying I felt like a weight had been lifted off of me. “I won’t lie. I’m surprised.”
“You put the fear of God into Marty. He knows he won’t get any mercy from you if he says no.”
My face warmed but I held my expression steady. “He’ll thank me in the end. He’s going to be a wealthy man.”
“Some would say he already is.”
“You probably mean something sappy like already he’s rich with friends and family?” I arched one brow.
“Yep.”
“Please. I’m not talking about that kind of nonsense.” I rolled my eyes and held up my menu, shielding my face. “I mean he’ll be wealthy in a way that matters.”
*** Copy provided to the reviewer by the author for my reading pleasure in hopes of an unbiased opinion, a review was not a requirement.***
Paul prefers numbers to people, which considering his upbringing is not too difficult to believe, but after his father’s brush with death and subsequent change of heart from ruthless banker to Samaritan, he doesn’t know what to believe in any longer. His father wants Paul to learn how to deal with people and care for them, so he sends him to oversee his bank’s next attempt into trying to help out one of their clients so they won’t have to foreclose on his property, a ranch in Colorado, by turning it into a dude ranch. Paul is not onboard with his dad’s new way of thinking, but there’s not much he can do but comply.
Working side by side with Cort, shows Paul a different side of the attractive cowboy and they grow closer together. However, there are a lot of things that might get in the way of anything long-lasting between the two of them.
Cort and Paul are just about as different as night and day. Paul is neurotic and not really in touch with his feelings, but he seems mature and tries to be as understanding as he can be with Cort’s situation and Cort is patient and very open, but at the same time he’s insecure and in a complicated sort-of-relationship with another man (who is closeted and married to a woman). I loved Paul and Cort together, I think they balanced each other out for the most part. Cort made Paul realize there were more things in life than numbers and Paul showed Cort that he was worthy of more than just being the other man every few months.
I loved that after Cort tried to make Paul make a decision for him, Paul just backed off, even if it killed him, and let Cort decide for himself. Sorry for being so vague, but I don’t want to spoil it for anyone.
I would’ve liked that the part with Paul’s dad had been expanded, as I felt it was sort of glossed over in the end. We got the start and the end result, but I’d have liked something in the middle, where they reached an understanding or whatnot. Another thing that I felt could’ve been dealt with differently was with the contractor, after all the jealousy and Cort being so against hiring him, and then seeing that he wasn’t working as he should, I would’ve expected to see more of a resolution to that plotline.
Anyway, all in all, this was a great read! It started a bit slow, but SC Wynne quickly captured my attention and I just fell hard for Paul and Cort, it was lovely to see them fall for each other and grow throughout the book to become better versions of themselves. Very recommendable!
Rating: 4 Stars!!!
*Copy provided to Bayou Book Junkie by the author for my reading pleasure in hopes of an unbiased opinion, a review was not a requirement. *
Paul Smith is a workaholic. He was raised by his workaholic father and groomed as the heir to his father's bank. Paul’s has no interest or time for people in his life. When Paul’s father has a health scare he suddenly sees the errors of his way and decides it’s time to change. He wants to build a relationship with his son, but Paul doesn’t trust that the changes in his father will stay once he forgets what happened. Paul’s father also wants to change the way he does business and instead of foreclosing on every property, he wants to make them better. Paul is very much against this idea. He doesn’t care what the stories are behind each foreclosure, to him it’s just irresponsible people that have made bad decisions and who aren’t fulfilling their obligations. But, once again, Paul finds himself at a ranch trying to talk the ranch owner and his grandson, Cort, into agreeing to new loan terms and turning their ranch into a dude ranch.
Cort is unhappy initially about the dude ranch but is willing to work with Paul to make things easier for his grandfather. Cort lives in a small town, where everyone knows everything about each other. Cort loves his life and his grandfather but he wants more. His one and only relationship has been a long-term affair with a married man, who seems to just drop into town whenever he wants. And Cort is at his beck and call while he’s there.
This was a true opposite attract story. Cort was a cowboy and Paul from the city. Cort was all about family and Paul would prefer to forget he wasn’t hatched alone. Cort was about finding love and Paul was about one time hook-ups. Cort was willing to have a long-term affair with a married man and Paul actually believed this was wrong. Cort prefers the outdoors and Paul prefers the indoors. Cort thinks a perfect vacation is camping in the mountains in the quiet and Paul needs something exciting like swimming with the sharks. Most of this book was spent in a push and pull between the two MC’s with the resolution coming at the very end. We did get to see Paul grow a little bit as a person with feelings. And Cort finally had to make his decision about whether carrying on his affair or going a new path with Paul was his best option.
I would have liked to see more resolutions regarding Paul and his father and Cort and his affair. And because the MC’s relationship didn’t come together until the very end, we only got a glimpse in the epilogue that things seemed to work out between them.
Rating: 3.5 stars
Author Bio
S.C loves red wine, margaritas and Seven and Seven's. Yes, apparently S.C. Wynne is incredibly thirsty. S.C. Wynne loves the rain and should really live in Seattle but instead has landed in sunny, sunny, unbelievably sunny California. Writing is the best profession she could have chosen because S.C. is a little bit of a control freak. To sit in her pajamas all day and pound the keys of her laptop controlling the every thought and emotion of the characters she invents is a dream come true.
If you'd like to contact S.C. Wynne she is amusing herself on Facebook at all hours of the day or you can contact her at scwynne@dslextreme.com
Author Links
No comments:
Post a Comment