Title: Rattlesnake
Author: Kim Fielding
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: August 31, 2015
Genre(s): Contemporary
Page Count: 240
Reviewed by: Vallie
Heat Level: 4 flames out of 5
Rating: 5 stars out of 5
Blurb:
A drifter since his teens, Jimmy Dorsett has no home and no hope. What he does have is a duffel bag, a lot of stories, and a junker car. Then one cold desert night he picks up a hitchhiker and ends up with something more: a letter from a dying man to the son he hasn’t seen in years.
On a quest to deliver the letter, Jimmy travels to Rattlesnake, a small town nestled in the foothills of the California Sierras. The centerpiece of the town is the Rattlesnake Inn, where the bartender is handsome former cowboy Shane Little. Sparks fly, and when Jimmy’s car gives up the ghost, Shane gets him a job as handyman at the inn.
Both within the community of Rattlesnake and in Shane’s arms, Jimmy finds an unaccustomed peace. But it can’t be a lasting thing. The open road continues to call, and surely Shane—a strong, proud man with a painful past and a difficult present—deserves better than a lying vagabond who can’t stay put for long.
This is probably going to be my favourite book of 2015. It blew me away in a way that I totally didn’t see coming. This is an introspective book, quiet, and so freaking romantic that I had stars in my eyes for hours after I finished reading it.
As the blurb says, Jimmy is a drifter. He has worked odd jobs throughout his life and isn’t interested in settling anywhere. He has lived in his car. He has been homeless. He has used roach-infested motels to spend the night. He has done brief stints in jail over petty things. He is 42 years old and completely alone. That is, until he moves to Rattlesnake to deliver a dead man’s letter and falls in love with his son.
Shane has survived a lot but is not bitter about it. He has the infectious positive vibe that has been missing from Jimmy his entire life. Not that Jimmy is bitter but he definitely has reservations anytime someone offers a kindness to him, simply because he’s learnt to expect that he is not owed or deserving of much.
When these two meet, the chemistry is instantaneous. Jimmy plans on skipping town as soon as he delivers the letter but something is holding him back. And I love how he has been deprived of so much in his life to the point that simple pleasures are what make him stay one more day, like pancake day at the diner. I loved Jimmy’s stories through which it was obvious that he’s lived so much life but also that he idealised a lot of shitty situations in order to feel like he’s had adventures instead of a sad, lonely existence.
Can I take a moment to gush about Kim Fielding’s writing? Seriously. Beautiful. She has a way with words, this author, and I just read and reread sentences multiple times throughout the book simply because I was in awe of how they were constructed.
This isn’t a sad book although it deals with a lot of emotional issues. For me, this is the purest form of romance there is. I love it when the characters in my books are explored and developed fully and even more so when there is emotional baggage to make them more interesting. This book delivered so perfectly in everything I ever want in a romance, including steamy scenes that felt real. These characters aren’t ripped gym bunnies but they made for a gorgeous couple in all ways. So, yes, this book is all that AND HOT.
They HEA is glorious and well-earned. I honestly can’t recommend this enough.
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