Review: A good read
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 03 22, 2014
Roux's review:  “My Only Sunshine” is a story about two strangers who meet at a time when neither is in a position to begin a relationship. The tragedy is that the circumstances in each of their lives that made for poor timing were the same reasons that had both men desperately needing someone at their side. Mason, a rancher’s son returned to help out his family during a crisis, and Tanner, a young homeless man in need of a place to heal emotionally and physically, were both alone in dealing with extremely painful matters. Each is lonely and misunderstood. Really, really, alone which makes the burdens each is shouldering all the more heavier. Author Rowan McAllister does a splendid job of letting the readers understand the depth of the main characters’ emotional turmoil. You feel their pain, anxiety, sense of hopelessness and their intense need to find hope again. The characters were not written to portray perfect people. They came across as three-dimensional figures with flaws, needs and desires that made them vulnerable to balance their strengths that made them admirable. Mason came out of the closet years before and paid a steep price for standing by his convictions and being true to himself. He was forced to leave his family’s ranch, the place where he was happiest. He had to create a new life, one in which he was never truly happy but did not force him to live a lie. He dropped everything to return to the ranch to take over after his father suffered a stroke; back to small town prejudices, his sick father’s disgust and his tired, overwhelmed sister’s disinterest. He never gave up wanting his father’s approval and acceptance and struggled daily with the fruitless effort to obtain it. Tanner’s current reality was equally dismal. He was clearly at the lowest point of his life and fear of rejection kept him from attempting to seek safety and acceptance with his own family. Tanner and Mason felt real and so did their struggles. Neither was especially smart or successful but together they found the strength to protect and support each other —even through the strain of hiding their new relationship from everyone they cared about. Mason could not risk complicating his father’s slow recovery and Tanner had no choice but to honor Mason’s wishes. The stress of living a new lie was made easier by the loving support each offered the other.I enjoyed the portrayal of the simple, lonely and hard daily grind of living on a ranch in the American west. I like both Mason and Tanner and supporting characters Ed, Lucy and Brian. It pulled at my heartstrings to watch Mason continually swallow his feelings and pain to avoid making waves and I shared his frustration at the blind and selfish attitude of his sister. I wanted the couple to find peace and happiness together but the ending felt a bit too perfect. And I could have done without the subplot of a “who done it” mystery concerning violent animal torture. This storyline included scenes that are extremely brutal and horrifying to envision. These passages certainly brought forth great emotional responses-both by characters in the book and me as a reader. They were a significant but not an overwhelming part of the book. All in all, I believe that “My Only Sunshine” is a very good story filled with characters you will root for and a story line that will sustain your interest beginning to end. It is a good read!