Review: Totally enchanting
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 07 13, 2012
This is the first book I've read by Mary Calmes, and I can guarantee there will be many many more. An enchanting story with engaging and wonderfully colorful characters and sweet romance, "Frog" is a delight to read.Told in first-person perspective, the story centers on Weber Yates, a former bull rider, cowboy, and ranch hand. He's had a sporadic love affair with neurosurgeon Cyrus Benning for the past three years, both of them stealing moments together when Web can manage to make it to San Francisco, where Cyrus lives. Cyrus wants Web to stay with him in San Francisco, and being apart breaks Cyrus' heart. Web feels that he can't be the cowboy Cyrus loves if he stays in San Fran, that he'll lose his self-respect if he lives off Cy. If Web can't respect himself, sooner or later, Cy won't respect him either. When last he left Cy, he was told to not call or come back again because Cy couldn't handle parting again.But the heart wants what it wants, and the story opens with Web calling Cy, hoping Cy will see him while he travels north to take a temporary job on a wharf. Cy regrets the things he said and convinces Web that he still wants to see him, and soon the two are reunited. It's then that Web's heart and mind battle for dominance. The longer Web stays, the more he becomes a part of Cy's life, and the harder it is for the mind to stay in control.There are several characters in the book besides Web and Cy. Cy's sisters, nephews, neices, and parents play important parts in the story, and each one is given enough detail and nuance to make them interesting and lovable. Ex-suitors and boyfriends of Cy make an appearance, and all are delightfully jealous as they try to compete with this homeless drifter. But the star of this story is the thoroughly endearing Weber. It's been a long time since I've enjoyed a character this much. His simple, yet honest and sincere nature, endears him to children and adults alike, and soon the reader is joining the cast of characters as Web has them eating out of his hand.Sweet, romantic, colorful, and endearing, the story has good pacing and is an appropriate length. It was such a pleasant surprise, I can't wait to sample more of Mary Calmes' works.