Review: Really enjoyed this one
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 09 3, 2011
Doc Jude is the only doctor in a small Western town in 1879. The townspeople, terrorized and controlled by David Smith, are simultaneously grateful for Jude's service and wary of him because he's 'a reformer'. To that end, Jude is pretty much as much of an outcast as Mouse, a blind 9-yr old boy, that the doc has semi-adopted. Things take a turn for the worse when Gabriel rides into town and saves Mouse from a whipping at the hands of David Smith. Gabriel is suffering from an infection and the doc takes him in to nurse him back to health. Instead, Jude gets more than he bargained for as Gabriel awakens feelings of lust that the doctor has kept his hidden his entire life. Gabriel has no such qualms.  He has long come to terms with his attraction to men and, even though his father saw fit to brand an 'O'(for obscenity) into his thigh, he is unapologetic in the pursuit of pleasure with the sexy Doc Jude. When Jude's clinic is destroyed, Gabriel steps in to protect the man and boy he has come to care for and finds himself falling deeper and deeper in love with the shy doctor.This is a beautifully written contemporary Western romance.  The attraction and love between Jude and Gabriel unfold naturally, and Gabriel's persistence in showing Jude that he is beautiful and that what they feel is good and right, is well done. The sex is HOT, and I like that Jan explored the machinations of first time m/m sex with some modicum of realism.  Gabriel is a complex character, both a bada$$ cowboy who will do whatever it takes to protect the people he loves, and a man who is not afraid to open himself up to this brand new experience of falling in love. Jude, at first shy, turns into quite the wanton partner as the book progresses and Mouse is just wonderful.  I'm hoping Jan will write a story about him and Shen Lei.Other reviewers mentioned that the book was too short. I don't agree. For me, it ended in the right spot. What more was there to say? They fought to make a life together and Jude made his decision. I think an epilogue would have taken away from the poignancy of the ending....but that's just me.All in all, another superb story by Jan and one I thoroughly enjoyed.