Second Chance at Rancho Lindo by Sabrina SolMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
He'd been consumed with the idea that there was something better for him out in the world. When all he really had wanted was something different.
When an IED puts an end to his career as an explosions technician because of lingering hand grip issues, Gabe Ortega goes back home to the family ranch that he couldn't wait to escape. His four brothers still work on Rancho Lindo and with a father that Gabe just can't seem to connect with, he's felt like an outsider. At a transitional point in his life, Gabe gets reintroduced to the ranch's horticulturist, Nora Torres and while he's instantly attracted to her, he has some past issues to atone for with Nora and his family, along with deciding what he wants out of life once and for all.
He decided right then and there that his new favorite pastime was making Nora blush.
Second Chance at Rancho Lindo kicks off the series about the Ortega family, they've owned Rancho Lindo for generations. Second oldest brother Gabe, always felt like he couldn't live up to his father's expectations of him and be good enough like his older brother Cruz. When Gabe turned eighteen, the tension finally exploded and he signed up for the military to just get away. Coming from a close knit family, this fractured some relationships and because Gabe left forgetting that he promised to take Nora, a girl who spent her summers on the ranch with her tia and tio, to a dance, he also broke trust with her. This was really a family ensemble story, the Ortega brothers along with their parents and abuelita were a big part of the story and I would suggest reading this for that kind of atmosphere because this was a good story in that aspect. For me, the romance took a big backseat and there wasn't much there.
All she knew was that her pulse quickened at the way he looked at her.
By 20% Gabe learns why Nora is standoffish with him and I liked how that issue when they were teenagers wasn't the number one issue of keeping them apart throughout the story. It played, along with Nora's father leaving when she was nine, into Nora's trust issues with Gabe but Nora didn't fixate so much on it. Around 30% I felt like Nora and Gabe were starting to get going more and I was ready for the romance to make a stronger showing since the setting and family dynamics had been laid out but these two never really got their engines revving and out of park.
It was about time he truly appreciated what he had in front of him.
And that included Nora.
The majority of the story is Gabe figuring out what he really wants out of life now that his military career is over. He half halfheartedly checks around for jobs from his contacts but it's mostly him being wishy washy and not quite outright moping around that he feels like he could never live up to his father's expectations and therefore not wanting to try. An emotion and thread I think could have played better if around 20% had been trimmed from this, the story started to feel like it was dragging as this went on for the whole story. Halfway through we get Gabe learning about how the ranch is in financial trouble, health issues with his dad, and he and Nora kiss. It was around 60% that Nora and Gabe start up their relationship and while we get a few kisses here and there (one very fade-to-black scene) most of their romance is very much in the back and just about non-existent.
Nora did the only thing she could do in that very big moment between them.
She kissed him back.
The ending had Gabe coming through for the ranch and Nora in the work sense and a misunderstanding that had everyone leaning into their insecurities and with only 5% remaining, Gabe finally making a decision that he grappled with for the whole story. I struggled with how to rate this because I liked the story but if you read it in the family fiction sense, I would have wanted more conversations, scenes, and flushing out with some characters. I would promote it as family fiction over romance though, the romance was more of pinch seasoning and too much in the background for me. A good story, setting, and family but the romance was not there for me.
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