Four corner kids. Automatically brings back fond memories of all the other characters you’ve met in this heartwarming series by Maisie Yates. Rory is one of the Sullivan girls. That’s how the neighbors and surrounding community in Pyrite Falls refer to the folks that make up the families that work in tandem with their four ranches. All are separately owned but cooperatively collaborate with their interests helping support each other.
So unlike her sisters, Rory considered herself a quitter, a runner, invisible. She found herself often on the outside looking in, but looking was the only thing she could do with her lack of confidence. The Sullivans were a loving, close family. Rory knew she was loved. However, her lack of self-worth prevented her from having success. And being at the family farm did nothing to help even try to establish independence and identity.
The beige sweater of the Sullivan family. Says so much. And that’s the talent of Maisie Yates coming through. The dialog is empathetic to each character’s subconscious. It’s how we learn to relate to them. Laugh, sigh, sometimes an element of discomfort brought upon by the clarity of their angst. They become real. In short, Rory is trying to reinvent herself.
THE HOMETOWN LEGEND has some of the best dialogues with the conversations between Gideon and Rory. Rory can’t get her head and heart out of the past when people were candidly hurtful. Rory is undeniably a sensitive soul. Caring and loving but her circle of folks in general was extremely small. Best friend Lydia, Gideon’s younger sister, and Rory’s sisters were about it. And Gideon who had shown enormous patience with her chatty self. Kind of a knight in shining armor when it came to picking up the pieces when young Rory felt shattered.
Now the present time Rory is heading off to Boston for a job opportunity. But also to see if she can overcome her insecurities and build a new life. Not the first time Rory moved away from family and friends. Hopefully, this move will be a step in the right direction toward developing a new life strategy.
In the latest of this series, Maisie Yates chose to deal with the character that seemed to fall between the cracks. THE HOMETOWN LEGEND title supposedly describes Gideon but in actuality the character you will think about is Rory. Maisie Yates does an impressive job of reminding the reader that beauty is in the mind of the beholder, as is success.
Can this battle-scarred cowboy find redemption in her arms?
Rory Sullivan has always grown up in her sisters’ shadows. But this summer, she's determined to make some changes. Rekindling her teenage friendship with Pyrite Falls’s prodigal son, Gideon Payne, feels like a good start. She can instantly see he’s in pain, but she’s sick of being afraid of life and she refuses to be intimidated by him. But is she brave enough to act on her attraction to Gideon's raw physicality?
Decorated army hero Gideon’s return has sent the local community into parade-planning overdrive. Except Gideon isn’t the all-around golden boy who left. His life imploded in the same explosion that caused his honorable discharge from the army—he lost his career, his marriage and he damn near lost himself. Gideon knows Rory is far too innocent for someone as damaged as him. But the scorching hunger between them is irresistible… All he can offer is something temporary, unless Rory can make Gideon see he's capable of giving her everything she needs…