If you think you know Richard after reading book 3 in the After Oscar series, I'm here to tell you that you are wrong. ISO: In Search Of gives us his story and I think many will find it surprising, not to mention downright wonderful. Just like I did.
From the blurb:
Richard Dunning has it all: private school education, an exquisite designer wardrobe, a last name that ensures he’s invited to all the best parties, and a skincare regimen that’s to die for.
The only thing he doesn’t have is… well, a job. Or a home. Or money in the bank. Not since his dad cut him off.
So when his best frenemy approaches him with a bet—spend a month working as a cowhand on some godforsaken Wyoming ranch in exchange for his dream job—he’s a little too proud and a lot too desperate to say no.
But from the moment Richard and his rhinestone cowboy hat show up at the Silver Fork Ranch, nothing is as expected.
Not the beautiful vistas, not the terrifying horses, not the friendly people, not the epic quantities of cow manure, and definitely not Boone Hammond, the rugged rancher whose eyes are a little too intense, whose expectations are a little too high, and whose kisses are… a lot too tempting.
But when his month on the ranch comes to a close, Richard must choose: return to the safe, luxurious life he thought he wanted… or risk everything for the love he’s been IN SEARCH OF all along.
Jacqueleen the Reading Queen's Review:
"๐๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ธ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ฆ? ๐๐ฆ๐ค๐ข๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ข๐ด๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐จ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ด๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ง๐ช๐ต ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ."
When I first realized that this book was going to be about Richard, James' superficial ex from BTW, I had no idea it was going to end up being my favorite of the series. Richard is so much more than he appears to be on surface level. Underneath all his glitter and spirit fingers is a man who craves to be loved for exactly who he is. All his life he's been found wanting and for once he just wishes he was enough. It honestly broke my heart every time someone would mention what a flake he was after being in his head and getting to know the real him. Whether it was shoveling cow shit or hauling bags of feed, Richard put his all into it. Even the rest of the cowhands noticed and I loved how much they pulled for him in their own ways.
"๐'๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฉ๐ฆ'๐ด ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ. ๐๐ง ๐ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐'๐ฅ ๐ด๐ข๐บ ๐ฉ๐ฆ'๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ฆ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ."
The only one who seemed not to realize how hard Richard worked was Boone himself. I suspect some of that was due to the infamous Oscar's lowly opinion of Richard. He expresses that to Boone on more than one occasion and also due to Boone's avoidance of the man in order to avoid his own growing attraction to him. Regardless, I was pretty mad at Boone for some of the careless things he said to Richard before he truly got to know him.
It took a bit, but Boone did finally get his head out of his ass. He realized his first impressions were colored by others' opinions and his own past. Once he got past that barrier in his mind, he was able to see what a gift Richard was. Even better, how perfect they really were for one another. And that epilogue!! Omg I loved that epilogue. Honestly, that last line was perfection and had me finishing this book with a big ol' smile on my face.
Rating: 5 Stars
ISO: In Search Of is available to buy as an ebook, audiobook which is Whispersynced, paperback, or to read with Kindle Unlimited subscription.
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