Near & Far (Lost & Found, #2)

by Nicole Williams

[Cocktails and Books]

3.5 stars.

I loved Jesse and Rowens' story in LOST AND FOUND. I loved how Jesse was able to show Rowen that, despite the bad things that may have occurred in your life, you are more than those events and can be whoever you want to be. He showed her she was worthy of a strong, steady man like him loving her and he was privileged to her love her. I really wanted to see how their relationship was working with the distance between Montana and Seattle. What I wasn't expecting was for there to be a complete role reversal between Jesse and Rowen.

In my mind, Jesse was a rock. I knew that if Rowen floundered, he would be there to help her find her way. It always appeared that Jesse could handle anything with that stoic cowboy grace of his. But a run in with a certain nasty homeless woman sent Jesse on a downward spiral I wasn't sure he was going to be able to pull himself out of. He pushed everyone away and he sank back into the feelings he had as the young abused boy left chained in the basement. It was sad to read just because he was the last person I would have expected to spiral.

And in that role reversal, it was Rowen that became Jesse's rock. Rowen proved to Jesse at different times that he was the one she wanted, not matter what. She didn't see him as a dumb cowboy or felt as though he was holding her back, the way some of her peers felt. When he started his downward slide, she tried to stick with him, even as he pushed her away. And when Jesse does the unthinkable, it's Rowen, without being there, that helps pull him through his darkest hour.

I loved the way LOST AND FOUND had ended, but I'm glad Nicole Williams gave us a second book in the series. It gave us a new perspective to the couple and demonstrated just how right for each other they are.