Guest Review: Summer’s Indiscretion by Heather Rainier

There are only a handful of authors whose work continues to hold me in thrall, and Heather Rainier is one of them.  I don’t know what we’ll do when she decides she has come to the end of her Divine Creek Ranch series.  Those of us who are Heather’s continuing fans, who have read and re-read the first six books in this series, have come to feel that we really “know” the citizens of this little town, that these people that populate her stories are our friends.  This 7th book in the series continues to expand the reader’s knowledge of this small Texas community that has embraced lots of different kinds of people living in many different family configurations.  Summer Heston’s specialty boutique, Discretion, has become a favorite among the women who live there and in neighboring towns.   

As tuned in as Summer is to the likes and dislikes of her clientele, Summer doesn’t seem to be tuned in to anyone special in her life.  She is a full-figured gal, clearly larger than the catalogue or magazine model, and clearly discounted by the men she dates–she is well and truly tired of blind dates who ignore her.  She simply doesn’t see herself as beautiful or sexy, and words like “voluptuous” just don’t ever pop into her head when she looks at herself in the mirror.

But that’s one of the words that frequently pops into Ace’s and Kemp’s brains as they watch Summer dancing with her girlfriends at The Dancing Pony nightclub.  They also watch how she is discounted and ignored by her “blind” dates, and while they must delay their courting of her because of professional responsibilities, they have a clear understanding that Summer Heston in a very special lady they absolutely have to get to know in the very near future.

This is a very erotic romance that includes some fairly disturbing actions on the part of the “Divine Morality” blog adherents–the mystery stalkers who have bedeviled Grace Warner and her friends Rosemary, Teresa, and others in town who are in permanent polyamorous relationships.  Anger, destruction, character assassination, arson, and such seem to be the order of the day for those who have said and done just about everything they could to disrupt the lives of their targets.  But there is a lot that is a part of this story that is heart-warming and positive:  the strength of genuine friendship, support that comes from often unexpected sources, kindness and community caring when someone is attacked, and a sense of respect for the right of people to live out their lives as they choose.

Ace and Kemp are best friends–closer than  blood brothers–who have grown up together and who have both lived long enough to know the pain of loss and true love when they find it.  They have both had to recover from the unexpected and unexplained disappearance of a woman who they both thought would permanently be a part of their lives.  Now they are moving on and Summer has captivated them both.    Their relationship gets off to a very rocky start, but even amid the difficulties there are opportunities for the three to connect in solid ways, ways that define friendship and build the foundation for lasting love.

Ms Rainier has crafted a story that is full of very realistic people, most of whom we would all really like to meet in real life.  She continues to challenge us with the concept that genuine loving cannot always be confined to carefully constructed, traditional configurations.  The human heart is bigger than that.  She has given us characters that speak to her readers on many levels, sexy, kind, generous, open-hearted and supportive of friends and family, caring for and guarding those that are precious, connected to their families and their community.  Sounds far too unrealistic to be true, but there is always that sense of the real, the normal ebb and flow, the up and down, the positive and negative.  Of such life is indeed made.  The women are strong and gutsy;  the men are opinionated on many levels when it comes to taking care of those they love.  But they are also generous to a fault and will go to any lengths to serve their family and friends however they can and whenever needed.  They manage to make their women feel incredibly feminine without taking away their sense of self-worth and self-determination.  Wouldn’t we love to know more like them?

This is a novel that will challenge the reader to think with its mystery content, will challenge the libido with its erotic and very human sexiness, and will warm the heart as the relationship between Summer and her men develops, complete with ups and downs, a daunting case of poison oak, and a heart throb from the past.  It’s already on my favorites list and is in the “to be read again” sector of my library.  All in all, it is a fabulous romance novel.  Please do yourself a favor and read this one!  

I give it a rating of 5 out of 5.