Title: Marathon Cowboys
Author: Sarah Black
Cover artist: Anne Cain
Publisher: Dreamspinner press
Buy link: Amazon.com
Genre: Contemporary Gay Romance
Length: 172 pages
Rating: 5+ stars out of 5
A guest review by Sirius
Summary: A beautiful romance and thoughtful meditation about what it means to be an artist, which captured my heart, but the works by this writer always do.
Blurb:
Jesse Clayton loves painting, his cowboy grandfather, and his life as an artist with a wild abandon that leaves scorch marks on everything he touches. Budding Navajo cartoonist Lorenzo Maryboy is a hard-working former Marine: staunch, brave, and honorable. Chance brings them together on the road to Marathon, Texas, and passion flares.
Just as always, Jesse puts his art ahead of everything. He betrays their growing trust, and that Lorenzo can’t forgive. But Jesse’s found something he loves more than his art, and what he does to win Lorenzo’s forgiveness is far more dangerous than either man understands.
Review:
The stormy blue of his eyes, with their humor and intelligence. His mind. Oh God, I was so in love with his mind. And his flirty gay-boy come-on in red shoes. An comed the way he dragged a couple of green velvet Victorian couches into the studio, called it Paris on the Rio Grande, stripped down and gave me a blow job with all the joy of a kid licking an ice cream cone in July.
I wanted him. I wanted him all for my own, his heart and his mind. I wanted us to be partners. Real partners, forever and ever, amen. I wanted us to be partners. Real partners, forever and ever, amen. I wanted us to ascend to heaven on the same cloud, a couple of cowboy angels in handmade boots
This is why I love Sarah Black’s writing, because when I read paragraphs like these, it makes me both choked up a bit and also makes me smile. I never ever feel that her characters are engaged in over the top angst and melodrama, even when they experience some very strong emotions.
In many ways I found what I was looking for in this story as I always do, but this book also took me in a somewhat unexpected direction. It has some similar themes to this writer’s previous works, but at the same time those themes create original work of art. If you read the blurb, you have a pretty decent idea of the outline of the story, but believe me when I tell you the story is so much richer than what the blurb implies. I did expect to see a diverse cast of characters because Sarah Black always portrays diverse characters in her works, and I was very happy to see that Lorenzo is of Navajo descent and it is not just a nod from the writer, but part of who he is and part of what influenced his choices in life.
I was also happy to see the writer exploring the theme of war veterans coming home and struggling to find the place in their new life, but in this story she explores this theme from a new angle, at least for me. Lorenzo is not just an army veteran struggling to find out who he is now in terms of how his painful and at the same time gratifying experiences shaped him, Lorenzo is an artist — and a very talented one (even if he puts himself down more than once and insecure about it). He is trying to find out who he is, in which direction he should take his art and on this path he meets Jesse. Jesse, who is a genius painter, whose main focus in his life is his art and always had been his art.
I thought Lorenzo and Jesse had a great chemistry from the time they met, and I actually thought it was a little bit more “hot” than in many other works by this writer that I have read. Not that this is a bad thing of course, it is just I am used to more understated chemistry in her stories.
The conflict between Jesse and Lorenzo arises because of the appropriation in art and I thought that by creating certain plot turns the writer raised questions for us to think about. Is appropriation in art a good thing? Is it a good thing when it hurts a person whose pain was being appropriated in order to create a piece of art? But do the issues become more complicated if the piece of art is basically a work of genius? What if the pain of the person whose identity he appropriated changed the artist to such a degree that his whole style became different in that work? What if he wanted to make a very real difference in the lives of many people and was inspired by that person? The writer does not give us black and white answers, except maybe saying that love and forgiveness matter more than anything else. It certainly made me think and appreciate this writer’s works even more.
The characters definitely mature and evolve by the end of the story, and the writer portrays both guys with the whole spectrum of colors, not just black and white, but I was left with the impression that Lorenzo evolved more than Jesse did. And while they definitely love each other, I was had the feeling that Lorenzo is going to compromise more in this relationship to allow Jesse to remain who he is.
Even though his art is the center of his world, Jesse is definitely from the beginning so much more than just “artsy gay boy,” as Lorenzo observes; he is smart and has a shrewd business sense as well. I am not sure, however, what Jesse learned at the end. I can get behind the idea that a genius should be allowed to do what he wants to do in the situations like this, and Jesse is so incredibly fragile in the maters which relate to his art, but as I said there are no black and white answers to this in my opinion. On the other hand Lorenzo is struggling at the end with not letting himselth smother Jesse, so maybe our protagonists’ characters flaws are still there and it is more realistic and interesting to see “real people” fall in love and trying to balance their passion for what they love to do with passion for each other. I guess subconsciously I did want to classify them into neat little boxes, but they just won’t go there, and I think it is a really good thing and testament to this writer’s talent.
There are few secondary characters all together and most of them had tiny parts to play, so the only well-developed one that stood out was Jesse’s grandfather.
One more thing, I think that besides being the longest work I have read from Sarah Black, this story also has the happiest ending so far. Maybe because this work is the longest, there is a definite happiness for our characters and I admit to being so very pleased about it. As much as I have enjoyed her somewhat melancholic HFN endings, which felt very organic for her shorter stories, I was pleased here with the change. 🙂
Highly recommended, but again, please note that I am a fan of this writer so please seek out other reviews to make your decision.
I struggle to be objective when it comes to Sarah Black’s writing too. This might not be my favorite among her stories (though I loved it, don’t get me wrong), but it’s definitely the most mature and the most complex. The situations and people are never simple in her stories, never black and white, never neatly resolved and that is one of the things I like about her books. While they adjust slightly to accommodate the other’s needs, neither Lorenzo nor Jesse essentially change – they are who they are and, in the end, who they are is the reason they love each other. I sigh happily as I write this, because, yes, the resolution was a nice change. And the book just begs to be reread over and over again. I wish more people would choose to read Black’s books. The reviews like this one should help. 🙂
“While they adjust slightly to accommodate the other’s needs, neither Lorenzo nor Jesse essentially change – they are who they are and, in the end, who they are is the reason they love each other.” – LadyM, I think you described it perfectly. Thanks for commenting.
Really lovely review Sirius. I adored this book.
You focused on the aspect that I find particularly interesting; the relationship between the artist and everyday life, in that should exceptions be made for artists?
Jesse is clearly the more extreme example of ‘genius excuses’ – as even at the end of the book- his second painting is using a friends image in a way that causes her partner concern.
I think I like that Sarah Black didn’t compromise her way out of it………
Perfect 5 plus award too.
Oh thanks Raine. And really good point about Jesse’ second painting, I mean for me the answer indeed black and white, he would have made me furious. But should it be different/excusable for a person who can make a difference in the lives of many? I dont know, but yes, I liked that it was there at the end.
Actually, adding to my comment, I did think that other characters were well developed but with few words, generally through Lorenzo’s acute eye…….the cousin, the ex, and the boot maker all came off the page for me.
You are so right ……Sarah Black is such a great writer.
Great review. I really enjoyed this book. I loved Jesse’s grandfather, the original. Thought he was a great character.
And I absolutely love, love the cover. It’s what drew my eye and kept bringing me back to tempt me.
I completely agree with you Cosmonaut, I loved Jesse’s grandfather too and I loved the cover :). I hesitate to say that covers in general are getting better (knocking on the wood), but I have certainly seen some really good ones lately.
I’m at a disadvantage because I haven’t read this book. I do love most of Sarah’s books and I like the fact that she doesn’t compromise about the endings and makes them organic to the story.
Great review Sirius and I look forward to reading this story very soon.
Thanks Wave, see this story is a perfect example of what kind of story I want to read in terms of ending actually growing out of the story, you know? I think Sarah excells in it indeed. You know I love happy endings, but I really hate when happy ending gets slapped on the story where protagonists are at odds during the most of it, none of the issues are resolved and voula – happy ending comes. It made sense for me in her shorter works that the endings were HFN or even more open and at the same time it makes perfect sense in this one to have a happy one. I hope you will enjoy the story.
I’ve been waiting for your review, Sirius, because I just knew you would love this book! I tried to write a review on Amazon (something I rarely do)to encourage readers to give it a chance, but I couldn’t find the words to do it justice. You did, and thanks for saying all I would have said. Sarah’s book is stellar.
Oh thank you so much EJR, you know, with some reviews I struggle trying to figure out what else to say about the book and here I had to make myself stop, because there was so much interesting stuff to talk about :).
Reading it and enjoying it so far 😀
Thank you for yout review 😎
Yay, please let us know whether you are still enjoying it after you finished Helena :). Thanks for commenting.
I haven’t read any of Sarah’s books yet. I have no idea how I’ve missed out. 😕
I’ll put this one on my wish list.
Thanks for the great review, Sirius!
Hope your having a fun/relaxing weekend!
Reggie, I highly recommend you at least taste her work, there is a huge chance you may end wanting more and more :). The only reason not to read her works would be if you dislike short stories and novellas. Most of her works as far as I know are short stories and novellas. Even though I think that she is one of the few writers who can pull of shorter form really well, some readers just do not like them. But even than this work is of a decent length to see all the beauty and joy she can offer with her writing and Tuareg, OMG I cant recommend Tuareg highly enough. Anyway, I must shut up, because I always get embarassed when I sound as squeeing fan girl. Thank you I hope you are having a fun weekend as well.
I’m waiting for that Tuareg sequel!!!!
I hope Sarah is listening…what are Leon, Ibrahim, Bazu and the family up to???
BTW I loved MC also!
I would LOVE Bazu’s story, I will never forget him and sunny toenails. 🙂 I do however think that Leon and Ibrahim’s story does not have any more conflicts left and would rather think of them happy and together, protecting those animals and helping those boys, than seeing artificial conflicts tearing them apart, you know?
JMO of course. Thanks for commenting rdafan.
I KNEW this would be outstanding! I’m saving it for Christmas…after your review, I’m even more eager for the holidays to come around 😉
Thanks, Sirius!
Heh it certainly was outstanding for me, I hope you will not be dissappointed Feliz 🙂 Thanks for commenting.
Sirius,
Im so glad this was reviewed. Ive been beating myself up about this book, to get or not to get. Im getting it, hopefully Dreamspinner is still having a sale.
Thank you!
Hannah I am glad to help stopping the beating :). Please consider coming back and letting us know what you thought about the book.
I have a separate folder on my Kindle, just for Sarah Black’s work. I LOVED this story. This one really replaces Anagama Fires as my favorite of her works (and I really love Anagama Fires). I agree – I think the characters resist being categorized, which I like very much. I liked the whole “Have you never had to face the consequences of your actions?” interaction and Lorenzo’s struggle with what to do with his feelings of love for Jesse when he believes that Jesse has sacrificed Lorenzo (in some sense) to his art. I don’t know what Jesse learned either, but I thought his own somewhat naive interpretation of what happened to him toward the end of the story was so perfectly illustrative of where his heart lay, it made me want to cry. Thanks for the review!
I know Pea, I wanted to cry too at that time. OOOOOO, you know what? I think I have not read Anagama Fires, must fix that, thank you 🙂
Pea, I loved Anagama Fires. So beatiful, thank you. I definitely agree that it was about the process of being in love just as much as it was about the process of making art. And I loved that characters did not want to be stuck in the roles either 🙂
Oh, I’ll be really interested to hear what you think of Anagama Fires, especially after Marathon Cowboys. I never met a Sarah Black story I didn’t like, but this one really resonated with me. It deals with some similar themes as Marathon Cowboys, only later on in life. The two artists have been together – and apart – 20+ years during the story. There’s one point where Lucien, one of the protagonists, is talking about art and he says something like “It’s not the end product, it’s the process that’s important. Too much is better than not enough.” I always felt this was a statement about love: it’s not falling in love that’s important or that’s the end goal – it’s the whole process of loving and living with love over time. I don’t think it’s one of her most popular stories, but I love it – it’s really poignant.
I have not met a single work by this writer that I did not like either :). I have my favorites of course, but I have not disliked any of her stories. I think I will read it very soon :). Thanks Pea.
hmm… not usually my cup of tea – but i might be tempted – thank you – excellent review.
I am happy to tempt you Minne :). If you will decide to read it, please let me know your thoughts.
I loved this book too and I would have given it DIK status as well EXCEPT for the plot twist that happened about 80% in that took me right out of the story. Can’t share what I mean without spoliers. 😮
This will still be a book I will happily re-read but I think I will skim pass the IMHO tired plot device that gets the MCs to their HEA.
I think I know what you mean aquina and I hear you, I am getting tired of this device myself, however here it just worked for me. Maybe because it was sort of to be expected? Cant explain what I mean without spoilers either unfortunately.