Where to begin? Perhaps with the language, which set the tone for this beautiful but haunted love story. Di Pierro paints a vivid picture of the wide open spaces of Wyoming. She deftly captures Dolores’ grief after losing her young son (which appropriately weighs on her the whole book), and Gloria’s trepidation marrying a man she can’t quite fault. I was swept away in the language of love and loss.

However, the love story itself was gruelingly slow. Most of the story was about Gloria’s experience with the horses, and Dolores’ depression following her son’s death. The dialogue was stilted and often took me out of the story. I could understand the draw between the women as friends but didn’t believe the romantic chemistry, and I actually think this would have been stronger as a story about friendship only. I do think the author handled the existence of the women’s respective partners well. The story takes place in 1998 so there’s no e-communication or LGBT representation that would set the women up for a relationship. That said, their romance was still gruelingly slow. Did I say that already? It was beautiful but slow. Not slow burn, just slow, like a romance from another time.

Short Summary: Stuck in an imperfect relationship with a perfect man, Gloria flees to the wide open spaces of Wyoming for a job training horses. She doesn’t expect to find a broken woman there too. Can the two heal each other, or will they remain in companionable silence?

Thanks to Netgalley and Bella Books. ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

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