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Beautiful Dreamer: A Rugged Western About a Water-Finder and a Ranch Owner Discovering Trust and Passion in Nevada
Nevada's rugged, majestic beauty is a balm for the aches of Hope Gardener's heart. But the ranch she loves is dying of thirst, thanks to the worst drought the area has ever seen, Hope needs a miracle -- and one day it comes to the Valley of the Sun. A man out of time, Rio is an anachronism in the modern-day West, bringing with him a reputation for finding water in any desert. Hope has no choice but to trust this dark stranger who claims to make dreams real. And Rio, who has never had a dream of his own to follow, has found something in this extraordinary lady whose passion tempts him to defy his own rules.In the midst of adversity, two free spirits must now explore the most closely guarded corners of their hearts...as they search for a beautiful dream big enough to hold them both.
400 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published August 1, 1985
42 people are currently reading
513 people want to read
About the author
Elizabeth Lowell
208 books1,923 followersIndividually and with co-author/husband Evan, Ann Maxwell has written over 60 novels and one work of non-fiction. There are 30 million copies of these books in print, as well as reprints in 30 foreign languages. Her novels range from science fiction to historical fiction, from romance to mystery. After working in contemporary and historical romance, she became an innovator in the genre of romantic suspense.
In 1982, Ann began publishing as Elizabeth Lowell. Under that name she has received numerous professional awards in the romance field, including a Lifetime Achievement award from the Romance Writers of America (1994).
Since July of 1992, she has had over 30 novels on the New York Times bestseller list. In 1998 she began writing suspense with a passionate twist, capturing a new audience and generation of readers. Her new romance novel Perfect Touch will be available in July of 2015.
To get a full list of titles as well as read excerpts from her novels, visit www.elizabethlowell.com.
In 1982, Ann began publishing as Elizabeth Lowell. Under that name she has received numerous professional awards in the romance field, including a Lifetime Achievement award from the Romance Writers of America (1994).
Since July of 1992, she has had over 30 novels on the New York Times bestseller list. In 1998 she began writing suspense with a passionate twist, capturing a new audience and generation of readers. Her new romance novel Perfect Touch will be available in July of 2015.
To get a full list of titles as well as read excerpts from her novels, visit www.elizabethlowell.com.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 98 reviews
September 25, 2019
I am trying to be objective because I love the unabashed romance of it and it was my first Elizabeth Lowell ever and there's a HUGE nostalgia factor that makes me confused. It was like watching a Brad Pitt movie. I just don't know if it was good or if it's just that he was so hot.
Blurb
Nevada's rugged, majestic beauty is a balm for the aches of Hope Gardener's heart. But the ranch she loves is dying of thirst, thanks to the worst drought the area has ever seen, Hope needs a miracle -- and one day it comes to the Valley of the Sun.
A man out of time, Rio is an anachronism in the modern-day West, bringing with him a reputation for finding water in any desert. Hope has no choice but to trust this dark stranger who claims to make dreams real. And Rio, who has never had a dream of his own to follow, has found something in this extraordinary lady whose passion tempts him to defy his own rules.In the midst of adversity, two free spirits must now explore the most closely guarded corners of their hearts...as they search for a beautiful dream big enough to hold them both.
Review
Elizabeth Lowell is one of the most unashamedly romantic romance writers in the world. Let me explain. There are two kinds of romance writers, the ones who try to be 'real' and the ones who try to get your emotions. The real ones are the ones who will write 'Bridget Jones Diary' and 'Sex and The City'. The emotional punchers are the older ones and very few of them had plot or were realistic and the males in the books!!!!! Lowell on the other hand is a very rare breed, She is very very emotional and cheesy and poetic, and the men are alpha and yet....she is very very well researched( I always learn something new in her books and this one was about digging for water and hydrologists!!! Bet you didn't know you could go to school for that). She has action and drama and strong females but most of all she is so cheesy I believe in love in the end, Every Time
What is so special about this book is that, she depicts Alpha males very truthfully. Real alpha males are very painful to love. They are leaders so they don't have time for you, or geniuses so are tortured and most of all very very strong so they make very hard decisions. Like, if they aren't good for you, they won't stay, or can lead men into war, or.... Yet, we women think we want them. The truth is most of us can't handle them. We want a man we can go home to and watch a movie and then go to bed. Not the Navy Seal guy who DISAPPEARS from home for 6 MONTHS and might be dead for all you know and when he reaches home, you can't ask where he has been. You on't want the Nelson Mandela who will be put in jail for 27 years and come back to you an old man. We say we do but we don't, not really.
This lady, Hope is one of the few women in romance history, I respect. She really lets him be him. You would have to read it to get what I mean. It is one of the few times by the end I REALLY want it to work out, not as a plot device but as a balm to the soul. maybe you don't have to have a Jason Momoa or Nelson Mandela or Beethoven but by God you can love like this lady.
Blurb
Nevada's rugged, majestic beauty is a balm for the aches of Hope Gardener's heart. But the ranch she loves is dying of thirst, thanks to the worst drought the area has ever seen, Hope needs a miracle -- and one day it comes to the Valley of the Sun.
A man out of time, Rio is an anachronism in the modern-day West, bringing with him a reputation for finding water in any desert. Hope has no choice but to trust this dark stranger who claims to make dreams real. And Rio, who has never had a dream of his own to follow, has found something in this extraordinary lady whose passion tempts him to defy his own rules.In the midst of adversity, two free spirits must now explore the most closely guarded corners of their hearts...as they search for a beautiful dream big enough to hold them both.
Review
Elizabeth Lowell is one of the most unashamedly romantic romance writers in the world. Let me explain. There are two kinds of romance writers, the ones who try to be 'real' and the ones who try to get your emotions. The real ones are the ones who will write 'Bridget Jones Diary' and 'Sex and The City'. The emotional punchers are the older ones and very few of them had plot or were realistic and the males in the books!!!!! Lowell on the other hand is a very rare breed, She is very very emotional and cheesy and poetic, and the men are alpha and yet....she is very very well researched( I always learn something new in her books and this one was about digging for water and hydrologists!!! Bet you didn't know you could go to school for that). She has action and drama and strong females but most of all she is so cheesy I believe in love in the end, Every Time
What is so special about this book is that, she depicts Alpha males very truthfully. Real alpha males are very painful to love. They are leaders so they don't have time for you, or geniuses so are tortured and most of all very very strong so they make very hard decisions. Like, if they aren't good for you, they won't stay, or can lead men into war, or.... Yet, we women think we want them. The truth is most of us can't handle them. We want a man we can go home to and watch a movie and then go to bed. Not the Navy Seal guy who DISAPPEARS from home for 6 MONTHS and might be dead for all you know and when he reaches home, you can't ask where he has been. You on't want the Nelson Mandela who will be put in jail for 27 years and come back to you an old man. We say we do but we don't, not really.
This lady, Hope is one of the few women in romance history, I respect. She really lets him be him. You would have to read it to get what I mean. It is one of the few times by the end I REALLY want it to work out, not as a plot device but as a balm to the soul. maybe you don't have to have a Jason Momoa or Nelson Mandela or Beethoven but by God you can love like this lady.
March 25, 2013
I really enjoyed this book. The prose was lovely, evocative. I really felt as though I was in the Valley of the Sun. The author did a fantastic job in creating scenes and really used excellent, original descriptions.
The characters were interesting, although I would have liked learning more about Hope's sister and the mother and father, as well as Hope's life as a model. I think she would have felt more like a complete character that way. We never saw her in her modeling career so there was no evidence of growth, etc., that one would expect to find in a story such as this.
The one thing I will say is that the love element seemed a bit rushed. I lost a bit of sense of time, but it didn't feel like much time had elapsed at all before the two main characters professed their love. And honestly, considering the main character's aversion to love, seeing as she blamed love for the death of her family, it seemed like she fell for Rio way too easily.
Rio was mysterious and I enjoyed the snippets of his past life, but I wished I saw more of his life before Hope.
The characters were interesting, although I would have liked learning more about Hope's sister and the mother and father, as well as Hope's life as a model. I think she would have felt more like a complete character that way. We never saw her in her modeling career so there was no evidence of growth, etc., that one would expect to find in a story such as this.
The one thing I will say is that the love element seemed a bit rushed. I lost a bit of sense of time, but it didn't feel like much time had elapsed at all before the two main characters professed their love. And honestly, considering the main character's aversion to love, seeing as she blamed love for the death of her family, it seemed like she fell for Rio way too easily.
Rio was mysterious and I enjoyed the snippets of his past life, but I wished I saw more of his life before Hope.
March 7, 2012
Sometimes, when am done reading books that interest me, there's a lull of sorts.. I try searching for hidden gems which bring back the itch back again. This was one such gem.
Why you should read this book:
Roi--- Strong alpha male, good-heart, tender but skittish to stay at one place
Hope-- Hard working young woman, loves the hero with all she's got,virginal, falls pregnant
Scenes are mushy-mushy, some dialogues are funny and I mostly skimmed through the geographical details about the ranch lands. That was the only thing I din't like in the book.
Feel-good, mushy romance
Why you should read this book:
Roi--- Strong alpha male, good-heart, tender but skittish to stay at one place
Hope-- Hard working young woman, loves the hero with all she's got,virginal, falls pregnant
Scenes are mushy-mushy, some dialogues are funny and I mostly skimmed through the geographical details about the ranch lands. That was the only thing I din't like in the book.
Feel-good, mushy romance
January 15, 2012
Truly beautiful book. I won't be writing a technical review but I wanted to note that this book is one of the few romance novels that really stays with me. I've actually read it several times.
March 29, 2016
In the beginning Hope made these references to her past, about her sister and her mom dying close together, and her dad dying before that, but didn’t come out and say everything that had happened, so I knew it was going to be dragged out, and I was right. It’s really irritating when you just want the full information, instead of these little hints the author drops out randomly.
The book quickly shaped up into a really monotonous, boring story where literally all that happened was Hope hauling water twice daily. I don't know how many times the phrase "stubborn coupling" was used, but it was way too many in too short a time. I don't know if the hose thing or whatever going into the well part or whatever happened is technically called a coupling, or if that's just a phrase the author found, or named herself, but whichever scenario it is Lowell would not use one other wording to describe the process. It was always the "stubborn coupling." Synonyms, please!
Hope drove to get water, struggled with the stubborn coupling, mating of the threads and metal, two phrases that sounded really inappropriate when talking about pumping water. It made the whole thing sound like sex between the parts. Really weird. I was starting to think the hose was going to wind up pregnant. I don't know if that's the proper name of the pumping process or if the author just made it up, but she got stuck on it and didn't describe it any other way. I can't stand repetition. It can be easily fixed with synonyms. Don't wear your readers out.
There was a really crude comment made by Rio that I really didn't like and found distasteful in the beginning of the book.
“Do I want to give her a hand when she’s down and needs me and then drag her off to bed like she’s just one more Saturday night?
Hell, I outgrew that kind of screwing before I was old enough to drink.”
That was so crude, and so unexpected for the legendary Rio. I don’t like crude, crass speaking like that, and “screwing” is about one of the most classless and disgusting phrases to call sex. It makes me think badly of Rio, and that shouldn’t happen.
Then Hope tells John Turner “The day you run your ranch using nothing but your gonads is the day I’ll listen to that argument.”
That was one of the things I didn't like about Hope, the way she talked. She just wasn't that nice to me, no matter how hard the author wanted her to be.
The author just got hung up on the same phrases and just used them over and over and it really got on my nerves. I don’t know how many times Hope’s mouth was called generous, but it was way too many so that every time I heard it I got irritated. Every single time her mouth came up as the topic it was to be called generous. Use a synonym, for gods sake! There’s so many words out there to be used, and all the author can use is the same one over and over and over. And I can’t forget Rio’s midnight-blue gaze. Almost every time she looked at him it was to remind readers that he had a midnight-blue gaze. So aggravating! And then the wind came into play. Whew. There was so much talk about the wind that I got sick of that, just like I got sick of everything else.
Over 270 pages and Hope was still eluding to her dad dying from the land. I can’t stand when authors drag out a secret almost the entire length of the book, especially when it’s not that big of a secret. Her dad’s dead, has been that way for 7, 8 years, it’s not a mystery, it’s not vital to the unfolding story, so why is it being withheld for so long? It’s like a plot device that really doesn’t have anything to do with the plot. Almost 300 pages and she finally comes out with the truth that her dad kept trying to dig wells and search for water and died of a stroke. There, now was that any reason to be dragged out for so long? No. And she kept hinting over and over about her mom and sister not loving the land and dying because of love, and Hope herself losing her innocence of the world and love when she was 18. Who cares?! Stop repeating it like we can’t remember, or like we want to keep hearing about a mom and sister we don’t know. I didn’t care about them at all.
Then she caught on beautiful dreamer, and kept having Rio call her it so many times. I got so sick and tired of hearing it. It was good the first time, but then it was so overused that it didn’t even have an impact anymore and it became redundant.
Hope said she loved Rio so many times, and so much time goes by and he doesn’t say he loves her back, or even thinks it to himself. And Hope just keeps sleeping with him, wanting to get pregnant and have his child. He assumes when she told him it was okay not to use a condom that first time that she was on birth control, because he doesn’t think anyone wants to have half-breed children. Of course the thought of protection never even occurs to Hope, who as a virgin who’s never let herself love a man or get close to one at all, just knows that she wants to be close to him without a condom. What a thing for a virgin to know. Rio never even thinks that he loves her, and I was waiting so long for him to admit that he loved her, even if he didn’t want to share it with her. And Hope doesn’t ask, or wonder even, she just instinctively knows that he’s brother to the wind. When she’s describing him she just up and says brother to the wind, his real Indian name, because she sees everything or something like that. And when he tells her that’s his Indian name, something he’s never told anyone else, she doesn’t even say anything because it’s the end of the chapter and we’re moving on. Yep, the moment was so incredibly anticlimactic. I don’t know what the author was thinking to leave that moment unfinished.
They had the instant attraction and the angst, wanting to sleep with each other from the beginning. I can't stand when that happens. Things are more believable and enjoyable when authors slow down and let a natural, slow unfolding of the love occur instead of making them lust after each other from the first second they look at each other. And Hope just realizes she's fallen in love with him way too early for me. Then she goes through the process of coming to terms with the fact that her love won't be returned, because Rio is a drifter and doesn't stay anywhere long, and will leave when water is found. So she's sad about that, and Rio is doing the honorable thing, not wanting to touch her when he's only going to leave. It was really respectable that he didn't want to hurt her. Then John Turner comes over when Hope puts on one of her lingerie outfits or something, and she's alone of course. Right at the nick of time Rio comes before Hope can be hurt and raped, and Hope is acting like a complete baby afterwards. She's swaying and shaking in typical weak woman behavior, and begs him to hold her, saying please and everything. It was really pathetic.
Now onto the things I did like. Hope finally asks why he chose to help her out, a stranger, and he answers that everyone in the area left a note for him saying to help her out, she’s a good woman and she deserves it, and needs help with a well and finding water. That was so cool, even in the beginning, when he found another letter directing him to her. That was really cool. And Rio was so interesting. Being a brother to the wind, he had to go where the wind called him, restless and always searching, always alone. The author had a nice way of saying things, most of the parts about Rio were beautifully written.
It was so sweet how he was taking care of her and called in the debts people owed him, sending her seed, cattle, horses and ranch hands. He gave her back almost everything she had lost, and that was so nice of him to take care of her himself, not accepting any money or supplies that were owed to him and instead having it all sent to her from so far away.
I really didn’t like that the author waited until so close to the end to have them meet up again. He didn’t even say he loved her until page 390 and there’s 392 pages in the book. It would have been nice if he’d said it before, and if we’d had more time with them together. Instead, he comes back in the last several pages of the book and then it’s glossed over, more talk about the well and artesian water and all that.
It was alright, one of the better books I’ve read lately. If Rio hadn’t been so interesting then I wouldn’t have liked it so much. I wish the rest of it hadn’t been so boring. Hope hauling water time and time again. Her parents and sister dying, not being as strong as Hope. Then Rio and his ties to the wind and the land, and then the beautiful dreamer hangup; it was all so redundant, and the book would have been a lot better had the author stopped repeating herself so much. That can really kill a book. I was torn between 2 and 3 stars and then just decided to give it 3. I’d read it again sometime, and just skip over the parts about her parents and the things that are repeated. I wasn’t crazy about Hope, her personality just didn’t mesh well with me. She wasn’t that good of a person to me, not that she was evil or anything, but the language she used and the attitude she had was a turn-off. It seemed pretty conceited the way she said she was strong, and her sister hadn’t been strong enough to make it, or her mom, like she was the only one good enough to make the land prosper. And Rio said something like not many people wanted to live here, and she said good, that leaves more room for the rest of us. She just rubbed me the wrong way and there really wasn’t one instance where I just liked her. And she was completely using John Turner for his well and had the audacity to talk to him like she did. I don’t care if the person is bad and almost raped you, you don’t use their stuff like you have the right and then get an attitude when they call you on it. And the whole caveman mentality, telling Mason after he comes back from Thanksgiving vacation that “I’m his woman now,” and calling Rio “my love” was so sickening. I hate talk like that. And the love scenes. It was okay the first time, but every time after that was blown over, skipped right over with no details. They really only had sex once that had full detail, the handful of times after that went unexplained. Total disappointment and real aggravation to miss out on the love scenes in a romance book, that’s pretty much most of the reason why we’re reading in the first place. I don’t like when romance authors don’t want to write the romance.
The book quickly shaped up into a really monotonous, boring story where literally all that happened was Hope hauling water twice daily. I don't know how many times the phrase "stubborn coupling" was used, but it was way too many in too short a time. I don't know if the hose thing or whatever going into the well part or whatever happened is technically called a coupling, or if that's just a phrase the author found, or named herself, but whichever scenario it is Lowell would not use one other wording to describe the process. It was always the "stubborn coupling." Synonyms, please!
Hope drove to get water, struggled with the stubborn coupling, mating of the threads and metal, two phrases that sounded really inappropriate when talking about pumping water. It made the whole thing sound like sex between the parts. Really weird. I was starting to think the hose was going to wind up pregnant. I don't know if that's the proper name of the pumping process or if the author just made it up, but she got stuck on it and didn't describe it any other way. I can't stand repetition. It can be easily fixed with synonyms. Don't wear your readers out.
There was a really crude comment made by Rio that I really didn't like and found distasteful in the beginning of the book.
“Do I want to give her a hand when she’s down and needs me and then drag her off to bed like she’s just one more Saturday night?
Hell, I outgrew that kind of screwing before I was old enough to drink.”
That was so crude, and so unexpected for the legendary Rio. I don’t like crude, crass speaking like that, and “screwing” is about one of the most classless and disgusting phrases to call sex. It makes me think badly of Rio, and that shouldn’t happen.
Then Hope tells John Turner “The day you run your ranch using nothing but your gonads is the day I’ll listen to that argument.”
That was one of the things I didn't like about Hope, the way she talked. She just wasn't that nice to me, no matter how hard the author wanted her to be.
The author just got hung up on the same phrases and just used them over and over and it really got on my nerves. I don’t know how many times Hope’s mouth was called generous, but it was way too many so that every time I heard it I got irritated. Every single time her mouth came up as the topic it was to be called generous. Use a synonym, for gods sake! There’s so many words out there to be used, and all the author can use is the same one over and over and over. And I can’t forget Rio’s midnight-blue gaze. Almost every time she looked at him it was to remind readers that he had a midnight-blue gaze. So aggravating! And then the wind came into play. Whew. There was so much talk about the wind that I got sick of that, just like I got sick of everything else.
Over 270 pages and Hope was still eluding to her dad dying from the land. I can’t stand when authors drag out a secret almost the entire length of the book, especially when it’s not that big of a secret. Her dad’s dead, has been that way for 7, 8 years, it’s not a mystery, it’s not vital to the unfolding story, so why is it being withheld for so long? It’s like a plot device that really doesn’t have anything to do with the plot. Almost 300 pages and she finally comes out with the truth that her dad kept trying to dig wells and search for water and died of a stroke. There, now was that any reason to be dragged out for so long? No. And she kept hinting over and over about her mom and sister not loving the land and dying because of love, and Hope herself losing her innocence of the world and love when she was 18. Who cares?! Stop repeating it like we can’t remember, or like we want to keep hearing about a mom and sister we don’t know. I didn’t care about them at all.
Then she caught on beautiful dreamer, and kept having Rio call her it so many times. I got so sick and tired of hearing it. It was good the first time, but then it was so overused that it didn’t even have an impact anymore and it became redundant.
Hope said she loved Rio so many times, and so much time goes by and he doesn’t say he loves her back, or even thinks it to himself. And Hope just keeps sleeping with him, wanting to get pregnant and have his child. He assumes when she told him it was okay not to use a condom that first time that she was on birth control, because he doesn’t think anyone wants to have half-breed children. Of course the thought of protection never even occurs to Hope, who as a virgin who’s never let herself love a man or get close to one at all, just knows that she wants to be close to him without a condom. What a thing for a virgin to know. Rio never even thinks that he loves her, and I was waiting so long for him to admit that he loved her, even if he didn’t want to share it with her. And Hope doesn’t ask, or wonder even, she just instinctively knows that he’s brother to the wind. When she’s describing him she just up and says brother to the wind, his real Indian name, because she sees everything or something like that. And when he tells her that’s his Indian name, something he’s never told anyone else, she doesn’t even say anything because it’s the end of the chapter and we’re moving on. Yep, the moment was so incredibly anticlimactic. I don’t know what the author was thinking to leave that moment unfinished.
They had the instant attraction and the angst, wanting to sleep with each other from the beginning. I can't stand when that happens. Things are more believable and enjoyable when authors slow down and let a natural, slow unfolding of the love occur instead of making them lust after each other from the first second they look at each other. And Hope just realizes she's fallen in love with him way too early for me. Then she goes through the process of coming to terms with the fact that her love won't be returned, because Rio is a drifter and doesn't stay anywhere long, and will leave when water is found. So she's sad about that, and Rio is doing the honorable thing, not wanting to touch her when he's only going to leave. It was really respectable that he didn't want to hurt her. Then John Turner comes over when Hope puts on one of her lingerie outfits or something, and she's alone of course. Right at the nick of time Rio comes before Hope can be hurt and raped, and Hope is acting like a complete baby afterwards. She's swaying and shaking in typical weak woman behavior, and begs him to hold her, saying please and everything. It was really pathetic.
Now onto the things I did like. Hope finally asks why he chose to help her out, a stranger, and he answers that everyone in the area left a note for him saying to help her out, she’s a good woman and she deserves it, and needs help with a well and finding water. That was so cool, even in the beginning, when he found another letter directing him to her. That was really cool. And Rio was so interesting. Being a brother to the wind, he had to go where the wind called him, restless and always searching, always alone. The author had a nice way of saying things, most of the parts about Rio were beautifully written.
It was so sweet how he was taking care of her and called in the debts people owed him, sending her seed, cattle, horses and ranch hands. He gave her back almost everything she had lost, and that was so nice of him to take care of her himself, not accepting any money or supplies that were owed to him and instead having it all sent to her from so far away.
I really didn’t like that the author waited until so close to the end to have them meet up again. He didn’t even say he loved her until page 390 and there’s 392 pages in the book. It would have been nice if he’d said it before, and if we’d had more time with them together. Instead, he comes back in the last several pages of the book and then it’s glossed over, more talk about the well and artesian water and all that.
It was alright, one of the better books I’ve read lately. If Rio hadn’t been so interesting then I wouldn’t have liked it so much. I wish the rest of it hadn’t been so boring. Hope hauling water time and time again. Her parents and sister dying, not being as strong as Hope. Then Rio and his ties to the wind and the land, and then the beautiful dreamer hangup; it was all so redundant, and the book would have been a lot better had the author stopped repeating herself so much. That can really kill a book. I was torn between 2 and 3 stars and then just decided to give it 3. I’d read it again sometime, and just skip over the parts about her parents and the things that are repeated. I wasn’t crazy about Hope, her personality just didn’t mesh well with me. She wasn’t that good of a person to me, not that she was evil or anything, but the language she used and the attitude she had was a turn-off. It seemed pretty conceited the way she said she was strong, and her sister hadn’t been strong enough to make it, or her mom, like she was the only one good enough to make the land prosper. And Rio said something like not many people wanted to live here, and she said good, that leaves more room for the rest of us. She just rubbed me the wrong way and there really wasn’t one instance where I just liked her. And she was completely using John Turner for his well and had the audacity to talk to him like she did. I don’t care if the person is bad and almost raped you, you don’t use their stuff like you have the right and then get an attitude when they call you on it. And the whole caveman mentality, telling Mason after he comes back from Thanksgiving vacation that “I’m his woman now,” and calling Rio “my love” was so sickening. I hate talk like that. And the love scenes. It was okay the first time, but every time after that was blown over, skipped right over with no details. They really only had sex once that had full detail, the handful of times after that went unexplained. Total disappointment and real aggravation to miss out on the love scenes in a romance book, that’s pretty much most of the reason why we’re reading in the first place. I don’t like when romance authors don’t want to write the romance.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 2, 2022
I struggled with this a bit. The whole time I was reading it I kept getting stuck on the feeling that this book felt old, like written in the 80's old. So I kept glancing at the publication data on my library copy, and it said 2001, and it said first edition. And it just seemed way too out of touch to be 2001. Turns out it WAS actually written in 1985, and my instincts are not that off.
I actually enjoyed quite a lot of this book, but what I didn't like was the Magic (selfless) Indian trope. And I held it against the author that she was still writing that trope in 2001. It's easier for me to forgive her for writing it in 1985, and I can more easily believe she wouldn't do that anymore, 40 years later.
Because despite the fact that the Magic Indian hero saves the heroine's ranch using his Magic Indian skills, and is full of self-loathing and internalized racism and literally calls himself a "half-breed," I loved the romance between these two. And their struggle together to rebuild the ranch.
The villain was super villainy, and rapey. There was some WTFery (the first sex scene, the hero goes to use a condom and the heroine stops him because of bullshit don't-want-any-barriers-and-it-feels-better, oh and she also WANTS to get pregnant the first time she has sex ever, without consulting the hero.) But most of that I just wrote off as being 1985-ey.
Overall, I think I want more old school romance, but with less racist stereotypes.
I actually enjoyed quite a lot of this book, but what I didn't like was the Magic (selfless) Indian trope. And I held it against the author that she was still writing that trope in 2001. It's easier for me to forgive her for writing it in 1985, and I can more easily believe she wouldn't do that anymore, 40 years later.
Because despite the fact that the Magic Indian hero saves the heroine's ranch using his Magic Indian skills, and is full of self-loathing and internalized racism and literally calls himself a "half-breed," I loved the romance between these two. And their struggle together to rebuild the ranch.
The villain was super villainy, and rapey. There was some WTFery (the first sex scene, the hero goes to use a condom and the heroine stops him because of bullshit don't-want-any-barriers-and-it-feels-better, oh and she also WANTS to get pregnant the first time she has sex ever, without consulting the hero.) But most of that I just wrote off as being 1985-ey.
Overall, I think I want more old school romance, but with less racist stereotypes.
Read
July 14, 2018Hope Gardner loved the land where she lived called the Valley of the Sun. She spent most of her time one summer hauling water from a neighboring well belonging to John Turner to various locations on her ranch. A man called Rio came to see her late one afternoon to help her on one of her water runs. Rio offered to help her find water and a place to drill a well on her property. She could tell he was part Indian and gladly accepted his help with the water because she was exhausted.
Hope's cattle needed the water because it hadn't rained in a long time. The area was suffering from drought conditions. Hope was taking advantage of the fact that Turner would be to embarrassed to tell her she couldn't have the water that he didn't need. Turner told the people living in the area that she was was going to marry him. She didn't like Turner and had learned not to trust him. Hope told him that the only reason he wanted her was because she told him no. Turner didn't accept no for an answer and did his best to bully her into accepting him.
Hope's mother had never liked living on the ranch and when she'd had enough she took her two daughters and moved to LA. Her mother and father lived apart even though they loved each other. Hope was the only one of the three that missed the ranch. She became a model to earn money to help her father keep the land. He worked himself to death over the stress and work involved. Her mother died in a car accident a year later. Hope was convinced that her mother didn't want to live anymore without their father. Her sister got involved in the drug scene and died of an overdose two years later. It was two years following her sisters death that Hope finally gave up the LA scene and returned to the Valley of the Sun.
Hope was getting water one afternoon when Turner showed up and made a move on her. One of her employees and a friend, Mason, showed up in time to stop Turner from hurting Hope. Mason was like a father to her and his arrival prevented Turner from going too far once again. Hope had felt threatened and was prepared to defend herself. She was relieved that Mason showed up. He gave her his rifle to keep in the truck for any future surprise visits.
Hope dreamed of finding a place to drill a water well on her property. She asked Mason about Rio and was told he was known for finding water. Hope decided to accept Rio's offer to help her her. Rio was working part-time for Turner breaking horses. When Turner found out that Rio had offered to help Hope, he told Rio to quit working for her or he would be fired. Rio chose to leave Turner's and went to work full-time for Hope. He moved into an extra room in her house.
Summer passed and enough rain fell to relieve Hope of some pressure of hauling water. She and Rio rode the boundaries of her property and began studying the land. Hope was surprised to learn that Rio had studied at the Colorado School of Mines and had a Master's degree in Hydrology. Rio was determined to help Hope. He told her that he had come to the area specifically to help her. He had heard that she needed help finding water from other ranchers that he had met in his travels. Hope was surprised to learn that she had friends in places that she didn't even know of. Hope fell in love with Rio that summer. Rio told her that he would leave once he found water.
Thanksgiving came and Mason left to visit family. Rio went into town for the evening and Turner found out and headed to Hope's house. He attempted to rape Hope and then Rio showed up. He had found out while in town that Turner had gone to see Hope and he didn't trust Turner. Rio and Turner fought and Rio knocked Turner out. Hope asked Rio to hold her. He held her until she quit shaking and she told him that she was in love with him. Rio couldn't resist Hope and he knew that she was going to be special to him. He wasn't ready to say he was in love with her but he knew he was. They made love that night. Rio was surprised to find out Hope still a virgin.
They woke up in the morning and went to the area on Hope's land called Wind Valley. She waited for him while he walked the area and after they ate lunch he asked her if she was bored. She told him that she wasn't and the way he acted she told him that she felt he was like he was brother to the wind. Rio was surprised she saw that in him because his Indian grandfather had named him Brother to the Wind. He told Hope about his name.
Rio told Hope that in that canyon was where they needed to drill the well. Hope had money saved for a payment due on her ranch's second mortgage and she had to use some of it for the drilling equipment. They drilled for over a month and Christmas came and went. They spent Christmas Eve at the drilling site and exchanged gifts. She gave Rio and silver bracelet with the Indian symbol for water on it and Rio gave her a necklace that his grandmother had given him. He told her that she could pass it down to her daughter when the time came. Rio didn't know it but Hope was hoping she was pregnant with his child at the time. They talked more about Rio's past and he told her that he nearly married when he was younger. He hadn't gone through with it because the woman told him that she didn't want a child with him due to his Indian heritage. Hope told Rio that if a woman felt that way that she didn't really love him.
Rio and Mason spent over a month drilling the water well. Mason had arthritis in his hands and the work was hard on him and causing his hands to swell. One of his grandchildren came to help. Hope had to sell off the last of her cattle to pay for the drilling and to still have enough to make the payment on her land. She asked the town bank for an extension on the loan and was turned down. The bank was owned by a relative of John Turner's. She was still there when Turner came in and offered to take her in exchange for the loan and was angry when she rejected him yet again.
Rio felt bad that Hope had given up so much for her trust in him to continue digging the well deeper when others might have given up on him by now. They had been drilling 24 hours a day for well over a month.
They were at the drill sight sleeping one morning when the woke up thinking it was raining. They had hit water. Hope cried because this meant that Rio was leaving and he did.
It was three months later and Hope had gone to a neighboring town to try and get a loan to rebuild the ranch. She needed money for seed to grow alfalfa and oats. She would use the profits from this to purchase cattle come spring. She was driving with the banker when she told him that a man named Rio had found the water for her. He told her that he would give her the loan because he knew Rio. He had gone to school with Rio and he was the best there was. Hope was surprised because the man seemed much older than Rio. He told her that Rio was exceptionally smart. He had started college when he was 16 and passed with honors. Rio had been known from the age of 13 to be able to find water. The banker had used Rio for his thesis paper trying to find out how Rio found water using his Indian heritage ways of water-witching or dowsing. He further explained that Rio found people who had dreams and helped them because he had no dreams of his own. He didn't know deep down what moved Rio but this is what he did. He didn't often take money for payment but rather what people could afford. Sometimes it was cattle or horses. In Hope case, Rio told her that he would send her 10 mares to breed with the only horse she kept, Shadow Walker. Hope would take care of the colts until he came to collect them at sometime he decided to get them in the future.
It was 5 months after he left that Hope was preparing to make some decisions on what to do with the loan money when she woke up to a truck outside. She was hoping to see Rio had returned. She was pregnant and showing by now. It was a man delivering thousands of dollars of seed. He told her that Rio had sent her. It wasn't much longer that cattle arrived from all over the country. They were all sent at Rio's request. Rio sent the horses he had told her he would send to her too. One of those horses was the mount that he had used while searching for water on her land. Rio had hay and grain sent too. One of the last things to arrive was the Angus cattle that was the last of her cattle that she had sold. The men delivering the items were in debt to Rio for various things that he had done for them from finding water to finding the men injured and staying to help them until they were well enough to go back to taking care of their ranches. The cattle, horses, feed and hay were all things that ranchers from Montana, New Mexico and other places had given Rio for his help. The return of the Angus cattle she loved and an Angus bull was just too much for Hope and she began to cry. She took Rio horse and rode out to the well site. She thought she was dreaming when she saw Rio there. Rio went to her and saw her crying. He told her that he couldn't stay away any longer. He was in love with her and wanted to marry her if she would have him. It was winter now and Hope was wearing a coat. Rio told her that he didn't care if she didn't want his child, he would marry her anyway. She opened her coat and let him feel her stomach. He was thrilled to find her pregnant. She saw the disbelief and hope in him and they kissed as he cried. His touch told Hope that he would stay with her.
Hope's cattle needed the water because it hadn't rained in a long time. The area was suffering from drought conditions. Hope was taking advantage of the fact that Turner would be to embarrassed to tell her she couldn't have the water that he didn't need. Turner told the people living in the area that she was was going to marry him. She didn't like Turner and had learned not to trust him. Hope told him that the only reason he wanted her was because she told him no. Turner didn't accept no for an answer and did his best to bully her into accepting him.
Hope's mother had never liked living on the ranch and when she'd had enough she took her two daughters and moved to LA. Her mother and father lived apart even though they loved each other. Hope was the only one of the three that missed the ranch. She became a model to earn money to help her father keep the land. He worked himself to death over the stress and work involved. Her mother died in a car accident a year later. Hope was convinced that her mother didn't want to live anymore without their father. Her sister got involved in the drug scene and died of an overdose two years later. It was two years following her sisters death that Hope finally gave up the LA scene and returned to the Valley of the Sun.
Hope was getting water one afternoon when Turner showed up and made a move on her. One of her employees and a friend, Mason, showed up in time to stop Turner from hurting Hope. Mason was like a father to her and his arrival prevented Turner from going too far once again. Hope had felt threatened and was prepared to defend herself. She was relieved that Mason showed up. He gave her his rifle to keep in the truck for any future surprise visits.
Hope dreamed of finding a place to drill a water well on her property. She asked Mason about Rio and was told he was known for finding water. Hope decided to accept Rio's offer to help her her. Rio was working part-time for Turner breaking horses. When Turner found out that Rio had offered to help Hope, he told Rio to quit working for her or he would be fired. Rio chose to leave Turner's and went to work full-time for Hope. He moved into an extra room in her house.
Summer passed and enough rain fell to relieve Hope of some pressure of hauling water. She and Rio rode the boundaries of her property and began studying the land. Hope was surprised to learn that Rio had studied at the Colorado School of Mines and had a Master's degree in Hydrology. Rio was determined to help Hope. He told her that he had come to the area specifically to help her. He had heard that she needed help finding water from other ranchers that he had met in his travels. Hope was surprised to learn that she had friends in places that she didn't even know of. Hope fell in love with Rio that summer. Rio told her that he would leave once he found water.
Thanksgiving came and Mason left to visit family. Rio went into town for the evening and Turner found out and headed to Hope's house. He attempted to rape Hope and then Rio showed up. He had found out while in town that Turner had gone to see Hope and he didn't trust Turner. Rio and Turner fought and Rio knocked Turner out. Hope asked Rio to hold her. He held her until she quit shaking and she told him that she was in love with him. Rio couldn't resist Hope and he knew that she was going to be special to him. He wasn't ready to say he was in love with her but he knew he was. They made love that night. Rio was surprised to find out Hope still a virgin.
They woke up in the morning and went to the area on Hope's land called Wind Valley. She waited for him while he walked the area and after they ate lunch he asked her if she was bored. She told him that she wasn't and the way he acted she told him that she felt he was like he was brother to the wind. Rio was surprised she saw that in him because his Indian grandfather had named him Brother to the Wind. He told Hope about his name.
Rio told Hope that in that canyon was where they needed to drill the well. Hope had money saved for a payment due on her ranch's second mortgage and she had to use some of it for the drilling equipment. They drilled for over a month and Christmas came and went. They spent Christmas Eve at the drilling site and exchanged gifts. She gave Rio and silver bracelet with the Indian symbol for water on it and Rio gave her a necklace that his grandmother had given him. He told her that she could pass it down to her daughter when the time came. Rio didn't know it but Hope was hoping she was pregnant with his child at the time. They talked more about Rio's past and he told her that he nearly married when he was younger. He hadn't gone through with it because the woman told him that she didn't want a child with him due to his Indian heritage. Hope told Rio that if a woman felt that way that she didn't really love him.
Rio and Mason spent over a month drilling the water well. Mason had arthritis in his hands and the work was hard on him and causing his hands to swell. One of his grandchildren came to help. Hope had to sell off the last of her cattle to pay for the drilling and to still have enough to make the payment on her land. She asked the town bank for an extension on the loan and was turned down. The bank was owned by a relative of John Turner's. She was still there when Turner came in and offered to take her in exchange for the loan and was angry when she rejected him yet again.
Rio felt bad that Hope had given up so much for her trust in him to continue digging the well deeper when others might have given up on him by now. They had been drilling 24 hours a day for well over a month.
They were at the drill sight sleeping one morning when the woke up thinking it was raining. They had hit water. Hope cried because this meant that Rio was leaving and he did.
It was three months later and Hope had gone to a neighboring town to try and get a loan to rebuild the ranch. She needed money for seed to grow alfalfa and oats. She would use the profits from this to purchase cattle come spring. She was driving with the banker when she told him that a man named Rio had found the water for her. He told her that he would give her the loan because he knew Rio. He had gone to school with Rio and he was the best there was. Hope was surprised because the man seemed much older than Rio. He told her that Rio was exceptionally smart. He had started college when he was 16 and passed with honors. Rio had been known from the age of 13 to be able to find water. The banker had used Rio for his thesis paper trying to find out how Rio found water using his Indian heritage ways of water-witching or dowsing. He further explained that Rio found people who had dreams and helped them because he had no dreams of his own. He didn't know deep down what moved Rio but this is what he did. He didn't often take money for payment but rather what people could afford. Sometimes it was cattle or horses. In Hope case, Rio told her that he would send her 10 mares to breed with the only horse she kept, Shadow Walker. Hope would take care of the colts until he came to collect them at sometime he decided to get them in the future.
It was 5 months after he left that Hope was preparing to make some decisions on what to do with the loan money when she woke up to a truck outside. She was hoping to see Rio had returned. She was pregnant and showing by now. It was a man delivering thousands of dollars of seed. He told her that Rio had sent her. It wasn't much longer that cattle arrived from all over the country. They were all sent at Rio's request. Rio sent the horses he had told her he would send to her too. One of those horses was the mount that he had used while searching for water on her land. Rio had hay and grain sent too. One of the last things to arrive was the Angus cattle that was the last of her cattle that she had sold. The men delivering the items were in debt to Rio for various things that he had done for them from finding water to finding the men injured and staying to help them until they were well enough to go back to taking care of their ranches. The cattle, horses, feed and hay were all things that ranchers from Montana, New Mexico and other places had given Rio for his help. The return of the Angus cattle she loved and an Angus bull was just too much for Hope and she began to cry. She took Rio horse and rode out to the well site. She thought she was dreaming when she saw Rio there. Rio went to her and saw her crying. He told her that he couldn't stay away any longer. He was in love with her and wanted to marry her if she would have him. It was winter now and Hope was wearing a coat. Rio told her that he didn't care if she didn't want his child, he would marry her anyway. She opened her coat and let him feel her stomach. He was thrilled to find her pregnant. She saw the disbelief and hope in him and they kissed as he cried. His touch told Hope that he would stay with her.
December 19, 2016
Elizabeth Lowell can create a sensual narrative that really pulls me in.
I liked this story of hers because she wrote a hero that I wasn't pissed off with through the whole book. Some of her other heroes are men that I don't want the heroine to forgive because they've SEVERELY messed up. But her heroines are pushovers, it seems like.
But this hero was really nice. I'm thinking I may have read this book many years ago - but she does have other stories in her collection that are similar -similar setting, similar hero, similar heroine.
I suppose this story drew me in because I'm helping to run my dad's cattle farm at the moment. I can't be there all the time because I work a full time job, but the worries and cares are still the same. There's been a drought here, even though this isn't Nevada desert. We've got too many cows and not enough grass to go around. So we're constantly feeding hay. The heroine in this book is having to haul water from another man's property to her own cattle, many times a day, because her wells have gone dry. The hero has come to help the heroine out, to find water on her land.
The struggle is real, y'all.
Anyway. This was a decent escape.
4 stars.
I liked this story of hers because she wrote a hero that I wasn't pissed off with through the whole book. Some of her other heroes are men that I don't want the heroine to forgive because they've SEVERELY messed up. But her heroines are pushovers, it seems like.
But this hero was really nice. I'm thinking I may have read this book many years ago - but she does have other stories in her collection that are similar -similar setting, similar hero, similar heroine.
I suppose this story drew me in because I'm helping to run my dad's cattle farm at the moment. I can't be there all the time because I work a full time job, but the worries and cares are still the same. There's been a drought here, even though this isn't Nevada desert. We've got too many cows and not enough grass to go around. So we're constantly feeding hay. The heroine in this book is having to haul water from another man's property to her own cattle, many times a day, because her wells have gone dry. The hero has come to help the heroine out, to find water on her land.
The struggle is real, y'all.
Anyway. This was a decent escape.
4 stars.
May 20, 2014
7/10 - I enjoyed this book except for it took a long time for the characters to get to the romance, unusual for Lowell (I've read a few). Amber Beach or Where the Heart is or Desert Rain are still my favourite Lowell books. That's not the original title, I'm sure, but can't remember the correct one so this'll have to do. Hopefully, in 50 years I'll still know which one I'm talking about.
October 27, 2010
This is, by far, one of her best books. In "Beautiful Dreamer", Lowell uses words to paint imagery so vivid and enticing that you actually feel as if you're in a drought-stricken ranch in Nevada. I read this book in about 1 day because I absolutely could not put it down. The descriptions of the land captivated me. It's a great read that I will absolutely read again some day.
July 31, 2015
A romance book about a rancher and the half-breed drifter who comes into town to help her find water.
TWO REAL STARS, TWO ROMANCE STARS
TWO REAL STARS, TWO ROMANCE STARS
January 29, 2024
What a beautiful story. I loved every word from page 1 to the end.
I loved Rio and Hope and Mason.
I loved their story, a story of dreams, of struggles, of fighting to keep what is dear to the heart.
I loved the description of the harsh land, of it's geology, of ancient times.
I cried and felt my heart break for Rio, for Hope, for their strugglke to find water, for their love so strong and pure.
I loved hopw she let him go, loving him as he was accepting every part of him, wishing for his child and I loved how he kept sending truck after truck reviving her dream, her ranch.
I 'll treasure it as one of my fav books.
I loved Rio and Hope and Mason.
I loved their story, a story of dreams, of struggles, of fighting to keep what is dear to the heart.
I loved the description of the harsh land, of it's geology, of ancient times.
I cried and felt my heart break for Rio, for Hope, for their strugglke to find water, for their love so strong and pure.
I loved hopw she let him go, loving him as he was accepting every part of him, wishing for his child and I loved how he kept sending truck after truck reviving her dream, her ranch.
I 'll treasure it as one of my fav books.
February 15, 2024
Inherited this from Grandma. I remember learning about Grandmas love of romance and then learning about her love of spicy romance, what a relegation lol Finally getting a chance to read through her collection.
I enjoyed this overall solid underlying plot and the characters had really deep respect for each other as people. Super cool to see a romance that isn't like I am going to change him, it was I accept and love him exactly as he is, which was nice. However I ddi feel like they feel in love to quickly they were both good great people so I got it but I wished to see more leading up to the feelings moments over like they did this one wonderful thing love.
I enjoyed this overall solid underlying plot and the characters had really deep respect for each other as people. Super cool to see a romance that isn't like I am going to change him, it was I accept and love him exactly as he is, which was nice. However I ddi feel like they feel in love to quickly they were both good great people so I got it but I wished to see more leading up to the feelings moments over like they did this one wonderful thing love.
July 21, 2017
So many ch-ch-cheesy parts.
It got better but there are just so many overdone flowery descriptions. How many ways (and how often) do we need an allegory about love, life, and land. Not to mention the tie ins with Rio and water. Likely my hooting snarky enjoyment of a cheap e-book is not what Ms. Lowell intended. And it did remind me of why the paperback went into the "donate" pile.
It got better but there are just so many overdone flowery descriptions. How many ways (and how often) do we need an allegory about love, life, and land. Not to mention the tie ins with Rio and water. Likely my hooting snarky enjoyment of a cheap e-book is not what Ms. Lowell intended. And it did remind me of why the paperback went into the "donate" pile.
January 4, 2022
I didn't finish it. I had read reviews on Beautiful Dreamer that were more positive than the other book I recently read by this author. So, I thought I would give it a try. I couldn't get through the repetition of the Valley of the Sun ranch and what it meant to the main character page after page. Note: I am not a real romance novel reader, so judge my review for what's it worth in that this isn't my preferred genre.
February 18, 2018
There were elements of this book that took me by surprise. But, none more so than the ending. I actually found myself crying.
Each delivery sent to the ranch was a giant love letter from Rio. He literally gave Hope everything he owned and then some.
The author even made geology romantic. She turned the evolution of the earth into poetry.
Each delivery sent to the ranch was a giant love letter from Rio. He literally gave Hope everything he owned and then some.
The author even made geology romantic. She turned the evolution of the earth into poetry.
October 9, 2019
Das Buch hält was es verspricht, ohne große Überraschungen. Aber die möchte man bei diesem Genre doch auch gar nicht wirklich, oder?
Es gab ein paar Längen durch ein paar Wiederholungen, die die hoffnungslose Lage noch mal verdeutlichen sollten, falls man das vorher noch nicht verstanden hatte.
Aber ich hatte eine nette Urlaubslektüre, was will ich mehr.
Es gab ein paar Längen durch ein paar Wiederholungen, die die hoffnungslose Lage noch mal verdeutlichen sollten, falls man das vorher noch nicht verstanden hatte.
Aber ich hatte eine nette Urlaubslektüre, was will ich mehr.
August 9, 2017
Story of a young woman who has a dream of raising cattle on a ranch that lacks water. A "rainman" who can usually find water agrees to help her.
I thought this was a different type of Lowell story. I liked it, but it was a different type of story.
I thought this was a different type of Lowell story. I liked it, but it was a different type of story.
December 18, 2017
The only thing I didn't like was how much the initial looking for water went, that and there was no mentioning of any other difficulties that came with the ranch, other than the balloon payment coming due.
July 17, 2018
My favorite book.
I've read this book too many times to count. All I can say is it is my favorite book. I love the way Elizabeth Lowell writes, she's one of my favorites. If you live stories about love you'll love this book too.
I've read this book too many times to count. All I can say is it is my favorite book. I love the way Elizabeth Lowell writes, she's one of my favorites. If you live stories about love you'll love this book too.
May 10, 2018
Well written, no gratuitous sex, a good story with a happy ending. Two denouements which was nice to see -- all life's problems are not solved at once.
January 10, 2019
Very Well Written. I Really Enjoyed This Book. 🍂
March 5, 2019
I read this last night when I couldn't fall asleep. Geology!
April 9, 2019
Okay book. Not one that will stay on the bookshelf to reread. Storyline of a hopeless romantic falling in love with the guy who gets her ranch water.
July 27, 2019
A must read !
October 2, 2019
This is absolutely, without a doubt, one of the best books I have ever read. Definite a reread.
January 3, 2020
This is one of my favorite of Elizabeth Lowe’s. I have reread it many times and each time I cry at certain parts and chuckle and I’m so happy at how Rio and Hope end up together.
May 29, 2021
Given that this book is 90% cows, I didn't expect it to make me teary at the end. But it did.
July 27, 2021
Given that this book is 90% cows, I didn't expect it to make me teary at the end. But it did.
September 7, 2021
3+ stars = Originally published as 'Valley of the Sun', a SIM #109 (In altered form it says)
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