Waiting for Thunder: A Novel

Sybil Raney
BookSurge (2009)
ISBN 9781439225257
Reviewed by Olivera Baumgartner-Jackson for Reader Views (10/10) 

 

How could any red-blooded woman resist a book which offers such a tantalizing description on the back cover? “What woman hasn’t fantasized about galloping off into the sunset with a cowboy?” If I am quite truthful, cowboys have never figured in my fantasies, but that might easily be explained by the fact we simply do not have any where I grew up… But running away with a bad boy, that is another story; and I could certainly all too well understand the appeal of galloping off with a cowboy. So, with a certain set of expectations, I dived into “Waiting for Thunder.”

Ann MacMann, a divorced-but-dating-again middle-aged mom of two and a successful professional woman, returns to the favorite place of hers, the Texas Hill Country, with her two children and her rich, but rather boring fiancé. One of the employees at the dude ranch, Thunder, captures her attention and eventually wins her over. She decides to leave the glitzy life in California behind and purchase her own dude ranch, the Shooting Star, which she intends to run together with the charming and rugged Thunder. Will they manage to live together happily ever after or will Ann discover that one truly needs to be careful what one wishes for, since one might just get it?

As I mentioned earlier, I had a certain set of expectations when I started reading “Waiting for Thunder,” namely I expected to be entertained and at least slightly amused by a middle-aged woman’s search for a happily-ever-after with a cowboy. Those expectations were certainly met, and actually surpassed, but I also got so much more out of the book. Let me start with the writing itself. Written as a first person narrative, the style is light, yet not fluffy, very nicely tempered by sass and wit. Ann is the first one to laugh at herself, and the reader is bound to laugh with her much more than at her. Then there are the characters, so three dimensional and so believable that one would just love to book a ticket and fly to the Dry Creek for a visit at the Shooting Star. Let us not forget the story here. It was considerably more touching and emotionally involving than what I’ve expected from the brief description on the back cover, and it turned into one of the best tales of “be careful what you wish for” I’ve read in a very long time. There was fun and laughter and touching moments galore, but also heart-rending truths about men who will forever remain boys, petty jealousies and life-altering secrets of small towns galore. Best of all, I felt I was there during the entire story, maybe sharing a cup of coffee and a slice of pie with a good friend on a daily basis.

“Waiting for Thunder” far exceeded my expectations, and I would highly recommend it to anybody who’s searching for something different, be it in a book or in their own life. It will make you snicker, it will make you laugh, then giggle and later cry, but most of all, it will make you think and re-think where you are going.

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