A Chaotic Range Range series Book 7
M/M Romance
Dreamspinner Press
November 7, 2014
200
Reviewed by: Linda Tonis
Member of the Paranormal Romance Review Team
Thirty-two year old Brian Applewright always dreamed of being in the rodeo, but like so many dreams it did not become a reality. With the rodeo no longer an option he returned to the one thing he was always good at, ranching. For the last three years he was at a ranch where the only ones who knew he was gay were the owners and the man he was having an affair with. When his secret was discovered he found himself the target for everyone else causing him to be fired. Not only was he fired but he was fired in the middle of winter when the possibility of finding another ranching job was all but impossible.
Now Brian finds himself driving in the middle of a blizzard and running out of gas. One wrong turn and he finds himself buried in snow and stuck in a freezing car with the prospect of death staring him in the eye. When all hope is lost he finds himself being rescued and brought to a ranch that was so close and yet impossible to see through the swirling snow. He is found by Haven and Phillip’s men, men we have met previously in other Range books. He explains his situation but is not willing to reveal what actually happened to him.
One of the men he meets is David Newsome, a boy he knew and had a crush on in high school. Talk about a small world. David was the football star and an unattainable goal for Brian but he still played a major part in Brian’s fantasies. Both men apparently were attracted to each other as kids but it was definitely not an age were one openly confessed to being gay. Funny how a three letter word “GAY” can destroy so many lives.
Now Brian is determined to do everything in his power to prove himself and hopefully gain employment with Phillip and Haven who run a ranch with both gay and straight men all working in harmony. David had left the ranch a few years ago and then returned. He had a relationship with the foreman of the ranch Mario only he was easily swayed by a young, handsome man and left everything behind. It did not take long for him to realize what he had lost but Mario is now with someone else and apparently happy. David and Brian are both attracted to each other but is there a chance for them? Will Brian be able to stay at the ranch once the storms have passed and winter is over?
In all honesty gay books would never even have crossed my mind to read until I was given one of Andrew Grey’s books to review. His books are full of pain and love and any other emotion he can wring out of his reader. I have gained an entirely new perspective on what it means to be gay. No one wakes up in the morning and says wow I think I’ll be gay so that everyone can stare at me with distaste, can beat on me, curse me, hate me even my own family, yes that sounds like a good idea.
When one of my husband’s co-worker’s son, also a football hero, was reported to have been hazing by pushing his genitals into someone’s face my husband immediately took the boy’s side, I on the other hand asked my husband to look at the situation with a different set of eyes, what if the person being hazed was gay and the hazing both hurt him and embarrassed him, was that okay? Now my husband understands but until reading Andrew’s books I don’t think I really did. Mr. Grey’s books are not just about sex and love they have a way of bringing the gay situation into a whole different light by making the reader see “human men” not “gay men” who just want to be loved and love back.
**Best M/M Romance Novel
2014 PRG Reviewer’s Choice Awards