Tag Archives: cowboys

This age gap romance delivered a sweet relationship

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His Accidental CowboyHis Accidental Cowboy by A.M. Arthur

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Like the others in this series, there was just something that stopped me rating it higher, here it was a feeling of incompleteness about the major plot line involving Wyatt’s search for his biological father.

I won’t give any spoilers away but, for me, I didn’t really feel like I got the whys behind what happened.

So, for most of the story I was waiting for an explanation that never came, or in a way which helped me to understand the rationale for it.

Anyways, the romance itself between Jackson and Wyatt is actually pretty sweet and goes a long way to making up the majority of what I liked about this book.

The big age gap between them doesn’t ever really feel like it, because Wyatt’s fairly mature in his approach to wanting to explore his sexuality and being involved with someone.

Jackson’s past (and what is it with most of the characters in this series that they’ve had some level of trauma?! it’s become less effective each time because I feel like oh, here we go again about it) means he’s slow to commit and trust, which helps the friendship develop alongside the sexual side of their relationship.

Overall though, the plot just felt like it dragged on a bit too long to make the reveal as effective as it could have been. We’re in Wyatt’s head hearing him go over the same reasons for why he’s not telling Jackson why he’s really at the Woods Ranch and it ends up being repetitive.

And, talking of heads, we also get Brand’s POV quite a few times in this book and the head jumping isn’t clearly marked (something I’ve been critical of from this author’s work before) so you’re not always sure just who’s thoughts you’re reading!

Having said all of the above, this one is definitely my favourite out of the series so far. I’m not sure if there will be any more from Woods Ranch, there aren’t really any people left hanging around unless A.M. goes back and tries to do a redemption for the former Sheriff of book two.

Either way, overall I definitely preferred the Clean Slate series as a whole.

#ARC kindly received from Carina Press via NetGalley in return for an honest and unbiased review

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Blog Tour: Something Undeniable by Rory Maxwell

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Something Undeniable | Rory Maxwell

Split Rock Ranch #1

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Release Date: October 6th, 2022

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Blurb

Micah Avery has called Split Rock Ranch home for most of his life—it’s one of the few places he can be totally himself without worry or judgment. The ranch, the horses, and the people are Micah’s future, and he couldn’t be happier. The fact that it’s also home to the ranch manager he’s determined to marry one day is icing on the cake . . . all he needs is for Ryan to notice him.

Ryan Astor came to Split Rock Ranch at a time when he was desperate to start over. It was just supposed to be a stop on the road, but instead he found a home and a family—that family includes Micah, the sweet kid who’s been the ranch mascot since before he was tall enough to see over the stall doors. Ryan’s finally found his place, and he can’t imagine wanting anything to change.

Then little Micah Avery grows up. And Ryan’s suddenly confronted with a whole mess of feelings and desires he never expected. Now he needs to decide if he can give in to what they both want without jeopardizing everything they have.

Something Undeniable is a slow-burn, 37k-word novella with an age gap, mutual pining, and plenty of heat. It’s the first book in the Split Rock Ranch series, but can be read as a stand-alone story.

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Excerpt

Micah vs. the water trough

Shocking cold smacked him in the back as he plunged into the trough. Water closed over his head and he threw his arms out, managing to drag himself up enough to suck in a breath. “Fuck,” he gasped, clinging to the metal edge, blinded by the water in his eyes.

A moment later, strong hands wrapped around his biceps and hauled him, sputtering and coughing, back to his feet.

“You okay, kid?” Ryan’s deep voice, caught somewhere between concern and amusement, cut through Micah’s stunned haze. He blinked up at Ryan, trying to clear the water from his clumped lashes.

“Um…” Micah was fine. He was just going to dissolve into a puddle of embarrassment, thank you very much. Ryan’s brow was furrowed in concern. Sexy concern. Crap. “I—fine. I’m fine,” Micah managed to say. He looked down at his soaked clothes and groaned. “Just—wet.” He licked at the water dripping off his upper lip, not that it did much good.

Ryan’s nostrils flared and he looked like he was going to say something scolding. Then Maggie put her booted foot on the still-flapping hose and shut off the water, keeping Rascal away with her free hand. “Micah, how the heck did you manage that?”

Micah shrugged. Or he tried to. Ryan was still gripping his biceps as if he might tumble right back in if given the chance. Maybe that was a safe bet because the heat of Ryan’s hands was soaking into Micah’s skin and making his knees weak. “Don’t know,” he managed to say somewhat evenly. “I think the hose is out to get me.”

“Now that I’d believe.” Maggie shook her head and started hauling it back toward the barn, coiling it neatly as she went.

Ryan finally released him, and Micah immediately missed the warm, steadying touch. A breeze kicked up and he shivered as it sliced right through him. Crap, this was going to suck. Did he have spare clothes up at Maggie’s? It had been a while since he stayed over.

“I probably have something you can wear,” Ryan said, reading Micah’s mind. “Come with me.” He turned to lead the way back to the barn and Micah followed automatically. He had a lot of practice listening when Ryan used that tone.

Walking with his legs encased in heavy, wet denim sucked big time, but it didn’t stop Micah’s eyes from dropping to check out the way Ryan’s jeans hugged his ass as he climbed the stairs. Looking that good in pants should be illegal. At the very least, it should come with a warning label. Caution: Prolonged Eye Contact May Be Bad For Your Mental Health. Not that it would help Micah. He’d never been very good about following rules he didn’t agree with.

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About the Author

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Rory Maxwell discovered romance novels on her mom’s bookshelf when she was probably too young to be reading them—the reward for being a nosy kid with great reading comprehension. The magic of a dial-up internet connection led her to the wonderful world of MM fanfiction a few years later and she fell love with the genre. In 2019 she woke up with a plot bunny, opened a word doc, and started trying to figure out how this writing stuff worked.

Rory grew up outside of Washington, DC, moved away, and then came back for reasons she doesn’t fully understand. An artist and writer, she always has too many exciting ideas and not nearly enough free time. One day, she hopes to escape to the mountains and open an LGBTQIA+ friendly bed and breakfast where she can work from home and write as much as she wants.

In the meantime, she splits her time between her day job and writing MM romance with endearing characters, lots of feels, plenty of heat, and a dash of kink.

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Giveaway

To celebrate the release of Something Undeniable, Rory is giving away a $5 Amazon Gift Card

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An at times frustrating but ultimately enjoyable slow burn

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58870391His Reluctant Cowboy by A.M. Arthur

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

While I ended up enjoying this more than I thought I was going to, I found myself incredibly frustrated at times by events in the narrative.

There’s also a couple of inconsistencies which, while they don’t affect the outcomes of the story, do take away slightly from it (involving what occurred to Michael’s mother which I won’t spoiler).

I loved Michael’s dad Elmer, and was happy to see him be more a focus in the narrative having been a secondary character in book one of this series. He’s a grumpy but kind-hearted man and I was very happy he and Michael managed to resolve their decades old falling out.

Josiah frustrated me immensely and I think a lot of that is simply to do with ALL the traumas the man has had to live though. I know the aim was to draw the reader’s sympathy, but instead it just make him seem pathetic a lot of the time.

That’s a harsh criticism to lay down, I know, and I don’t want to make it sound like I’m victim blaming because I’m not, but there were times when a different direction could have been taken in the narrative and it seemed like the most dramatic and trauma-inducing one was chosen each time to try and make him appear more vulnerable but instead it made him weaker as a character.

Still, he does begin to grow in his own confidence and self-worth once he’s at Elmer’s farm, helping him after his stroke, and I eventually did start rooting for he and Michael to move from friendship into a romance.

However, overall this is an incredibly slow burn romance, which makes sense given Josiah’s background (although again, here there was just so much trauma related events that I became a bit numb to them all in the end) with two characters who do work well as a pairing.

But I found the sexual element of the story was another area where I would have liked to have seen more interactions between them once they did turn their relationship physical, especially given that Michael makes himself vulnerable for Josiah and that whole scene is beautifully done. I wanted more of that.

There’s guest appearances from the guys at Woods Ranch and it was great to catch up with Hugo and Brand again and I’m pretty sure that the author is lining up a redemption arc for the Sheriff which I’m in two minds about whether or not I want to read it, as well as possibly a story for fellow ranch hand Jackson.

I really liked the Clean Slate Ranch series, which this is a spin-off from, but so far neither of the two books in the Woods Ranch series have been as strong for me as they were. However, A.M. Arthur is an author I usually enjoy reading and the Clean Slate books got better as the series progresses, so I’m hoping it will be the same here.

There’s a very strong sense of place, which this author is so good at, and the small town vibe is well presented, there’s good secondary characters and overall the last quarter of the book pulled up my enjoyment significantly and I was very happy with where the relationship is left at the end.

Note the trigger warnings for the book, it includes references to off page sexual assault, homelessness, references to a past street life including sexual exchanges in return for accommodation and a toxic relationship on page, plus an on page violent assault.

#ARC kindly received from the publishers Carina Press via NetGalley in return for an honest and unbiased review

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