My Cowboy Homecoming
The Cowboys, Book #3
By Z.A. Maxfield
Author’s Website: http://zamaxfield.com/
Brought to you by OBS reviewer Heidi
Calvin Tripplehorn Jr. aka Tripp, enlisted in the army to get away from his dysfunctional family. Now his dad is in prison, his brother has been killed in a car wreck, and his mom is a mess. Tripp has finished his time in the army and has come back home to take care of his mom. And, what a job it is! The house is run-down, she hasn’t paid any bills since his brother’s death four months ago, and she is deluded into thinking that Tripp’s dad is going to win an appeal.
But there is a bright side to it all. Tripp got the job he always wanted growing up, working at the J-Bar ranch! It’s hard work, but he finds peace in it, and loves working with the animals. And, being able to watch sexy cowboy, Lucho, doesn’t hurt either! There is a definite spark between the two … that is until Lucho discovers who Tripp’s father is. Turns out he burned down Lucho’s abuelo’s restaurant, which he felt lead to his death shortly after. Can Lucho ever look past Tripp’s last name and realize that he’s not his father, and that he despises the man in equal measure?
I don’t read much in the m/m romance genre … in fact this is only my second m/m book, but every once in awhile I stray from my norm … you know what they say, after all, variety is the spice of life. This was an okay read. It definitely taught me a few things as far as how sex between two guys go, as there were a couple graphic love scenes.
The characters were engaging and you could see the bigotry in today’s society represented in this book as well. As wrong as she was, I couldn’t help, but laugh at some of the comments made by Tripp’s mom who is convinced her little boy isn’t gay, just confused.
“Oh, I’ve heard all about Crispin Carrasco. Yancy told me plenty.”
I stilled. “What did he tell you?”
“How that boy came along and turned Speed Malloy gay.”
“People don’t turn people gay, Ma.” would we have to go through this again? “They’re born that way.”
“They do so turn people gay. There were hardly any gay people at all when I was growing up, but now they’re everywhere you look. Of course they’re recruiting. That’s the whole point to all this news coverage of gay rights and those shows that make being gay look as if it’s normal.”
My fork hovered over my hash browns. Should I wade in, again? Or ignore this?”
The other characters that worked at the ranch were a lot of fun as well. I loved the camaraderie and the way they razzed each other. Especially when it came to Tripp and Lucho’s first date.
“I never had a gay son.” Stu gave an overly dramatic sniff. “But if I did, I’d want him to go to the city for dinner with a boy just like you.”
Petey slapped his back. “And don’t forget all that sex they’ll have afterwards.”
“Oh, yeah.” Stu nodded. “If only my fictitious gay son could get as lucky as Lucho is gonna get tonight. That’s all a man could ask for.”
The storyline was decent and flowed good for the most part, although I found the ending dragged quite a bit and was a bit of a letdown. Their story just didn’t feel complete to me.
My main complaint with this book, and it’s minor really, is that I don’t find a ranch chock full of gay cowboys to be realistic unless it catered to the gay community that is, which this one doesn’t. There were three gay couples on staff (one for each book in the series) and very few straight men! I just can’t imagine working at a place where the gay men outnumbered the straight. And, that’s not saying anything to bash their sexual preference at all, it’s just not quite that common in the places I’ve worked.
This was a decent read, but is not for the faint of heart. If you’re not ready for a play-by-play of sex between two men, do NOT pick this book up! But if you’re a bit curious about it and enjoy a little smut, it could make for a couple of fun days of reading.
