Release Day Review & #giveaway | The Lone Rancher by @AndrewGreyBooks

 The Lone Rancher

 Dreamspun Desires

 Andrew Grey

Contemporary Cowboy MM Romance

Novel (192 pages)

Dreamspinner Press (February 15^th 2016)

**** Tams 4 star review ****

He'll do anything to save the ranch, including baring it all.

Aubrey Klein is in real trouble—he needs some fast money to save the family ranch. His solution? A weekend job as a stripper at a club in Dallas. For two shows each Saturday, he is the star as The Lone Rancher.

It leads to at least one unexpected revelation: after a show, Garrett Lamston, an old friend from school, approaches the still-masked Aubrey to see about some extra fun… and Aubrey had no idea Garrett was gay. As the two men dodge their mothers’ attempts to set them up with girls, their friendship deepens, and one thing leads to another.

Aubrey knows his life stretching between the ranch and the club is a house of cards. He just hopes he can keep it standing long enough to save the ranch and launch the life—and the love—he really hopes he can have.

Buy links: Dreamspinner Press | Amazon US | Amazon UK

Aubrey Klein moonlights as an exotic dancer at a strip club in Dallas as a means to an end. His mother does love her credit cards and his father is getting up there in years, so it’s up to Aubrey to make sure his family ranch doesn’t sink under a mountain of debt. His trips to Dallas afford Aubrey an opportunity to be himself though, and then the one guy that could destroy it all shows up at the club and leaves Aubrey questioning everything.

Aubrey and Garrett Lamston grew up together, played in the creek when they were kids and worked their family’s ranches. Each of them tried college, but it didn’t work out. The life they live is all they’ve known and where they are most comfortable. They share a secret as well, both certain that if they came out to their family they would be rejected. But when Garrett sees Aubrey in Dallas it sets a chain of events in motion that change both their lives forever.

Aubrey is essentially living three lives… the son that refuses to let his family ranch drown, refuses to let his parents down. The Lone Rancher that hides behind a mask to make the money he needs to keep the ranch afloat. And then there is the man that he is in love with his child hood friend; sweet, gentle and loving Aubrey is finding it very hard to juggle these three lives.

I felt at home while I was reading this book, with the scenery and images that played in the background. Perhaps because I’m from Texas, Dallas Ft. Worth actually, and I’m pretty sure I know exactly which club The Lone Rancher would be dancing in if he weren’t a fictional character. The life on the ranch, the way that Aubrey and Garrett were almost forced to live their lives, hiding who they really were for fear of the ramifications; it all rang very true for me. I was able to visualize the life Grey painted for these two men.

There was a spur in my saddle though; I didn’t understand why Aubrey was so ashamed of what he was doing. Yes he deliberately passed up several chances to be honest with Garrett and save himself some heartache, but when he was talking to his parents and Garrett after the cat was out of the bag, he came across as mortified and immensely ashamed. I think that were he sleeping around or living a shady double life, maybe, but he was achieving his goal to financially support his parents and the ranch without doing anything illegal. I guess I wish he hadn’t been so hard on himself. And then when his mother saw that Aubrey had paid off all her credit cards and the mortgage, she was ready to charge them right back up. I wanted to smack her. I was very impressed when his dad agreed with him in that situation.

Overall I really enjoyed this book. There was just a touch of angst, the inner struggle that Aubrey and Garrett had to deal with individually, before realizing they could better deal with it together. Love and romance, sexy men in wranglers wearing hats, and riding horses, and each other. And let me just say, you haven’t lived until you’ve made out in a truck bed on a dark dirt road in backwoods Texas, lying on a blanket all naked and sweaty, staring up at the stars. I’m just sayin…

Making the world sexier, one reader at a time. 

Andrew Grey writes contemporary Gay Romance. He grew up in western Michigan with a father who loved to tell stories and a mother who loved to read them. Since then he has lived throughout the country and traveled throughout the world. He has a master's degree from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and works in information systems for a large corporation. Andrew's hobbies include collecting antiques, gardening, and leaving his dirty dishes anywhere but in the sink (particularly when writing) He considers himself blessed with an accepting family, fantastic friends, and the world's most supportive and loving partner. Andrew currently lives in beautiful, historic Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

Author links: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Amazon

Visit Andrew Grey's website for up to date news on books and signings. 

Up for grabs for one lucky winner is ONE Cowboy story by Andrew Grey, winner's choice, 

excluding The Lone Rancher. 

{series include: Farm, Range, The Good Fight, The Bullriders}

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