Reviewed by Donna

TITLE: Terms Of Release

AUTHOR: B.A. Tortuga

PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press

LENGTH: 240 Pages

BLURB: They say a man can always come home. So after doing hard time, Sage Redding heads to his family’s northeast Texas ranch to help his ailing daddy with the cutting horses.

Adam (Win) Winchester is a county deputy and the cousin of one of the men killed in the incident that sent Sage to prison for almost a decade. While Win’s uncles, Jim and Teddy, are determined to make Sage and the entire Redding family pay for their loss, Win just figures Sage has paid his dues and maybe needs a friend. Maybe he needs more than a friend. In fact, Win’s counting on it.

No one’s denying Sage is an ex-con who went to prison for manslaughter. Regardless of the love he has for his father, he’s returned knowing things will likely go badly for him. Maybe a man can always come home, but he may not be able to stay.

REVIEW: A broken ex-convict cowboy who returns to his small hometown in Texas after receiving a call for help from his Momma? Ummm, yes please, I’d like to read that.

Sage Redding was just a stupid teenager when the meth lab in the house he was staying at blew up. Five people, including Sage’s boyfriend, Angel, were killed in the explosion and Sage was sent to a maximum security prison for eight years. Since his release he’s stayed away from his family and the family’s farm because, aside from the fact he’s on parole and can’t travel, he wants to avoid Angel’s family. But Sage isn’t one to shirk his responsibilities so when his Momma tells him that his Daddy needs help he gets permission from the courts and heads home.

For those readers who love a good broken down character, Sage is your man. A pretty little eighteen-year-old cowboy sent to a maximum security prison? That poor guy is physically and psychologically scarred for life. Having to return to the closed minded little town he and Angel grew up in doesn’t help. Angel’s family are rich and influential, his uncle is the sheriff and Sage is too terrified to defend himself against their bullying for fear he’ll be sent back to prison. Luckily he has some amazing family and friends who have his back.

I loved the way BA Tortuga created Sage’s character. He felt real, especially with the way he was afraid to fight back but embarrassed that it made him less of a cowboy. And in this book, being a cowboy was the measure of a man.

“He cowboys up.”

He wasn’t a pussy. He wasn’t a bad man. He was a fucking cowboy.

“I’m thinking tomorrow. Tomorrow, I’ll be a cowboy again.”

Do people actually use phrases like that? I don’t know. I live in Australia and we don’t have cowboys. But if they do, then I love it. And if they don’t, props to the author for making it up and I still love it.

I thought the author did a great job of handling the situation she created. The plot for this story could easily have been embellished and dramatized to the point of disbelief but she kept it tightly controlled. How many times have we read stories where the police are part of some elaborate, evil plot and their actions are far beyond what’s legal? Well, I can’t truthfully say I’ve never enjoyed books like that but had this one gone that route (like I at first assumed it was going to) it really would have taken away from the more emotional aspect of this story. I actually appreciated that each time the police edged towards taking Angel’s family’s vendetta against Sage too far, they were pulled up and threatened with being reported.

I’m confident in recommending this book. At times it was sad and emotional but not in a way that will have you crying. In some ways it was a survivor story. I thought most of the characters were well done, especially Sage. The storyline kept me entertained without being dramatic and I thought it was well written.

Problem is, like all good cowboy books, this has left me with a mad craving for pie.

RATING:

BUY LINKS: Dreamspinner Press