Reviewed by Vicki
TITLE: Nowhere Ranch 
AUTHOR: Heidi Cullinan
PUBLISHER: Self Published
LENGTH: 178 pages
BLURB:
Love will grow through the cracks you leave open.
Ranch hand Roe Davis absolutely never mixes business with pleasure—until he runs into his boss, Travis Loving, at the only gay bar within two hundred miles.
Getting involved with the ranch owner is a bad idea, but Roe’s and Travis’s bedroom kinks line up against one another like a pair of custom-cut rails. As long as they’re both clear this is sex on the side, no relationship, no interfering with the job, they could make it work.
Shut out by his family years ago, Roe survived by steadfastly refusing to settle into so much as a post office box. As his affair with Travis grows into more than just sex, Roe’s past catches up with him, threatening the thin ray of happiness he’s found, reminding him it’s well past time he went on his way.
But even a loner gets lonely, and at this point, there’s nowhere left to run. The shame and sorrow of what he’s lost will stay with Roe wherever he goes—until he’s ready to let love lead him home.
This novel has been previously published and has been revised from its original release.
REVIEW:
Wow. I was about half way through this book, thinking about writing this review, and the word that would most comfortably describe this book in my mind was “kinky”. This book is fucking kinky! Nasty, dirty kinky. I do like some kink, this was just on the upper edge of my comfort zone and I loved it. At the end of the book, my one word had changed to “family”.
The main character of Nowhere Ranch is Monroe Davis, the whole story is from his perspective. He is an undereducated gay man from a homophobic family in Iowa. We first meet Roe, as he prefers to be called, as he is settling in at the Nowhere Ranch, a hobby ranch owned by former teacher Travis Loving, in Nebraska. It’s a small ranch, with a manager (Tory) who lives off site, a couple of hands, also living off site, and now Roe, living in a crappy apartment over the barn as part of his payment. Roe likes the solitary life, he’s got his little crappy apartment that he fixes up as he can, he likes working for Loving, he gets along with Tory and the hands, and is proving he is a valuable employee, knowing a bit about the sheep that Loving wants to raise. The only trick is finding a way to satisfy his sexual needs….
He hears about a gay bar three hours away, and on a weekend that Loving is gone, he heads out to get his itch scratched. Much to his shock, sitting at the bar is his boss, Travis Loving. Who apparently wants to get his itch scratched too! They chat, realize what they are both wanting, and off to a hotel they go. Conveniently, both are kinky and on the opposite sides of the BDSM fence. Travis loves to play with an ass, and boy does Roe love to have his ass played with! After a very naughty weekend, they agree this is only an occasional thing, not to be mixed with work, and Roe will need to initiate any further contact.
Now the problem is, Roe has some serious trust and commitment issues. He liked it at the ranch and doesn’t want to have to run, doesn’t want any sort of commitment, confinement, attachment what so ever. So it is some time before the two hook up again. But when they do, damn, it is powerful. We get bondage, pain, punishment, dirty talk, humiliation, ass play, and eventually fisting. While this deep sexual bond is forming between them, some sneaky bits of emotion get worked in as well. Much to Roe’s shock. He’s forming attachments, commitments, and creating his own new world.
Not only does he now have Travis, he also has Haley. Haley is the daughter of Tory, the ranch manager. Haley wants to be a teacher, and has discovered that Roe hasn’t finished school. Her life mission becomes to force feed education down Roe’s throat, whether he wants it or not. She figures out his learning disability, and how to teach him. At one point she has him working on essay writing, he writes an essay explaining why Travis should fuck him, that had me laughing. It was the perfect combination of sweet, sexy and funny….
Then there is Roe’s family issues. His family kicked him out before he finished high school, he struggled, made some bad choices and ended up in jail for two years. He’s avoided them all for five years, but his bitch of a cousin tracks him down and sends him a horrible letter. Which is followed by one from his brother, asking him to give up his wicked ways and come home to help care for their aging parents. The whole family issue worked very well for me, I can’t say what happens but it was just what needed to happen.
So I mentioned earlier that my first word was “kinky”, and this book is. The sex is frequent, descriptive, and rough. Also yummy, hot, eventually emotional, and my favorite word KINKY! The second word that came to mind at the end of the story is “family”. Roe, the loner, running from his own family, discovers that family is what you make, not necessarily the one you are born in to. Travis, Tory, Haley, the ranch hands, all become Roe’s family, whether he wants them or not. They bind him tighter, ask more of him, push him harder, accept him, and love him like no one ever has before. Roe is an amazing character, the transition he makes from loner to family man is phenomenal. I loved reading it. Travis is equally as good, dark and kinky on one hand, caring and loving on the other. Just perfect. The ending actually got me a little teary-eyed, it’s very emotional and exactly how it needed to end.
Heidi Cullinan is an amazing writer. I’ve read almost everything she’s published, and I’ve loved nearly all of her books. I love her diversity and creativity. This book is completely different from her other books, as each of those are as well. She’s given us fantasy, fairy tales, new adult, historical, contemporary, Christmas stories, kinky truckers, clean-cut college boys, bears, ranchers, on and on…. That is how to keep going in this genre.
If you are a fan of BDSM, this is the book for you. If you are a fan of excellent writing with creative characters, this is the book for you. If you are a Heidi Cullinan fan, you have got to read this book.
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