Reviewed by Donna
TITLE: Back in the Saddle
AUTHOR: J.R. Barten
PUBLISHER: Encompass Ink
LENGTH: 143 Pages
BLURB:
Gregory McKnight is not lucky in love. In fact, he feels like a downright failure, having had two partners leave him for someone else. So, instead of trying another relationship, Gregory focuses on what he does do well: run a business and raise his daughter, Kendall. Willing to do just about anything for his only child, the single dad takes them on vacation to Colorado and books a weekend tour riding horseback in the mountains. For Kendall, it’s a dream come true. For Gregory, who has been afraid of horses since he was a kid, this is just another opportunity for him to fail.
Enter Cowboy Cooper, the tour’s lead guide and expert rider. The two men have an immediate connection, and while Cooper isn’t shy about making that known, Gregory is terrified of getting his heart broken again. They share an amazing night in the stables, but Gregory ultimately rejects the sweet Cowboy and leaves the ranch without saying good-bye. Knowing how her dad really feels about Cooper, Kendall convinces him that it’s time to get back in the saddle and take a chance on love. What Gregory and Cooper soon realize is that getting together was the easiest part. Can their relationship survive when they’re not even in the same time zone? Follow Gregory and Cooper from the mountains of Colorado to the lakes of Minnesota, where they navigate a relationship hampered by distance and insecurity, and finally find their happily-ever-after.
REVIEW:
Gregory doesn’t like horses, but like any good parent he finds himself giving in to his daughter’s desperate longing to spend a weekend out trail riding. On the off chance that a popular tour company has an opening for the coming weekend he bows down to his kid’s wishes and gives them a call. From the moment he hears the voice on the other end of the line he’s pretty much smitten with the flirty cowboy who takes his call. A flirty cowboy who seems very interested in meeting single father, Gregory. Gregory is almost hoping that they don’t have a place for them on the ride. The last thing Gregory is interested in is a hookup with someone who lives thousands of miles away. But unfortunately, they do have places available, so Gregory and his daughter, Kendall head off to meet up with their horses and their cowboy guides.
While I wasn’t blown away by this story, there were definitely some things that I liked about it. Firstly, I liked the fact that while these men practically declared their interest in each other during that first phone call, when they initially meet face to face Gregory isn’t blown away by Cooper’s looks. He doesn’t think he’s unattractive but he’s also not the hot, buff cowboy stereotype that Gregory had imagined. He’s not really Gregory’s physical “type” at all.
Secondly, I liked the contrast between the confident Gregory we see at work and the awkward, completely lacking in confidence Gregory that we witness through out the majority of the book. The story is told solely from Gregory’s point of view and for the first part of the book I pretty much wanted to punch the guy in the face. The way he treated Cooper, the pull closer then push away behavior, was so frustrating. Cooper was by far my favourite out of the pair and if it wasn’t for the way Gregory was with Kendall I would have thought he was a completely lost cause. It wasn’t until the start of part two of the book that I got a better idea of the man Gregory could be.
I also liked Kendall. She was probably my favourite character in the story. Often children in stories can be annoying, and fair enough Kendall is fifteen, not a young child, but I still thought that her character was very well written. As a secondary character she was well developed and acted as the voice of reason many times.
But, and you knew this was coming right; I also had some issues with the book. This isn’t something that affected my rating, but I think it should be noted because many readers don’t like it, the story is written in present tense. I don’t really have a problem with that, one of my favourite m/m books is written in present tense, but I do find that, perhaps because it isn’t the norm, it often takes longer to become comfortable with the story. It feels like there’s something off about the writing and you get distracted trying to figure out why it feels wrong rather than sinking straight in to the tale.
My biggest concern was the fact that the main characters spent about a third of the book apart. I know the blurb mentions a long distance relationship but the time between Gregory returning home and Cooper arriving for his visit seemed unnecessarily drawn out. By the time they are reunited there’s time for some sex and the epilogue and we’re done. Although, I must mention that I did really enjoy the epilogue.
Lastly, and yes, maybe I’m being a bit picky now but these two things really bothered me. Contractions. They’re a much use part of the English language and they needed to be used more often in this book. I assume that that’s something an editor should pick up on. Also, the use of the title “cowboy”. The tourists on the trail ride are told that they absolutely must address their guides as cowboy, as a sign of respect. Cowboy Cooper, Cowboy Jake, Cowboy Jasmine, etc. But the way that Gregory continued to refer to Cooper as Cowboy Cooper in his thoughts got really annoying. When he spoke, fine, but for him to continue to do it whenever Cooper was on his mind was just too much.
Don’t read this book if you’re looking for a cowboy story. It’s definitely more a story about over coming fears and being brave enough to give love a second (or even third) chance.
RATING: 
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