Reviewed by Sarina
TITLE: Pulled from All Sides
SERIES: Roughstock #6
AUTHOR: B.A. Tortuga
PUBLISHER: Pride Publishing
LENGTH: 208 pages
RELEASE DATE: August 30, 2016
BLURB:
Balta is all fire and fury, Joa is his haven. What happens when Raul becomes their third?
Joa is an anomaly on the bull-riding circuit—he’s Brazilian but grew up in Texas, so he’s not sure where he fits in. Champion Brazilian rider Balta knows just where he wants Joa to be—both in his life and in his bed.
Raul is new to the bull-riding circuit and needs their help learning the ropes. From the start, Raul knows that Joa belongs with Balta, but he also knows that Balta’s career is on its way down and the world is ripe for another champion from Brazil.
When Balta decides that Raul is just what he and Joa need to even out the balance of power, they have to find common ground—professionally, publicly, and most importantly, personally.
Publisher’s Note: This book has been previously released elsewhere. It has been revised and re-edited for re-release with Pride Publishing.
REVIEW:
The love I have for this series really knows no bounds and I was super excited to get into this next book, not only because it would continue the series for me, but because this is the first book I’ve read that featured ménage.
Besides the trio of men featured, the book was different in that it takes place at the same time as books 2-5. (I didn’t see anything about Jason’s injury mentioned until much later after it happened so that knocked out book 1.) Think of this as a kind of behind the scenes look at what’s going on with the Brazilian riders while events throughout the rest of the series are taking place. While it did take me a little while to get used to, I actually liked the set up quite a bit; the Brazilian riders are some of the most overlooked as well as the most bullied by other competitors and I really relished the chance to get so see them all first hand. This allowed for a deeper understanding of the characters that have been floating in and out of the series so far while also leading me to a deeper appreciation of what they have to deal with while on the rodeo circuit. The downside to all of this, of course, was that the book moved quite quickly for most of the story as it did touch on the events in multiple previous storylines. That did take some adjustment on my part as I was used to a slower pace and build up of the relationship between the main characters.
The relationship portion of the book was also split into essentially two parts: the first is the initial get together of Balta and Joa and the second is when Raul is added. Balta and Joa were really good together and I enjoyed their interactions but I never really felt as though I connected with them like I have the other couples in the series. I figure that’s in part to how quickly things moved in the book overall; they’d obviously been together quite a while but I never got to see the deepening of their relationship over time the way I enjoy. Raul wasn’t added until about 2/3 of the way through the book though he has his own chapters and occasionally floats in and out of the Balta/Joa focused ones. What I got to see of Raul I really liked; he has such a positive outlook and even when he’s feeling down he still manages to smile. There was a lot of mutual lust going on but I never felt as though the relationship was equal between all three men; Joa seemed to be the one most focused on and you don’t get much interaction between Balta and Raul at all. I really would’ve liked to have seen more equality in the grouping or, at the very least, some switching up when it came to the roles in the bedroom.
Overall I enjoyed the story and thought the behind the scenes look was a good choice for this book. While this isn’t my favorite book in the series, it was still an enjoyable read and I’m really glad I got to know more about a lot of the men that are always hanging around in the background. If you enjoyed the rest series I’m sure you’ll enjoy this book as well. I rated this one around a 3.75* but rounded up to mesh with our rating system.
RATING: 
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