Reviewed by Jess
TITLE: Roped In 
SERIES: Clean Slate Ranch #2
AUTHOR: A.M. Arthur
PUBLISHER: Carina Press
LENGTH: 352 pages
RELEASE DATE: May 21, 2018
BLURB:
For Colt Woods, Clean Slate Ranch is home. The dude ranch in Northern California helped him heal from a devastating breakup. So when his ex-Dom, the man who broke his heart, waltzes onto the ranch, Colt doesn’t know how to deal.
A research job at a nearby ghost town brings history PhD Avery Hendrix to Clean Slate. He’s not in town forever, but it doesn’t take long for him to feel the familiar draw to Colt. When they find out they’ll be sharing a cabin on the ranch, it’s all Avery can do to stop himself from bending Colt over a saddle right then and there.
In such close proximity, Colt’s and Avery’s old feelings come galloping back. Soon Colt is doing his master’s bidding again and loving every moment of it. And the pair may be in for the ride of their lives—if the dedicated professor and his rugged cowboy can learn to trust again.
REVIEW:
We first met laidback ranch-hand Colt and polished professor Avery in the first book in this series, Wild Trail. While that book was about two men meeting and falling in love, this book revisits two old lovers who never quite got over each other—and it contains a scorching BDSM element that takes the erotica to new levels. There’s a lot to love, but it ends up dragging a little bit, and I got bored towards the end.
The bank robbery backstory involving Colt and Mack (from the previous book) is pretty thin, but it serves as motivation for Colt’s ongoing feelings of shame and guilt—and how he needs someone like Avery to make him forget those things. Working through trauma with BDSM is a tricky dynamic to write, but I think it works really well here. Avery and Colt come together explosively as sexual partners, but they also shine as Dom and Sub, giving deeper emotion to the eroticism of their Sir/Pet scenes.
In regards to the BDSM elements of the story, I really liked some parts and was confused by others. I love how Avery is not your stereotypical “dom”—he’s quiet, introverted, and not overly masculine, but whenever he enters the room, his easy confidence commands respect. I also like how he’s demisexual and possibly on the ace spectrum, which is discussed openly between romantic partners. However, I never quite understood why Avery got into BDSM, or if he even genuinely enjoys being a Dom. His stance on being a Sir to Colt’s Pet seemed to be lukewarm while Colt was all in, making some of the scenes sort of uncomfortable to read. And he never seemed to enjoy his former professional Dom life very much. While Colt’s motivations for being a Sub always make total sense, I never got a good read on Avery.
In both this book and the previous one in the series, I think the last fourth of the book needed to be condensed into an epilogue. The story drags on for a bit longer than it needs to, edging into the sort of calm, overly sweet domesticity we expect in the HEA, not the narrative itself. I was very bored by the plots about meeting and reconciling with old family members, only because we haven’t really spent enough time with either character for those reunions to make a deep impact. That’s the sort of plot you get in book four or five of an ongoing series, not at the end of book one.
I quite liked Wild Trail, so I was a little tough with this review. I think there’s a lot less plot in this book, which makes page after page of Colt and Avery’s back-and-forth become monotonous after a while. This story needed a better plot backbone to make it as successful as the predecessor. While it’s a sexy read by an awesome M/M author, it isn’t the best of the series so far—yet I eagerly await whatever comes next!
RATING: 
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