Reviewed by Jess
TITLE: Lucky Cowboy
SERIES: Ace Cowboy #1
AUTHOR: Liz Borino
PUBLISHER: NineStar Press
LENGTH: 245 pages
RELEASE DATE: July 2, 2018
BLURB:
Childhood friends and lost loves.
A former horse trainer turned stockbroker, Ryder Christensen planned to spend the rest of his life with Sal—the man he had grown up and fallen in love with. But nowadays, Ryder only has two things in that make him happy: his daughter, and his poker-playing. One night, he comes home to find his daughter dead. Then the loan sharks come knocking.
Back to square one…
Salvatore Lewis has spent the last six years running his late parents’ ranch in Tryon, North Carolina. Between work on the ranch and helping his brother recover from an accident, Sal has almost gotten his old boyfriend out of his head. So, the last thing he needs is Ryder strolling back into his life. Sal tries to stay away, he really does. But the magnetism between the two men is undeniable.
Danger closes in…
Within a month, Ryder’s taking care of Sal’s horses, and the ranch-owner can’t believe they’re getting a second shot at happiness together. But there’s more to Ryder’s sudden return than he’s letting on. As Ryder and Sal’s relationship blossoms, Ryder’s past in New York comes back to demand more than he has to give. Will Ryder be able to protect his new life from the threat that destroyed his old one?
REVIEW:
I’ve read a lot of cowboy romances, and I’ve read a lot of second-chance romances. This book is a pretty decent example of both with a little added mystery. But the plot veered in a lot of directions, and some of the author’s choices left me a little baffled.
One choice Borino made that really worked is having both of the main characters be on the asexuality spectrum, which surprised me in the best way! Something I really like about the romance is that both Sal and Ryder’s asexuality is an important part of their relationship dynamic, yet it isn’t treated like a plot point. It’s a part of them, not a conflict, which is not something I’m used to reading in romance, especially M/M.
The romance is lovely, but I think the weakest part of the book comes from Ryder—his characterization, his backstory, and his point of view. For several chapters, Ryder never mentions his past or his daughter, Gabby, and then her name will randomly pop up again. Her death is the crux of Ryder’s coming-home story, yet the emotional resonance never hit hard enough. Gabby’s death just felt like such a heavy, cruel choice that never meshed well with the lighter tone of the rest of the story. And the way both men initially responded to Ryder’s fatherhood was handled pretty poorly.
There were points where the storytelling edges a little too far into conservative territory for my taste. Some parts preached a little too heavily about the military; other parts laid some anti-marijuana rhetoric on pretty thick. This is, of course, a personal preference, but since so many LGBT romance readers are liberal by nature, it was a little jarring. There’s also some underlying misogyny involving Felicia, the mother of Ryder’s daughter, that really rubbed me the wrong way.
When I was about ¾ of the way through the book, I thought I had the plot pretty figured out, but I ended up being completely wrong. There were several twists involving character identities and motives that actually surprised me. It isn’t the most compelling mystery plot I’ve ever read—I thought Ryder’s daughter’s mysterious death was handled pretty clumsily, and the gambling addiction subplot felt way too melodramatic for the tone of the rest of the story. But it definitely kept me interested right until the last page.
I’m almost positive that the next book in the “Ace Cowboy” series will focus on Sal’s brother Jason, who was one of my favorite characters in this book. I actually kept wishing the story was about him instead of Sal or Ryder, which makes me excited for the next installment.
RATING: 
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