Reviewed by Larissa
TITLE: Wicked in Wranglers
AUTHOR: BA Tortuga
PUBLISHER: Turtlehat Creatives
LENGTH: 210 pages
RELEASE DATE: June 15, 2021
BLURB:
When Terry DeWitt heads to one of his favorite hole in the wall bars in Vegas, he’s riding high from a great season of bull riding. Which is a huge reason it’s such a shock when he runs into Matt Stephenson there, signing autographs on some kind of beefcake calendar. Matt is his one that got away, more like the one who ran away from all the things Terry wanted to do with him, and while Terry is on top of the world, it looks like Matt has hit rock bottom.
After a life-changing injury ended his bull riding career, Matt did his best to leave that whole world behind and make the best of what he had left. He’s been living in his truck and making money off his good looks, and when he sees Terry again, he decides one night will be enough to show him what he missed all those years ago when he was afraid to let Terry love him like they both needed.
One night is never enough, though, and when Terry takes Matt home with him, they have to decide how this new relationship will work, how to get Matt out from under a bad boss, and just how wicked they can be while still making a life together.
REVIEW:
BA Tortuga’s Wicked in Wranglers is the first in a new multi-author series of stories called Beat the Heat summer reads. The story is a second chance romance between two bull riders at opposite ends of their career trajectories. Terry is at the height of his career, super successful on the circuit. Matt is a former bull rider, driven out of the profession by a horrific injury that nearly took his life. Without a whole lot to fall back on, Matt takes up underwear modeling. He’s not very happy about it, constantly denigrating himself and his current status in life.
Matt and Terry dated some time ago. Despite being in love, Matt walked away because he hadn’t made peace with the fact that he’s gay. He also wasn’t comfortable being in love with a man who wanted things “hard and heavy”. Matt and Terry improbably meet again in a Vegas gay bar where Matt is signing autographs. Matt initially runs, but he folds quickly once in Terry’s presence. He agrees to a hookup. From there, it’s not hard for Terry to convince Matt to come home with him. After all, Matt is living out of his car. Their relationship picks up again, and suffice it to say, Matt’s attitude has definitely changed.
Wicked in Wranglers really focuses on the Dom/sub, BDSM elements of Terry and Matt’s relationship. This book is high heat for sure. But this is BA Tortuga y’all, so you also get her signature style. She writes from what she knows, and she definitely knows cowboys, bull riders, and rodeo. Matt and Terry communicate with easy, laid-back, “cowboy” speech patterns and expressions, typical of a BA Tortuga story. I personally adore that cowboy informality because it’s warm and inviting. But more importantly, it is 100% authentic.
The main story arc follows Matt and how he learns to open up and become more confident while learning to accept and love himself for who he is. Terry is effusive in his love, support, and dedication to Matt, which bolsters his journey. The narrative makes clear that Matt has some scars and not just the physical ones. However, I never really understood the extent of the emotional scars.
The story skitters along the surface, referencing issues and foreshadowing reasons. We wait for the reckoning where these issues will be pulled out into the light and picked apart. But the reckoning never arrives. For example, the story doesn’t really explore the how’s and why’s of Matt’s personal struggle and recovery from his bull-riding injury, the loss of his career, and how it led to his current situation, where he is living out of his car with a sleazy agent willing to essentially pimps him out for a quick buck.
Overall, Wicked in Wranglers lives up to its billing as a hot summer read, packing hot and heavy content into an enjoyable storyline. However, the book is less successful at fleshing out Matt and Terry’s characters. It also doesn’t effectively complete the story arc of Matt’s recovery and his coming into himself and his relationship with Terry. As a result, whether or not Wicked in Wranglers fits the bill for you will very much depend on what you’re looking for. If you’re on the beach and you want a book you don’t have to think too much about, and is as scorching as the sun on your face, then Wicked in Wranglers is the book for you.
RATING: 
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