Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Pure Country: A Central Texas MM Romance
AUTHOR: Kelly Fox
PUBLISHER: Self-published
LENGTH: 308 Pages
DATE: December 11, 2024
BLURB:
I’d sooner cage a wild bird than try to pin that cowboy down. But God, I want to make him mine.
Our sizzling banter and filthy texts are the stuff of legends, but Rowdy is the king of one-night stands, and one night with him will never be enough.
I crave a future with him, which is exactly why I’ve kept him at arm’s length.
One drunken kiss, however, has me questioning everything I thought I knew about Rowdy Lockwood. Is he the lovable himbo everyone thinks he is, or is there more to him than meets the eye?
Whatever the truth is, I’ve decided that my sassy cowboy is a mystery worth solving.
Pure Country is an age gap, friends-to-lovers romance that features a secretive cowboy with a filthy imagination, a sweet city lawyer with a nose for deflection, and a pushy friend with a flare for the dramatic.
REVIEW:
Note: So this is a story that takes place after the events of the previous book, Rough Country. As such is contains major spoilers for that book. It can be read as a standalone, but I loved the first book and highly recommend for context around Rowdy’s life.
Rowdy is a cowboy who also has a sort of secret life. Well it’s secret from the folks he lives with. While they think he’s out picking up one-offs, it turns out he has a lot more going on under his slutty persona. He uses this to protect himself from connections and being hurt. He’s got good friends in Woody and Emery and Stevie, his cousin and his husband and their daughter. Woody is the one who made sure he wasn’t on the streets after his parents kicked him out for being gay. They’ve been thick as thieves for years and now Rowdy lives in Woody’s old cabin and takes care of his exotic animals at the sanctuary.
Kess is Emery’s best friend and now he’s semi-retired as well and has built his dream house on part of Emery’s land. Whe Kess and Rowdy first met, the sparks flew. They’ve spent a couple of years teasing and flirting. They text on the regular and their texts are filled with innuendo and dirty come-ons. Rowdy reputation as a free spirit who is only interested in Mr. Right Now is the opposite of Kess who has now decided he needs to settle own like this bestie Emery. Just one problem. He’s hopelessly in love with Rowdy – who he thinks could never want him and the life he wants to build. Then at his housewarming party, he kisses Rowdy and Rowdy freezes – like in fear. Ugh! Now he really has no chance and he’s worried that he’s ruined their friendship 
Rowdy, it seems, it nothing like his outward slutty persona. He’s actually a sweet guy who volunteers at a LGBTQIA+ support center and an alternative school. He’s mentored kids are having a hard time in mainstream schools or with their parents or are otherwise at risk. He has one friend, Skylar, who knows his secret. He’s not a slut. He doesn’t connect. In fact, he’s relatively inexperienced. And he’s afraid that he’s not good enough for anyone let alone Kess. He’s got a GED and Kess is a millionaire semi-retired lawyer. On paper they shouldn’t work at all. In reality they have chemistry for days.
Kess hires a matchmaker because he does really want to settle and start a family. Rowdy isn’t thrilled with this, but he is still thinking he’s just not worthy Of course he has an absolute gigantic heart of gold. He supports kids and he’s got his own issues to work through too.
Kess has a lot to do to work through Rowdy’s issues. There
I adored this story! First, I just loved Rowdy from the previous book and I was so happy to see him get his HEA. Kess is a lovely lovely man and I loved the care he took with Rowdy. He moved at Rowdy’s pace and showed him nothing but love and patience and understanding. I was so surprised to get Rowdy’s real story and learn of his very difficult past and see him grow into his own and get his well deserved HEA. So good! Read it! I loved how the author dealt with the past hurts and trauma here. Highly recommended.
RATING: 
BUY LINK:
