Cowboys, bull riders, and rodeos are all part of a world that I love to read about. And BA Tortuga’s cowboys are extra-special as far as I’m concerned – they are rough, tough, and there’s not a bit of sappy even when they fall in love. I’m very happy the ’Roughstock’ books are being rereleased since that gives me an “excuse” to read all of them again. They were great the first time around, and it looks as though they’ll all be just as much fun the second time around. ‘Blind Ride’ is the first volume, and focuses on bull riders Jason and Andy Baxter, or Bax. They’ve been friends for years, have been traveling the rodeo circuit together and, even though they’ve never been physical, are pretty much like a married couple even before they first kiss. And when disaster strikes, they are there for each other, not letting anything or anyone get in the way of what they want to do: ride bulls.

Jason is an up and coming talent, winning more events than not. Riding bulls is his life, but when one of them throws and stomps him, and he wakes up not being able to see, his world stops. And when he’s told the damage is permanent, he is ready to give up.

Bax has been at Jason’s side for years. He is no longer at the top of his game but still wins the occasional event. With a body that has seen more broken bones and other injuries than he’ll admit, things are getting tough. But as much as he’s struggling himself, he won’t let Jason just give up. His plan may be crazy, but it has Jason’s attention, and that is all that matters.

If you like tough, macho bull riders who won’t admit their feelings unless there is absolutely no choice, if you want to find out more about two men who are closer than many married couples yet are just beginning to explore a physical relationship, and if you’re looking for a read that is exciting, hot, and will have you cheering for Jason to figure out how to deal with being blind, then you will probably like this novel.


NOTE: This book was provided by Pride Publishing for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews. ( )

Bax and Jason are buddy bull riders in the professional rodeo circuit. Bax is probably at the end of his career, since he has a bad knee that sooner or later will let him home, and instead Jason is the man of the moment, the winner of the day. In their private life, Bax and Jason have built a family of their own, Bax adopted Jason's mum, and Jason considers Bax almost a brother... or maybe something more. But day after day no one has the courage to make that step more into their relationship.

Then Jason is badly injured and now he is blind. Obviously for him is the end of the world; he can't suffer to not being independent, he doesn't want to be a weight on his mum's shoulder. But Bax is there for him, he drags Jason out from his misery, even when Bax himself is again injured at the knee and out of the circuit. With Coke and AJ, two of their best friends, Bax and Jason decide that, even if Jason is blind, he can still ride the bull and they train to reach the goal. Meanwhile their relationship finally deepens to a more personal level.

The story is not very long, 149 pages, and it's only a first book in a longer series. So Bax and Jason's personal story is only at its beginning, but it's a good beginning. The writing style is the same I had the chance to see in previous book of the same author, short sentences, flash of scenes, short chapters, all of it gives the impression of fast paced rhythm. What instead is different is that Bax and Jason's relationship evolves almost in slow motion, they don't jump in bed at the first chance. More than half the book is spent to build the setting and to climate the reader with the two main characters and give right reasons for the two to being together: it's not only a question of sex, Bax and Jason have a the real thing and so it's right that they don't rush all.

The small country town feelings and the rodeo circuit life are described with little details (the morning breakfast, the daily chores, the dogs) that help the reader to understand a life maybe very different from its own; thinking on it, almost all the book is spent in a kitchen or around, that is strange, since usually the main room in a gay erotic romance is the bedroom.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1603703098/?tag=elimyrevandra-20