Title: Nowhere Ranch
Author: Heidi Cullinan
Publisher: Loose ID
Genre: contemporary, cowboys, BDSM
Length: Novel (175 pdf pages)
Rating: 4.25 out of 5 Stars
A Guest Review by Feliz
Summary Review: A beautifully written book with really formidable characters, but it took an unrewarding u-turn towards the end that ultimately spoiled the story for me.
The Blurb: Roe Davis is a man who works hard, keeps to himself, and never mixes business with pleasure — until he takes a weekend away from his new job at Nowhere Ranch and runs into the owner at the only gay bar for two hundred miles. Getting involved with the boss is a bad idea, but Travis Loving is hard to say no to, especially when it turns out their kinks line up like a pair of custom-cut rails. As Loving points out, so long as this is sex on the side, no interfering with the job, they could make it work.
The truth is, there’s good reason Roe never settles down and always spends his birthdays and holidays celebrating alone. Shut out in the cold by his family years ago, Roe survived by declaring he didn’t need a home. As his affair with Loving grows into more than just sex, Roe finds out what happens when he stays put a little bit too long: the past always catches up with you. Eventually, even a loner gets lonely, and home will grow up through whatever cracks you leave open for it — even in a place called Nowhere.
The Review: Monroe “Roe” Davis loves his home in Algona, Iowa. He’s been a normal Iowa farmer’s boy – okay, he’s not the brightest bulb in the lamp as his cousin Kayla never fails to lovingly point out tho him since he has problems at school, but he’s hard working and good with sheep – until the day his parents found his stash of gay porn. After that day, nothing is ever the same. At some point, Roe can’t take all the preaching and trying to “heal” him with prayer anymore and leaves, first his parents’ farm, and then, after a bar fight got him imprisoned, he leaves his home town for good.
Life isn’t easy for a highschool dropout and former convict, though. Roe scratches along as a ranch hand for several years, a restless wanderer, always careful not to let a place or another person affect him.
His latest change of jobs takes him to Nowhere Ranch, Nebraska. The owner, Travis Loving, seems to be a decent guy; although he was a highschool teacher before he turned organic rancher, he’s not above trusting Roe’s advice when it comes to practical knowledge. Otherwise, Roe is left in peace, he has his own apartment, and he’s quite comfortable with his new job. His only problem is, he has needs – and in order to fulfill those, he has to take a three hour’s drive to the next gay bar. Which he does, one weekend when Loving is away.
But who’s the first person Roe sees as he walks into the bar, horny and determined to get laid, no matter what? Travis Loving, of all people. Roe’s life has taught him that keeping his sexual preferences to himself is the sensible thing to do. The last person who should know that Roe is gay should be his boss, and Roe almost panicks – until it dawns on him that there can be only one reason why Loving would be in that bar, same as Roe’s. Through an initially awkward conversation they discover that their respective needs indeed seem to match perfectly, and the evening brings Roe some of the best sex he has ever had in his life. In the morning, Roe and Travis agree on getting together again back at the ranch, with the understanding that it’s just sex and doesn’t affect their working relationship.
This seems to work out just fine for both of them, at least in the beginning. Both men are very much into BDSM, and pretty heavy stuff at that. Over the course of the book, they also browse almost the entire spectrum of role play, including some puppy play and pony play (which I found a little out of place, but hey, one man’s meat…). The scenes are deeply emotional and always serve the purpose of getting Roe and Travis closer together as their mutual trust deepens.
The fierceness of their scenes sometimes borders on disturbing. Roe craves utter sexual submission and pain which is a perfect match for Travis’s urge for complete domination. Yet, Travis isn’t some garden variety Dom who knows all the answers. Travis makes mistakes, he has his own past he needs to come to terms with, and in the beginning he hasn’t yet learned to read Roe very well. This finds its point of culmination during one of their scenes when Travis lets himself be carried away to a point where he almost causes Roe real damage. It’s not only Travis’s fault, though, since Roe fails to stop him in time. But Travis is willing and able to learn to pay better attention to Roe’s needs, and in turn Roe makes concessions to Travis’s imperfections as he learns that he can really trust Travis, not only in bed, but also with his heart. Both men find reassurance and solace as they grow into their respective roles. Gradually their ability to talk to each other transcends the sex and filters down to their everyday life until their sexual affair evolves to a loving relationship between two equally strong men who are on par with each other in every aspect.
Travis and Roe are perfect examples of Heidi Cullinan’s awesome talent for creating vivid and believable characters, which is all the more impressive since we have only Roe’s narrative voice for characterization.
However, this book had some issues which ultimately kept it from being exceptional for me. My first problem was Haley, the ranch manager’s daughter. She’s surely a well – drawn, positive character, and she’s surely very important for Roe’s character development. But here lies also the core of my problem with her, since I found Haley’s role was too big. For the last third of the book, she almost steals Roe’s and Travis’s thunder. Towards the end, it’s even her who calls the shots, pushing Roe and Travis towards a life-altering decision that should have been entirely theirs to make and with which at least Travis wasn’t entirely comfortable, which left me, as a reader, uncomfortable in turn.
The ending was, in fact, the biggest problem I had with this book. After all the darkness, the internal and external fights, the angst-filled struggle for love of two tough, hard men, I found the happy – happy – joy – joy pro-homo world of the ending a bit overdone. This is something that always bothers me with Heidi Cullinan’s writing (which I otherwise adore): She writes impressive, harshly real stories with hard-edged characters and then gives them mushy, double-chocolate-cherry-topped-fudge-iced endings that make my teeth hurt with their sugary sweetness. Yet I’m well aware that many love Cullinan’s stories just for this; those who do can have their fancy here in spades.
This book would have been outstanding had it ended about two or three chapters earlier. As it is, it’s still a very good story, with excellently drawn characters who I was reluctant to leave behind. Recommended.
***This book contains violent, heavy BDSM scenes including one fisting scene which, although they are always consensual, some readers might find disturbing***
Great review Feliz – I wholeheartedly agree about Haley and the sugary ending, but I still thought that overall it was a brave and absorbing read with two strong and fascinating heroes.
Having browsed the Goodreads reviews, it is the ending that seems to divide readers into two camps. Heidi does love her sweet endings and they’re definitely the thing that some readers absolutely adore. Like you, though, I would have been happier with a more ambivalent HFN ending in this case.
Hi Josephine,
What bothers me most about the ending is that it doesn’t seem to fit the story. I can see what the intention was, to show that even guys who are into heavy BDSM can be loving parents, but…yeah. It felt artificial.
What a very thorough and accurate review! – although I only noticed the flaws in retrospect, as the chemistry between the heroes worked so well for me.
GR,
while reading, I was totally absorbed too and couldn’t put it down. After all, except for my niggles, this is another great book from this author.
I wasn’t happy with the ending either as it was, well, convenient and in a way it also dimished Haley as a character.
I was impressed with Heidi Cullinan’s writing but in the end that was also the problem: I liked the characters, I liked the setting, I liked the story (except for the last part) and while I more or less read the book at one sitting I was never really pulled in. In fact I had the same feeling as I get watching an actor like Daniel Day-Lewis act: I see him acting really well in character but I never see the actual character, just the actor acting like the character (if that makes any sense). In other words, there is much to admire but it didn’t, in the end, touch my heart.
I know what you mean, Kaija. The writing tended to get carried away at times on itself…
Hi Feliz, I thought your review caught the book perfectly. I had exactly the same problems you did with the last part of the story.
I found ‘Special Delivery’ to be emotionally a perfect balance . The ending enhancing the journey the characters experienced. Even in ‘Double Blind’ which I found crazy, over the top, indulgent and totally enjoyable, the conclusion was a suitable finale.
I felt that ‘Nowhere Ranch’s emotional vibe was on the more extreme edge of emotional and sexual behavior and beautifully if uncomfortably presented by Roe. The extreme sweetness of the Haley storyline didn’t balance that, it just seemed incongruous.
Your review really summed that up for me. I also wished it had ended a little earlier, and I never thought I’d say that about a Heidi Cullinan book!
Hi Raine,
I really loved Roe’s voice as the narrator, so matter-of fact. The emotions transported here were intense – mostly due to the fact that Travis and Roe communicated more physically than with actual words. Actually, i thought this the best book of Heidi Cullinan’s I’ve read to date, although I loved Double Blind, too.
This is just another example of a “too good review” for a terrible story. What is the deal with all the bdsm crap out there now? Since when does any of it have any thing to do with a romance?! Artificial everything, porn for the sake of porn. If this kind of stuff is all you can find to read or review, all of the m/m romance industry is in trouble.
Rachel
No reviewer knows the contents of a book until he or she actually reads it. As Feliz pointed out, this book may not be to everyone’s taste however, it does meet the industry definition of a “romance” because it has an HEA. You may not like Nowhere Ranch and I’m not sure I would either until I actually read the story, but reviewers on this site do review books with BDSM elements, even those that are not romances. As it says on the header, “this site reviews male/male adult themed books.” While romance is one genre we review it is not the only genre or sub genre reviewed here.
Thanks for commenting.
Hi Rachel and thanks for commenting. Things I love about us readers are our different tastes as well as how one person’s satisfying read is another’s DNF (or even purchase). I thought Feliz was very clear on what worked and didn’t for her, and based on her overall review, a 4.25 seems very reasonable. BDSM is not my cuppa and I doubt I would pick this up, but there many who do enjoy it. And while I may not understand it (and I don’t have to), I think that those who live the life would argue that it can be very romantic. Who am I to refute that? As Wave said, this book does qualify for romance based on its (even mushy) HEA, and even if it didn’t, we do review books that are gay genre outside of romance, which we explain in reviews and our own labeling.
But I do thank you for expressing your views and differing opinion to the review.
Hi Rachel,
I strived to be as thorough and exact in describing this book and in explaining why I liked it and why I rated it the way I did.
I think I’ve also been pretty clear on the BDSM content in this book. Although BDSM might not be to everyone’s taste, it was my impression that it worked here, actually forwarded the romance insofar as every scene served the purpose of establishing trust between the protags; and I’m sure you’ll agree with me that trust is the base of love in any kind of relationship and that love is what’s at the core of romance.
It’s the beauty of opinions that they can differ, and it’s the beauty of the field of m/m romance that there is something out there for everyone. So thank you for stating your opinion on this book, even though it doesn’t meet mine.
I definitely agree about the ending. The book was a bit too much hardcore for me but I kept on it because of the character development.
Then all of a sudden, baby and white picket fence and cherry pie. It was a bit odd.
But Roe’s voice was a good narrator. Most definitely.
That man has quite the voice hasn’t he? Thanks for commenting, Reece!
Feliz
So why does the author do that in almost all of her books? The endings are the major complaint I’ve read about Heidi’s books as they negate all the great writing. Three quarters of the way into her books they fall apart and fall short of what most readers found enjoyable in the rest of the book.
Nowhere Ranch seemed to be going along well until you threw me with the character of Haley who hijacked the story. Why do authors do this? Most readers don’t really care about supporting or secondary characters that much, especially female characters in a M/M romance where the focus is supposed to be on the male protagonists. This would really bother me to have that much of the story devoted to another person, regardless of her role. So this is a maybe for me.
Thanks for this wonderful in-depth review Feliz. Great job in pointing out the good, the bad and the ugly in the book. 😯
Hi Wave,
I actually thought about this since I couldn’t get Roe’s voice out of my head for a while after reading this book (which, for me, is always a sign for an outstanding read).
From what I understand, Ms. Cullinan is a staunch defender for LGBT equality rights, and I think the overly happy endings serve the purpose of showing how the love of LGBT people isn’t the least bit different from what straight couples feel, how same-sex partnerships are entitled the same development and prosperity as straight ones.
I kept thinking: would the ending bother me as much if this was a straight couple?
The answer is, yes it would here, since it’s simply too much of a contrast, but I could have indulged the sweetness much better with Special Delivery, and certainly with Double Blind. So I guess the author reached her purpose with making me see how much my own prejudices still taint my perception. Go figure…
Hi Feliz,
I bought this book awhile back, because it had a yummy cover, and I’m a sucker for a cowboy love story.
However, I am so not a fan of the BDSM themes, and I really don’t think I’m going to be able to read this book.
I really don’t remember reading in the blurb or anywhere on the site about the BDSM theme. Did I totally miss it? or over look it?
Too bad ebooks are nonreturnable. 🙁
Hi Hope,
I went back to Loose ID and checked, and yes, this book is clearly labelled as BDSM, and there’s also a content warning about “heavy BDSM scenes” or something along these lines. But if BDSM bothers you, i think you’d better not read this book. So sorry for you that you missed that out.
Hi Feliz. Great review. You were very clear on what worked and didn’t, and while I will probably pass as BDSM ain’t my thang, I think those who do like the genre and this author will pick it up.
It does sound like, while she writes darn good books overall, she has a problem with the endings based on comments here and what I have seen elsewhere. I wonder if authors listen to their readers. I know I would were I an author.
Hi Lynn,
I wasn’t entirely prepared for the amount or degree of BDSM I found here. I’m a fan of Cullinan’s writing overall, so I knew to expect some domination/ submission since she has this in all her books, but in this here she took it farther than before. Well, I don’t mind BDSM, but I can clearly see how this might be too much for some readers – hence the warning. :sceptic:
This is a great review and captures pretty much everything I liked and was baffled by in this book. I am a total sap for happy, domestic endings but Cullinan lost me with the way that Haley sprang the adoption plan on Roe and Travis. I liked Haley as a character (and she’s an awesome friend to Roe) but as much as I loved that Roe got the HEA-est of HEAs, it was a too neat and tidy to be entirely believable.
Thanks for commenting, Lindsay, as someone who’s read the book already.
Hi Feliz!
I want you to know how much I enjoy your posts! :2thumbsup: You are up-beat and very clear in articulating what you think and why. :bravo:
Thanks so much :god: for all you do for us and the site! Great work!
:sendoutlove:
PS. Is it just me or are these green balls
:sex4: :3monkeys: MULTIPLYING?!
Hi Reggie,
thank you for the praise; I’m happy if my reviews help people decide what they might like best to read!
Those green wiggly ones are like Guppy fish, I think: Every time you look, they’ve fawned.
Aren’t they lovely?
Feliz,
Thanks for the review.
This is the first of HC books that Ive read. I really enjoyed the story. I havent read enough of her books to see the commonality of happy happy joy joy endings. Lol, now I’ll be looking for it. I liked Haley’s crazy ass attitude. I was hoping that Roe would step up to the plate and stand his ground.