Nowhere Ranch

Where to begin? This book was so yummy and dirty, but yet sweet and poignant at the same time. There were so many layers to Roe. The initial impression you get from him is some cocky cowboy who likes to hit and quit it, and that’s mostly true. Until you realize the hurt he’s hiding under all his bluster. Travis is a literal chance encounter 3 hours away from Nowhere Ranch. Roe takes a chance and goes all in for a weekend of explicit, filthy and downright raunchy fun with his boss, thinking it’s going to be a one-time deal and then they can just go about their business. Which they do…for months. Until they end up in bed…or on the spanking bench, as it were. The sex scenes between these two were some of the hottest I’ve read in a while. Travis is thoroughly versed on how to get what he wants and he wrings every last bit out of Roe.Aside from all the filthy fun they get up to, Roe is a complex character who is dealing with years of hurt after his family all but shuns him for being gay. He basically shuts himself off from all connections, bouncing around from place to place so he can’t put down any roots. Until Nowhere. Until Travis. Until Haley. He starts to make connections with the people of Nowhere. Travis, for his part, all but forbids Roe from running. Travis is dealing with some of his own hang-ups from a past relationship and is afraid that Roe will run and leave him. Once Roe realizes that there is a true connection with Travis, that it’s more than just some fun in the bedroom, we start to see how Travis and Roe become a true unit. Travis helps Roe through one of the hardest times in his life and we see Travis emerge as this rock for Roe.This was a beautifully written book that allowed the reader to really see beneath the veil of these characters and connect with them. We all run from things at times, the real test is what we do when it catches up to us. Roe and Travis made for a wonderful pairing and this book was a delight to read.

Roe is a 25 y/o gay farmer whose family kicked him out of the house/family farm when they discovered he was gay. They wanted him to repent and "change" but he couldn't/wouldn't and he floundered, even getting incarcerated for a brief time. When he was released he took to ranching, working as a hand anywhere that would accept him, always on the move. Roe had dropped out of school early due to a learning disability and insensitive teaching methods. He has an incredibly low self-esteem, and doesn't make friends. He ends up in rural Nebraska, the Nowhere Ranch, and is mortified to find the ranch owner out one night at the only gay bar within a 3 hour drive.Travis is an older (40ish) out gay man who tried to make it as a straight man. He married, confessed, endured counseling, and divorced years ago. He's a retired math professor running a sheep and cattle ranch because he likes the isolation. He had come out with a lover, but those days are long past. Seeing his newest ranch hand at the gay bar is a blessing in disguise, especially as Roe is compatible with Travis' kink. Trav is a Dom and Roe loves to feel degraded sexually. The kink in this book is not the standard BDSM fare, but it is intense. I almost died when Trav asked Roe if he had a "safe word" and Roe replies "I'm partial to 'no.' " (The deadpan language was just right for me.)Roe narrates the whole book, which is written in retrospective voice, detailing how Roe found his "home;" and this home on Nowhere Ranch is truly spectacular. He is a down-to-earth guy who has few needs and fewer desires. He wants a simple life and no relationships, yet, once he and Travis dance around a bit, it becomes clear that their compatibility extends far outside the bedroom. Roe is hounded by his bad memories of home, and some contacts from his family are clearly destructive to his well-being. Trav is a compassionate man, though not outwardly. All Trav's emotions are locked up tight, but the way he handles Roe, they way he looks after his welfare, is very sweet.The sex is...whoa. Might be someplace on the solar flare scale. Just, yeah. Extreme at times and sweet only because it is exactly what Roe wants. The emotional landscape of this book is multi-layered, with two men who are so afraid of being hurt that they can barely acknowledge their needs. It is a relationship built almost out of convenience, if we didn't know how incendiary their attraction really is. How their lives become intertwined was really awesome. I appreciated how Roe made solid, stable friends, how he was a significant force behind the ranch's business, how he learned to love himself and care for himself and his future. I loved how fiercely Trav took care of Roe, and I adored Haley--Roe's closest friend who was an amazing ally.If this book were a food, it would have been a double chocolate lava cake; I devoured it as though it were. Yum.

Full of kink and sweetness, this book has it all: hot cowboys, paddles, a strong female character, unexpectedly sweet romantic gestures, and a baby. Monroe got kicked out after his family found he is gay, so he sets out to make a life for himself without complications. If he doesn't like a place, he runs. He ends up in Nowhere ranch, owned by gorgeous, quiet Travis Loving, and after an immensely hot encounter, Loving and Roe come to an agreement: play together, and work together but no emotional mess. Even though it's narrated by Roe himself, Travis ' personality comes through loud and clear, which is nice, both characters are complex and believable, and I especially enjoy Roe's stubbornness and sense of humor, and Travis' kinky, authoritative side is extra hot. There are a lot of rolling, messy emotions inside Roe and Travis, and it is a joyful experience to see them through it all. The audiobook is wonderful, the narrator comes through every emotional scene beautifully, Roe and Travis are performed perfectly and even the female characters are well done. A perfect reading and listening experience.

I bought and downloaded Nowhere Ranch on the strength of a friend's review, before checking her tags. Two of those tags were "BDSM" and something which I daren't write here in case Amazon rejects my review...let's just say..."insertion of a hand ".OK! - Big, ginormous mistake! Read this quick, skim the pornographical, kinky-sex paragraphs and mark it up as a big, ginormous mistake.....Well - I loved it and I didn't skim.This novel is so much more than kinky sex and what kinkiness there is, does not last long and is not pornographically detailed, rather it is reported. I admit that extreme sexual play is not my thing in M/M Romance and this is "Romance" with a lot of love, caring, trust.The main character Roe narrates the story and his narration is simplistically mid-western. I warmed to him from that very first, opening sentence. His need for aggressive, rough, sexual encounters is not so much raunchy as sad. But then he meets up with his boss at an out-of-town bar and their sexual compatibility is realised.I think author and amateur reviewer Kaje Harper expresses what I wanted to say best,"I don't read a lot of BDSM, but in Heidi Cullinan's hands it makes visceral sense to me. I can see why a character needs it, why it makes him feel safer and more centered. The roughness and pain, the trust and control, make sense for both Dom and sub.".Loved it, once I'd put aside my prejudices I enjoyed Nowhere Ranch for what it is, a very perceptive, emotional M/M romantic story (with a bit of hard-core explicitness thrown into the core).

3.5 stars. I have read other works by this author ('Dirty Laundry', 'A Private Gentleman') and really enjoyed them. Based on my fondness for the author, I decided to give this a go despite the first person POV narrative, which I rarely find works well for me in any genre - for whatever reason, I find it much easier to 'lose myself' in third person.Actually, the first half or so of the book I did enjoy - two damaged loners who work together realise they have sexual chemistry and embark on healing, hellishly kinky sex? Works for me. And Cullinan can write those scenes very well, believe me. It was the tie-up of the issues towards the end, where the HEA got largely engineered by a third character with distinct Mary-Sue-esque tendencies, and the pacing suddenly rushed a bit from 'maybe just maybe we can trust each other' to much larger commitments.If you like first person POV more than me, or get more intrinsic joy from the setting (cowboys on a ranch), you may well like this more than I did. Certainly there's some good stuff in here, and with Cullinan's very competitive prices I don't regret the purchase. I guess actually the main point I'd want to get across from this review is, if you read this and had similar problems to me, do NOT let it put you off others of Cullinan's work, because they get much better.

I even bought the audible after so many raved about it.. However It wasn't for me. I appreciate those who could mold with it. And it wasn't because there was anything wrong, there wasn't It just wasn't for me. I'm going to give it three stars.Some readers just do not enjoy the tone used I was one of them, so sorry not for me. Everyone else enjoy you need to try it for yourself. Dont be put off my my review.

Roe narrates in the 1st person. His voice is clear controlled but oh so emotional. You the reader immediately understand the depth of his pain loneliness and feelings of worthlessness. You feel for how he needs to lose himself in sex and acts that compound his feelings of being lesser. I could hve done without some of the kink cos quite frankly it made my eyes water, but it fit the story fit the man. Travis was less well drawn than Roe but a narrated story is always going to be one sided. Decent simple plot beautifully told.

First of all I have to say I didn't 'enjoy' this book. I love erotic romances and male/male romance but this book covered sex that I just didn't find at all erotic. I either found the sex scenes squicked me or made me laugh - not exactly erotic. So why four stars? Because in a lot of ways this book is brilliant. The writing is beautiful, the subjects covered harsh and the characters real. The narrators voice is really powerful and I warmed to him more and more as the book progressed.I'll be honest. I nearly gave up on this novel a couple of times (the whole being squicked thing again) but the many glowing reviews made me carry on reading. I'm glad I did. It's not always an easy read, and for me personally it wasn't a sexy read at all but it was a powerful book and it portrayed a relationship that might not be one I'd want to be in but that was consensual and full of love. This book even made me cry at one point - not that easy to do. So that's why four stars.