Love and Lust rec: Daisy Harris m/m romance
City Slicker at the Horny Goat Ranch by Daisy Harris
What it's about (courtesy of the author):
Keith Kelley doesn't normally take kindly to strangers, but his flashy new neighbor has long legs, lips made for kissing and might prove too much temptation for a boy hiding his sexuality in rural Idaho. Unfortunately, between working his mom's goat ranch and land disputes with his wealthy father, Keith has enough problems. He doesn't need the best sex of his life threatening to expose his precarious secrets.
Real estate developer Max Levin vows to turn the one-stoplight town of Pookataw Valley into a quaint vacation destination…and then leave before the dust clears. Given his next assignment starts in five months, Max shouldn't start loving the quaint little town—the ranchland, the mountains, even the goats. If only Max could stop thinking about his sexy neighbor and the time they shared in the front seat of Keith's truck. Because he especially shouldn't fall in love with a guy who can't openly love him back.
In a town the size of Pookataw Valley, nothing stays secret for long. If Keith wants to hold onto his birthright, he'll have to fight for his land and his pride. Most of all, he'll have to fight for Max before he slips through Keith's fingers.
Warning: contains angry parents, horny ranchers and snarky city boys just asking to be hogtied.
Why you should read it: With a title like City Slicker at Horny Goat Ranch I expected the story to be a little silly, but it definitely was not. It has humor, make no mistake, but this is a well-crafted book about opposites attracting and gay men coming out in rural Idaho. When Max, the gay city slicker, arrives in wintry Idaho dressed in his L.A. skinny jeans and driving a Mercedes, you might expect him to be kind of the buffoon of the story. Not at all! Max is well educated, knows his business, is confident in his sexuality, and winds up the hero of the story.
Keith is the heir to ranch land if he can keep his warring divorced parents from squandering or giving away his inheritance. His mother runs a goat ranch adjacent to land his father owns and named her ranch Horny Goat Ranch as a dig at him. Keith's father has kept a secret from Keith about his inheritance that already has had serious consequences in Keith's past and could have a dire effect on Keith's future.
On top of that, Keith has a huge secret of his own. He is afraid for his parents to find out who he really is for fear his father will use it against him and his mother's ranch business will suffer consequences from local bigots. Max keeps his own sexual orientation on the down low for a while, but when he accidentally comes out to one person, two and two are put together and Keith has to answer some questions.
In a hilarious scene Keith makes an announcement in a very public place that puts his future in jeopardy and his relationship with Max in doubt. I loved these characters, including the goats, especially Lassie. This is a book you can read in one sitting and enjoy it with just enough angst to make it interesting. I highly recommend it as a sweet romance that really does say love is love.
Becky Condit is a widow, mother of three and grandmother of 10 who reads all kinds of books, but her go-to comfort books are erotic romances. A romance novel coupled with just-out-of-the-oven chocolate-chip cookies and a glass of cold milk is her idea of heaven. She reads and reviews more than 250 books a year, so you won't often find her without her Kindle in hand, but when you do, she'll probably be gardening, doing needle crafts, working in her upholstery workshop and spending time with her family.