So this book hits a little too close to home, of course not in a bad way as it’s just fabulous. But I knew these guys too well growing up. Reminded me of my childhood in so many ways. These were the boys (ok minus the gay bit as far as I knew) that I hung out with every summer. Watched the ego that placed them on the back of bulls week after week keeping their big heads stuck up their asses!

Cody Grainger is at the top of his game. He has a commanding lead in the points for the NBR even at 32. On a bull he can do no wrong. The gold championship buckle looks to be a shoe in for him and he’ll be the first 2 time back to back NBR World Champion. With his boyfriend Johnny beside him Cody’s on cloud nine and there ain’t nothing going to bring him down

Johnny Arrow loves his job and he loves his man. As far as he’s concerned spending his life out there in the ring staring down those 1000-pound beasts as a rodeo bullfighter is the perfect way to spend an evening. Followed quickly of course by getting Cody back to the hotel and into bed. If he feels a twinge every now and again about having to hide their relationship, well that’s just the way it goes. The rodeo ain’t no place for an out cowboy. Still he’s got it all. Yet he still finds himself gritting his teeth more and more these days as Cody makes all the decisions for the two of them and doesn’t seem to listen to a damn word Johnny’s saying. If Cody’s not careful he’s going to end up driving away the best part of his life by doing nothing more than letting his ego do the talking.

First of all the depiction of the rodeo lifestyle here is extremely well done. Ms. Ford incorporated a lot of detail about what it means to be a bull rider and/or a bullfighter in the world of professional rodeo. The aches and pains are all just part of the sport these guys know and love. It’s a hard life on the road and one of those jobs you do because you have to, because you just can’t see yourself doing anything else.

I think that’s why I enjoyed Cody so much even when I wanted to smack him. It’s a hard thing to admit when your body just can’t take the punishment of doing something you love anymore. It’s a very real fact that rodeo is a young man’s sport. There’s only one rider in the Top 10 bull riders in the world at the moment that’s over 30. And he’s certainly not in the Top 5. Cody is certainly not at absolute retirement, but I loved seeing his friends and family trying to get his mule-head thinking and start edging him towards plans for his future. At times his shear stubborn "bullheadedness" makes him seem like the younger man in this relationship. Johnny's decisions often seem to come from a place of more maturity.

Oh Johnny, you run from pain so easily, but damn you had to do something. I was so happy when Johnny finally walked out the door. He’s not Cody’s doormat to walk all over before Cody switches his job title to blow up sex doll. I loved the fact that Ms. Ford gave equal attention to the job the bullfighters do in that ring. She’s right, those cowboys would never survive without the men on the ground risking their lives for them. Rodeo’s a dangerous sport and no event is worse than the bull riding. People love that though, being on the edge of your seat waiting to see what’s going to happen next.

I’m of course waxing on about a sport I love and felt got an honest fair shake by Ms. Ford. But in the end this story is about two men and what they’re going through. Both of these guys had to grow up in this story. Cody needed to learn to give his partner the respect he deserves in and out of bed and Johnny had to learn to be able to stand up for himself. Just because Cody’s the undisputed champion and has in some ways earned that big head, doesn’t mean he gets to walk all over those around him. These guys are both good cowboys at heart and truly love each other.

Personally I enjoyed that aspect of this book. This is an established relationship learning how to grow. These two guys reached the tipping point that can happen in a relationship of any length. People start to change and you either make changes together or you end up splitting there and then. Cody and Johnny had to fight themselves, and each other, to get through this rough patch but in the end their relationship will be the stronger for it. And quite frankly it was nice to see Cody knocked off his high horse and seeing his face end up in the dirt a time or two. Slumps happen in any sport and 9 times out of 10 it’s entirely mental. Lesson in all this, don’t mess with those your love. ;)

One last note about gay cowboys…I loved the way this book dealt with it frankly. Some books in this genre take an unrealistic view, in my opinion, and try to pretty up the opinions these guys would face in this world. Not to say that I think it’s right or anything, but this is an extremely hard world to be “out” in. I enjoyed the fact that both of these guys understood this, had a great support system of the few people they trusted with their secret, and didn’t feel the need in the end to out their love to the rodeo world. Ms. Ford pushes the boundaries nicely I felt with Cody and Johnny’s conversation about the gay rodeo and wanting to walk in that pride parade someday in the distant future. It was the perfect bow on a truly lovely story. These men know the world they live in and aren’t trying to rock the boat just to rock it…maybe just tip it a little.

The first 20% were kind of dull, with too much rodeo explanation for me. Then the story took off and I enjoyed every moment because of the great secondary characters. At 50% I had to bide my time when the Disney Cars trope unfolded. Fine for preschoolers, but too preachy for adults.
The narrator has a great voice. He could add more emotion in the story, but that does not lessen my enjoyment.

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This was a difficult book for me to rate as some parts I loved and other parts not so much.

The good....I quite liked the story itself. There was a level of realism in the journey that Cody and Johnny found themselves on. It was easy to understand the conflict they faced as they both found themselves at different stages in their lives and looked to find a common ground. The insight into the world of bull riders and bullfighters was interesting.

The not so good....there was perhaps too much explanation of the rides themselves. I wanted more of the story, not so much description of the bull riding event itself. I didn't like the sexual encounters that both Johnny and Cody (Cody more so) had when they were apart. I am not sure how much it added to the story, and I found Cody's actions particularly unappealing. Which brings me to my biggest issue - Cody.

I didn't like the character of Cody. I found him selfish and egotistical. "Cody never thought of himself as manipulative. The word wasn't even in his vocabulary. He just liked getting his way. And his way was good for him and for Johnny." He believed this for most of the book. Yes, I wanted Johnny and Cody to have their happy ending, but found it difficult to believe the changes in Cody or to fully understand why he changed his ways.

I find it difficult to really love a book if I don't love one of the lead characters, or at least like them by the end of the story. For this reason, and the slightly too many and too long descriptions of bull rides, I am only rating this book 3.5 stars.

4.5 stars.

Oh.My.God. Nothing compares to the angst of reading this book. I kept repeating myself 'No,no,no, you cannot do this'. But let's proceed with order.
Johnny. I don't like him. He's a big guy and instead of forcing Cody to listen to him and his issues, he simply runs away, explaining very little and leaving the other with no clues about why he's doing it. On the road, he fools around until he finds a sort of sexually active guardian angel who helps him to find the guts to go after what he really wants. I must confess I've been holding my breath throghout the whole night with March, and I kept thinking 'he's gonna fall for him, he's gonna fall for him, damn stupid'. Johnny doesn't want someone to rule his life, but when he's finally by himself he doesn't seem capable of finding his own center and keeps running in circles, making the same things that had him jealous when Cody used to tell about his road hookups. Don't know, may be there's a meaning in all this. Maybe he needed to make his own mistakes and fill the gap of life experience that was between them, but I cannot help not liking him.
On the contrary I like Cody a lot. He may be arrogant, self-assured, egomaniac, but he has a big heart and when he's told where he was mistaking he does his best to change and set thing straight. I've enjoyed a lot his vulnerable strengh and I've suffered with him in his moments of breaking down. A really excellent character.

The parts where bullriding is so thoroughly described were a hard challenge, but I'm not a native speaker and bullriding is something totally foreign to my culture, so I think I might be excused if I haven't enjoyed them the way I should.