3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Cattle Valley 3 by Carol Lynne, July 28, 2009
This review is from: Cattle Valley, Vol. 3: Physical Therapy / Out of the Shadow (Volume 3) (Paperback)
Physical Therapy (Cattle Valley 5) by Carol Lynne
With this one Carol Lynne manages to make me cry. Maybe in these days I'm particularly weak, maybe it's the hot night and they are not tears, but sweat drops... but well, while I'm writing this, my eyes are blurry and I continue to blow my nose...
Matt was an army paramedic in Iraq. He saw a lot of things that no one should see, not one time, but day after day. His only friend and support was his fellow army buddy Danny. Danny was wonderful, handsome and nice and straight. But being Danny straight didn't prevent Matt to fall in love with him. But Danny died, in the only day Matt was not with him, and obviously Matt is torn with guilty.
Now Matt is living in Cattle Valley, he is the town new physical therapist and he is living in the above garage apartment of the two town doctors and lovers, Isaac and Sam. Sam is 52 years old and a very quite man; he likes his works and likes his home; comfort and peace are radiating from him. Isaac is 47 years old and a bit of a bull; strong and always in motion, maybe he is too much for Sam. And here is the problem: Sam and Isaac are together since 25 years and Sam always wondered if he is enough a man for Isaac; not that he ever doubt Isaac's fidelity, but well, he has always tried to accomplish every desire of his man, even when it was against his mood or wish. And now here there is a 27 years old man, handsome and nice, and in dear need of help. Sam wants to help him, but at the same time he fears that, allowing Matt to enter their couple, he will lose Isaac.
Well, I hope that you understand that I didn't cry for Sam's dilemma, but for Matt's journey to be able to move on his war trauma and the lost of his friend. Carol Lynne pushes all the right bottoms of emotion, the same bottoms that make you cry even if you are aware that you are reading a book, and that all you are reading is only fiction, but still you cry since you unfortunately know that what you read is not only fiction, but it happened and maybe is still happening somewhere in the world.
And now, after my emotional breakdown, I also want to try to analyze another aspect of the book: why when I read of a threesome between two men and a woman I hardly like it, and when it involves three men it doesn't bother me? I'm fully aware that I have a prejudice, and I also believe that it's a feminist thing (please, male friends don't shoot me, here I'm admitting one of my weakness...): since in my culture, the woman gives birth and the woman is identified with family, when there is a woman in the threesome, it's obvious for me that she is the center of the threesome, and at least one of the two man, if not both, depending on her. So when there is love between the two men, I feel the woman like an intruder, since I'm always expecting that she will broke the male bond. In an all male threesome, without this strong female figure, they are all equals, and I think they can build something together without never arriving to a break up.
Returning to the book in question, obviously Matt is the main character. All the book turning around him and his trouble, but there is still enough space to appreciate also Sam and Isaac. Maybe Sam is better outlined, and also is reasons pro and against the threesome are clearer. I still need to understand better Isaac... there is a strong sexual need that lead him to Matt, maybe a need that Sam is not ready or willing to satisfy, but I hope that he also loves Matt. If not, Sam will be the link between them, even if physically he is weaker than the two, probably he is stronger in will.
Out of the Shadow (Cattle Valley) by Carol Lynne
Resisting to temptation is not a sought virtue in Cattle Vally, the Montana fictional LGBT small town. And so this new installment in the ongoing soap opera is another story of a man who gives up to temptation. Shep is a former bull rider who left the rodeo circuit when the sixteen years old son of his best friend came to live with them. Young Jeremy was too much a temptation for the man, and a "providential" knee injury gave him the right excuse to open a bull breeding ranch in Cattle Vally. But one year before, Jeremy came to the ranch searching a work and Shep couldn't refuse him. Jeremy now is 22 years old and more than ripe to be pick.
Jeremy is looking to seduce Shep since he was 16 years old. Now that the man of his dreams seems open to his seduction, he will not stop in front of nothing to have his way with him.
As always love triumphs in this small town and the main characters have little problem to consummate their love as soon as the book began. In less than 110 pages, our heroes make love in bed, in the barn, in the kitchen, in the truck... I believe they didn't forget any available surface... But this is the quirk of this series, and the reason why it is so sought after: it's refreshing and enjoyable to read of a love between two people, when the gay issue is not an issue at all.
Usually Carol Lynne raises a social issue, without therefore being boring or pedantic. In this one there is not, if not maybe the age difference between Shep and Jeremy (even if it's not too much highlighted) and the generational jealousy between Jeremy and his father. But all in all, I think that with this one Carol Lynne takes a leave, and the real purpose is only entertaining.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Bring on volume 4 please!!, July 8, 2009
This review is from: Cattle Valley, Vol. 3: Physical Therapy / Out of the Shadow (Volume 3) (Paperback)
I am completely hooked on Carol Lynne's soap opera like series Cattle Valley. One of the best things about the series is recurring characters and familiar faces. Every story introduced new people that may well get their own love story in the future, while also bringing back those that already had their HEA. That continues here with Volume III.
VIII includes two additional novellas, "Physical Therapy" and "Out of the Shadow." Both are excellent stories with one noticeable similarity, they feature more mature characters (40+). This is welcome with so many gay romances being strictly young studs when more mature studs can be just as, if not more, appealing. Plus, they deserve HEAs too. Another less obvious similarity is a slight dark undercurrent to the stories.
Physical Therapy
Isaac Singer and Sam Browning are the resident doctors in Cattle Valley and have been together for twenty years. Then Matt enters the picture and shakes them up. Matt was introduced in "Sweet Topping" as Kyle's physical therapist. The story overlaps that one (and one scene here actually appeared in that story but from a different POV). The town already has a threesome with Nate, Rio and Ryan so Isaac and Sam accepting Matt into their relationship isn't unusual - except that Matt is about 25 years younger than they are, and suffering from severe post-traumatic stress disorder from a tour (what a horribly ironic word) in Iraq. The men have serious issues to iron out, but the path is realistic and the story tender. There is piping hot sex, as in all Cattle Valley stories, but the underlying story has a dark side. The war in Iraq is real and many vets (gay or straight) suffer along with their loved ones through it.
Out of the Shadow
Jeremy has had a crush on his Dad's best friend Shep for years. Shep feels the same but doesn't want to poach on a much younger "family" friend. The story opens with Jeremy working on the ranch after his Dad asks Shep to take him in. Shep is a retired bull rider. Only, there is a dark undercurrent going on in the father-son relationship - one that could break a friendship and ruin a budding love. Of course, in this romance series HEA is mandatory, but that didn't negate the serious side of Jeremy's problems with his father. Shep and Jeremy come together (more hot sex) but they are tested beforehand.
Overall, two more excellent stories to give any M/M romance junkie a fix. I'm eagerly awaiting the next volume!
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
I like it., December 29, 2009
This review is from: Cattle Valley, Vol. 3: Physical Therapy / Out of the Shadow (Volume 3) (Paperback)
Interesting stories and characters, an enjoyable read.
I do have one beef with this series, along with many other gay romance novels I've read lately. Why are most of the couples in these books such opposites? Specifically, why is one guy big strong and masculine, and the other petite and pale and hairless? One masculine, one feminine. I feel like I'm reading a straight love story with the pronouns changed from "her" to "him". Kind of a big turn off for me. Most of the gay couples I know in real life, including my partner and me, are nothing like these couples. I want to read a love story between two men, not some straight author's idea of a "straight" gay love story.
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