Review: Complex, Engaging, Masterful!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 09 12, 2013
Pulling Leather is the second in Nya Rawlyns' enthralling Crow Creek novel series. The story begins not long after the ending of the first, Ash & Oak. In that book Ash MacBryde, the owner of Crow Creek Ranch, hires Oakley Richards as his partner in the ranch operations, and they fall in love. Ah, paradise!Paradise would be wonderful, if only it were just the two of them, but this ranch-paradise is soon invaded by Lucas Santiago, a young closeted gay man with anger management issues which have him placed in Ash's care after a third assault incident. His very close friendship with Oak isn't a source of concern or jealousy since Ash believes Luc is straight.That changes overnight when Jess Carpenter arrives to look over some possible stock additions to the ranch he works on in Texas. The former bronc-rider was the subject of Luc's fanboy crush and sparks fly instantly. All well and good, except ....Jess is also Ash's former lover, a fact neither Oak nor Luc is aware of until Ash's offhand remark rips open another closet -- the one both older men have crammed full of their feelings for each other. They've locked that closet so firmly that both are caught unawares when the door splinters and the carefully packed boxes of lust and love come tumbling out, covered with `volatile, handle with caution, keep sealed at all times' stickers. The resulting explosions threaten to tear apart much more than Ash & Oak's shiny new marriage and Jess & Luc's budding relationship; the hearts and even the sanity of all four men are threatened by the turmoil of unfinished business.Nya Rawlyns delivers, as always, a complex and engaging story that takes place in intriguing and well-described surroundings. She refuses to allow her characters to disguise their struggles, but instead undresses them layer by layer. She tosses the Stetson of pride onto a rack, pops the snaps of the Western shirt of guilt, unfastens the tarnished buckle of ego's belt, wrenches off the pointy-toed boots of stubbornness, drops the jeans of insecurity until all four men are not simply naked, but exposed. To the reader, to each other, and most difficult of all, to themselves. It's impossible to read her books without giving the characters an iron-clad lease on sections of your heart. These men are no exception.I give this outstanding book the full 5 stars, with a heat-rating of `where's the fire extinguisher'.