Scan barcode
A review by inkstndfngrs
His Fresh Start Cowboy by A.M. Arthur
2.0
Thank you to NetGalley and Carina Press for allowing me to read this ARC edition. Please note that as it was an ARC, I certainly hope some of my most egregious complaints were rectified by the time it did get to a final printing... Just sayin'.
Before I rip this book apart, why don't we focus on the Pros?
* Loved the sex-positive Ace representation in Ramie (...wait for the but...)
* Quick read though I did feel a bit forced
* Characters are likable
So, obviously this Woods Ranch series is a spin-off from the author's Clean Slate series. Which I did not read. Maybe it would have helped me like this book more? I can't really tell. I have no particular inclination to pick them up after reading this one. So, let's just get down to the brass tacks, eh?
1. I know this was an ARC, but holy cripes there were a lot of really strange typos and issues with the timeline that should have been caught and fixed by even the most amateur of editors
2. This premise is not unique and the storytelling is not unique. At all. I've read this book, from Harlequin, a dozen times before. Nothing about this was new --not even the story being two gay guys. Which is why I doubt that the Clean Slate (and the author's other series) are worth reading. I'm guessing it's a formula, which is fine --but once you know an author's formula, their books become infinitely less interesting. ESPECIALLY when it's the same formula being used by dozens of other authors...
3. I don't want to nitpick here and YES everyone should use whatever label they are most comfortable with IRL. BUT, Brand isn't a real person, so let me inform you: Brand is not bisexual. He is pansexual. I know a lot of people use those terms interchangeably but here's the thing: when a pan person is referred to as bi --that's pan erasure. The same thing that bi people have been complaining about for generations. Brand says himself: his attraction is more about the *person* than the genitalia. That is TEXTBOOK pansexual. And YES Pan people do this to themselves all the time AND I FIND IT INFURIATING as a fellow pansexual. So please, please, please, can we do better?
4. So, I appreciate Ramie as a sex-positive aro ace, but...I'm not sure that's how you portray sex-positive ace. Particularly it was the "Ramie loves sex". Well, yeah, okay. That's fine, but SP aces usually *enjoy* sex. It isn't that they *love it*. They don't necessarily seek it out --if it happens, that's cool. Saying that an asexual "loves sex" is kinda gross, IMHO. I also say that as someone who is a bit on the demi-side.
5. The timeline was messed up in a couple of places. It's lazy storytelling to skip ahead days or weeks at a time, and then "well, just yesterday...". and then refer back to when the previous action was. The most glaring issue I found was toward the end when Brand offers to sleep out in the Bunkhouse that first night and Brutus is back. They had LITERALLY left the dog w/ Rem and Alan the day before (again, wonky timeline!) and they were not set back to be back for at least another day. So, unless the dog came home on his own...
6. The "flashback" and the switch from past to present tense. I have never been so repulsed by a section of fiction in my ENTIRE LIFE. I get that the tense switch was supposed to "pull you back" but honestly...I almost didn't read it. I absolutely loath reading present tense. Hate it with a fiery passion. There was absolutely zero need for it. Italics would have signified the timeline change just as easily and would have irritated me far less.
There were also several spots where I literally had to put my phone down, sigh loudly, call the characters a few choice names, and then resume reading. They were just...so dumb. Immature. Childish. All while also supposedly being "big powerful men". No. No, they were juvenile and showed very little growth.
So...no, I was not impressed with this one. This was also not the quality that I would have expected from an author with so many books under their belt. This was First-Book effort if I ever read it. And honestly, I am more than a little disappointed in Carina for picking this one up too. I have come to expect more from the line, including breaking out of the stereotypical romance boxes. And this one failed on all fronts for me.
Ultimately, I gave this 2 stars because while I didn't like it, I didn't *hate it*, and I did manage to finish it. So...if you're just looking to kill a couple of hours, go for it.
Before I rip this book apart, why don't we focus on the Pros?
* Loved the sex-positive Ace representation in Ramie (...wait for the but...)
* Quick read though I did feel a bit forced
* Characters are likable
So, obviously this Woods Ranch series is a spin-off from the author's Clean Slate series. Which I did not read. Maybe it would have helped me like this book more? I can't really tell. I have no particular inclination to pick them up after reading this one. So, let's just get down to the brass tacks, eh?
1. I know this was an ARC, but holy cripes there were a lot of really strange typos and issues with the timeline that should have been caught and fixed by even the most amateur of editors
2. This premise is not unique and the storytelling is not unique. At all. I've read this book, from Harlequin, a dozen times before. Nothing about this was new --not even the story being two gay guys. Which is why I doubt that the Clean Slate (and the author's other series) are worth reading. I'm guessing it's a formula, which is fine --but once you know an author's formula, their books become infinitely less interesting. ESPECIALLY when it's the same formula being used by dozens of other authors...
3. I don't want to nitpick here and YES everyone should use whatever label they are most comfortable with IRL. BUT, Brand isn't a real person, so let me inform you: Brand is not bisexual. He is pansexual. I know a lot of people use those terms interchangeably but here's the thing: when a pan person is referred to as bi --that's pan erasure. The same thing that bi people have been complaining about for generations. Brand says himself: his attraction is more about the *person* than the genitalia. That is TEXTBOOK pansexual. And YES Pan people do this to themselves all the time AND I FIND IT INFURIATING as a fellow pansexual. So please, please, please, can we do better?
4. So, I appreciate Ramie as a sex-positive aro ace, but...I'm not sure that's how you portray sex-positive ace. Particularly it was the "Ramie loves sex". Well, yeah, okay. That's fine, but SP aces usually *enjoy* sex. It isn't that they *love it*. They don't necessarily seek it out --if it happens, that's cool. Saying that an asexual "loves sex" is kinda gross, IMHO. I also say that as someone who is a bit on the demi-side.
5. The timeline was messed up in a couple of places. It's lazy storytelling to skip ahead days or weeks at a time, and then "well, just yesterday...". and then refer back to when the previous action was. The most glaring issue I found was toward the end when Brand offers to sleep out in the Bunkhouse that first night and Brutus is back. They had LITERALLY left the dog w/ Rem and Alan the day before (again, wonky timeline!) and they were not set back to be back for at least another day. So, unless the dog came home on his own...
6. The "flashback" and the switch from past to present tense. I have never been so repulsed by a section of fiction in my ENTIRE LIFE. I get that the tense switch was supposed to "pull you back" but honestly...I almost didn't read it. I absolutely loath reading present tense. Hate it with a fiery passion. There was absolutely zero need for it. Italics would have signified the timeline change just as easily and would have irritated me far less.
There were also several spots where I literally had to put my phone down, sigh loudly, call the characters a few choice names, and then resume reading. They were just...so dumb. Immature. Childish. All while also supposedly being "big powerful men". No. No, they were juvenile and showed very little growth.
So...no, I was not impressed with this one. This was also not the quality that I would have expected from an author with so many books under their belt. This was First-Book effort if I ever read it. And honestly, I am more than a little disappointed in Carina for picking this one up too. I have come to expect more from the line, including breaking out of the stereotypical romance boxes. And this one failed on all fronts for me.
Ultimately, I gave this 2 stars because while I didn't like it, I didn't *hate it*, and I did manage to finish it. So...if you're just looking to kill a couple of hours, go for it.