ARC Review: Bare for You

Bare for You (Outback Skies #3)

by Lexxie Couper 

Blurb:

Not all cowboys ride horses.

Jeremy Craig is on the cusp of being named the deputy prime minister of Australia. Which means he’s got to play his cards right and stay deep in the closet. Australia is a lot of things, but there’s no way the country is ready for a gay prime minister. So far, it’s been an easy ruse to maintain. Until he meets Ryan Taylor. Then all bets are off.

Ryan is sick of the Brokeback Mountain jokes. For starters, he’s an Australian stockman, not an American cowboy. For another, he spends most of his working days alone in a helicopter, not on the back of a horse. As Wallaby Ridge’s only contract heli-musterer, he gets to escape any small-town scorn high in the sky. He’s happy up there. Lonely, but happy. Who needs passion and wild sexual pleasure in their life when they have the boundless skies of the Outback, right?

Then Jeremy Craig climbs into his chopper…

Warning: This book may change your opinion of politicians. It also contains scorching, no-holds-barred passion between two alpha men, one with a Ryan Gosling fetish and the other with a secret deeper than the ocean. Yes, it’s that complicated.

Themes: erotica, LGTB, Aussie

Rating: 5 stars

Heat Rating: 5

Review:

Returning to the harsh, but sexily rugged outback, Couper brings us the long awaited story of a sexy heli-musterer, who just happens to be gay and the man that has captured his heart.  While the other stories in this series haven't revolved around same-sex couples, Ryan's story was a necessity as far as I’m concerned and I was so happy to get a chance to read it early.  The story itself isn't very long, but even in so short a read there was so much passion, emotion, and awesomeness that you feel like you've read a huge story.  Couper's ability to bring couples together, overcoming personal, societal and emotional obstacles, while making the sensuality and heat between them palpable to readers is a true skill, one that I will never take for granted in a truly great author.  If you are looking for a short, but sexy read to fill an evening, and aren't afraid to venture outside of the standard comfort zone to read a same-sex love story, Bare for You will be all you need.

Ryan is the odd man out, the man that is often the butts of jokes, because he is one of the few openly gay men in the outback and the small town that he lives in.  He longs for a mate, a man to claim for his own, but has yet to find someone to fill his heart as well as his lust.   His dream man doesn't seem to exist, until he sets eyes on politician Jeremy, a sexy and apparently deeply in the closet gay man that has come into Ryan's life to drive him crazy.  Jeremy has hidden the truth of his sexuality his entire life in order to reach his professional dreams of becoming the Australian PM, but when he sets eyes on Ryan he is ready to throw his entire career to the winds to have a chance to claim the man that has captured his soul.  But can they both really overcome all their fears to have a life together, or will they have to give up the love that has blown up their worlds?

Bare for You, while short and sexy, touched on a lot of important points of our current societal reality, including bigotry, sexuality, and sacrifice.  Ryan is the type of guy that I always wanted for myself, rugged but educated, sensual but sweet, alpha but compassionate.  He really is the perfect dichotomy and serves as every woman's (or gay man's) dream man, but he has had a very hard time finding happiness in his love life.  Jeremy has kept the secret of his sexuality from everyone for his entire life, but when faced with the man of his dreams, a man that pulls him in no matter how hard Jeremy tries to resist him, he knows that Ryan is worth the risk.  I was thrilled that they were both able to have what they wanted and needed in the end and found a way to have a life together.  Love is love, no matter the way it manifests itself, straight, gay, poly, or whatever other combo pulls your heart, if it’s really love, there is no ending.  Cannot wait to get Charlie's story, soon I hope, but anything that Couper writes will definitely land on my shelves.

*eARC provided by publisher (via netgalley) for the purpose of an honest and unbiased review.  No compensation was provided.