Upcoming release – Book two in the Pickup Men series – to be released 26th May!

• Pickup Men (book #1) – click here for review
• Let It Ride (book #2) – in this review

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Let It Ride

by

L.C. Chase

The blurb…

Pickup man Bridge Sullivan is the kind of cowboy everyone wants—as a brother, a friend, a lover. People think he’s straight, but Bridge isn’t one for labels, and when a sexy male paramedic jumpstarts his heart, he charges in with all guns blazing.

New York City transplant Eric Palmer grew up in foster care. While he always had a roof over his head, he never felt love or a sense of belonging . . . until he joined the California rodeo circuit as a paramedic and found a band of brothers who took him in as one of their own. Now, one in particular is making Eric’s pulse race.

When things heat up between Bridge and Eric, Bridge has to prove to Eric he’s not just experimenting with the rougher sex, while Eric must overcome his fears of being unwanted and cast aside. He knows that trusting Bridge may be the key to his happy ever after, but getting in the saddle is much, much easier than learning to let it ride.

So what did I think?

I really liked book one of the Pickup Men series (which is a Lambda Literary Award Finalist for Gay Romance) so knew I would enjoy this one and wasn’t disappointed. As with the first book, there is lots of emotion set against a back drop of the rodeo. The characters from book one are here to some degree – Marty, Tripp, Kent – but I don’t think it is absolutely necessary to read book one (although it would be a shame to miss it!)

I thought this would be more Bridge’s story as he deals with his attraction to Eric and finally wakes up to the fact that he may be bi or gay, something his one-time experiment with a guy in college didn’t clue him up on. But he accepts his attraction to Eric easily, having the courage to approach the man and push for a relationship. Surprisingly there’s not a lot of issue with anyone else’s reaction to his new path in life either, somewhere I thought the story would go.

The emotion surrounds Eric, with his low sense of self worth based on his childhood – abandonment by his own parents and subsequent foster homes – and experience with relationships. No one has truly loved him and stuck by him.

“A cold sliver of panic tickled across his chest. Disposable people didn’t get to keep lives like this.”

Eric believes there’s something wrong with him and that Bridge will eventually see this. He looks for excuses and struggles to accept the truth of Bridge’s feelings.

This is a story of sexual exploration (there’s no hesitation from either man when it comes to the joys of sex!) with lots of soul searching thrown in. This cowboy isn’t afraid of emotional conversations and going after his man. Of course, there’s the big dramatic moment of the men coming together for their happy ending – I’m such a sucker for these types of resolutions! 🙂

This is a single sitting read – sweet and sexy with nice characters. 4 stars because it was a very enjoyable way to spend my evening.

Happy reading,

Nic x

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 To find out more about L.C. Chase and her books visit her website

Buy Let It Ride from Riptide Publishing

A copy of this book was received from the publisher via Netgalley in return for my honest review.

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