Song of the Lonesome Cowboy by Lynn Kelling

Title: Song of the Lonesome Cowboy
Series: N/A
Author: Lynn Kelling
Genre: BDSM/Suspense
Length: Novel (270 Pages)
Publisher: Forbidden-Fiction Publishing (February 10th, 2015)
Heat Level: Explicit
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥5 Hearts
Blurb: Tucker Reynolds is a rising star in country music. The people from his record label tell him he’s destined to be one of the greats—but only if he fits the “good ol’ boy” image country fans expect from him. The trouble is, that’s not the kind of man’s manTucker really wants to be.

Forced into an unsavory relationship with a record executive and frustrated by his regrettably platonic relationship with his best friend and guitarist, Mags Palmer, Tucker turns to kinky sex with male prostitutes for release. Things hit Tucker’s limit when one of Tucker’s bandmates, Jess Grayville, begins to suspect what’s going on, and puts himself in danger to protect Tucker.

Desperate for a way out of his troubles, Tucker realizes only honesty, love, and a true song can save himself and the man who stands by him.

ISBN: 978-1-62234-213-6

Product Link: http://fantasticfictionpublishing.com/product/song-of-the-lonesome-cowboy

Reviewer: KathyMac

Review: Wow, there is so much emotion just begging to be let out in Lynn Kelling’s newest release, Song of the Lonesome Cowboy. From the first page, Tucker Reynolds, singer, song-writer, and most of all, extremely loyal to his friends, is breaking into a million pieces. For years, he has been hiding his torment from an innocent encounter, hiding in the closest with his sexuality, and hiding from his friends the nightmares he faces almost nightly.

Lynn Kelling has accomplished once again what she is so good at. Putting words on a page that turn into a living, breathing story. Tucker, at the immature age of 21, thought he was doing what was best for his band and mates. Unbeknownst to him, he was signing a deal with the devil. A man-eating predator that would suck the life out of him for the next several years.

Tucker is hurting and lonely. He’s physically and mentally exhausted. Secretly, he suffers from nightmares of abuse, alone, so others don’t worry about their futures. He always feels as though he is being pursued by the world instead of having a tangible connection to it. Tucker’s life consists of lies, secrets, and deception. He carries a constant ache and fear of times past and times to come.

Tucker’s only saving grace was his best friend, Mags. A straight man who Tucker lusted over secretly and loved with everything he had. Mags had a horrible childhood and a family that continuously let him down. Determined to give Mags the security he needed and a happy life, when their band signed with a big time record producer, Tucker kept the conditions to himself.

After years of abuse, drugged, being raped and tortured, and watching Mags bed one woman after the other, he is at his breaking point.

I sank down onto the couch, and restlessly rolled up the sleeves of my shirt to expose my itchy wrists. The room was suddenly too full, too warm.

Jess was watching me, following my fidgeting. When I realized he could see the scars on my arms, which were usually covered with sleeves or thick bracelets, my heart jumped. Mags had never cared enough to notice those, but Jess was looking right at them. I paled and quickly rolled the sleeves back down.

Trying to deflect the attention, I said, “Well, I’m back now, aren’t I? The world didn’t end, praise Jesus. Y‘all flying out?”

Mags huffed, arms folded, looking more put-out the longer I avoided tumbling into another yelling match with him.

What he doesn’t realize is Jess, one of his bandmates, has been watching him closely. He knows he is hurting, he just doesn’t know why. It’s hard for him to get too close seeing as he, too, is keeping a closely guarded secret.
Jess comes clean with Tucker and shows him he is someone he can trust and count on. Tucker finally sees that everything he has always wanted has been right in front of him the whole time.

“You’re kind of gorgeous without the beard,” I told him self-consciously. “I wasn’t prepared for that.”
I’d been letting Mags outshine him. Funny how the glare of idolizing could blind you to what was right in front of you, even better than the dream.

He took hold of my hand and brought it to his lips. They brushed my knuckles for just a moment while he held my gaze with his blue-and-green-colored eyes. Then he uncurled my fingers and kissed my palm. It felt like he was seducing me, and it kept stirring the butterflies in my stomach.

But, just as they are beginning to make headway with their relationship, Tucker falls victim once again, and this time it may be more than he can handle.

Be prepared to be gutted through parts of this story. Lynn has written a very heartbreaking, hard to read, at times, story. But with the bad also comes the good, and there is a lot of good in this story. As Tucker tells us about his years of pain and anguish, your own heart will break for him. One thing I kept thinking was how strong and brave Tucker was. I don’t think he even knew the strength he carries within himself.

When Jess comes forth ready to share his own pain with Tucker, you can’t help but smile for these two finally seeing each other as they should. They are a perfect match and feed off each other’s personality. Finally, Tucker can begin to believe in love and have those same feelings reciprocated.

The author touches on many sticky subjects exposing the nasty parts of life. The dialogue flows effortlessly showing the creativity and cleverness that she possesses. Even though this is fiction Lynn relays the story in a way that will consume your thoughts making you wonder how many in real life have succumbed to this type of predator.
Tucker and Jess are so much stronger together and I believe they can handle whatever type of situation that comes their way.

Each facet of Tucker’s journey will show how brave this young man really is. Jess is the perfect companion for Tucker and together they can heal the torments of the past. I would highly recommend this to anyone who loves when the good guys win. When you are constantly beat down but rise above it all. And, most of all, when love between two men is so infectious that you want to be a part of their joy.

* I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review through http://mmgoodbookreviews.wordpress.com *