Isolation is a terrible thing. It has been said that humans are social animals and for most of us – hermits excepted - that is very true. Isolation takes different forms, but the feeling of being alone, of having no support, and of not knowing if you can rely on your fellow human beings to stand by you is the same. Both main characters in this book, veterinary assistant Quinn and college student Marty, go through those feelings as they figure out what they want their lives to look like. ‘An Isolated Range’ is an emotional book, one which had me close to tears several times, and it fits perfectly with the other books in the series.

Marty comes from a wealthy background, and with his father a republican US senator, he is used to “living for the family”. But being a “good son” has come at a high price for Marty. He is gay, but he knows it would make life difficult for his ”family values” father if he came out. Then he has a stroke during his first college basketball game, and his world collapses. Having to learn to speak and move and walk again is hard, but being yet more isolated – physically – by his dependence on a wheelchair and overprotective parents makes it even more difficult. And when he finally finds the perfect spot when he begins working at Dakota and Wally’s ranch, his struggle about what is more important becomes intense. Everyone at the ranch accepts him, he grows really close to Quinn, and he finally feels accepted when a cruel turn of events snatches it all away. That is when the real battle starts.

Quinn has already taken a partial step out of his isolation (a cruel, selfish, homophobic father) by working on the ranch. The men there have accepted him and he has a lot of friends he can turn to when he needs help. But he isn’t completely free either, not until he figures out that real freedom will only come when he rids himself of the last remaining ties to his past and the hold his father still has on him. Coming out and living openly with Marty is what he wants and needs, but Marty may not be ready.

Quinn and Marty’s story is very poignant and shows the kind of emotional barriers that make coming out so hard in some cases. Courage rarely comes overnight, or just because you “want” it to be there, it is the hard-earned ability to decide who you are and how much of that you want to share, or think you can share, with your family, friends, and the world. Marty has an especially hard time of it, and I loved him all the more for the struggle he went through and the mistakes he made along the way.

If you like emotional stories about men who have to overcome their own barriers before they can be who they are, if you want to know what it’s like to have a stroke as a young man and having to fight to regain the ability to speak and walk, and if you’re looking for a read that is as heart-wrenching as it is rewarding, then you will probably like this novel as much as I did. It’s a wonderful addition to this series and another winner as far as I am concerned!


NOTE: This book was provided by Dreamspinner Press for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews.
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This is not the first story I read in the from the Range series, and I’m quite surprised the author always manages to make them different remaining nevertheless inside the confines of the same range, same town and more or less same circle of supporting characters.

This time it was the time of Marty and Quinn, two different young men, and yes, I have to highlight young cause Marty is at his first year of college and Quinn is a veterinary assistant. They are still in that moment of life when their future is in front of them, but they haven’t yet decide how to approach it. Marty is gay but he doesn’t have the courage to come out to his family, with his father a republican senator who is promoting laws against the LGBT rights. On the other side there is Quinn, maybe a little older than Marty, and his father is not a public figure, but still, he is an homophobic who disapproves of his son working for a gay couple like Dakota and Wally.

Another point that made this novel different from the others is that, for most of the novel, more than half, the relationship between Marty and Quinn remains innocent, to a level where they barely kiss. It was sweet, and call me ingénue, but to me it was right for the age and the character of the two men, I didn’t see them as ready to have a roll in the hay like that, without having the time to come to pact with their own life and desires.

A nice addition to a series that is already an aficionados for many readers.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1623800765/?tag=elimyrevandra-20

Andrew Grey has done it again. This has been a fantastic series. An Isolated Range is by far my favorite book in this series so far. I hope we get to read more in the future. ( )

This is the last book so far in the series...and one of the best.
Marty Green is a nineteen year old who suffers a stroke while playing in his fist College Basketball game. He goes to Wally & Dakota's ranch to recuperate and sort out his life . He comes from a very conservative family, an overbearing Mother and Staunch Repbulican father who is a State Senator running for re-election.

Marty must come to terms with "Coming out" to his family and stop living a lie or hide in a shell for the rest of his life.
Oh, did I mention he meets and falls for Quinn, Wally's assistant, and this only complicates the situation.
This is such a wonderful book from start to finish.
I have grown to love these characters. the Author has such a gift in making his character's seem so real that you almost wish you can take a trip to their ranch.
I think that is the best compliment I can give him. ( )