Heidi Cullinan

This is a part of a series that follows a handful of gay men in a small town in Minnesota... Marcus, Arthur and Paul, three "bears", three best friends, as they try to find their forever partners. In this story we get to see Paul, who is the neediest of the entire bunch, finally find his forever love.... well not right away... first we have to have a little bit of angst and drama. Paul is from a quite conservative family. Poor guy…. He’s a big "bear", but he’s also a big mess...a mess of anxiety, a complete lack of confidence, and some other oddities that you would never suspect considering that he is a big "bear". He has his friends, he’s dated, but he can’t ever seem to connect with the right guy. He’s lonely but he’s so tied up in his own head that he can’t see what is right in front of him. Kyle Parks. the Resident Twink. So much so that "Look at me I'm a twink" should have been written in bright, glowing florescent paint across his forehead. He finally decides he’s waited long enough and he’s going to get "his man" come Hell or high water. He starts by trying his luck with Grindr, which doesn’t work so well. Next, he tries his personal specialty, snow sculptures...and leaves a lovely creation on Paul’s front porch. I won't say what it was, but let's just say that the town was NOT amused. I, however laughed and snickered through the rest of the story. Paul is not too impressed either. He eventually enlists the help of resident "busybody" Corrina, who helps him come up with a plan of attack. Kyle, after a few more "mishaps" gets his man, and we get a very sweet holiday story. I loved this book along with poor Paul and all his drama, and Kyle and his strength and willpower to not give up his cause, even if some of his methods were a bit on the questionable side. The plot that runs through it about trying to save this small town was a great backdrop to Paul and Kyle’s love story. The little details in this book that worked so well...like Holiday movies, snow sculptures, cooking together, friends, food, family...it was a perfect way to spend a memorable Christmas.… (meer)

Imagine being a young man from a religious family in cowboy country. You’re not exactly the smartest puppy in the pile, but you try really hard and focus on what you do know...like sheep, so you manage to get by without drawing too much attention.... except for the biggest 'fly in the ointment"...you’re also gay. The Nowhere Ranch story is told by a narrator, the cowboy that's "trying to not draw too much attention" and also trying to be invisible in his Iowa hometown, Roe. The worst thing has happened...the discovery that blows his cover...his stack of gay porn which quickly results in a "godly intervention to heal" him. The result being anger and displacement that leads to a short prison term, and once he is free, Roe makes a break from his hometown. It’s a lonely existence but he gets a job on the "Nebraskan Nowhere Ranch", working for the owner, Travis Loving. It’s the perfect job for Roe. His boss is the quiet, private and respectable type; he lets him carry on with no questions, no dramas... everything is perfect, maybe for the first time in his life. Of course, Roe is his own worst enemy...he walks into the ONLY gay bar for 200 miles... and guess who is sitting at the bar… his BOSS. Roe just stood there wishing/waiting for the floor to open up and swallow him... but then it occurred to him that there was only one reason the BOSS would be there, yep...same as him. I got many chuckles listening to Roe’s story. He tells it in his own simple farm boy way without sophistication, grandeur, and he has never learned the meaning of restraint...not an ounce of pretense. Heidi Cullinan did this brilliantly. I will say that I have read books that these kinky sex plays are featured but we get it all rolled into this one.... Pony play, puppy play, play that would probably be censored if it was even mentioned casually in writing...but through it all let's just say our Roe was "quite accommodating"...as was the BOSS. Roe was so accommodating that The BOSS gifts him with an extraordinarily original birthday present. Although you could say that his present requires an acquired taste… I have found that Heidi Cullinan doesn't have any shyness when calling a kinky spade, a kinky spade...so if you have sensibilities.... ahh, just saying. I wasn't expecting the ending to be quiet so "syrupy sweet". This was not at all in line with the relationship dynamic throughout the story. Good job, Iggy Toma. This couldn't have been very easy to read out loud:)… (meer)

Frankie’s worst nightmares seem to be coming to life when he’s on his way home to Minneapolis and gets lost in a snowstorm in small-town Minnesota, home of – he assumes – redneck gay-haters. But when the three lumberjacks who take him in turn out to be just as gay as he is, Frankie says relax. And he sort of does, but the biggest of the three bears is an uber-grump, and he’s worried that he’ll never get the dude to like him.

A cute grumpy/sunshine m/m romance, although it could have used some paring down in some places (one conversation on a topic is enough; four to five rehashings are way too many) and some fleshing out in others (a couple of characters are introduced for the sole purpose of calling Frankie a f*g and then they’re dropped completely, when they had the potential to be the two most interesting characters in the book). Still, a fun, popcorn-y read with some spice.… (meer)