Book Reviews

Book Blurb

Marty Green has two loves in life: horses and basketball. But suffering a stroke during his first college game throws a wrench in his plans. After months spent in the hospital, recuperating under the zealous care of his overprotective parents, Marty realizes he needs to be on his own, so when he’s offered a job at a ranch owned by his doctor's good friend, he takes it.

When veterinary assistant Quinn Knepper sees Marty for the first time, his heart nearly stops. He's smitten, and Marty appears interested though shy. There are just two problems: Quinn's father wants him to hide his sexuality from the world, and Marty’s Wyoming Senator father is a homophobe with no idea his son is gay—which Quinn learns when the senator proposes an amendment banning gay marriage.

Dealing with two unsupportive families is a heavy burden, but Quinn vows to make it work. Unfortunately, that may mean putting his life on hold while Marty overcomes his emotional isolation—unless, of course, Marty sacrifices his happiness to his father’s political ambition and ends the relationship before it gets started.

 

Book Review

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!

 

 

 

 

DISCLAIMER: Books reviewed on this site were usually provided at no cost by the publisher or author. This book has been provided by Dreamspinner Press for the purpose of a review.

Additional Information

Format	ebook, print and audio
Length	Novel, 200 pages/61804 words
Heat Level
Publication Date	03-December-2012
Price	$6.99 ebook, $14.99 paperback, $14.99 bundle, $19.95 audiobook
Buy Link	https://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/books/an-isolated-range-by-andrew-grey-3830-b