Tyler catches his best friend Jace in bed with another man and is shocked, disgusted, angry, and...turned on. He's grown up with this cowboy, competed against him in bull riding and calf roping. They’ve fished and swam together as kids. He never imagined Jace was gay--or that he'd been keeping secret the lust he felt for Tyler. When the truth come bubbling to the surface, things heat up between Tyler and his friend. He can't get the memory of seeing Jace naked out of his head. Nor can he stop his desire for Jace. But will fear stop him from going all the way?
Eden Cole has been creating stories in her head since she was a small child. Love and romance, sensual pleasures find their voice in her erotic stories of romance. Fantasy, paranormal and science fiction are her favorite genres to write in.
If not for the fact that the other man Jace was sleeping with Tyler's little brother, Chris, I would have rated this one higher. Even when it was consensual and the little brother knew, he was just a surrogate as Jace wants to be with Tyler and Chris is the closest Jace can get, Jace is using Chris or better they both are using each other. That's difficult for me to accept.
This is all me and personal preferences. I did not like that Jace used Tyler's younger brother and continue to use him after Jace found out. Liking Tyler was just as hard for different reasons.
Loved this book!! GFY was done very believable, I think, with showing Tyler's apprehensiveness about gay sex, not having the MCs jump in the bed immediately after the talk about feelings. The scene when Tyler catches Jace and Chris in bed in the beginning was seriously hot, I won't lie ;)
And I don't see any problems with Jace and Chris's relationship. They're two grown up men and Jace'd told Chris about his feelings for Tyler from the beginning and Chris didn't seem to be in love with Jace or having a broken heart after they ended their affair. For me it was just some buddy fuck, convenient sex with a friendly neighbor, nothing more.
I could never be with someone once they had been with a sibling. It would be too icky and I would be always comparing myself to them. Plus, I would hate for my sibling to see me with their ex
Tyler is a big, butch, brusk cowboy. When he finds his best friend in bed with his brother, he doesn’t know whether to be jealous or angry. Jace has always loved Tyler but has given up on his feelings ever being reciprocated. When Tyler walks in on him and Chris after a night of passion, it seems to bring the underlying sizzling sparks to the forefront. Tyler has always been sure that he is straight, always sure that his best friend is straight and never even contemplated his little brother was gay too. He doesn’t know what to do with the lusty feelings seeing his best friend naked elicits in him. One thing is sure; he gives into his feelings or things can never be the same between them.
I enjoyed this short read. The chemistry between the two lead characters literally steams up the page and Tyler is just so darn sweet! He has absolutely no idea what to do with the feelings that he starts having towards his best friend. He is initially disgusted with himself for his physical response to Jace, flies straight towards denial and then, somehow, u-turns and ends up accepting his attraction to another man. Jace is a bit of a pushy bugger to be honest and I’m not sure I liked him as an individual. He sleeps with Chris, by his own admission, to try to quell the desire he feels for Tyler. Even Cole's attempts to smooth over any objections we can have towards the characters actions, stating that Chris knew the score all along, didn’t quite stop the feelings of injustice I had. At one point Tyler yells that he feels that Jace is only with Chris because he reminds Jace of him...at no point did I stop believing this was the case! When Tyler’s reluctance to begin a physical relationship starts to ease, Jace has to test his limits, and I found him a little manipulative. He turns up one night, when Tyler has gone to bed, and offers him a blowjob, even though Tyler has asked him to stop pushing. It really p**sed me off. I understand that he had loved his best friend forever, and that he could only see Tyler in his future, but the desperation that he approachs all their encounters is a little unfair. He actively pushes a man, who is struggling with his new feelings, into a decision perhaps he isn’t ready for.I suppose the ends justified the means as, when they finally come together as equals in a sexual relationship, it is just dreamy. It has never bothered me what gender the players in a HEA story have. It only matters to me that I believe in the relationship and that the author can make me believe in the emotions they have for each other. Eden Cole managed to make me believe that these two child-hood friends finally found their HEA in each other (watch out for the flash backs...they were lovely:D) and, *phew*, it was hot.The ending was sweet, hot and satisfying, and I will definitely read it again.
I enjoy short stories. I have commented on other reviews how critical each word and it's placement is in a short story. If your goal is to give us a glimpse of a longer storyline or a complete short standalone tale, each word must count in order for the story to hit it's mark. Unfortunately Cowboy Secrets fell way short of it's goal. The story of two cowboys whose friendship spanned the time from their early childhood to present day had the makings of a great little short. It was even plausible that Tyler (a deeply closeted gay man) could fall in love with his best friend Jace, a randy cowboy in search of the perfect replacement for the man he really loved--his best friend Tyler. However, somewhere between the very beginning of this story where Tyler walks in on Jace in bed with Tyler's little brother Chris and the ending where in a matter of a few weeks and two sexual encounters Tyler is declaring undying love forever, something gets lost...and that would be...the storyline. It simply is too outlandish--this deeply closeted man becomes instant lover and forever partner overnight?? Not even in the best fiction does that all happen as rapidly as Ms. Cole has us wanting to believe. Not only that, but her characters are not likeable--neither Jace nor Tyler provoke any tenderness or compassion for their plight. Tyler is so busy avoiding and hating Jace through 9/10ths of the book that it is truly hard to fathom WHY he would want to come out of the closet to be with him at all. And Jace?? Since when do we show our undying love for someone by taking their little brother to bed? I'm sorry--I don't mean to be harsh but this story simple left me more puzzled and less satisfied than when I had started. I gave this story 2 stars because I HAVE read other work by Ms. Cole and enjoyed it. But this one...well let's just say I wish she had kept the secret and left us all in the dark.
I give this one about 3.5. I thought it was well written and it had a great plot...I just wish there was more. I wanted more from the characters. I hope to read more of Eden Cole's work soon!!
Frustrating read, awesome character but your patient is not rewarded when the scene you've been waiting for is cut short and so falls flat. In less than 100 pages that's saying something.