The Real McCoy

by Jerry Cole

M/M Cowboy Western Gay Romance

Life is filled with twists, turns and tough choices. Connor now faces a life-changing decision. Is true happiness found in getting what you want? Or is it from finding what you need?

Connor Dougherty has the world at his feet. However, his mother’s spiteful last act rips his future away from him and leaves the family ranch to his brother, Greg. He offers Connor a chance at getting his ranch back. All he has to do is go undercover, get a ranch job with Greg’s future in-laws and help Greg sweep his sweetheart off her feet.

Ty Gibson has never had much of anything. Although he’s not sure about taking a ranch hand job, it's better than not working at all. When a mysterious young cowboy, Skip McCoy, shows up on the ranch, Ty finds a welcome distraction in the workplace.

If there’s one truth to ranch life, it’s that everything eventually breaks down. Skip McCoy isn't who he says he is and Connor Dougherty isn’t sure how long he can keep up his disguise.

Can Connor’s wits save the day and help his brother win the love of his life? Or will his feelings for Ty make him willing to risk it all for his own budding love?

Please Note: This book contains adult language & steamy adult activities, it is intended for 18+ Adults Only. Novel, approx. 81,000 words in length. HEA (happy ever after ending). Does not end with a "cliffhanger." Themes include: Cowboys, Western romance, Modern Western, family drama, inheritance, Ranch, rodeo, secret identity

332 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 14, 2018

About the author

Jerry Cole is a gay author who lives in California & enjoys writing love stories. Jerry has been writing fiction since he was a child. As a young adult, he worked as a freelance writer in the evenings & on weekends. Jerry started writing gay romance stories several years ago, but initially just for his own entertainment & occasionally sharing stories with his friends. In the summer of 2015 he published his first gay romance short story on Amazon. Overwhelmed by the positive response he decided to quit his “day job” & took up writing gay romance full time. When he’s not writing steamy M/M romance he enjoys globetrotting, watching movies with family and friends, working out, & being dragged down the road by his two Great Danes.

Reviews

[Denise H. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ty Gibson, 30, stranded by his so-called friends,

finds work at the Briggs ranch, and Linda the daughter has her eyes on Greg, Connor's brother.

Tall, fair haired cowboy, Connor/ Skip, 23,

has his mom die, and the ranch to lazy brother, Greg.
Greg makes a deal with Connor, if he becomes Skip, and goes undercover to get Linda's dad to like him, he'll give Connor the ranch. Hmmmm... If something is too good to be true....

It took me awhile to figure out who was who; lots of characters and then the plan that continues the chaos, with weird happenings, a meth lab, cow herding and so much more. Linda's dad is a real mean and devious man.

Ty and Connor/Skip get together, but only as friends with benefits, no romantic feelings.


Ty is wary of attachments and Connor is still rocking from his mom dying suddenly and leaving him out. Linda's a wacko, as is Greg. The whole fake identity and cover ups get murkier, as Ty and Connor/Skip have had enough.

Good but strange characters throughout, lots of action, and messes in this complicated tale.

**** The ending suited me just fine.****
ENJOY !

====

[John-Torleif Harris · Rating 3 out of 5]

The biggest disappointment that I had with this book is that it felt like the story just sort of petered out without a real satisfactory ending.

Having said that, I enjoyed a lot of things about this book before that point. I liked that Connor/Skip had his faith and wasn't crazy, as so often happens in this genre. I liked that Ty was intelligent and saw through all of the BS that was thrown at him. I liked that the descriptions of ranch life were believable.

I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book.

[Mateo · Rating 1 out of 5]

Really not my best choice, I know, I like a good cowboy story but after twenty pages I already know it will be a disaster. I will forget about this one and try to find a good one.

[Karic · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Real McCoy is a cowboy love story about two ranchers who find themselves working together during one hot summer. Ty Gibson competed in rodeos until he found himself strapped for cash and Connor, going by the alias Skip McCoy, is spying on his brother's girlfriend's family to get her away from her issues at home. The entire premise of the story is a little out there and at first doesn't make a lot of sense. I had to ask myself, "why is this happening and for what purpose". I did not care for Connor's reasoning to why he was working on the ranch and it just seemed completely unrealistic/awkward, even for a tale of fiction. The beginning of the story is a bit all over the place with the introduction of so many different people that it was hard to keep up with names and their importance to the story. I do love the Western theme though. I was always a cowboy lover, even as a kid and the story has some "Brokeback Mountain" elements to it that I loved as well. I just do not think the story itself was delivered well, although I do love the theme and I am hoping he comes out with more themed stories. I read a complimentary Advanced Reader Copy of this book & am voluntarily leaving an honest and unbiased review.

[Peter Leslie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I gave this three stars because it has cowboys and horses. It probably doesn’t deserve it. We start with Ty, a down on his luck rodeo cowboy, who gets a ranch hand job and likes reading cheesy sci-fi novels. It’s a good character and well done. We move on to Skip, not his real name, whose mother dies and leaves the ranch to his useless brother because Skip is gay. It goes downhill from there. The plot becomes a complex silly mess of secreted identities, gambling addiction, alcoholism and crazy. I found it unrealistic and silly, not entertaining. There are well crafted vignettes, the cattle drive and the corn megaplex, but they are the exception. It’s pretty obvious from about page 20 that the two lead cowboys will have a HEA ending. However, after all the poorly crafted drama with all the secondary characters, we don’t get to find out what happened to all of them. Finally, there’s an undertone of religion in this novel. It serves absolutely no purpose, muddles the characters and drags the book down a notch or two. Horses and cowboys got this book an extra star or two. It’s readable but don’t put it on your priority list.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading Connor and Ty’s story. Great characters with a lot of depth and interesting lives. Working hard in the rodeo circuit and working on a ranch are not for the faint hearted. Connor and Ty’s relationship is filled with passion and the hot romance is felt while reading their story.

The family dynamics are the focus of the story which are excellently portrayed. The ins and outs of living and caring for family members and the pain they cause is written with understanding and honesty. Families are not alway happy or everyone well liked or behave well and Jerry Cole has shown this with the different family members.

Linda and Greg are great characters too, adding to the story with their strong personalities.

I highly recommend this book and hope there is a sequel to follow.
I received a free advance reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest & unbiased review.

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a complicated book with relationships that led you just have to read one more page to figure out what was going on. Connor is trying to get his ranch back after his brother inherits it out from under him. Linda is his brother's fiance' and has a complicated and not nice family. Ty is on his last leg when he takes a job at Linda's families' ranch. Connor and he meet up when connor goes to work for them too in order to help his brother get intel on Linda's family. A family that is keeping him from marrying Linda. Connor and Ty develops a relationship that is also complicated by the two families and how Connor is trying to help his brother. An excellent story. I voluntarily read and reviewed this ARC book.

[Monika · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story line was very intriguing. For me this book was a very slow at the start but once I got into it I could not put it down. There was enough drama on every page to want to keep on reading. This book also gives a look into farm life, which is not easy living at the best of times. Add money problems and it becomes almost impossible. I was just a bit disappointed with the romance between Skip (Connor) and Ty. The Spark was just not there. Also somehow I missed how these two got to be an Item. Besides that it was a very enjoyable book

I read a complimentary advanced reader copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving an honest and unbiased review.

[Kirbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow

I don't know where to start but this book was crazy but I loved it the twist and turns there was no telling where this book was going that what I liked about the book Connor loves his brother he would do anything for him even pretend to be someone else the drama was a enough to make you want to pull your hair out

[Coral Mitchell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I felt this one missed the romance part. Conner and Ty started having sex for convenience, issues between them were never cleared up, and no real relationship developed. The main part of the story revolves around Linda trying to keep her dad out of financial trouble and enabling his bad habits. There is not really nay conclusion to this either.

[Kaila · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was a good one.. not my favorite but good.. characters were interesting and it was sexy

[Nathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

More than a m/m romance with cowboys: lots of detail of working a modern ranch, complex characters with plenty of personal growth.

[Barbara M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Real McCoy: M/M Cowboy Western Gay R...

This was a great story! Definitely a must read, lot's of mystery, secrets, lot's of drama and romance! Many thanks, Honey Bee 🐝📚💙🎶

[Wkd · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. Connor aka Skip McCoy and Ty are great together. The characters are in-depth, the story has drama,love,secret identities, and more importantly COWBOYS!!!

[Patdbooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Got this book a while back on ARC for an honest review. Took a Nile to get around on to reading it and in the am I glad I got it. Connor a good hard working rancher , looses it all when his mum dies and disowns him because he is gay. His brother gets it all. Greg is one self centred man who forces his brother to go into cover to help him get his girl. Selfish to the core but in the end Connor meets Ty. The relationship is electric and how they come together is great. JC (AS I like to refer to the author) puts a range of characters in this book that you can not make up your mind f you like them or not. All caught up in their end difficult past and present you go in and out of liking, feeling sorry for them to not liking them. The end in a way is sweet. Man gets his man and I do like the way it ends... It just goes on. It's a HEA ending for Connor and Ty . For the others Greg and Linda you can't but feel not so good. The littering of a number of other characters I feel confused it a bit even in the last page but overall loved it. Becoming a bit of a groupie of JC. Keep them coming.