Sweet Topping

Cattle Valley #3

by Carol Lynne

Wheelchair-bound, Kyle Brynn loves his home above the bakery he owns and runs. He's proud of everything he's managed to accomplish since the accident six years ago that took the use of his legs. At the age of twenty-six he's an independent man living on his own, despite the protests from his family. However, with his independence comes loneliness. It's not the townspeople's fault that they see him as less of a man, it's his.

Darshawn 'Gill' Gilling quit professional football at the height of his career without a word to the press as to why. Now settled in Cattle Valley, Gill's happy running his garage and gas station. His life is much easier since coming out of the closet to his friends and family. He just wishes he'd had someone to come out for. Most folks in town tend to be a little awestruck when Gill comes around, but if he wanted fans he'd have stayed in football. What he really wants is that cute little baker down the street.

Reader Advisory: This book is best read in sequence as part of a series

Genres: M M Romance, Romance, Contemporary, Disability, Erotica, Gay, LGBT

106 pages, ebook

First published February 1, 2008

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

erotic & gay romances

Reviews

[Don Bradshaw · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a tough review to write. A good friend got me hooked on the Cattle Valley soap opera. This episode is Gill and Kyle's story. The story revolves around the town's bakery owner and token wheelie, Kyle, and former football star and now garage owner, Gill. Both men are likable and some of the town's other faces pop up to do their thing. I truly wanted to enjoy this romance story but as a man in a wheelchair myself, I was aggravated by the repeated errors that Ms Lynne made in Kyle's every day life. Her research on spinal cord injuries was severely lacking. Many of the things that Kyle did just did not jive with the things that he could not do. The ending of the story would have been wonderful but it is not physically possible on a neurological basis. I will not carry on a diatribe here because I believe that Ms Lynne meant well in her story. I only ask that any authors out there that are going to write about something complex like a spinal cord injury lifestyle, please have someone in that position beta read your book for accuracy.

[Sidda Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite in the series so far. I really liked Kyle and Gil. I thought the issues they had to handle together because of Kyle's disability was very well written and heartfelt.

[Elizabeth H. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I agree with the early reviewer who said this story reads more like a rough draft than a finished product. It's what I would call "thin," in that nothing was developed sufficiently. I was also thoroughly distracted by editing errors/missteps, such as "it's" for "its" and other problems that are so easy to fix if an author or editor pays attention. Continuity errors were also a problem: at one point Gil is bald and then he's got the black hair that's curling. I thought maybe that was linked to the beard growing out, an indication of his distress because his lover had left him, and I read trying to establish that. But it just wasn't there.

Finally, if I read that a character winked one more time, I was going to throw my computer across the room! That kind of repetition dulls a story even when a reader is not conscious of it, but I certainly was aware of it each time.

I had heard good things about this author, but I'm really disappointed in the lack of substance, depth, and authorial attention in this story. I see that Sweet Topping gets an average 4 star rating, and I'm truly perplexed as to why. I read it because the subject matter is unusual, at least to me it is, a love affair with one partner in a wheelchair. The opportunity to develop something truly moving and insightful is right there, waiting for the author to do something wonderful with it, but that just didn't happen.

[Lillie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a book about overcoming obstacles in life. Kyle has been wheelchair bound since his jeep accident years ago. He has made himself a success as a baker in Cattle Valley, but believes he will be alone for the rest of his life. When handsome ex-pro ballplayer Gil starts making his attraction to Kyle known, Kyle must face his insecurities if he wants the greatest love he could ever know.

This is my favorite in the Cattle Valley books so far. I can't wait to read the next one!

[Barbara➰ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Awww....this was super sweet. Gill was an absolute amazing hero. He did everything right by Kyle. I liked Kyle too but at one point I wanted to choke him because he made my boy Gill sad. Glad he got his head out of his ass.

Honestly, these books are a bit cheesy but they're cute and hit the spot in between more heavy reads.

[Katharina · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm sorry to just give one star, always, and I was wondering whether to up it to two, but in the end I couldn't. Because I was just so damn disappointed. Sorry if I hurt any sensibilities here or insult anyone, but that's just how it is.

The basic story was actually nice, well, it sounded nice at least. Kyle is in a wheelchair because of an accident, baker in Cattle Valley and really likes the owner of the garage and gas station, ex-footballstar Gill. Of course, his injury forbids anything from happening - or so he thinks. Gill has his own ideas about that, however...

Okay, so basic story: nice. BUT. But.... Alright where to start?

I didn't get to know Kyle or Gill in the slightest. Really not in the slightest. Everything they talked about, thought about, seemed to be the injury, how not to mess up, how they're first in lust and then in love with each other. And that's it. Yes, there was a bakery and the garage, but that almost seemed like a mere facade, something to fill the characters' voids and give them a place to be. It didn't though, not really. This wasn't really a story about a character with a disability - it almost seemed as if this disability was all the character was. And I'm so damn sorry about that, because that isn't how I would like to be portrayed if I was in a wheelchair. In my family are people with serious physical disabilities and they're awesome people. The fact they can't walk very well is the least important thing about them. And here it was the topic in almost every other sentence, one of the very few things seemingly worth telling.

I didn't see any sort of character development either. Sure, Kyle gets better and learns how to love and so on, well on paper anyway. But you don't really feel any of it. I certainly didn't feel any sort of love there, despite all the mushiness involved. And I definitely didn't feel any sort of tension, any chemistry or any real need or longing. Which is a pity, because this story line really could have gone so damn well! Maybe it has something to do with how bloody quick everything's happening: When the story starts, the two are already in lust with each other and then, boom, there they are, together. A little bit of struggling because Kyle thinks he can never have and satisfy a man again in his life, but Gill says "yeah, you can", so Kyle thinks "alright, maybe I can". And finally, you have that, I'm sorry, to my mind RIDICULOUS argument, where Kyle behaves like a freaking immature kid who has no idea how to communicate and Gill is so utterly clueless. Although, I can't really fault Gill for that, because, hey, I was utterly clueless too.

And, then there was the fact that Kyle needed to walk again at some point. Of course, Gill didn't care at all about Kyle's disability, mind it. But leaving Kyle disabled just as so many people are without any chance of that changing, well that seemed to kind of blow the happy end - and of course we can't have that happening! Or so it seemed to me here. ...yeah, I could be oversensitive about that, but still that's what I thought.

Everything seemed so... shallow here. So superficial. The characters, the setting, the story, really everything.

And then there was another gigantic bug: the editing and layout. Not only were there quite a few of mistakes ("affect" instead of "effect", that sort of thing), but the fileformat (I have the epub) was really messed up in the second half of the book - no paragraphs where paragraphs should be, new chapter headings just inserted into the text with not even a blank line in between, in the same font size. You never knew whether the next line would be part of the same story part or if it would jump to a few hours/days later. It was just a big mess! If this was a free story - no problem. But the fact that I paid money for this sloppiness really annoyed the hell out of me.

I'm afraid this will be the last book by this particular author that I'll be reading in a while.

[Beck · Rating 2 out of 5]

1. I haven't paid for a single book in this series, instead picking them up when they have been offered free.

2. Having now read 3 books in this series I don't think I will ever pay money to read any more books in this series.

3. If I find them free, I will pick them up & read them.

The books in this series all have a common thread of insta-love with shallow character development & artificial angst. The characters are all too Pollyanna-ish to be believable. The whole concept & delivery is too sugary-sweet for my tastes. Having said that, if I'm in the mood for fluff, these books are better than some out there. They are readable but I'm always left feeling that the author has short-changed the characters with a too-superficial story.

[Rose Canteiro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely!

Kyle is a blond, handsome baker who's hooked by the tall, dark, strong and handsome Gill, an ex quarterback which love for him is the sweetest chocolate-with-hot-pepper thing in the world.

💝💝💝💝💝
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

[Elena · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to read this book because of wheelchaired character, so I didn't read the first books in the series, and I definitely won't read them in the future.

This book doesn't work as stand-alone. I think, the main problem is not because it contains lots of things one could learn from previous books. I met lots of people and listened to their chatting, and I had no idea who they were and what were they talking about. But instead of wish to know more, I simply didn't care.

Yes, that's a problem. I didn't care of characters at all. I was so much prepared to love Kyle&Gill, but there were so much fluff and sugar, I've almost got anaphylactic collapse. If every book in this series shows such sweetness, I'll pass.

Well, Kyle is an attractive character, I liked him. I can understand his fears of possible fakes and fuckups with lovemaking, and I really appreciate the author tried to add some detailes of paraplegic issues to the book. I picked this book up exactly because of my expectations to find those detailes.

Gill is nice guy, but he shows so plain and 2-dimentional emotions, I gave up.

The end is the most disappointed thing in the book. It started with very attractive idea of disability acceptance. Gill was going to love Kyle as he was, in a wheelchair, with all that catheter stuff. That great idea of equal opportunities was ruined with therapy. I mean, yeah, it's great Kyle can walk again, but he was more valuable in his wheelchair. He represented those people who were wheelchaired in real life and who would never be able to walk again. And insted of hymn to the love which steps through any barriers, including medical, we've got almost nothing. It's not a big deal to love a person who can walk, sorry, guys.

1 star for the idea and 1 star for the first part of the book.

[Meep · Rating 1 out of 5]

I DNF'd early because I could already see one this would end with me ranting.

I get Cattle Valley is a place of beautiful 'yummy' gay people, half the men larger than life and the other half small and sweet, the occasional female mentioned but forgotten. BUT here we the promise of something a little different, a character in a wheelchair.

Kyle runs his own buisness so to me that makes him a strong person; he's overcome the emotion of being injured and adapted enough for full independance. In RL getting recognised as capable when people only see the chair can be far harder than it should be. There's a great opportunity to show a character as strong, beautiful and who just happens to be disabled. No. Instead all I'm hearing about is the chair, about his mobility issues, his catheter, his useless legs... Where'd the person in the chair go?

Gill seemed sweet at his introduction in the previous books but here he's this big aggresive guy, he has several outbursts early on where he uses his size to get where he wants. Found it hard to see past that, I don't like him anymore. His 'research' was wierd to me, for all he says he doesn't care about the injury why would he research wheelchair users and join forums so soon, I get he'd want to understand but surely you get to know the person before you become an encyclopedia on their condtion? ..unless you have one of those kinks where its the injury not the person o.0

And it's obvious how this ends, about five pages in its clear he's going to be walking by the end. Miracles happen when your world must stay beautiful and unflawed - how insulting to those who use wheelchairs.
Beauty comes in lots of different forms.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ein Autounfall hat Kyle in den Rollstuhl gebracht. Seine Beine sind nutzlos, auch wenn es möglicherweise Therapien geben würde, die ihn wieder auf die Beine bringen würden. Doch Kyle ist vor seiner überfürsorglichen Familie geflüchtet und hat sich eine kleine, aber erfolgreiche Bäckerei in Cattley Valley aufgebaut.

Hier fühlt er sich ernst genommen, gebraucht und auch zu einem gewissen Grad unabhängig. Allerdings haben nicht nur seine Beine Schaden genommen. Durch die Rückenmarksverletzung hat er auch die Kontrolle über seine Blase verloren. Auch sein Intimleben ist nicht existent. Dabei könnte es durchaus anders sein. Doch derartige Gedanken verbiete sich Kyle, auch wenn er eine Schwäche für den Mechaniker und Tankstellenbesitzer Gill hat.

Gill ist ein ehemaliger Sportler, der irgendwann aus freien Stücken seine Karriere beendet und damit auch das Versteckspiel um seine Homosexualität hat. In Cattle Valley kann er endlich so leben wie er will, auch wenn etwas fehlt. Ein Partner. Doch den hat Gill längst im Auge, auch wenn Kyle sich noch sehr spröde und distanziert gibt. Aber Gill verfügt über Charme und jede Menge Ausdauer!

Kyle und Gill sind ein tolles, sehr sympathisches Paar, deren Geschichte sich ja schon in den Vorgängerteilen abgezeichnet hat. Mir gefiel ihre Entwicklung sehr gut, aber vor allem Gills Hartnäckigkeit und das Wachsen ihrer Gefühle und Beziehung.

Natürlich geht es auch hier nicht ohne Drama ab, doch das löst sich relativ schnell wieder auf. Nette und angenehme Unterhaltung für Zwischendurch und eine Rückkehr nach Cattle Valley, das einen immer wieder warmherzig willkommen heisst.

[Stacey Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the 3rd book of the Cattle Valley series by Carol Lynne and features Darshawn "Gill" Gilling, ex-football star and mechanic of Cattle Valley and Kyle Brynn, Cattle Valley's bakery owner, who is in a wheelchair because of a car accident years ago.

Kyle has had a series of breakins at his bakery so there is a bit of mystery. Who is doing it and why? Gill is making it very clear to Kyle that he sees the man, not a wheelchair and he's finally breaking through Kyle's defenses. They have a bad patch, but both of them have a lot of insecurities and both are what the other needs to get through those insecurities.

In the end, we discover who the mystery burglar is, Kyle sees to his physical needs with his paralyisis, they get some healing balm on their emotional issues and we get a sweet HEA. Is the story sickeningly sweet? Yes, about as much as over dosing on some Kyle's confections. But I don't mind that. I get death, wars, and infuriatingly stupid politicians and people on the news and real life every day. When I read a book, I suspend reality and I want life in the book to be perfect and happy. So bring on the sugar coma cause I will be reading this series until the very end.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was book 3 in the series but it was ok to read it as a standalone.
Kyle is in a wheelchair where he had a car accident several years before. Gill is an ex football player who falls in love with Kyle.
I liked this story althopugh it was insta-love and angst towards the end.
I love how Gill cared for Kyle, totally ignoring his disability.
I haven't read the rest of the series but I hope we get an update on Kyle in future books.

[Penumbra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sweet Topping is the third book in the ‘Cattle Valley’ series and starts during the Christmas party mentioned in the last book. It tells the story of Kyle Brynn, who uses a wheelchair, and Darshawn ‘Gill’ Gilling, an ex-football player and owner and operator of a garage and gas station. This is told in third person from Kyle’s and Gill’s pov.

2.5 Stars


I read the first two books and looked forward to this one because of Kyle, but unfortunately, I was disappointed. The storyline was rushed and had an inconsistency that bothered me, which I’ll mention later. Everything about this story was too fast, from the way scenes were resolved to the way paragraphs rapidly segued to the next. Instead of flowing smoothly by expanding the scene and pulling the readers into the action, the author told the story and used too much monologue. I was unable to immerse myself in this book because of the distance set up by the author because of the writing style. If the author had taken her time and written longer scenes, making a longer book, then this story would have turned out much better.

I did think that Kyle and Gill were a good fit as a couple. However, there is one scene that serves as a crucial break up scene that didn’t make sense at all and here’s why. Gill proposes to Kyle who accepts. Then Gill says Kyle might like to walk down the aisle. Kyle becomes furious because he thought Gill was different and accepted him as he was and wouldn’t pressure him to walk, since he could learn to walk again. Kyle breaks up with Gill and rushes home to his parents, where he undergoes physical therapy so he can walk again! What? Kyle’s furious at his parents for their pressure, furious at Gill for the suggestion, but what does he do? He runs to his parents and gets PT. He wasn’t going to return to Cattle Valley because he put his shop up for sale because he was so hurt by Gill’s idea. Kyle only came back because Nate, his friend, talked him into coming back. Kyle hated his parents and Gill telling him to walk again, and he stubbornly refused to learn to walk, so why would he run back to his parents and take PT when he hated people telling him what to do? I have to be honest here. That scene absolutely did not make any sense at all in terms of logic. I’m sure there are readers who won’t care that the scene was written like that, but obvious inconsistencies like that are irksome. Where were the editors and betas to tell the author that Kyle’s emotions, reasoning and actions were illogical? If Kyle had a change of heart while visiting his parents and realized he was being childish about walking again, and the readers were privy to that, then yes, him taking PT would make sense. But because that didn’t happen, and he was still angry at Gill for suggesting it, enough to sell his shop, then the scene makes no sense at all. Stuff like this absolutely throw me out of the story. This isn’t just personal taste, this is an error. Anyway, this is an instance where this scene/situation, gets resolved in a few pages. Goes quickly from Nate telling Kyle to come back to CV in a couple paragraphs, Kyle comes back and goes to Gill, they have a reunion and hardly any drama about the reunion. It was rushed and I noticed the lack of emotional depth.

Sweet Topping was disappointing because it was rushed, the scenes jumping from one idea to the next without flowing smoothly. There’s a lack of emotional depth and connection to the characters because the author told the story and used a lot of monologue. The only thing that was good was the characters fit well together. Too bad the author didn’t give us more details about these two. I give this 2.5 Stars and raise it to 3 Stars just because of the characters being right for each other.

[namericanwordcat · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a sweet romance. It does a decent job looking at a love life after an accident that left the one of our heros using a wheelchair.

Nicely, the books begins several years after the injury and he has a fully life and a hot man with a huge crush on him.

There is nothing really wrong with this book but the setting, the characters, and the plot are pretty thin. As with a lot of long running series, it likely relies on the series as a whole to build depth.

This is my first book in the series. I may or may not read more.

[Risadris♥ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Leído 2011

[Karlo · Rating 5 out of 5]

eine gut geschriebene Kurzgeschichte,
unterhaltsam und kurzweilig,
freu mich auf den naechsten Band

[Khaztiel Denver · Rating 2 out of 5]

☆☆.5 (2.5)

[llv · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet Topping by Carol Lynne
Rating: 3.5 stars
I enjoyed Kyle’s and Gill’s story. Loved both of the MCs although Gill’s jealousy got old after a bit. I deducted a half a point because the author couldn’t resist using The Big Misunderstanding trope, which I hate. Still, it didn’t last too long and the rest of the story was good.

[Love Is All Around · Rating 3 out of 5]

RECENSIONE A CURA DI SLANIF
Kyle Brynn, sei anni prima, è finito sulla sedia a rotelle a causa di un incidente e nonostante il dolore e la disperazione, ha fatto in modo di rimboccarsi le maniche e gestire una panetteria, nonostante le evidenti difficoltà. L’uomo cerca di essere indipendente il più possibile, ma la città continua a vederlo come un uomo incompleto a causa della sua disabilità.
Darshawn “Gill” Gilling ha abbandonato il mondo del football professionistico senza una spiegazione a nessuno e da allora vive a Cattle Valley e gestisce una pompa di benzina. Il fatto che si sia allontanato dalla sua famiglia e dagli amici della sua vecchia vita ha fatto molto per il suo umore, ma il fatto che tutti continuino a impressionarsi ogni volta che lo vedono, non lo aiuta a dimenticare la sua vita passata.
I loro mondi sono molto distanti, ma quanto, alla fine, se c’è l’attrazione di mezzo?
Continua sul nostro blog!

[Jenny Wood · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think Gill and Kyle might be my favorite couple of Cattle Valley aside from the trio that is Nate, Rio and Ryan. I absolutely loved this one. Although I've read these all before, its been at least a year. I'm excited about the newest one coming out next month.
Kyle being wheelchair bound and resigned in the fact that he'd be celibate and alone for the rest of his life after a horrible accident he'd gotten himself into; he wasn't prepared for Gill.
Gill's an ex-football player and he owns a garage in Cattle Valley. He's pretty sweet on Kyle and it doesn't take him long to fall in love with him. He's so sweet and endlessly understanding and he loves Kyle for the person he is. He doesn't even see his disability.
Gill also gives Kyle the motivation to get healthy and hopefully walk again, as well as helps him out in other area's of their love life that Kyle thought he'd never had again.
I just love how sweet Gill is and how much he loves Kyle. It's incredibly sweet.
On to the next one!

[Amber "Epp" · Rating 5 out of 5]

I kind of think its funny that I am a straight female and yet I am reading gay romance I have never read gay romance before the reason I read this book originally is because I have a friend who is gay that is simply in love with this book series because he has told me all about this series (a lot) I figured I would give it a go well all I can is is my friend has fabulous taste (not that he would ever let me forget that for even a second)
I may be a straight female but I simply love the guys in the series I could not stop reading at one book I just had to know what was happening in Cattle Valley ... so far I have read the first 10 books in the series and the more I read the more I fall in love with this series I think its just wonderful I hope all people gay lesbian bi straight whatever find such a happy wonderful place to live in peace and joy
I am going to read this full series once I get a chance to as I simply have to know who winds up with who this is better than watching the soaps I just love it .. :)

[Christy Stewart · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a really good rough draft, as it is, it reads like a well written outline of a better story. A lot of the cripple stuff was a little weird and off, but I haven't read a book yet that wasn't.

Still, a sweet slash story. I liked the idea of the whole town knows what's up so we might as well just hook up approach Gill had. I also really liked the unromantic details Lynne thought to use in her conflicts.

I don't think I would even get gas in a place called Cattle Valley, but it sounds romantic to me now.

[Chappy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my favorite of the Cattle Valley series so far.

Kyle and Gill make a great team. Kyle's disability doesn't seem to faze Gill and that's just what he needs...to be treated like a normal human being.

I love how, when Kyle feels shy or vulnerable about his "issues", Gill just rolls with it and slowly builds Kyle trust through love and comfort and hot hot sexy times!!!

Pretty steamy.

[Mountie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my favorite book by Carol Lynne, not on the strength of the writing but on the subject matter. I thought she approached the subject of Kyle's disability straight on with integrity and compassion and without glossing over the challenges.

If a person wants to try out a Carol Lynne work, I always suggest they read this book.

[Tana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet Topping (Cattle Valley, #3) by Carol Lynne

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

As we all know, I am a sucker for a mushy, insta-love story and this book didn't fall short on my expectations! *snort* LOL!!!

What I will admit to though, is that I probably will NEVER have the desire to visit Wyoming... EVER!!! ;p

Carol Lynne is my go-to gal when I need some light fluff (as we all do from time to time) and even though this one was a bit more angsty than the first two... and perhaps Ms. Lynne could have been a bit more detail oriented... I still enjoyed catching up with all the gang (Ezra, he's the man!) and got all choked up about the final scene of the book!

I am sure that I will be moving on with this series in the near future... I can't seem to help myself! ;D

[Gabis Laberladen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Darum geht's:

Obwohl Kyle im Rollstuhl sitzt, führt er erfolgreich eine Bäckerei in Cattle Valley und lebt selbständig. Nur Beziehung und Liebe hat er für sich abgeschrieben. Der ehemalige Profifootballer und Besitzer einer Autowerkstatt Darshawn 'Gill' Gilling findet Kyle toll so, wie er ist. Grund genug für Kyle, seine Chancen darauf, wieder gehen zu können, in den Wind zu schlagen? Denn Kyle sieht nur die Möglichkeit, seine Gesundheit zu verbessern und dafür aus Cattle Valley wegzugehen oder im Rollstuhl und bei Gill zu bleiben.

Meine Meinung dazu gibt’s hier

[Helke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yes this book should be read in the series and not as a standalone as I did. But it wouldn´t have been so much better. Only thing would have been that I new what was meant when Nate´s men were mentioned. The story is sweet and tells about the necessity of tolerance and acceptance. It tries to show the reader what not to do when interacting with disabled people. It is difficult for a lot of people and they often feel uncomfortable talking with disabled persons and trend to ignore the issue or the whole person. So this book teaches about tollerance and that is great.

[Emmaali · Rating 2 out of 5]

Proprio non riesco a farmela piacere, ma la trama mi intrigava e quindi ho dato un’altra possibilità a questa autrice ma ha un qualcosa che non mi convince nel modo di scrivere, certo non è proprio pessima ma comunque non arriva alle tre stelline. Peccato perché la storia di questo ragazzo disabile che si innamora del meccanico ex giocatore di football non era male, ma viene trattata troppo male e superficialmente, dopo poche pagine la storia si potrebbe già concludere tanto è inutile tutto il resto.