Pasa Doble: The Green Horn and Line Squall

by Connie Bailey

The Greenhorn Long, lean and lanky, Jesse "Honcho" Haller is a tough as boot leather ranch foreman. When he played quarterback and dated the Homecoming Queen, no one imagined he'd do anything other than graduate, marry, and raise horses and kids. Somehow, it just didn't happen. Lysander "Andy" Kells is young, unabashedly out of the closet, and childishly enthusiastic about all things Western. When two of the ranch hands bully the new owner, the aftermath of the confrontation leads to an encounter that Andy embraces joyfully, but Jesse wants to keep secret. That's not an easy thing to do in a small town. Line Squall Clyde and Donnie were minding their own business and Roy Harold's cows when a pair of cowboys asked to share the campfire. An unprovoked act of violence leads to bloody vengeance and three deaths. With nowhere to turn, the boys head into the mountains. With every law enforcement agent in the state and a couple of shady bounty hunters on the trail, Clyde and Donnie must avoid the biggest manhunt the territory has ever seen. Knowing their lives are forfeit if they're caught, they give free rein to their feelings for the first time and discover a passion worth dying for.

Genres: M M Romance

Paperback

About the author

Connie Bailey is a Luddite who can’t live without her computer. She’s an acrophobic who loves to fly, a fault-finding pessimist who, nonetheless, is always surprised when something bad happens, and an antisocialite who loves her friends like family. She’s held a number of jobs in many disparate arenas to put food on the table, but writing is the occupation that feeds her soul.

Connie lives with her ultralight designer husband at a small grass-strip airfield halfway between Disney World and Busch Gardens. Logic and reality have had little to do with her life, and she likes it that way.

Reviews

[Darien · Rating 3 out of 5]

^^ THIS DANCE I WILL DECLINE!^^

So this book had two short stories, they have nothing in common apart from the men being gay and cowboys. Where the first on was fun the other was completely depressing. Not the best book but its not the worst, it had moments where it shined and other times it just fell flat.

The first story The Green Horn was my fave, it was funny and sometimes quite sexy. Andy Keller just inherited a ranch and he is as gay as they come. Stepping out of the pick-up truck in his bedazzled jeans and purple boots, oh yes cowboy country is about to get an eyeful. Jesse Haller aka Honcho is the foreman for the ranch and can’t believe what he is seeing. Andy stands out like a sore thumb, but besides that he is drawn to him. As the new owner Andy is barely getting any respect, and is being hassled because of his sexuality, well its Honcho to the rescue and that rescue leads to a very sexy interlude.

This story definately had its moments, I found myself laughing half the time. It was easy to fall in love with Andy and his ways, setting the town and his house hold a muck. The cowboy speak had me going “HUH” most the time but I just made it all very sexy in my head. Honcho was HOT, I really liked him and wanted to hop on a saddle with his sexy ass.

The Line Squall feature Donnie and Clyde, if the names doesn’t give the plot away well…. Donnie gets caught in bad situation and Clyde rescues him and kills the guys doing the hassling. Well now they are fugitives on the run, so while fighting for survival they have this simmering lust between. There’s like 50 other people in this story and it just did not wow me.

Line Squall set my teeth on edge from beginning to the end, way too much going on and not enough character and plot development. I did laugh a few times, but everything just stretched out and became way too comical.

So in the end I gave this a 3 star because the Green Horn was awesome and I really liked.

[Buggy · Rating 2 out of 5]

PASA DOBLE contains two short stories. The first story THE GREENHORN is written in heavily accented 'cowboy speak' so it takes a bit to wrap your head around. Once you do though it's a fairly entertaining ride. This was my first M/M romance novel and I don't know what I was expecting, certainly not to be laughing so much but with lines like "Come on cowboy lets ride" followed by a smack on the young man's rump and a "Giddy up" while they have sex on a tractor it's hard not to laugh. The romance is here is sweet although the protagonists do fall in love and declare it within about a day. Honcho and Andy then proceed to make love behind a waterfall, on a moving horse and of course the infamous tractor before finally making it into bed.

"Suns goin down how bout you" " I love ya Honcho" " reckon I love ya too Greenhorn" the cowboy drawled.
It's entertaining for sure.

I thouroughly enjoyed the second story LINE SQUALL and would recommend it out of the two. It's much darker but also has an actual plot. Within the first few pages a rape and several murders are committed sending the absurdly named Clyde and Donnie on the run from the law. This story is much easier to read without the comedic 'cowboy speak' and you will find yourself enchanted as their beautiful love story unfolds, cheering the boys on as they try and avoid the law. The secondary characters here are also better developed and interesting with a neat little twist at the end. Cheers!