The Tin Star
by J. L. Langley
|
List Price: Our Price: $8.99 You Save: $2.00 (18%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $4.75 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of The Tin Star
Book Review: Downer On The Farm
Summary: 2 Stars
The Tin Star was an OK read and a good way to waste a few hours, but not anything to rave about. The characters and setting are somewhat bland and not very well defined. The two main "cowboys" go from rough and tumble roughnecks in one chapter to over-emotional wusses in the next. It was nice to see the characters as vulnerable, but one characters dog was his "baby" and they called each other "Cowboy" and "Blue Eyes" too much for my liking. Some will likely find this endearing, but if you are going to do a love story about tough ranch hands it could have been more believable if they had been slightly less soft(which admittedly would have taken away much of the romance).
The plot twists in this book are what kept me hooked. Every chapter told a unique story and kept you interested enough to read the next, with several storylines that continued nicely throughout. My only problem with the twists were how abruptly they were dealt with. Without giving away too much, I'll just say that life altering events are tackled and forgotten quickly in The Tin Star, and our heroes are never too down on their luck for the every-other-chapter roll in the hay, which I found myself skipping by the end of the book whenever something in either Jamie or Ethan's "tight Wrangler pants stirred".
It was hard to keep track who's point of view the story was coming from a lot of the time. Each section was from one of the twos POV but I often forgot which one. Maybe just me but this was confusing and the way the story was written totally unnecessary.
I found the book somewhat stereotypical in its portrayal of the two lovers. Ethan was older and wise and always right, although he was rough around the edges and deeply in the closet. Jamie was young and carefree and made a bunch of stupid mistakes that his older lover had to rescue him from. Ethan also threw money at the young guy like it was falling out of the sky. In return, Jamie did all the cleaning and cooking and was more than willing to do anything Ethan asked in the bedroom. Ethan seemed like a "sugar Daddy" to me and Jamie like an oversexed housewife.
Sorry to trash this book! I had high hopes for it, and while I won't call it a complete waste I can't recommend it either.
PS: The author used the term "waggled their eyebrows" at least 4 times in this book. Just a pet peeve I had with the story. Who the heck "waggles their eyebrows" nowadays? Especially in erotic fiction?
Book Review: No Tarnish on This Tin
Summary: 5 Stars
I've never been all that interested in westerns, but I like J. L. Langley. In this book she weaves an interesting story about Ethan and Jamie, two cowboys in Texas from different ranches, who discover love and learn to deal with homophobia in a small Texas town.
Ethan is the owner of the Tin Star ranch. John, best friend since childhood, runs the Broken H ranch. John calls Ethan and tells him that Jamie dropped a bombshell on them that morning. He revealed he was gay. Their father immediately kicked him out.
Ethan calls Jamie and convinces him to come to work for him at his ranch. It would give him a place to stay and something to do until things cooled down with his dad. Jamie agrees and moves into the bunk house. Not long after, two of the ranch hands drag Jamie outside and attack him. Ethan steps in and stops them and then fires them. He has Jamie move into the house with him.
Over the coming weeks, Jamie (who's had a crush on Ethan for years) and Ethan become lovers. He gets John to get his belongings and his dog Fred and bring them to the Tin Star.
Someone, it seems, is trying to get at Jamie. First his truck is shot up and then someone drugs his beer at a club during his birthday celebration. He and Ethan have several suspects - Jamie's father being top of the list.
When Ethan is shot, Jamie takes over running the ranch and dealing with Ethan while he recuperates. He is in constant contact with the sheriff, Grayson Hunter, who is investigating the attack on Ethan as well as the attacks on himself.
In the end, the identity of the shooter is revealed as well as who was behind all the attacks on Jamie and Ethan. Ethan and Jamie are now publically out and most everyone is OK with their relationship.
Once again, the author introduces supporting characters who add so much fun and depth to the story. Ethan's best friend John (Jamie's brother) shows how supportive he is of his brother and best friend and keeps his humor about him in the process. Julia, John and Jamie's sister, keeps them all in line and provides another level of humor to the story as well.
Another thing the author manages is to write some really hot M/M sex. My only question is: How does she know so much detail?
Book Review: "The Tin Star" changed my opinion of Romance Novels
Summary: 4 Stars
When I recently was searching at Amazon.com for a new batch of gay fiction books, "The Tin Star" kept popping up in Amazon's recommendations sections. When it comes to films, I just can't stand Westerns. So I deemed this book, set in the contemporary West on a ranch, of no interest and kept searching and adding other books to my cart. However, during this long search, Amazon was very insistent--"The Tin Star" popped up so many times that I finally decided to give it a look. One click later I saw a book rated very highly by fellow shoppers. I skimmed the very brief description and thought, what the hell, it's a contemporary book not a film set in the Old West, and it sounds interesting. There was a warning about homoerotic gay sex in the description, but that didn't faze me in the slightest. So I bought it. After a very few chapters, I suddenly realized what I was reading: a Romance Novel! I stopped dead in my tracks. How did this happen? What did I miss? I'm actually reading the homosexual version of what you find in grocery store checkout lines?! However, the characters had already grown on me, and there was an excellent and dangerous coming out storyline. And the book was not entirely what I thought a Romance Novel (as opposed to a love story, which I consider VERY different) would be. There's plenty of sex, and it's great sex (and explicit, I must add). But it has a story, and a good one at that. And it features very realistic characters--as opposed to the swashbuckling pirates with long, flowing hair, and chests bigger than garage doors that you see on supermarket Romance Novel covers. "The Tin Star" was a very enjoyable read. It's not a deep, literary work of gay fiction, but it knows what it is and does it very well. This book made me feel unashamed of having read a Romance Novel. And that was quite a task! (I just purchased "The Broken H," another Romance Novel by prolific author J.L. Langley. It's a follow-up to "The Tin Star." What can I say: J.L. hooked me in.)Book Review: Solid m/m romance with a decent plot
Summary: 4 Stars
Warning: This review might contain what some people consider SPOILERS.
Rating: 8/10
PROS:
- Very likeable characters: Ethan and Jamie are both sexy, caring, and selfless. They're comfortable with each other and share a nice, easy banter back and forth. And I liked the supporting characters also, especially Jamie's brother and Ethan's aunt; they're loving, supportive, and funny.
- One character who's a virgin but who (realistically, I think) is curious enough about sex to have bought and used toys by himself.
- Pets with cute, funny personalities (as opposed to the puppy in Langley's Without Reservations): a horse that steals things in order to make people chase him, a dog that is protective and playful but not in an annoying way.
- Perfect happily ever after ending. One of the happiest I've read.
CONS:
- The physical relationship moves a little too quickly. Jamie's in awe of Ethan, his idol, at the beginning of the story (not to mention Jamie's a virgin), and Ethan's pretty deep in the closet, so the ease with which they act on their attraction seems odd.
- A bit melodramatic. I couldn't help relating the various close calls in this book (verbal/physical threats, vandalism, gunshots) to the various close calls in Without Reservations. Langley is a fan of drama.
- Some quirky words here and there that I'm sure Langley used in order to avoid repeating certain terms too often, but which served instead to pull me out of the story with a raised eyebrow. "Peepers" instead of "eyes"? (At least 5 times, according to my count.) Hmm.
Overall comments: A good read: sweet romance, hot sex scenes, decent plot (if a bit artificial, at times), humor. This was one of the first 5 m/m romances I read (I've read it twice now; the first time was about 6 months ago), and I still like it even after having read many more since then.
Book Review: J.L. LANGLEY DOES IT AGAIN!
Summary: 5 Stars
J.L. LANGLEY HAS BECOME ONE OF MY FAVORITE AUTHORS. THE TIN STAR IS ABOUT A YOUNG MAN(JAMIE)WHOSE FATHER THREW HIM OUT OF THE HOUSE AND OFF THEIR RANCH WHEN HE DISCOVERED HE WAS GAY. NEITHER HIS SISTER JULIA, NOR HIS BROTHER JOHN WERE ABLE TO CHANGE THEIR FATHER'S MIND. WHEN JOHN'S FRIEND ETHAN FOUND OUT WHAT HAPPENED HE OFFERED JAMIE WORK ON HIS RANCH INCLUDING A PLACE TO STAY. IN HIS HOUSE. AS A YOUNGSTER JAMIE ALWAYS FOLLOWED ETHAN AND HIS BROTHER JOHN AROUND. HE LIKED ETHAN AND HIS FEELINGS BECAME MORE AS HE GREW OLDER. WHAT JAMIE DIDN'T KNOW WAS THAT ETHAN WAS ALSO GAY. IN TIME THEY BECOME INTIMATE. JAMIE'S SIBLINGS WERE FINE WITH JAMIE & ETHAN BEING TOGETHER. THE FATHER HATED ETHAN FOR TAKING IN HIS SON AND GIVING HIM A PLACE TO STAY. AND THERE TROUBLE BEGINS WHEN HE HIRES MEN TO SCARE JAMIE, AND ETHAN. GRAYSON HUNTER A FRIEND AND THE SHERIFF IS THERE TO LEND A HELPING HAND, BUT NOT IN TIME TO STOP ETHAN FROM BEING SHOT. JAMIE ABOUT GOES CRAZY SEEING ETHAN SHOT, BUT GRAY TOLD HIM TO GO WITH ETHAN TO THE HOSPITAL. AFTER THE TWO MEN PUT ETHAN IN THE HELICOPTER JAMIE LET THE PARAMEDICS WORK ON HIM WHILE HE PRAYED. IT WAS IN THE HOSPITAL JAMIE FINALLY SAID THE WORDS I LOVE YOU. HEARING HIM ETHAN TOLD JAMIE HE LOVED HIM TOO. THERE IS MORE TO HAPPEN BUT YOU MUST READ THE BOOK TO DISCOVER EVERYTHING ABOUT THE MAIN CHARACTERS, ETHAN, JAMIE, GRAY HUNTER, JULIA, JOHN AND YES EVEN JACOB THE FATHER. THERE ARE MANY WONDERFUL CHARACTERS BUT NOT TO MANY WHERE YOU'RE UNABLE TO KEEP THEM STRAIGHT. THIS BOOK WAS A MARVELOUS READ THAT I WOULD RECOMMEND TO EVERYONE. AND BY ALL MEANS AFTER READING THE TIN STAR PLEASE FOLLOW UP BY PURCHASING AND READING IT'S SEQUEL THE BROKEN H INVOLVING SHERIFF GRAYSON HUNTER AND SHANE CORTEZ. I'M BEGINNING TO THINK J.L. LANGELY CAN DO NO WRONG. KEEP WRITING MS. LANGELY YOU HAVE A TALENT THAT SHOULD BE SHARED BY EVERYONE.