At Clean Slate Ranch, the men are rugged, the trails are rocky and lassos aren’t only used for roping horses For Colt Woods, Clean Slate Ranch is home. The dude ranch in Northern California helped him heal from a devastating breakup. So when his ex-Dom, the man who broke his heart, waltzes onto the ranch, Colt doesn’t know how to deal. A research job at a nearby ghost town brings history PhD … brings history PhD Avery Hendrix to Clean Slate. He’s not in town forever, but it doesn’t take long for him to feel the familiar draw to Colt. When they find out they’ll be sharing a cabin on the ranch, it’s all Avery can do to stop himself from bending Colt over a saddle right then and there.
In such close proximity, Colt’s and Avery’s old feelings come galloping back. Soon Colt is doing his master’s bidding again and loving every moment of it. And the pair may be in for the ride of their lives–if the dedicated professor and his rugged cowboy can learn to trust again.
This book is approximately 88,000 words
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This one really drew me in.
I enjoyed the first book so much that I grabbed this one as soon as I finished. I was intrigued with these two just from what little I learned about them in the previous story and wanted to not only know what drove them apart, but wanted to see them find their way back to each other. A good bit of their relationship is rooted in BDSM but it’s written and conveyed in such a way that if you would normally shy away from this type of story, I don’t think you’d have an issue with this particular book. Everything that Colt and Avery do they do together and both men get extreme pleasure from it. I loved the narration, Boudreaux is so very talented not only with voices, tones and nuances, but he really manages to allow you to hear the emotions the characters are feeling as well.
What a fun series. That’s my kind of vacation reading. Get the whole series, you won’t be disappointed.
I love Colt and Avery!
The first book in this series, Wild Trail, was good but Roped In is even better; it’s a great second chance romance. You can easily read Roped In as a standalone but Wild Trail did set the scene for the series and for the relationship between Colt and Avery so I highly recommend reading it.
Colt and Avery had a relationship several years ago but a few things broke them up. Now Avery has come to Clean Slate Ranch for a temporary job that Colt recommended him for. Once the two of them are near each other again, old feelings come back.
Avery never stopped loving Colt but he still doesn’t know if they can be together again. Colt wants and needs Aver; he is determined to prove that he has changed and that the things that broke them up before are no longer an issue.
While some people may think that this story is a bit kinky to me it’s very mild. Avery and Colt have a dom/sub relationship but there aren’t any clubs or dungeons involved; it’s just the two consenting adults doing what they want with each other.
Roped In really got all of my emotions involved – just the way I like it. Once I started reading this I couldn’t put it down. I can’t wait to read the next Clean Slate Ranch book.
A review copy was provided by the publisher via NetGalley but this did not influence my opinion or rating of the book.
***Reviewed for Xtreme-Delusions dot com***
4.25 stars
The first interaction between Avery and Colt had me eager to keep reading! The author did an amazing job of showing in their reactions to each other how much they still cared. Avery was a little bit of a contradiction but in the best possible way. He was so different than most Doms that we meet in books. He was shy sometimes and not the big buff leather daddy that we see so much.
I loved Colt and Avery and all of the sexy times in this book were HOT. Seeing Colt in a sub role was hotttt. I loved all of the times they came together. I enjoyed the brief flashback scenes that we get from them. I usually do not like getting flashbacks because I always just want to get back to the present but I think that these helped strengthen the story.
Seeing Colt and Mack start being friends and again was great. It was sweet to see Mack start to forgive him and it was such an important piece to Colt forgiving himself. I also really enjoyed Colt and Avery going and seeing Colt’s family. I am eager to see if Brand gets a story in the future!
Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team
Sarah –
I still love the Clean Slate Ranch, but this second-chance romance has enough break-up/make-up angst for a Taylor Swift song. In the past, Avery and Colt loved each other but they couldn’t work through their issues. Reunited on the ranch, they attempt to make their relationship work.
It’s probably realistic, but this story circles round and round the same issues over and over again. Their relationship is long distance and these two can’t agree on the distance, the sex, or even the kink that brought them together in the first place. Because of the long-distance issue, the second third of the book is a series of brief meet ups that involve a little bit of sex and kink – and a whole lot of arguing. The story is missing the escalating sexual tension and intimacy that a good romance needs.
My other problem is that I didn’t love Avery. His character didn’t always make sense to me. I still don’t understand why a man on the Ace scale of sexuality chose a side job as a professional dom. He feels quite selfish at times. I don’t understand why he wouldn’t immediately look for jobs that would take him closer to Colt at the ranch and I grew frustrated with the compromises Colt was expected to make for Avery.
I really loved Colt in the first book and I’m glad he got his own story. I have huge sympathy for him and I kept feeling frustrated for him as both Avery and Mack kept making him jump through hoops to prove himself.
Despite not loving this story, I really enjoy the Clean Slate Ranch and the growing network of characters involved with the ranch. The best scenes in this book are quiet scenes of downtime on the ranch and the moments of closeness between the men who work the ranch. I hope I enjoy the next books more than this one.
Angie –
This is the second book in the series. You could read it as a standalone, but I think you would enjoy it more if you read the previous book. I liked Colt in book one and I fell in love with him in this book. He is the guy that everyone likes, never met a stranger, and will do anything for anyone. Colt loved Avery five years ago but ran off when things got tough. Avery is at the ranch to help with the ghost town and Colt can’t stop thinking about him and what they had together. Avery hasn’t stopped loving Colt or thinking about him either, but he knows he’s only at the ranch for a limited time. Distance separated these two once before and Avery wasn’t sure his heart could handle it again. Avery and Colt were hot together and also very loving. They had a Dom/sub relationship in the bedroom, which was a good dynamic with them. Colt really wanted things to work with Avery, he slipped up once again towards the end of the book. You’ll have to read it to find out how it turned out. I enjoyed this book and can’t wait for the next one.
Shannan –
Roped In is the second book in the Clean Slate Ranch series. I haven’t read the first book in the series and read Roped In as a standalone without issue.
Colt has made Clean Slate Ranch his home after his life as a SWAT officer ends. A shooting in which he accidentally killed his best friend, Mack’s lover creating havoc in his friendship and his relationship. He walked out on Avery, his Sir, five years prior. They started off as a strictly Sir/pet relationship that grew into something neither could deny. They were hot and heavy until Colt’s guilt and Avery’s job pulled them apart.
Avery shows up at the ranch while working on a project, putting him and Colt back together. Can they get over Colt’s sudden disappearance all those years ago? Can they deny the heat and passion they have when they are near each other? Can they rebuild the trust that was broken? Can Avery be the Sir that Colt needs in his life?
I loved the ranch/cowboy aspect. Even without the BDSM aspect it would have been a good read for me. It didn’t add or take away anything for me. I felt that Avery took way too long to express his issues with wanting it all with Colt. It was one of those simple conversations that took way too long to have, but other than that I found Roped In an enjoyable read.
Ruthie –
This is the second book in the series and links to others, so if you are familiar with Ms. Arthur’s cowboys, this will be a complete delight to you. I would recommend that you read the series in order, although this stands alone well too.
The blurb gives you some good insight into what to expect – so I need not repeat it – but for me, the most interesting thread running through the book relates to the word Sir. Colt had called Avery that when they first met and had a strictly non-sexual BDSM contract and that is what Avery expected. But now, having met again years after a seemingly brutal romantic split, Colt starts calling him Sir again. Avery is now uncertain as to whether Colt wants him as a dom or as the partner Avery wishes to be. Very cleverly his uncertainty, and inability to ask, ramps up the intensity and issues between them. They hurt each other so much before, and for Avery, there has never been anyone else he has been romantically involved with… it is a huge leap of faith to try again – even if the D/s trust is still there.
It is a clever juxtaposition of the issues of love, romance, sex, and D/s – and I found it as much amusing, as frustrating, and as satisfying!
Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Roped In (Clean Slate Ranch #2) by A.M. Arthur to read and review.