Bareback - Dark Publications

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Editorial Reviews:

Product Description
Jake Taggarts life was almost perfect--hed worked hard to overcome his past, and he loved his job as foreman on a ranch in Arkansas. The only thorn in his side was a dark eyed cowboy named Tornado whose stubborn attitude brought frustration and confusion to Jakes mostly happy existence. A late spring rainstorm brings out hidden passions and unleashes a chain of events neither of them expected--and eventually brings about events that threaten to destroy them and what they worked to create. Strong wills and forceful personalities make for intense encounters.... but is it enough to keep love alive?

Customer Reviews: Read 24 more reviews...

4 out of 5 stars

Multiple fantasies fulfilled August 31, 2005
59 out of 61 found this review helpful

Cowboys. Sleeping on a blanket in a field under a sky full of stars. Button-fly jeans and boots. Riding a horse along a fence line. Kissing so hard you leave a mark. Kissing so gently it is like a caress. Being in love, without really noticing how it happened. Lots of sex, from soft sensuous showers to gut-wrenching, eye-rolling, screaming ecstasy. Family and friends that care, that demand you not take the easy way out, that understand you. Simple pleasures, like popcorn and a movie. Kids' toys, adult toys, alternative uses of riding gear.

And, on top of it all, a partner who can be absolutely frustrating and intoxicating, who gets to your very core being, with a mere glance, a shrug, a laugh or a smile.

Jake, the foreman on a ranch in Arkansas, and Tor (short for "Tornado", a nickname well-deserved), one of the ranch hands, find themselves in this situation. Chris Owen's writing is fluid - pun intended - and filled with a relaxed American dialect, dialog with which I was familiar and comfortable. I found myself completely caught up in their story, reading even at the office on my PDA, wanting THIS gay love story to have a happy ending. How they make it is intense, sometimes paced a little fast, but well constructed.

Most of the supporting characters, especially the rest of the regular staff at the ranch, contribute to the story, providing in a way an "outsider's" view to the relationship between Jake and Tor. And Tor's family lends an excellent and funny helping hand when needed.

The spelling is irregularly British (colour but not flavour), some typographical errors and a few name switches. Also a few glaring spelling mistakes should have been caught in the source Word document. Those are the only points I could take away to keep this from being 5 stars.

If you like cowboys - and we're talking the ones that work the land, not actors like John Wayne or Travolta - and want a good, hard love story, I highly recommend this e-book.

5 out of 5 stars

erotic and romantic, this novel is Brokeback Mountain with a happy ending. February 21, 2006
46 out of 46 found this review helpful

Wow I really loved this book. The plot is pretty simple. Two extremely attractive cowboys meet, fall in love, and get married.

And they have a lot of really amazing sex.

The first half of the book is devoted to them falling in love, having that really amazing sex I mentioned earlier, and rebuilding their public and private lives after they are outed on the ranch. Yes, they have to deal with hate and violence, but they also receive love and support from many around them. The Boss is an especially sympathetic character as a loving and kind father figure to Jake.

The second half of the book is even better. It's the "what happens when you live happily ever-after" part that never makes it into the romance novel. We watch Jake and Tor deal with the realities of living together, working together, of just plain being married. They struggle with their own definitions of gender roles and expectations. Neither has a great track record when it comes to long-term commitment and it shows. Yep, they fight, have make-up sex, and fight some more, just like married couples everywhere. And they have to learn the dreaded "C" word, Communication. ;-)

This book is a true romance novel (in the best sense of the word). There is never a moment when you don't feel the love that Jake and Tor have for each other. After watching Brokeback Mountain, a movie that pretty much ripped out my guts, Bareback gave me the happy ending I desperately needed.

I highly recommend this novel.

3 out of 5 stars

Great, until it was ruined for me... February 15, 2007
24 out of 29 found this review helpful

After reading the Amazon reviews, I have to say I had high hopes for this novel. And for the first 2/3 of the book they were mostly met. Then it was ruined completely.

Small spoiler alert: Jake and Tor fall for each other and begin a relationship. It's obvious they are in love. They do have their problems like any couple. Then, we learn Tor is cheating on Jake, and has been for some time. The author tries to resolve it; Jake is crushed by the betrayal and Tor felt horrible about it. They break up, but eventually get their happily every after. But, I couldn't enjoy it. I'm not a prude, but I have trouble buying that a person could cheat on someone they supposedly love so much. We learn that Tor wasn't happy, and that it happened because the boys weren't communicating with each other. So? I know this happens in the "real world" but that's not why I read M/M erotic romance. Silly as it seems, Jake forgave Tor, but I couldn't. There is a sequel, "Natural Disaster", but I'm not certain I want to read it.

Despite this, the story was well-written and the sex was hot. I consider this erotic romance, meaning less plot more hot, and have rated it as such. The infidelity bothered me (obviously), but may not bother other readers. I enjoyed "The Tin Star" by JL Langley much more--the angst and conflict was there without the betrayal and it had a nice mystery too. I highly recommend it. I also highly recommend Chris Owens' Deviations: Submission (Deviations) series, they were exceptional!

1 out of 5 stars

I'd rate this project as a mess June 10, 2006
16 out of 32 found this review helpful

I've not been moved to write a critique before, but since my purchase of this book was, in part, predicated upon the strong affirmative reviews, I can't toss it without issuing a specific warning. The basic problem here lies in a failure to choose: was the book to be specific, graphic (repetitive, uninspired) porn, or was it to be a heartfelt tale of a relationship that was also sexual? The first 25% of the book was uninspired porn -- and I often considered tossing it in the trash. I was angry that I hadn't seen this coming -- that I'd blindly trusted good reviews of a supposedly meaningful tale called.... BAREBACK.

I suppose the final 30% of the book redeemed it, but only a little. Was the author a serious writer or a bad pornographer? To read the cover, he only reveals the insipid stuff about "loving rainbows", but nothing about his literary background and credentials. Or is the publisher one that demands and specializes in literature/light, with lots of handjobs and humping? I know only this: that I will never again read this author, or buy from this publisher.

The story has it's moments -- but in the end it was a waste of time, money, and trust. There are so many gay authors who know the craft, and speak seriously about sex without pumping through chapters and chapters of graphic, repetitive, uninspired detail. I'd prefer to support them.

I'll hand of this book to anyone who will take it with the promise of not handing it back -- but I will be upfront about its many flaws. Or maybe I can't do that to a friend. I realize I'm a minority opinion -- but another opinion is sorely needed here, or others who enjoy good fiction will see all those stars and will find themselves severely disappointed. So proceed with great caution.

5 out of 5 stars

CHECK THIS OUT---2 guys you'll wanna spend time with........... December 13, 2006
13 out of 13 found this review helpful

Amazingly, "BAREBACK," this pinnacle of gay romance, has been brought about by a relative unknown: this writer, this Master of the Novel, this Chris Owen. I have yet to encounter any other author who is as able to produce scene after scene after scene of arousing male sex and love-making and do so by giving each what must be called an aura of rightness, with every encounter being beautifully, and differently, described from its predecessors. And it's all done with simple, 'impactful' writing, unusually free of the very distracting grammatical and typographical errors so often found in gay romance. In sum, Chris Owen, as a writer, is a true wonder.

In this novel we've been given one of the most memorable (and masterfully described) relationship-beginning, love-making scenes ever put to paper, and it all takes place within the first 12 pages. More correctly, though, I should have described this initial introduction as sex-making, not love-making. Why? Because the thrilling 'fall into love' by our two cowboys, with its ensuing love-making, comes later during this story's timespan.....and when it does, Owen ever so vividly makes us in-your-face witnesses.

He should be crowned "Master of Sex Act Description" (it's raw, it's romantic, it's heated, it's loving.....above all, it's memorable). He manages these intense love scenes on the average of every 10 - 15 pages---all different, all stellar. Plus, it's not just that he can give us super-heated 'foursomes,' it's that he gives them with style.....and even more notable, every other author's run of the mill 'twosomes' Owen is able to give to us with a depth, an ache, a hope that is breathtakingly unforgettable.

All of you know how it is when you are given characters who you "like", who you wanna be with (in this case: Jake, Tor, Elias, The Boss). That's a special something that doesn't happen often in reading......but I'm telling you that it 'happens' here (and you can spell that with a capital H and A and P and all the rest of em as well). Indeed, in this respect Owen is simply amazing. He gives us REAL people and what REAL people do, and he gives us this in REAL depth (when we're given a character talking to his horse, saying things that you and I might say to a close animal or pet, and it feels right, you just have to tell yourself that this is a writer who can, and does give us REAL people). And the all-important sex isn't just "quickies"---he gives us time with the 2 lead characters (Jake + Tor), time after their sex play, time in which they hold and snuggle with one another, time that other writers don't give us after the physical release of sex.....yes, Owen gives us that very 'special time' which leads to love.....and, quite notably, he gives us one of the most romantic post-coital scenes you're ever gonna read.

As a concluding thought, I just have to add: If "Brokeback Mountain" made it to the screen, "Bareback" deserves no less. Let the world see that not all of us are ready to in some way hide, or to check out.

PS--No, Owen has paid me nothing for setting up the preceding comments---they all come from the heart. I will add, here, that I have finished reading his latest effort: "An Agreement Among Gentlemen" (2006). Does it "stand up" to its big brother? I'll be placing my own thoughts on the matter in that particular title's web-page. If you're interested, see my thoughts there.

****

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