Review: Complete Faith

Reviewed by Jen
 

Tommy is gay, but he is firmly in the closet. He's never been with another man --has never even been kissed.  His small Texas town is largely homophobic, with the exception of those who work with him at the Lost Cow Ranch and the congregation of the small church that they attend.  A gay couple runs the Lost Cow, and they are the only ones who know the truth about Tommy, until he is no longer able to hide his attraction to the pastor of their church.

Noah knows what it means to be an outsider. As an openly gay, black pastor, he's faced a lot of prejudice. But he has built his church into a sanctuary.  He's found a home --and a potential lover in the shy and sexy Tommy.  Noah makes his move on the cowboy, but he won't seal the deal until Tommy comes out to his family and friends.  The story follows the progression of their relationship as well as the struggles that the men of the Lost Cow must deal with in their bigoted community. 

When I started this book, I had no idea it was part of a series.  This is actually a sequel to Morning Report, a book featuring the romance between the men who own the ranch.  Several of the events of that book are referenced and while I didn't exactly feel lost, I knew I had missed something.

I had a little trouble connecting at the beginning. Maybe it was just because everything was so extreme.  The town was sooo backward. Tommy was soooo innocent.  And the guys who run the Losy Cow: a bit over the top. Sex all the over the ranch... very, er, free with their PDAs. (On a side note, I have to say the whole fisting thing was a little out of my comfort zone.) Moving on....

I liked the progression of Tommy and Noah's relationship, both sexually and emotionally.  I also liked that we saw their relationship develop within the context of their community.  I was a little put off, though, that the author introduced a scenario that made it seem like a particular sexual development would take place --and then it was completely dropped. Red herrings annoy me.  And this book had a few threads that ended up serving little purpose. It kind of meandered through tangential events to get to the climax.

The main relationship was the best thing the book had going for it, but the rest... I just had trouble buying it.

Rating: C-

*ARC Provided by NetGalley

Click to purchase: Amazon

Complete Faith

by Sue Brown

Release Date: April 30, 2012

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press