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Red Dirt Heart (Red Dirt, #1)

N.R. Walker

Start date: February 1, 2016

Finish date: February 29, 2016

Discussion: Book of the Month Club

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What Members Thought

Apr 18, 2014 Deanna rated it it was amazing

Shelves: romance-contempory, grabs-my-heart, m-m, want-more, series, mc-to-love, cowboys, made-me-smile

Charlie loves his desert ranch. He says its red dirt runs in his veins. He is successful running the biggest ranch (American word), excuse me station, in Australian. He lives with the mean words of his Dad in his heart. His dad has been dead two years but his rejection of his gay son still torment Charlie. Charlie is lonely on a land that is a 3 hour drive from any concept of town.

I scrubbed my hands with soap and told the man in the mirror the same words his father had said,
"No fucking fairy Charlie loves his desert ranch. He says its red dirt runs in his veins. He is successful running the biggest ranch (American word), excuse me station, in Australian. He lives with the mean words of his Dad in his heart. His dad has been dead two years but his rejection of his gay son still torment Charlie. Charlie is lonely on a land that is a 3 hour drive from any concept of town.

I scrubbed my hands with soap and told the man in the mirror the same words his father had said,
"No fucking fairy will run this station. It takes a man's man to survive out here."
I'd said the words out loud before I could stop them.

Those fucking words.

As much as I wished it otherwise, I was gay. As much secondhand shame and disappointment I carried on behalf of my father, I couldn't change who I was.

I just chose to bury it.

Travis comes to study ranching in a desert. He is a Texan. He is brilliant. He has had complete emotional support from his parents from the moment he came out as gay. Charlie was intrigued but did not think Travis was gay. Travis wondered the same thing about Charlie. That is until Travis was coming out of the bathroom wearing nothing but a towel. Charlie had on only his boxer shorts.

And there on his chest, right over his heart, was a single star. I knew what that symbol meant. "Is that a Texas star?" I asked, my voice cracking. I wanted him to say yes, hoped he'd say no.

He looked at me for a long moment, probably weighing up how to answer, what to give away, I realized. Then he shook his head slowly and bit his lip. "Not exactly."

"Good."

Good. I fucking said good.

"I um, I meant, good..."Because apparently saying once wasn't bad enough, I fucking said it twice. And then because sheer mortification wasn't bad enough, I was getting hard. I palmed my dick. I was getting hard. I did it without thinking, just needing some friction.

Travis's gaze followed my hand, and he smiled that smug goddamn smirk, then he looked back to "Did you need to use the bathroom?"

I shook my head. "No." So apparently I was also down to one-syllable words. I turned back to my door, wanting to shrink and die.

"Charlie," Travis said. I stopped and when I finally turned to face him, he was holding his clothes in front of his crotch. He looked right at me and took a deep breath like he was going to say something else. Instead he said, "Good night."

I nodded and quickly shut the door behind me, finally breathing. I stood leaning against the door, and I swear I heard him mutter, "Well that answered that question."

It was fun yet endearing to watch their dance from this point onward. They were perfect for each other. Yes their were some mistakes in the writing that should have been picked up by editing, but they were minor and did not detract from this tender story. The characters, including the supporting cast, were important to the story and so very well defined. I knew nothing of this area of Australia but felt its dirt and beauty. I appreciated the glossy. I will immediately read the next book in the series.
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Jun 06, 2014 Denise rated it really liked it

Charlie is the owner of a huge cattle station in the Australian outback and Travis is a student from Texas who has come to study ranching on this very different, difficult land. Charlie is also a closeted gay man who has resigned himself to being alone for life, both because of the distance to a town and harsh words from his late father that still haunt him. They share a love of ranching and grow close, all the while knowing that Travis is only planning to stay for a month.
I loved the chapter t ...more

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Mar 02, 2014 Mtsnow13 rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: m-m, western, romance, contemporary, series-read, less-than-200-pages, nature-outdoors, amazon, own-to-read

Darn. Well, I really wanted to like this story, as I enjoy stories of the outback, but I think I was thrown off by all the editing mistakes and missing or flipflopped words :-( and surprisingly there seemed to be more sex scenes than plot, which surprised me.

The premise and locale of the story was very good, but at the end I'm debating if I want to go right in and read the rest of the series, even though I already own them all. I'll let it ruminate for a bit..

This is a solid 3 star that could b ...more

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Nov 25, 2014 Jaymie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I loved Red Dirt Heart and N.R. Walker, enough said, 5 Stars!

Charlie Sutton runs Sutton Station the same way as his father had, living a life of solitude. Unwilling to be open about his true self and the fact that he is gay, he's pretty much accepted the fact that he'll always be alone. Luckily, he has a great crew of Station hands and a foreman who is, in many ways, the father he never had. And while Charlie's mother didn't stick around when he was young he's been lucky enough to have George' I loved Red Dirt Heart and N.R. Walker, enough said, 5 Stars!

Charlie Sutton runs Sutton Station the same way as his father had, living a life of solitude. Unwilling to be open about his true self and the fact that he is gay, he's pretty much accepted the fact that he'll always be alone. Luckily, he has a great crew of Station hands and a foreman who is, in many ways, the father he never had. And while Charlie's mother didn't stick around when he was young he's been lucky enough to have George's wife, Ma, to provide him with that maternal love he never had.

When Travis Craig, an American agronomy student arrives at Sutton Station in hopes to learn about farming in the outback, Charlie is faced with the possibility that he may not have to be alone. Travis is hardworking and full of life and he sees something in Charlie that most never do. If only they had more than just a few weeks.

I read Red Dirt Heart a while back and enjoyed it. However, I have to say it was a whole different experience listening to Joel Leslie telling the story. His fun Australian accent added a different dimension to Charlie's character and the flirty banter he and Travis shared was more evident which was great. I loved how he made Charlie truly come to life.

Unfortunately, I wasn't as enthused about his portrayal of Travis, he came off a little more dumb country boy than I pictured him so it took quite a bit for me to get past that. Luckily I enjoyed the rest immensely and don't care so much about that one part. I give him a big hand for doing such a wonderful job.

As for the story itself, if you have not yet read Red Dirt Heart you should definitely give it a shot. NR Walker always does a wonderful job of painting a vivid picture of her characters and the setting. The chemistry between Travis and Charlie is great and I loved them together. I definitely can't wait to read, and listen, the rest of this series.

*** Audible code was provided to Bayou Book Junkie in exchange for a fair and honest review. *** ...more

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Oct 20, 2014 Ari rated it really liked it

Shelves: mm-romance

4* because I love Charlie & Travis together, they're just cute & hot! ♥,,♥
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Nov 19, 2015 ΛNNΞ rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Well, that was a surprise! When I read this book a few years ago, I didn't like it and really didn't feel much chemistry between the MCs. Since then I've read quite a few books by N.R. Walker and have really enjoyed them. When I saw the audiobook pop up on my feed, I decided to give this series another try. I do love the Australian outback and it is one of my favourite settings to escape to during tough times. I was not disappointed. The audiobook is quite well done and while last time I struggl ...more

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