This is the second book in a series, and I didn't read the first one, but I didn't struggle to get acquainted to this world.

Colt Woods is a ranch manager at Clean Slate Ranch, a northern California dude ranch. He's been there for years, nursing a big secret and a broken heart and trying to keep his life together. In the first book, Colt revealed his big secret--a terrible work accident that deeply affected his dearest friend Mac, who runs Clean Slate with his grandfather. Colt needs a strong partner to help his manage his guilt and grief, and he had a Dom that he really cared for, Avery Hendrix, back before he came to Clean Slate. Miscommunication between these men had Colt running and Avery feeling abandoned. Now, Avery is at to Clean Slate to help with the historical restoration of the nearby ghost town being managed by Mac.

Colt is really nervous about being around Avery again, and Avery has some reservations, too. He's been a Dom for many years, but he'd not usually been sexually involved with his play partners. That was an exception he made for Colt, and one he hasn't made since. Of course, the years of celibacy are a struggle, and so is the chemistry between these two when they are forced to share a cabin on the ranch. Avery is reticent to rekindle anything with Colt, since he's shy of getting his heart busted again. Plus, he's only a temporary consultant on the ghost town with a life and job that isn't super close. Letting Colt into his bed and heart is a recipe for disappointment.

That said, these men can't fight the need for one another. Colt craves Avery's skilled, yet loving, Dom persona, and Avery needs to make some connections that will support him in ways his family never has. That's one thing that Colt gained by joining the Clean Slate crew: a family of colleagues and friends. Reconciling with Mac will go a long way toward keeping those relationships intact.

I really enjoyed this book, with the lush descriptions of ranching life, and the excitement over the ghost town restoration. For Colt and Avery this begins as a bittersweet reconnection story, but the end seems resolved toward happiness and a future for these two. Having read on in the series, I know that Avery and Colt do stick together, so it's a Happy-For-Now type of read. I've been picking up a cowboy romance every couple of months, so expect more reviews of ranch life and love coming down the pike.

This is not the first book I've read from this author. I've enjoyed some of her other work, but unfortunately, I really had a hard time catching up with the events in this particular book. I love the kinky bits in the story but the rest is just hard to enjoy.

A.M. Arthur's writing is not the problem. I think it's the fact that I did not read the book before this, so I felt like there are lots of missing pieces. Maybe if the background of Avery and Colt's relationship has been further introduced in this installment (maybe through flashbacks) without the need to visit the first book, I have enjoyed this book more.

Enjoyed this one, not as much as the first in the series but that's my fault, I didn't read the blurb :)

I feel like this is a series where you need to read them in order. While I did get a copy of Roped In, I did not get the first book and there were lots of holes in the story. This book started fairly quickly and there was a lot of angst and emotion but it was too over the top for me and very unbelievable.

This one took me a little while to get into. But once I did it worked for me. I loved seeing Colt & Avery find their way back to each other, though I wish it had been more balanced. It feels like everything is blamed on Colt and all the faults are laid at his feel, when Avery was just as responsible. It takes two. Everything is put on Colt, and Avery never has to compromise or adjust. The last misunderstanding really highlights this. Colt does something, Avery FLIPS out, is pretty insulting and dismissive and storms off but when it's resolved it's Colt apologizing. It's Colt making concessions. It's Colt adjusting his expectations. Avery doesn't do anything but be "magnanimously forgiving". It honestly ruined it for me a little bit. The entire book is Colt trying to prove himself to Avery...while Avery doesn't do half as much to prove himself to Colt. It's so frustrating. This isn't to say I hate Avery...I don't. I just wanted more balance. I loved seeing the ranch, and the characters that live there. I liked seeing Mack move towards forgiving Colt and realizing he was going through stuff as well. Intrigued by the hints of who is for Reyes, I think I'll love that book. I liked the scenes with their respective families. I appreciate that while Colt's were happy to see him they weren't magically accepting (they weren't jerks) and that while Avery's mom was a little standoffish she had her reasons and she comes around.

AM Arthur once again creates a winner with Roped In, Book 2 in the Clean Slate Ranch Series.

Roped In is a wonderful 2nd Chance romance, full of some great BDSM scenes, and some serious issues.

At the beginning, Colt is in a rough place, having just confessed his secret to Mack, and wanting to run from the ranch. He also runs into Avery again and is even more unsure of himself.

Through some fantastic flashbacks, we learn about Colt and Avery's history. They had first met just for BDSM scenes, and then fell in love and became more. Their relationship fell apart though, due to Colt's guilt and Avery's frequent absences.

The BDSM scenes are written perfectly, with so much going into the emotions and needs of the scenes. I absolutely love how well these scenes are done, with Colt gaining so much from submission. Avery is a master at knowing Colt needs and limits and is the perfect Dom for him. This part of their relationship is beautiful.

Colt and Avery are so good together and their second chance will help them both immensely. Both have family issues, as well as insecurities that the other can help with.

I am thrilled with Roped In and can't wait to dive into the next book in the series when it's released!

I am a huge fan of this author’s work and was really looking forward to this book but I was a little disappointed. The D/s relationship between the two characters wasn’t what I expected and didn’t like it between them.

We didn’t get to know Avery very well in book one but I was intrigued. However, the more we learned about him the more I did not care for him. He really was just a selfish prat and almost emotionless at times…and the inner dialog of ‘does he love me for me’ grew tiresome for me.

I liked Colt – his outgoing and exuberant personality just makes him likeable. He is super sweet and sensitive…the antithesis of Avery. I guess opposites attract. I sympathized with Colt’s situation with Mack and was glad to see them start to mend their relationship. I also was glad to see how things progressed with Colt’s family. He definitely showed growth and maturity throughout the story.

I’m interested in what should be the next couple (based on foreshadowing in this book). I’m hopeful their story will be on par with that we normally get from this author because they have amazing potential.

2 stars

Synopsis: Colt and Avery used to be a couple, but a secret that Colt was keeping from his best friend drove them apart. Several years later, Colt is working on a ranch, and suggests that his boss hire Avery to authenticate and oversee the restoration of a historic site.
Avery was a Dom for hire to pay off his bills, which is how he and Colt first met. Since he and Colt broke up, though, he hasn't been doing any of it. Colt hasn't been able to find anyone to fulfill his needs in that way, either.
As Avery and Colt have to deal with each other during the restoration, they realize that they never really dealt with the abrupt end of their relationship.

What I liked: that Avery and Colt flipped the stereotypes.

What I didn't like: it never really felt as though Avery and Colt actually talked or worked through their issues. Both characters felt flat, and the story never really went anywhere. I didn't really care whether or not Colt and Avery made it as a couple.

Overall impression: weak story with uninteresting characters. Alternating POV between Colt and Avery.

*I received a copy through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Angst, heartbreak, true love, a shy professor, and one kinky cowboy...all wrapped up in one book! If true love gone wrong, friendships gone awry, and happy endings for everyone are your thing, then "Roped In" is the book for you! This book has a little bit of everything, including sexy men finding their way back to each other with plenty of steamy sex scenes! 4/5 stars.

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***

This was terrible. I disliked everything about it.

I had been looking forward to these two after their set up from book one. It was a huge let down. This was over the top nonsense imo. Their relationship was completely unbelievable. It was cheesy and the whole dom/pet thing was ridiculous. I couldn't understand anything they did or why they did it. They both over shared their relationship dynamics/problems with anyone in the vicinity.

Colt was ok but I couldn't stand Avery. I legit hate read this from 50% on. I should have just dnf'd it but it is a review books so I skimmed the last half.

**ARC provided by publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review**

I'm really sorry, but I DNF'd this one. Perhaps I'd have gotten more into it had I read the others in the series, as there were too many references to previous characters and events.

Thanks for the chance to try it.

Colt Woods came to the Clean Slate ranch with Mack after Mack lost his partner. Colt is the fun loving friend who everyone loves, but he has a secret and once Avery Hendrix comes back into his life its time to come clean. But will his friends be able to handle the truth?

What we also find out about Colt is that he's a submissive and he needs his Avery back. He had loved Avery before but couldn't handle his truth, so he let Avery go. And now that the secret is out and Avery is back. Its time for Colt to have his HEA.

Can't wait for Reyes and Miles story

Fact-check: UCSF is a medical school only. It wouldn’t have taken a lot of work for the author or editor to Google it. I didn’t think this book was put together very well. Most of the flashbacks didn’t tell us anything new about the characters or the plot, because we already knew their past history. I liked Cole better than Avery, whose idiosyncrasies or anxieties were hinted at but not fully explained; instead of seeing the whole Avery, we saw only pieces of him that altogether weren’t really interesting or attractive. I thought Cole was a much more likable character. He was sweet and hopeful and totally sexy, and I didn’t get why Avery had so little patience with him at times. In the end, they were both on the same page regarding their futures, but Avery got mad at Cole for exploring similar options. Of the two characters, I felt that Cole grew and matured more, while Avery essentially stayed the same. I wasn’t a big fan of how their D/s relationship blended with their romantic relationship. While this was a second-chance romance, there wasn’t a lot of conflict, their feelings for each other pretty much stayed the same, and their arguments felt superficial and manufactured.

I really liked the first book in the Clean Slate Ranch series, and Roped In is the second book. After how Wild Trail ended, I was excited to learn more about Colt and his one-time love, Avery. These two are very different but they work well together, and I liked seeing how much the two of them genuinely care about each other. We probably get more of this from Avery, though, as they have a BDSM relationship and Avery is the “sir” and Colt is the “pet” which honestly sounded weird to me every time I heard Avery call Colt this. Anyway, their relationship in the past actually started this way, without the sex, and eventually evolved to combine the two. It obviously works for them, and while this doesn’t normally bother me in books, I wasn’t a huge fan of it in Roped In, which lessened my enjoyment of the book overall. Regardless, I still do really love the characters – and the series. I’ll definitely read the next Clean Slate Ranch book, and I’m curious as to which couple it will focus on!

The beginning of this book starts where the last book ends so it's best to read this series in order. I'm a fan of this series and excited that we get Colt's story. He seems the most damaged and vulnerable. It doesn't help that his lover is brought to the ranch as a historian expert.
While the two make their way back to each other with a D/s dynamic I found the beginning of the book to be a bit boring. I had a hard time getting into the book. It was a bit repetitive and needed another story line to round out the book.

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!

The Clean Slate Ranch promises to be a great series. I loved the first book, Wild Trail. It was the perfect start to the series and was actually a perfect set up for Roped In.

At the end of Wild Trail, Colt’s world crashed around him. He arranged for Avery to come to Clean Slate Ranch to help one of his best friends work on the ghost town that was discovered near the ranch. Avery had no idea that Colt had kept a secret from Mack. A secret that was destined to destroy a relationship with the only family Colt thought he had left. That slip changed everything for Colt.

Avery honestly thought that Colt would have told Mack the truth in the time that they had spent apart. That secret was also one of the reasons why they split in the first place. Honestly, I can understand why Colt couldn’t find a way to tell Mack. He wasn’t even supposed to know the details of what really happened the day Mack’s boyfriend was killed in a robbery gone wrong. I also understood why Avery thought that Colt should confide in Mack. It really was a no win situation and I felt bad for everyone involved.

There was a lot of healing in Roped In and a lot of miscommunication. The BDSM was also a strong aspect in Roped In – which is kind of hit or miss for me in a romance, but it fit the characters.

If I had to rank the books in this series so far, Wild Trail would definitely be my favorite. I did enjoy Roped In though and I loved the set up for the next couples in the series. 😉

Unfortunately, the ARC copy of this book was riddled with so many errors that judging how while this version will compare with the final is very difficult. Not only were there the expected editing errors; entire sections of the book came completely out of leftfield almost as if a proceeding scene would later be added that would (hopefully) explain some of the non sequiturs. Normally, I would not comment on the need of editing in an ARC but I believe that at least some of the confusion is due to how the author chose to layout the story.

Regarding the story itself, I felt that the relationship between Colt and Avery was very unusual and not in a good way. For the majority of the book, Colt is not in the right head space to be getting into a relationship, but that is not that unusual, lots of romances have that problem. The problem is that Avery prides himself in always doing what is best for Colt, as his Dom that is his job, but he lets himself do too many things that are against Colt’s best interests. The sex was still exciting, so for those looking for BDSM heat, they will likely be satisfied. Those that enjoy stories that deal with family reunification after a disastrous coming out will likely also enjoy that aspect of this story.

My favorite part of this series so far hasn’t been the romantic relationships but rather the close friendship between Mack, Reyes and Colt. I enjoyed their ups and downs but how there is always a sense of support. While there are large problems with this story, there is still enjoyment to be found in reading it and so I can recommend it to fans of BDSM and second chance romances.

2.5 stars--I was a little on the fence about reading Roped In. I enjoyed the first book of the Clean Slate Ranch series, but didn’t love it. That reminder coupled with the second book’s blurb mentioning a D/s relationship had me wavering because it certainly isn’t my favorite dynamic. In the end, my curiosity over the ranch, the new ghost town, and this group of characters convinced me to give this series another chance. Unfortunately, even ignoring the fact that BDSM isn’t my trope of choice, Roped In didn’t work all that well for me.

Though this book is billed as a standalone, I think the existing secondary relationships and conflicts would make this a difficult book to jump into. I liked Colt as a secondary character in Wild Trail and his secret that came out at the end of it left me intrigued as to how he and Mack’s friendship would fare. Avery was more of a wild card, but the few glimpses I got of him were interesting, especially the idea of he and Colt’s past relationship. Going into Roped In, I had hopes for a lot of chemistry and emotion in this couple’s second change romance, but I found it lacking, instead the book primarily focused on the BDSM arrangements and how these fit with a long-term relationship. There was a lot of back and forth between the men, especially regarding Avery’s ability to trust Cole. Between the lack of a strong connection and the wishy-washy commitment, I simply wasn’t invested in the couple.

My interest in Roped In also wavered due to the writing and narrative style. The timeline and writing was much choppier than I’d expect from this author. I typically like alternating third person point-of-views, but Roped In flipped back and forth between Avery and Cole mid-chapter and I often lost track of who was narrating at the moment. Considering I read an ARC, there is a chance those jumps were cleaned up before publication, but seeing as to how much the style pulled me out of the book, it bears mention.

I’m certain plenty of readers will enjoy Roped In, but for me this one fell flat. I’m still really interested in Reyes and Miles, so I may venture back to Clean Slate Ranch yet, but I wouldn’t say I’m pulling at the bit (pun entirely intended ;) ).