* 3.5 stars *

His Fresh Start Cowboy is the first book in a spin-off new series. I haven't read the original one, which takes place on a dude ranch, so I was confused at first about who everyone was. I'm still not sure who some of them are, but at the end of the day, it wasn't important because they're just mentioned here and there and they're not a big part of the story.

The MCs are Hugo and Brand, two guys who knew each other in the past and then lost contact until they reunited once more.

Hugo had major issues at home while he was growing up and he decided to leave as soon as it was possible. He spent ten years drifting between places and jobs until he landed on a dude ranch. He stayed there the longest of all the places he had been before, two years. After that, he decided it was time to return home and try to mend his relationship with his mother.

Brand is Hugo's childhood best friend's older brother, he takes care of his family's ranch and he's struggling with being open about his bisexuality in the small community where he lives. He has structured his life in a way to satisfy his family's expectations and needs regardless of his own dreams and desires.

When Hugo came back, he sought work at Brand's ranch, and with them seeing each other every day, even if sometimes it was nothing more than a passing glance as they each did their thing, they start a kind of dance around each other. There's a push and pull between them, that they don't seem to be able to figure out how to navigate.

When Hugo has to deal with his past, which happens a lot, Brand is there to support him and the two start to grow closer together. What really changes the dynamic between them, though, is Brand's decision to lay down his cards and express his feelings to Hugo.

The story takes place over several months and there are a lot of events taking place. It's a story that kept my interest as well as made me roll my eyes at some points. There was a constant back and forth in the progression of the relationship that became tiring after some point, but I liked the last part of the book, where they had become a couple. I'd probably read more from this series.


~ I read an ARC of this book. ~

A spin off of the popular Clean Slate Ranch series, Woods Ranch is set in Texas at an actual working ranch. And as much as I enjoyed Clean Slate Ranch, the change of scenery is good.
We do start out at Clean Slate when Colt mentions that his family's ranch can't find good help. That gets the attention of Hugo, a guy who was best friends with Colt's youngest brother while crushing on Colt's middle brother. But Hugo never let him know the connection. 
Hugo has been moving around for almost 10 years. When he finally turned 18 and had had enough abuse from his step brother while his mother and stepfather turned a blind eye. But he misses his mom, misses Texas, so he is ready to go back. And there's also Brand. The guy he crushed on who is also his new boss.
There was good back story told that really showed how Hugo's life was when his mother remarried without it overtaking the story.  Hugo turned out not so much to be a loner, but just a guy looking for safety and love. He got that as a kid at the Woods Ranch and he would get it again. 
Hugo also rented a trailer from a neighbor, an eccentric retired artist who the town loved to gossip about. He was interesting and I have a feeling he is the bridge to another story in the series.
My heart did absolutely break for Hugo at times. Without spoiling anything, I just wanted to hug him. Instead of letting life beat him down, he just keeps going, refusing to give up.
Back to the romance. Brand is the typical "must take over for my family and not let them down" guy. Which, fine, I get it. Especially on a ranch in Texas when the oldest son ran off instead of telling his family he was gay. Brand works too hard, plays too little and never seems happy. Luckily he has a best friend who smacks some sense into him.
Brand still runs hot and cold until he is really put to the test. Then the loyalty to who he loves comes barreling in.
This was a good story to start the next series. As I said, I liked the change of scenery, talking about the different things at the ranch and moving to grass fed organic. There was quite a bit of that and it almost had me giving up beef. Almost. But if I never have to hear slaughter again I will be just fine.
I would have liked more closure on some of the plot points. A couple of things were just left dangling that needed to be put to bed. But, nothing major.
Bring on book 2 who I think will be about this guy and.....that guy.

Audiobook Review:
Overall – 5
Performance – 5
Story – 5

A great start to a new series!

I’ve been a big fan of A.M. Arthur’s writing for several years now and I was so happy to learn that she was writing another cowboy series. I loved the Clean Slate Ranch series and the new Woods Ranch series is off to a fantastic start.

I was lucky to get an advanced copy of the ebook from the publisher via NetGalley but shortly after I started reading it, I was able to get an early copy of the audiobook, too. I love Michael Dean’s audio performances so I switched and listened to the rest of the book. OMG, he did such a great job with this book. The story grabbed me right from the start and I enjoyed the beginning bits that took place on Clean Slate Ranch. (Woods Ranch is a spin-off of Clean Slate Ranch but you don’t need have read that series to enjoy this one.)

The blurb for the book is really good so I’m not going to waste your time by rehashing it here. Instead, I’ll tell you how much I enjoyed the story and how the slow-burn, sexual tension between Hugo and Brand really drew me in. I hated the fear that Hugo felt when his stepbrother came around. I kept waiting for something big to happen and when it did it was heart-stopping. But I knew the A.M. Arthur would get these two their HEA and I loved it.

There were several secondary characters in this story that I hope will get books of their own. There’s no blurb available yet for book two in the series (coming in late October) so I don’t know who will be the next MC but I’m hoping that a certain nurse named Josiah, will get a book of his own. I also think Jackson needs to get one and I think it would be great if these two got matched up. 🥰

A copy of this book/audiobook was provided to me at my request but my review was voluntary and not influenced by the author/narrator.

***Reviewed for Xtreme-Delusions dot com***

I got an ARC of this book.

I didn’t recognize the author at first, but then there were some references so I went digging in my goodreads. Turns out I have read another book by Arthur and was eh about it. This book didn’t live up to the other.

I normally check to see if a book is the first in a series before I want to read it. I don’t want to have to deal with catching up. This is listed as the first book in a series, but it is not. It is a spin-off series. The first 20% of the book is constant info dumping to connect this book to another series the author has. I did not sign up for this. I wanted a cowboy romance, not the history of two ranches slammed down my throat to set the scene. Just so much was shoved at me at once and most of it did not matter at all. This could have been an easier book to read if none of that was really mentioned up front and the reader found out along the way or if Hugo just didn’t have connections to the other ranch at all.

The romance was flat. They supposedly loved each other since Hugo was 16 and they started to hook up in the hay loft. Eww. No. Pedophilia. The fact that Brand is so much older and that was the catalyst for their current romance skeeved me out to no end. This was not just the kiss the kiss that was hinted at. They were grinding against each other and hard. This was dry humping a child. It was not ok. I know 16 is not a baby, but it is below the age of consent in Texas and Brand was his mid twenties at least. It was 9 or 10 years age difference. It was creepy.

There was just a lot not happening. Most of the book was either info dumping or the men ignoring each other. They were so slow to actually interact that it would have been a better book about friendship than romance. There was just so much that didn’t work for me. What little worked was that one of them was bi and there was a sex positive aroace female character. It was refreshing to see more than just gay, but that was literally all the exciting bits about this book for me.

Add in the sexual abuse plot and it was just a no from me.

At 18 Hugo Turner left his home in Texas for different pastures. For the past 10 years he has gone from place to place, working at a variety of ranches and trying to outrun memories of a less than happy childhood. He's grown a lot in those 10 years and when he hears that his best friend's ranch may be in trouble for lack of help, Hugo decides it's time to return to Texas and face the memories head on. Only one problem. One of those memories is his teen age crush on his best friend's older brother, the same brother who will now be his boss.

Brand Woods isn't sure that he's ready to see Hugo again. The one kiss they shared was unforgettable, but at the time Hugo was just 16 and Brand wasn't ready to face his bisexuality. He sent Hugo away and has been hiding from himself ever since,. Instead he's focused on making a success of the family cattle ranch. Brand tries his best to keep his distance but he's surprised by the pull of attraction he still feels for Hugo.

Limiting their relationship to friendship fails to cool the passion they feel for each other. Brand's fear of actually committing may be the end of the relationship for good. When the past Hugo was running from shows up in the form of his abusive step brother, Brand has to decide what matters most.

One thing I like most about reading a M/M romance is that the emotions seem so much deeper to me. Maybe it's because as a society we're not used to accepting that men have deeper emotions. This was a highly emotional story about two men who didn't know what to do with their feelings. Hugo's emotions spoke to me from his confusion and indecision about returning to Texas, to the pain of approaching his mother and his desire for Brand. Brand had so much he was sorting out as well. I loved his friendship with Ramie and the way she didn't pull any punches with him. All the pain, the insecurity, the confusion the characters were feeling practically jumped off the pages. The end of the story added a twist I didn't see coming, but helped lead to a satisfying conclusion. This is a spin off from the Clean Slate Ranch series, and the start of the Wood Ranch series, so I look forward to more time with the Woods family and, hopefully, some more time with Hugo and Brand.

Sometimes when you see a new book pop up by a trusted author, you pick it up, no questions asked. That’s exactly what happened when I say His Fresh Start Cowboy, which explains why I had no idea that that Woods Ranch was a spin-off series of Clean Slate Ranch. The connection between the series is more than one cowboy traveling from one ranch to work at another. Hugo found out that Woods Ranch needed some extra help from Colt Woods, who was featured in the second book in the Clean Slate Ranch series, Roped In. Woods Ranch was also a sanctuary of sorts for Hugo when he was growing up. It was also the home of his first serious crush, but that didn’t stop him from applying for and taking the job when it was offered.

Brand had a lot of responsibility and a lot riding on the positive changes he was trying to make at his family’s ranch. He didn’t need any distractions and that’s definitely how he saw Hugo. Having his little brother’s best friend around was way too tempting and the last thing he needed was to let Hugo, or anyone else find that out.

Seeing Brand again wasn’t the only reason that Hugo decided to come back to his home state. He had other fences to mend and he needed to see if things had changed. Very few people knew what led him to leave Texas in the first place and his back story was heartbreaking. Sometimes a found family is stronger (and healthier) than the one you’re born into.

His Fresh Start Cowboy was a great start to the Woods Ranch series. It was full of healing and hope, my favorite kind of “fresh start” story. ❤

Thank you to NetGalley and Carina Press for this ARC. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book while delving into many difficult topics was a light and easy read. The conversations the characters had whether dealing with identity, family relationships, family legacy, etc felt natural for the most part and was my favourite aspect of this book.

The plot and characters were very one note at most times and I wish they would have strayed away from these singular attributes that defied them.

Lastly, this book had a lot darker tone than what I was expecting going in, but overall content with the end result.

I'm happy to see a new series after Clean Slate Ranch. It was nice for the author to also include a familiar face in the start of this series to connect the two. This was a decent start to a new series, not the best, but I'll continue to read the series.

We met Hugo in the Clean Slate Ranch series, but I honestly don't remember much about him. In the beginning of this book, we see that he takes a job opportunity back home to work on the Woods Ranch, leaving his Clean Slate friends behind. The Woods Family is Colt's family, a main character from the Clean Slate series. Way back when, Hugo had a huge crush on Brand Woods, who is Colt's younger brother, Hugo's best friend's brother and someone 7+ years older than him. They shared a hot kiss when Hugo was a teen, but it couldn't go anywhere because of the age difference and then of course, Hugo left town and hasn't been back since. Well, now he's back and he wants to try and pursue something with Brand, who just so happens to be the foreman of the Woods Ranch now. Oh and Brand is closeted bisexual, so that should make things interesting for Hugo.

To be honest, the plot was pretty boring with this one and seemed to drag in places. I felt like we really didn't learn anything deep about either character, but especially Brand. Some questions went unanswered and we get a HFN instead of a HEA. But having read the other series, I know it's because the characters will make appearances in future books and we'll continue their story as well to a certain extent. But it still leaves me wanting more.

Hugo was a little more transparent and we get some depth to him when we see his interactions with his landlord, his mom and other secondary characters. Maybe the author just gave him more page time and that's why it seems like I know more about him than Brand. What happens with his family in the end? I wanted to know how that all went down after the whole Buck incident. Brand was still pretty mysterious and closed off for me to really feel like I knew him. I don't know how he handles business or his family now that he's come out or even how he acts in public with Hugo. He still seemed like he'd be the secretive type at the end of the book, so I don't feel like we really saw much of a change in his character, other than him coming out to his family and making them aware he's dating Hugo. Overall, I needed more interaction between Hugo and Brand. So much of the book is with them spending time apart and maybe that's why this one was a bit harder to get into. We're seeing them live separate lives and only coming together as a duo on occasion.

Like I said, I'll still continue the series because I did find the secondary character interesting. Maybe Jackson is next?

His Fresh Start, this is a new series from this author. It is a spin off from the last one, Clean Slate Ranch. The story start there with Hugo. M/M second chance romance. It is a very slow burn. Hugo and Brand both have their past to deal with before they can get to their HEA. Hopefully Jackson story is next and with more wikidness.

ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley. The opinions expressed here are all mine.

I don't read a lot of cowboy romance, so I was really interested to see how this author was going to reconcile a largely conservative culture with an MM romance. It was really satisfying to see the heroes both acknowledge the shortcomings of the culture they were raised in, from Confederate flags to bigoted churches to just ingrained homophobia.

This book had some pretty significant challenges for me, all while being an overall engrossing read. The plot meanders a lot, particularly into some weird asides - I think there's six or seven instances of someone peeing in this book, which just seems like too much, among other one or two paragraph oddities here and there. Otherwise, I struggled with Brand and his internalized homophobia/biphobia at points: he was a Real Shit when his older brother came out as gay, and while I think it was dealt with in a fairly realistic way, it still wasn't great. Additionally, his dad outs him to his mom in a way that is like very benign, but in this house we don't out people.

In the end, I did enjoy this book and the way that Brand and Hugo eased into a relationship with each other. I'd like to read the earlier series about the ranch Brand's brother owns, and would definitely pick up other books in this series.

CW: Homophobia, physical and emotional abuse (past), assault (present),
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HIS FRESH START COWBOY follows Hugo Turner and Brand Woods. Hugo left town almost a decade ago to escape his abusive step brother. Brand is the older brother of Hugo’s childhood best friend. The boy he had—and still has— a crush on. When Hugo hears that Brand’s family needs help on their ranch, he decides it’s time to go back home and face his family and Brand.
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I really enjoyed this book… The angst was fun. I like these two together. I like the writing. But I was so frustrated — why did they have to hook up when they were 16 and 24? I’m 24… I had to stop reading to rant to my best friend and my boyfriend. I aged them up in my head to get past that and continue on.
I would like to know how Jackson’s story plays out.
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3.75 stars, HIS FRESH START COWBOY by A.M. Arthur is available January 25, 2022.
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Thank you to Carina Press and Netgalley for sending me an eARC to review.

A spin-off of the Clean Slate Ranch, His Fresh Start is the first book Woods Ranch. A second chance mm romance, Hugo and Brand both have their past to resolve but in this slow burn romance you will take that journey with them. An appealing first read in this series I will look to read more.

Four and a half stars


His Fresh Start Cowboy by AM Arthur is the first in the Woods Ranch series from Carina Press. It’s a contemporary m/m set on the Woods family cattle ranch. Hugo Turner moves back to Texas to accept a job working for Brand Woods, his first and lasting crush from when he was a young man. Brand’s younger brother Rem was one of Hugo’s best friends, and he’d spent plenty of time on the ranch with the Woods, enjoying the warm welcome and the feeling of comfort and safety that was sadly absent from his own home.

AM Arthur’s story is well paced and readers enjoy getting to know Brand and Hugo and their friends and families even as they get reacquainted as adults and struggle with how to navigate their feelings and growing connection. AM Arthur does a terrific job with their very real emotions and not-so-straight path to finding happiness. Readers familiar with her Clean Slate series will appreciate glimpses of it as well. Great start to this new series.

Super dramatic! Although the book started out slow for me, by the time I got a quarter of the way in I was hooked. Mostly I was drawn in by Hugo's struggles with returning to his hometown, trying to reconnect with his mom, staying away from his abusive stepbrother, and seeing if there's a possibility of starting a real relationship with Brand. He really goes through it and I binge read the second half of the book. I wasn't sure about Brand at first because he keeps himself closed off to most people. He has a lot of responsibility and feels pressured to conform, while also feeling scared of coming out and being rejected by his family and community. Thankfully he has some good friends who support him. Both of their stories are filled with conflict - both external and internal - which kept me interested. Brand and Hugo's love story has a rocky start but I love how they take the time to get to know one another and try again.

Personally, I wasn't a huge fan of the writing and I felt like I never quite connected with the characters. But the story itself is compelling and kept me invested. I am curious about the rest of the series and finding out more about the supporting characters, especially Jackson.

A.M. Arthur provides a solid escapist romance with "His Fresh Start Cowboy." Sometimes you can go back home, if you're the main character Hugo, who decides to take a job on a ranch near his hometown. He is reunited with a number of faces and names that he's quite familiar with and readers are treated to seeing him re-introduced to this world. We are not expected to know everyone and everything that happened before this moment; part of the fun is seeing how the pieces come together. Things particularly ramp up when Hugo is reunited with his former crush, Brand, who is his new boss. They dance circles around each other as we wait for the "romance" of this novel to finally take hold. There are enough plot twists near the end to make it worth the ride.

3.5 stars

A touching second-chance love story with satisfying character growth arcs for the MC’s, smooth writing, & convincing romantic connection.

[What I liked:]

•I really liked all of the characters! (Except for the ones I was supposed to dislike, of course.) Brand & Hugo are sympathetic yet flawed MC’s, who I quickly grew to care about. Rem & Ramie were funny side characters. Wayne & Rose felt a lot like some of my friends’ parents, warm & homey. And Elmer, the elderly neighbor who makes Elmer Fudd yard art out of scrap metal, was hilarious!

•There is a lot of heavy stuff in this book, including abusive family dynamics, fear of rejection, & homophobia. Instead of just throwing these in for easy conflict, the writer addresses each one sensitively & as part of character growth for the MC’s. It’s very touching at the end to see how Hugo & Brand have grown as individuals, in their relationship with each other, & in their relationships with close family & friends.

•I appreciate how the romance was given space & time to naturally grow & progress. Even though the MC’s had some history, they still had a lot to work through, get used to, & grow into with each other, & it was very satisfying to see their connection grow without being rushed. It’s also nice that, while they did have their share of conflicts & misunderstandings, Brand & Hugo’s conflicts didn’t hinge on any stupidly drawn out or petty miscommunications.


[What I didn’t like as much:]

•Whatever happened with Ginny & Brand in high school was hinted at several times, but only partially, vaguely explained.

CW: homophobia, physical violence, infertility issues, bullying, sexual assault, substance abuse, domestic violence

[I received an ARC ebook copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Thank you for the book!]

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I have received an ARC of this book by NetGalley and Harlequin/Carina Press, and I am voluntarily leaving an honest review. The Pub date of the book is January 25, 2022. I will post this review on my Goodreads, Facebook page and Instagram.
It is the first time I read something by the author A.M.Arthur, and I can tell that the author knows how to tell us a story.
This book is a novel of second chances, developing slowly, facing dilemmas, past traumas, and little fun moments. It has the funny factor: "I'm in love with my best friend's big brother."
There is a slight age difference between the characters, but it's not very significant.
I enjoyed how the author created the characters and all the family members, especially Rem. It is a big house with many beautiful children and parents who love them unconditionally and always have room to love one more—loyalty and trust between siblings and friends who protect each other in favour of work and meaningful relationships.
As for the main characters, Hugo and Brand, I loved how different they are, their contrast, and their distinct view of life from the other. Hugo is younger but mature and suffered some heartaches until he got where he was. Made big and complicated decisions but never stopped being himself to please others. And Brand lived a long time, letting insecurities and fears lead him to a life not very happy and surrounded by work, without opening doors to relationships or joyful moments that marked him. The need to put the family above everything and everyone, together with fear, condemned him to little pleasure.
It's interesting to see how their relationship will influence life, not only their own but just as those around them too. They will learn second chances can be worth it.
It looks like it's going to be an exciting series, and I'm going to want to know what's the following story in this new universe.

It’s been a while since I’ve read a good cowboy romance and this cover called to me as soon as I saw it while putting together the new release list. I noticed that it was labeled as being first in a series so I decided to jump right in. Come to find out this is actually the first book in a spin-off series, with quite a few of the secondary characters making an appearance in the Clean Slate Ranch books. No worries, though, that didn’t seem to matter one bit other than to get me interested in reading this author’s backlist.

Hugo Turner is working at the Clean Slate Ranch where he is comfortable and enjoys quite a few friendships. But when his boss happens to mention that his brother back in Texas is looking for help, he decides on the fly to put in an application and see what happens. He’s apprehensive, after all, he left Texas ten years ago right after his 18th birthday, and hasn’t looked back. There are just too many bad memories surrounding his family and one big time crush that dashed all his hopes. But he needs to put some of those bad memories to rest, so he takes the job and heads to the Woods Ranch.

Brand Woods never wanted to be a full-time rancher, but after his older brother left home, the duty has fallen to him. So his life now revolves around keeping the ranch afloat financially and hooking up, but never really settling down with anyone. He’s bi-sexual, but keeps it mostly to himself, he has two friends with benefits relationships, and that suits him just fine. Then the man who started him wondering about his sexuality shows up to work and he has both a sense of dread and excitement.

At first, I wondered if these two would ever get together. There is a whole lot of tentativeness and unease around these two. Brand isn’t out to anyone but his two casual hook-ups, and I don’t think he knew just how to make Hugo understand that he was interested. Hugo is kind of waiting for the next shoe to drop as almost everyone in his life has let him down at some point, and he exposed his attraction to Brand ten years prior and was rebuffed. It does take them a while to figure it out and then to open up enough to be more than just casual. And I will admit that I had some anxiety about how Brand’s family would react once they found out about his and Hugo’s relationship, especially with the story about Brand’s older brother, but was happy with the way they rallied around them and accepted Hugo as part of the family.

This story was alternatingly sweet, sexy, and heartbreaking. But there is a HEA that left Hugo and Brand in a good place. I look forward to seeing where this series goes next.

I really liked this book! It was great to see little updates of much loved characters from the previous series. This book was full of tension and steam. The two main characters second chance romance was a fast and unputdownable read I didn’t want to end.

Okay so I had an issue with this one. Though I loved the Clean Slate Ranch Series, I didn't fully like the start of this new series. But that won't stop me from continuing as I'm hoping that Jackson gets his HEA. So, we have the story of Hugo who was with the Clean Slate Ranch for a couple of years & hasn't been back home since he left several years previously. As the story unfolds, we find out that his stepbrother is a nasty, abusive individual who tormented Hugo, so he left. Turns out that his mother never believed him & was always like "boys will be boys". Brand, who is so deeply in the closet because he doesn't think that the other ranchers, etc will accept him for who he is. He is running his families ranch & doing some major changes & if they do not succeed, then they could lose everything. So, I do get why he keeps his "bi" status close to the vest. It also turns out that Hugo had/has a major crush on Brand & that he did make a move on him before he left Texas & it didn't really work out how he wanted it to. So, when he is hired by Brand's father, he is less than happy. Hugo is a part of the family as he would escape there when things got really bad at home. Brand's brother Rem was his best friend growing up. I really enjoyed the day-to-day ranch life. I've always enjoyed that in the book & that was no different here. I didn't like the way Brand treated Hugo at times. The hot/cold gave me a headache. They have sex then Brand ghosts him. I didn't like that Hugo's mom is still in denial & when it turns out that Buck is getting out of jail, she is going to welcome him home. It pisses me off that a mother would believe someone over their own child. What I really didn't like is, they come together as a couple right at the end of the book, so we don't really see anything with them being a couple. I'm hoping we see more of that in the next book. I want to see how they are accepted in the community. As well as seeing their love for each other really deepen & grow. Again, even though I did have some issues with this first book, I can't wait for the next as I need to see where we go from here.