The Tin Star by J.L. Langley

TITLE: The Tin Star
AUTHOR: J.L. Langley
PUBLISHER: Loose Id
LENGTH: Novel (roughly 74k)
GENRE: Gay erotic romance
COST: $6.99

Young cowboy Jamie Killian just did the unthinkable – he told his father and family that he was gay. His father’s response is to kick him out and disown him. His brother’s best friend, Ethan Whitehall, offers to take him in, but the last thing Jamie expects is to discover that Ethan is gay, too. Passion blooms between the two men, but before they can find real happiness, they have to deal with the prejudices of both their smalltown Texas neighbors and Jamie’s father. Because some people will try anything – even violence – to drive them away.

Ah, gay cowboys. They seem like a romance staple in the e-world ever since Brokeback Mountain. Sometimes it makes me wonder if there’s any straight cowboys left out there in romance-land.

After enjoying Langley’s My Fair Captain, I looked through the author’s back catalog to see if there might be something else I’d like. I happened upon this one, as the first in theRanch Series. I’d certainly discovered that Langley could handle some sharp writing, and since I wouldn’t have to worry about world-building – one of my complaints about the other book was that the information dumps detracted from my enjoyment of it – I figured I’d be able to concentrate on the story. I was mostly correct.

Langley has come a long way in the year between the two releases. Tin Star shows promise of the same easy and clean prose, but it suffers from what I call exclamation abuse. Damn! Shit! Great! And those are just in the non-dialogue portions. There’s a lot of vehement talking and thinking in this story, and it grows stale by the midpoint. It got to the point where Jamie would walk in to a scene, and I just knew Ethan was going to think, Damn! I get the point. I really don’t need it nailed in for me.

Ethan and Jamie are built solidly enough. I liked Ethan more than Jamie; Jamie always reminded me of an annoying puppy that won’t leave you alone. I understand it fits the character – he’s very young, he’s new to gay sex, he’s in love – but it doesn’t mean I find it all that palatable. I must be getting crotchety in my old age; these young characters that seem to never stop tire me out. :)

The weakness for me came in the story itself. The romance between the two peaks too early. For at least half the book, Jamie and Ethan are settled and in love. That would be fine and dandy if they had enough external stimuli to keep the conflict of the book going, but ultimately, the only one the story presents is the issues with the prejudice. Now, that’s a big issue. I know that. But individual events that might build tension – and keep me involved as a reader – get diluted by too-happy sex scenes that don’t really do anything to contribute to the story. I spent the second half of the book waiting for it to be over, unfortunately.

The Tin Star is certainly above average in regards to many of the books I read. Langley is one of the more competent authors out there, especially when it comes to gay romance. While it doesn’t work completely for me, there’s probably people out there who would love to read a story with the two men so giddily in love. I guess I'm just not in the mood for the giddy.

Readability	7/10 – Slight abuse of exclamation points and a few monotonous sections, but clean and easy to read for the most part
Hero #1	7/10 – I would’ve liked him sticking to his guns in staying in the closet a little longer to make it believable, but still a solid character
Hero #2	6/10 – A little too earnest for my taste, though mostly believable
Entertainment value	6/10 – Though I liked the characters, the last half of the book has a repetitive sameness to it that had me a little bored.
World building	9/10 – The author sticks to honesty in portraying inherent prejudices in a cowboy’s world.
TOTAL:	35/50