Easy Ryder

Title:  Easy Ryder

Author:  Deanna Wadsworth

Publisher:  Dreamspinner Press

Rating:  A List

Up All Night Satisfaction

Blurb:  It’s July 3, 1976, the beginning of America’s bicentennial weekend, and everyone seems to be celebrating their freedoms except eighteen-year-old runaway Michael Ryder. Fresh from rural Pennsylvania, Michael is doing whatever and whoever it takes to get to San Francisco, where he hopes to find a new life with the freedom to love without fear.

While hitchhiking, a mysterious, tattooed biker named Snake offers him a ride west—on the back of his customized Harley chopper. During their journey across Route 66, Snake introduces Michael to new and steamy pleasures, leaving Michael aching for more than just a physical relationship. But a violent encounter with a cruel biker gang and a harrowing secret from Snake’s military past might destroy their unlikely relationship long before they reach the end of the road.

Review:  I held by breath during most of this book. I have been reading romance for years and gay romance for about 2 and have never read one based in the 1970’s post Vietnam era. Ms. Wadsworth shook everything I know and made it new, taking me back in time.

This book is not for the faint of heart.

Ryder is incredibly beautiful. He comes across as an innocent idealist on the journey of his life. As the story progresses we see him as more. He has more guts, more insight, more strength than meets the eye. He pushes his way into Snake’s life and shows him there is no shame in being gay.

Snake thought he was giving a sexy stray a ride in exchange for a hook up. But Ryder sneaks in and when he looks past the surface of Snake he isn’t repulsed. Snake has no idea how to trust or love and this boy, in just a matter of days, makes him face his biggest fears and pushes him past his comfort zone.

There are some incredibly hard topics in this story. The reality of being gay in the early 70’s and in the military service is brilliantly done. The life of someone on the run, trying to survive was brutal and Ms. Wadsworth brought the pain and struggle into vivid focus. There was so much hurt in these men.

Oh, and the sex in the book…hold on to your hats ladies and gentlemen. It will blow you away. It isn’t easy, or pretty and rarely tender, rather it is sharp, dirty, and breathtaking.

I don’t usually do warnings in my reviews, but this book, if you are tenderhearted or have consent sensitivity, could push your boundaries.

Easy Ryder is an incredible book. A must read full of passion. This book will show you a world you have never seen before and pull you into the story from the first scene to the last.

Reviewed by Beans