Longhorns
February 24, 2012
18 Comments
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Title and Link: Longhorns
Author: Victor J. Banis
Publisher: MLR Press
Artist: Deana C. Jamroz
Genre: Historical, Western
Amazon Buy Link
Length: Novel (228 pages) 77K words
Rating: 5 stars out of 5
Summary Review: The setting of this historical cowboy romance will make you long for the days of the old west. The characters seem just as alive today as they would have been forty or more years ago, and you will fall for Buck and Les.
THE BLURB
The Double H cowboys are a tough bunch, and none of them are gay—exactly—but they have been out there on the prairie for several weeks, herding cattle, and new thoughts have begun to enter their minds.
Enter Buck, a handsome young drifter with a silly grin, an unembarrassed penchant for being “rode hard,” and an instant hankering for Les—the straight ranch boss. Despite his openness about his tastes, Buck quickly demonstrates to his fellow cowhands that he’s no sissy, at the same time charming them with his zest for life. But it is Les who has stolen Buck’s heart.
As these rugged cowboys dance their own version of the Texas two-step, the other boys watch their little Buck’s campaign with amused interest and bet their boots on what the outcome will be.
THE REVIEW
Longhorns was re-released today by MLR Press and is now available in both ebook and print.
Les was out on the range the day Buck showed up looking for work. He didn’t think much of Buck at first because he was pretty short and small but he was very eloquent and could talk his way into and out of any situation, so Les gave him a trial because he needed an extra hand. This decision was vindicated that evening when Buck stopped a longhorn stampede, risking his own life. His bravery made him a hero in the eyes of the other cowboys but Les was not convinced; he was an enigma to Les who had never met anyone quite like Buck – overtly sexual, always checking out Les’s “package” and commenting on its size. The package in question invariably sat up and took notice whenever Buck was around and this upset Les whose body betrayed him time and again by showing how much it wanted Buck.
This quote perhaps best describes Les:
“Les was a loner. Cowboys were, despite the camaraderie of the campfire. When you got down to it, a man sat alone in his saddle.“
Shortly after hiring him Les became jealous of the way Buck was making friends with the other cowboys, especially Red his best friend and riding partner. To Les’s chagrin Red shared Buck’s bedroll on many occasions. Eventually things came to a head when Les couldn’t take it any more and he beat up poor Buck who was no match for a man who was at least 50 pounds heavier. The winner of the fight was predetermined before it began and Buck was so heartbroken he wanted to leave, but Les was in even worse shape.
Thus began their “courtship”! Buck’s wooing and Les’s surrender were wonderfully choreographed as Buck was not someone to give up on anything, especially when he could smell victory.
Victor’s writing style in this book is described as quirky by some readers but I thought that the prose was eloquent and I felt that the story was as much about the western lifestyle of the time as it was about Buck and Les. There is a lot of historical content in the book as Victor showed how difficult it was for a cowboy in the old west to make it. Longhorns reminded me a bit of the old Zane Grey western Riders of the Purple Sage, Jack Schaefer’s Shane and The Virginian, but with lots more overt man on man loving. 
I thought that the sex between Buck and Les and Buck and Red was quite appropriate for the type of story, whether you’re an old style gay western aficionado or a fan of modern day cowboy romances. To me the most important elements of the story were the characters — they were so alive I could see them in my mind’s eye, riding the range or sitting around a campfire. There were a number of situations in the book where I felt sad for poor Buck, but this was the west decades ago and that was the way things were done.
I originally reviewed this book early in 2009 before I instituted the policy of M/M only with no on-page het sex, and I should warn you that there was a bit of M/F action at the whorehouses the cowboys visited on Saturday nights, but it was offside and intended to gave the guys bragging rights about their sexual prowess the following week. Buck was very energetic and virile and poor Les could only listen in embarrassment when he was in the next room during one of Buck’s encounters, while his equipment failed.
Longhorns is a book that will please readers looking for old style gay western pulp novels as well as those who want a more laid back, relaxed style of romance, although the opening scene of the longhorns stampeding is more than enough to get one’s adrenaline pumping. There were other scenes in the book that were pretty exciting as well and much of the action seemed authentic especially the near lynching of a bunch of horse thieves.
I loved this book for the exquisitely drawn characters, the pacing and Victor’s superb writing about a time long past. In addition to Buck and Les, I was most fond of Red to whom Buck poured out his heart and shared his bedroll a time or two or three. 
The prose was eloquent, powerful and moving and the dialogue was believable, especially when Les and Buck bonded as they rode together. When I was reading this story I felt like I was riding alongside them and sharing their adventure.
I really enjoyed Longhorns.
Highly recommended!
Author Information
Wave
Madonna196
Bogusia
Larissa
Sirius
Buck thanks you, and Les thanks you, and Red thanks you, and all the boys at the Double H thank you.
Oh, me too.
Victor
Victor
Tell the boys at the Double H to come visit me. I would be happy to entertain them – one at a time!
wow… right on time! what a lovely review.
I need help: I was just trying to find a ebook version of it… I could only found it on Sony ebook store, which doesn’t work on my Mac, as it requires customer to download a programe to buy books (how annoying is that?)
I can always get the print book from amazon, but that will take like a week to get here… any other site might have the ebook version?
Eve
I don’t know where you would be able to purchase an ebook version. The publisher, Running Press, has not been very helpful and I got this copy as a reviewer’s copy. Maybe Victor might be able to help. He’s back on line so I hope he’s monitoring this post.
Great review Wave.
This sounds like an awesome book. I added it to my TBB and look forward to reading it.
Lily
One at a time Wave. Geez, live a little, go for the gusto.
Sounds like a very interesting read. I’ll definitely add it to my ever growing list.
Heck, Victor *was* one of the cowboys at the Double H, didn’t you know? LOL
Lovely review!
Love this book. I think I’ve pushed it on every m/m fan I know. It’s one of my absolute favorite cowboy books. 5 stars for me, though I will admit to being the one to usually gripe about the dialect. But that’s not unusual…I gripe about *all* dialect. LOL
I’d love to see MLR or another great press pick this up one day. It’s a shame it hasn’t gotten the publicity it deserves from RP. I think it’d be a runaway hit in e-book format.
Hi Jen
I just love this book and it really was a toss up for me up until posting time whether I would go for 5 stars, but I have so many more of his books to review that I had to leave some room.:) I’m still thinking about it.
He mentioned that he would like to do a sequel and I hope that MLR picks it up. I only found out about this book by chance.
Tam
Your credit card will be working overtime with this and all the other books that will be reviewed soon.
Lily
Longhorns is one of Victor’s best if you like stories about real cowboys – not the M/M kind. *g*
Jeanne
I think you’re right about Victor. He seems very fond of these cowboys.
I’ve been eyeing this one off for awhile now and it sounds great. *adding to the tbb*
I wonder if between us Eve and I can campaign for MLR to buy the ebook rights for this book, if RP is such a pig of a publisher?? What do you think??
Great review Wave! My favorite line was this one:
Eventually things come to a head when Les couldn’t take it any more and he beats up on poor Buck during a fight. Thus began their “courtship*rolling eyes* So typically MALE. Which is rather a compliment – I like men in books to feel like men. But still. *sigh* Men.
I remember when Jen read this book last year and I know she enjoyed it a lot, but I always felt it would be a little… arid? to read, in terms of language, especially since cowboy stories aren’t a subject I’m particularly fond of – I normally like it enough, but it doesn’t go beyond that. But it’s on my WL anyway, and once I’ve finished Angel Land I’ll probably seek out more books by Mr Banis if his style of writing seems to work for me
.
Hi Mary
This is different from your typical M/M cowboy romance in that the characters are unsophisticated and “old style”. There is a charm about cowboys in the old west that can’t be replicated in today’s M/M romance and I really loved this book, but the romance was not “hearts and flowers.” However, it was wonderful all the same. Does that help?
Kris
MLR is not an ebook publisher and even if they were to buy the rights to Longhorns from RP who are definitely not interested in this book, they would have to farm it out to an ebook publisher.
I hope that MLR buys Longhorns so that Victor would be encouraged to write a sequel.:)
My day for apologies – Yesterday was a disaster Chez Banis, from way before sunup till after sundown – so I got lost in the shuffle.
Thanks, everyone for the great comments. I love Longhorns and the Double H cowboys. I did try to get ebook rights back from RP, but they said they were negotiating (I think just to thwart me) with someone – the book is available now on Kindle. I did query them about a sequel, however, and they had no interest. And I am thinking about one – which of course would go to MLR. But right now I’m still dealing with Stanley and Tom.
Hope everyone will forgive me rude silence yesterday – believe me, I was not having fun.
Victor
Okay, most of those comments are carried over from the original review of the RP edition – as Wave explains upfront, MRL has now reissued the book in both print and e-format, so if anyone hasn’t read it, now is the time. Thanks, Wave, for updating this, and special thanks to Kris and Laura at MLR for giving one of my favorite books a new chance at life.
I’m glad this is being re-released, I enjoyed “A Deadly Kind of Love” and others but overlooked this one, and I LOVE cowboys!
Just have to decide btw paperback & PDF,
Thanks!
This has long been one of my favourites of Victor’s – and of all my books, actually