Rating:  3.75 stars out of 5

Navy SEALs Cliff “Snides” Snyder and Ryan “Rhino” Matthews have been moving comfortably in each other’s worlds for two decades. Best friends since attending BUDs twenty years earlier, and despite playing for different teams, they’re often accused of acting like an old married couple—much to their amusement.

Assigned to shore duty for his final tour before retirement and without Ryan to anchor him, Cliff’s restlessness leads him to a local club and hands-on research that leaves him in a compromising position and a witness to murder—signaling the abrupt end of his Navy career. Needing a place to lay low and lick his wounds, Cliff visits his old friends at the Willow Springs Ranch while he considers making cowboy his new job title.

After six long months on deployment, Rhino returns to San Diego—only to discover Cliff’s gone dark and the unlikely words ‘poor judgment’ hanging in the air. Despite the offer of a prestigious assignment, Ryan opts to track down his best friend first and finds him at the WSR…along with more questions than he ever expected. With the most coveted orders for a SEAL dangling, twenty years of service under his belt, and Cliff determined to move on without him, decisions must be made.

Ryan is certain he has the perfect solution going forward, but Cliff knows he must face the fallout of his actions alone—and the one thing he’s determined to do is protect Ryan from making the biggest mistake of his career—even if it costs Cliff everything. You know what they say—the only easy day was yesterday.

Cliff’s Edge is the seventh book in the Willow Springs Ranch series. I read the first two and something else by Laura Harner. She is a great author, I like her writing style and let me say she writes hot sex scenes. This book was good too. Every book in the series can be easily read as a standalone, so pick whichever you want and give it a try. Remember the first one, Ty Hard is free at major online retailers. I can say I particularly enjoyed this last one.

I’m a fan of friends to lovers and gay for you stories so I soon jumped into this one. Ryan and Cliff were great and hot together, but it took too much for them to see in their heart. Twenty years, what a waste of time!

“Are we having a bromance?” Ryan blurted.
“A bromance?” Cliff laughed, and Ryan’s eyes narrowed. Oh boy, never laugh at a drunk who thinks he’s making an important point.
“Yeah, a bromance. Where two guys hang out all the time, like the same shit, would probably fuck each other if they were both gay—or if one of them was female.”
Fighting off more laughter, Cliff nodded. “Sure, you can call it that. Come on, princess, let’s get you to bed.”

It was a solid book to me, quick but well developed. There was an actual story, a mystery to solve and some important life decisions to take. I particularly liked the writing, it let the reading flow smoothly.

There were a couple of things that bugged me a little. First of all the accurate use of military acronyms forced me to use Google a little too much for my taste, sometimes diverting my attention from the story. But it was my fault, my ignorance.
Then in some scenes Ryan was disconcerting: first when he was still thinking he was straight after their first hot encounter and then once realized he was bisexual, he was too easy in exploring his new acceptance with Cliff. Sometimes he confused me.

Luckly once they cleared the air everything went well, hot, sweet and romantic.

Rhino’s hand fisted in Cliff’s hair and he pulled hard enough to force his head around to meet his gaze. He knew if it had been light enough in the room he’d see the gold flecks blazing in the hazel eyes.
“Tell yourself any lie you want to, Cliff, if you think it will make you feel better. Just remember, I know you as well as you know me…maybe better. You might run, but you’ll never be able to hide. I’ll just drag your ass back. To me.”
His lips closed over Cliff’s, mashing them so hard their teeth bumped.

“You’re never going to be alone as long as I’m alive.” […]“I love you, Cliff. As my friend. As my lover. As my forever.”

What I would have like to know more was the unexplored bdsm aspect, maybe to just have a short scene to see how they will behave. More in the next book, please? Even if I want Draco’s story.

Cover art by Laura Harner. It fit very well the style of all the covers in the series.

Sales Links:   All Romance (ARe)   –   Amazon     Buy It Here

Book Details:

Published April 22nd 2015 by Hot Corner Press
ebook, 115 pages
ISBN13 9781941841013
Edition Language English
Willow Springs Ranch series #7

Willow Springs Ranch Series:

Come meet the men of Willow Springs Ranch in northwest Arizona. Life isn’t always easy, but these men know the value of friendship and hard work…and will touch your heart along the way.

• Ty Hard (Willow Springs Ranch, #1)
• Hold Tight (Willow Springs Ranch, #2)
• Taking Chance (Willow Springs Ranch, #3)
• Ty’d Down (Willow Springs Ranch #3.5)
• Hanging Chad (Willow Springs Ranch #4)
• Park’s Lot (Willow Springs Ranch #5)
• Whit’s End (Willow Springs Ranch #6)
• Cliff’s Edge (Willow Springs Ranch, #7)