Review: Two of a Kind by B.A. Tortuga

Working on a full house.

Once upon a time, Trey Williamson and Ap McIntosh had quite the whirlwind romance—but that was before family tragedy left them the guardians of five kids. Their lives have changed quite a bit over the last six years, but Ap is still on the rodeo circuit, doing what he does best in an attempt to feed all those extra mouths.

That leaves Trey back on the ranch, isolated and overworked as the kids’ sole caregiver. Something has to give, and when Ap comes home, they’re reminded how hot they burned once upon a time. But is it a love that can withstand wrangling over time, money, and the future? They have to decide what kind of family they want to be… and whether what they share can stand the test of time.

DNF @64%

You win some you lose some, right?

This wasn’t a win for me even though the title (sings some Garth Brooks) and the blurb had me interested. I was ready for what I thought would be an established couple rekindling their romance after life and kids made it take a back seat. What I got was instant confusion when Ap is on the road with the rodeo talking to a dude about hooking up… and then we get the call from Trey asking Ap to come home because he needs a break. From the blurb, I thought these two were already a couple but once Ap gets home it’s obvious there is nothing between them but the shared tragedy of lost family members that makes them guardians of their nieces and nephews.

Six years this has been going on with Ap riding the rodeo circuit making money to send home to Trey who is taking care of the kids. Ap only comes home on Thanksgiving and Christmas so… yeah. I get that the two men had something casual before the accident and now that Ap is home longer than his normal visit some of those feelings come up again but I never felt it. Not once.

There is way too much going on in this story to ever get a feel for who Trey and Ap really are other than the one what works and the one that stays home. They felt stagnant and actually boring. I get that the house was busy but I live in a busy house and still find moments to be intimate and affectionate with my husband that are real. These two… I dunno. It was just really odd.

The kids were okay but again, their animation made me long for a real connection.

I wanted to like this. I guess it’s on me that I read the blurb wrong and thought this was something it wasn’t.

An ARC was provided in exchange for an honest review.