You Know Me As Lad

This was such a mish-mash of stuff that I couldn't help but like the hell out of it.

This is a historical western set in a small town. Three men meet one night in the saloon/whorehouse; our three heroes.

Troy: The saloon owner who, at the age of 13, saw his father killed by Native Americans. They were after Troy because he's a skinwalker a.k.a. a wolf shifter. He's a shifter who used to be a gunslinger but got on the road to good. Troy's the man.

James: The freed slave and black sheriff. James is the oldest out of our three heroes at 34 years old. Not only is he a freed slave but he's a freed slave who reads his ass off and owns a ranch out in the middle of nowhere. James is also the man.

Chris: Chris is the youngest at 21 but when we meet him he's been on his own since he was ten. He's a beautiful, angelic looking little thing who's had his ass kicked more than once. He's tougher than he looks. After almost being raped, killed and burned when his former boss finds out he's gay, Chris walks miles to Troy's saloon. He remembers that Troy's very kind, and effin' hot, and maybe gay. Chris walks in, turns down a prostitute and is about to get shot by her admirer when Troy and James step in.

So far we've got a shifter, a black sheriff and a twink in the old west. They meet and each one wonders if the other two have the same "hankerings" and "proclivities".

One of the things I liked about this book was that both Chris and Troy were in awe of James' education, ranch, and take-charge attitude. James was the most aggressive, dominant and worldly of the three. I wasn't expecting that. I also liked that the author did write into the story the prejudices that an educated black man with some power would face in the old west. It wasn't ignored.

It was also cool that even though Chris was pretty and delicate looking, he stood up for himself. He wasn't meek. I wanted to squeeze him and high-five him all at once. He'd been beaten and watched his lover be shot to death when they the other ranch hands found out they were gay, and still Chris was open to love with not one but two men.

The language really tickled me. They kept calling their junk their critters. I was picturing small woodland animals in their pants and that was a little distracting. I think the language was supposed to lend itself to authenticity but it was a bit too much. I don't think it was supposed to be funny but I was snickering through the whole book.

I enjoyed this crazy little story. It's pure escapism.