Red Dirt Heart 2 by N.R. Walker

 Up until Travis arrived on his doorstep, Charlie had lived a very solitary life. He had surrounded himself with isolation; a couple million acres of red dirt, scorching sun and loneliness.

Six months on, winter has settled over the desert, and Charlie has the life he never dreamed possible. But living and working together, twenty four hours a day, seven days a week, for six months straight starts to take its toll.

Charlie is a stubborn, stubborn man, who tends to have more conversations in his head than what comes out his mouth, whereas Travis has no problem saying what’s on his mind. And even as they both struggle to communicate, struggle to make sense of need versus want, Charlie can see that he’s pushing Travis away - yet seems helpless to stop it.

When it all boils down to whether Travis should stay or go, maybe the decision won’t be theirs to make.

This is the second book in Ms. Walker’s Red Dirt Heart series and they must be read in order.  I love these characters!  It was so wonderful to see Charlie mature and begin to accept himself in this book.  It took Charlie almost the entire first book to admit his love for Travis and even then he kept wanted to keep his sexuality a secret from his peers. 

However, in this novel Charlie is forced to acknowledge the depth of his feelings for Travis and fight for his relationship.  In the process he has to accept his sexuality and finally start to shed the guilt he has felt for so many years for being a disappointment to his father.  I loved how Charlie and Travis’ love grows through the many trials in this novel as they learn to trust and help each other. 

Travis remains the solid, patient and charming comic relief that he was in the first novel.  I am so looking forward to seeing how Ms. Walker continues to grow both of these characters in the next book in this series.

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