Ride The Wind, Anne Dudley
Rating: 4 Stars
Publisher: Dreamspinner press
Genre: Gay Romance
Tags: Biker, Contemporary,
Length: 246 Pages
Reviewer: Mary
Purchase At: Dreamspinner Press, amazon.com
The Blurb
Alex Durant lives in a room behind the motorcycle repair shop where he works as an underpaid mechanic, bullied by his boss. There’s a truth he’s ignored most of his twenty-three years: men on their bikes turn him on, not women on the pin-up calendars that line the shop walls. It’s during a well-earned vacation to Sturgis, South Dakota, to attend the motorcycle rally where he comes face to face with his truth.
He meets the confident and outgoing Jordon Baker, who races motorcycles as a career. Alex is overwhelmed by Jordon’s incredible smile and kind eyes and his need to live life to the fullest. In the week they spend together, it’s Jordon who shows Alex things he’s never experienced: concerts, races, and the stars. It’s Jordon who shows him that two male bodies can ignite in pleasure when they come together. By the end of the week, Alex sees in Jordon’s eyes what he feels in his heart, and the truth of that scares him to the core.
But Sturgis week has ended, and Alex is back to the grind. He’s now stuck with making a difficult choice: continue to live his sad life alone and in hiding, or live his truth with the man who has big eyes for the world.
The Review
I thought, ‘Bikers and Sturgis and men loving men, how can I go wrong.‘ I did love it but it was not exactly what I expected, and in this case that is not a bad thing.
This is Alex’s story, please know that right from the start. It is not just a romance, although that does feature heavily and is the catalyst for a lot of the plot points. It is the story of a young man who pushes himself out of his comfort zone and then keeps on pushing until he has what he needs and wants in life. This is Alex’s journey.
He is painfully shy and probably a bit agoraphobic, but despite this he has decided he wants to go to the Sturgis Bike 
Rally. I know, I know not an auspicious introduction to getting comfortable amongst crowds (even we here down under have heard of this particular bike rally). Anyway his hard won freedom comes with definite benefits when almost the first thing he spots and talks to is Jordan. And so it starts.
Where Alex is shy, Jordan is gregarious, where Alex like to be small and inconspicuous, Jordan is larger than life. Alex is in awe of Jordan and the fact that he is not at all like the other man. For the week they spend together they both realise in their own ways that what they have is special and worth fighting for.
Alex wants to be together but he wants to do things the right way for him, which is why we find ourselves following Alex. We also see the two of them coming to terms with how much they need to let others know, so in other words how in the closet they both are, even living together, but it works for them They both have their faults, Jordan can be pushy and Alex finds he can be extremely stubborn but together they eventually find a compromise.
They are helped to their HEA by a few characters, the bike shop owner Augie, who is Alex’s boss and landlord and who at first seemed like his saviour. All the way through the book I wasn’t sure how to feel about this man. He is the reason that Alex is where he is at the start of the book and he is the main antagonist in the story. He and some of the crew keep popping up even in Sturgis and messing with Alex’s head.
Now I think my favourite character would have to be Zeke, the level headed father/brother/BFF figure. He helps Alex come to terms with his status as an independent person, as a man and as a sexual being. He gives Alex the opportunities and the shoves that are needed for him to truly know that he and Jordan should be together. And, although my puritan (shaddap… I know….. I could barely say that with a straight face) heart would have liked it better if they had both been only with each other, I can see why Alex needed to know. Although this was off page and there wasn’t any penetrating and they weren’t on a promise its still felt a bit like cheating (which Alex did admit to himself.)
This is not a book filled with lots of sex but when it is there it is quite hot and bothered (or was that just me?!?)
He couldn’t help shuddering when Jordan whispered hot and fierce into his ear, “I felt you, man. 
Felt you hard right up against me. Was all I could do to keep my eyes on the road and not pull over and get at you.” Alex moaned. He had to have his hands on Jordan, feel skin under his fingers, feel all of Jordan pressed tightly against him.
The times when we are on page are hot and heavy and also show the progression of Jordan and Alex’s relationship.
This is a lovely book that I was happy to read and review. Alex and Jordan are wonderfully three dimensional characters who are remarkably like you and me, they have problems all their own and solutions that work fine for them. Get it, read it, it’s good.
This book was supplied by Dreamspinner Press in return for an honest review.
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Nice review, Mary. I love opposites-attract stories and Alex and Jordan seem to be as different as night and day. I love the pics. Who doesn’t love a hot guy on a motorcycle? And the tattoos? Hot! 😀
Motorcycles and tats – I agree, good combo 😀
Thanks, Mary. Terrific review. It sounds like they took a bit but they sorted it out. I like characters having to work for it! 🙂
The last story involving the Sturgis Rally I read was Patricia Logans Hot Summer Hogs so this was worlds different. Im glad I got to read it..and i love a good journey especially an growth one.
Nice bikes. Yeah. I like that last one the best o.o
Lol. I think I like that, um, bike the best too 🙂