If you love your queer romance with a healthy dose of murder, dusty Texas landscapes, unresolved tension, and slow-burn second chances, Never Stay Gone by Tal Bauer is the MM romantic suspense you’ve been waiting for. Set in the wide-open plains of West Texas, this book kicks off the Big Bend Texas Rangers series with high stakes, heartache, and a reunion that will leave you breathless.
Never Stay Gone by Tal Bauer Series: Big Bend Texas Rangers #1
Genres: Contemporary, MM Romance, Suspense
Buy Links:Buy on Amazon
Six bodies in a single grave… in the same West Texas country where Dakota left everything behind.
Every beat of my heart belongs to you.
Thirteen years ago, Dakota Jennings thought he'd found his forever when he fell in love with Shane Carson. But one afternoon shattered their love story, and both Dakota and Shane left Rustler, Texas, with broken hearts. Even now, Dakota is still feeling the agony of losing Shane. Sure, he's a Texas Ranger, but that's not how he wanted to live his life. All he ever wanted was to love Shane.
Loving you is the only time I feel alive.
Shane's life was supposed to be different than this. There'd been a plan, ever since he was knee-high to his father. But falling for Dakota spun Shane's world upside down, and for years, Shane has had nothing but the memories of all that he lost: Dakota's gentle touch, and the sweetness of his lips, and the star-strewn nights they spent wrapped in each other's arms.
West of the Pecos, there is no law.
When the Rangers get the call about six bodies being pulled out of a mass grave in West Texas, the governor sends Dakota to run the investigation. Dakota heads back to his hometown and comes face-to-face with the last man he ever expected to see again: only now, he’s Deputy Shane Carson… Dakota's local partner assigned to the case.
There's nothing Dakota wants more than a second chance with Shane, but so much is stacked against them: six corpses, a murderer on the loose, and history that refuses to stay buried. And the bodies keep piling up as Dakota and Shane try to run the killer down across the West Texas plains.
In a moment, everything changes: the hunters become the hunted, the past fractures, and all Dakota thought he knew comes tumbling down. Secrets break wide open as Dakota remembers--
This is West Texas, and out here, nothing is as it seems.
Big Bend County is a place of beauty and desolation, of secrets and small towns. Where the past and the present collide, and where nothing stays hidden forever.
This MM romantic suspense is the first in the new Big Bend Texas Rangers series. Come along for the West Texas sunsets, the heart-pounding thrills, and the hard-won Happy Ever Afters.
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It’s with “Cowboy Take Me Away” playing softly in the background that I sit down to write this review, because honestly? That’s the mood. Tal Bauer, I’m huge fan.
English isn’t my first language, so I usually take my time reading in it. But this one? I devoured it in two days. I couldn’t stop turning the pages.
This book is different from my usual reads because the romance between Dakota and Shane takes a bit of a backseat to the central investigation and mystery and I absolutely loved that. I even took out a notebook and started jotting down names and clues like a true crime junkie. That’s how involved I was.
Dakota and Shane were best friends and lovers in their final years of high school. Life got in the way, and when Shane left for college, everything fell apart. Thirteen years pass with no contact—until a mass grave brings Dakota back to his hometown… and straight into Shane’s path.
Can you imagine the tension when they lock eyes again after all those years? My heart was in my throat.
Is this peak Tal Bauer? Of course it is. Are there dramatic coincidences and an emotionally intense main character? Absolutely. But do we also get two completely lovable leads who make you root for them with everything you’ve got? Yes. Dakota and Shane stole my heart.
I also really enjoyed the twists in the investigation and how everything came together. It was smart, layered, and full of atmosphere.
And I have to say: I love books that send me down rabbit holes of research. After finishing this, I found myself looking up the history of the Texas Rangers, reading about desert plants like ocotillos, the concept of “mesa” landscapes, and even playing a few Garth Brooks songs. So how could I give this anything less than 5⭐?
And yes: The Cat Loved It. 🐾
Final Rating: 5 stars!
Did Dakota and Shane break your heart and stitch it back together again too? Let me know what you thought in the comments—I’m dying to discuss this one with you! 🤠🖤
About Tal Bauer
Tal Bauer writes breathtaking, heartfelt, and often action-packed gay romance novels. His characters are head over heels for each other and fight against all odds for their happy ending. Nothing stands in the way of love. Tal is best known for his romantic suspense novels, including the Executive Office series, The Murder Between Us, The Grave Between Us, The Night of, and his MM sports romance, The Jock.
