Reviewed by Cat for TeensReadToo.com

Seventeen-year-old Ethan Keller lives a simple life, spending his days working as a clerk in his small town's general store, and his evenings at his widowed mother's boarding house dinner table.

Ethan's never considered a life beyond the sheltered reach of a dutiful second son trying to keep his older brother, Willie, out of trouble, finding snippets of time to indulge his love of reading and dreaming of buying a colt or filly of his own some day.

All of that changes when a charismatic and persistent young cowboy named Travis Cain walks into his life.

Sensing a kindred spirit, Travis dares Ethan to dream beyond that which he's ever dared, and soon convinces Ethan to sign on to the Hayward Ranch's summer cattle drive. During the journey from Texas to Cheyenne, Ethan and Travis test the limits of their endurance, explore the bonds of true friendship, and discover a love that will eventually risk everything they hold dear.

In THE FILLY, author Mark R. Probst combines the tender beauty of love - be it the blossoming romance between two young men at a time when the only term to characterize their relationship came in the form of Biblical condemnation, the fierce protectiveness of families for their own, or friendships forged in the most dire of circumstances - with the gritty, bare-boned realism of life in the old west.

There were a few times when I was jarred from the narrative by an inconsistency of language, a bit of cardboard characterization among many of the novel's secondary players, and an ending that came too abruptly for my personal taste, but these factors were far outweighed by the depth and sensitivity in Mr. Probst's depictions of Ethan, Travis, and their relationship. ( )

Believe it or not, Mark Probst's charming debut novel about a couple of gay cowboys who fall in love on a cross country cattle drive has a lot more in common with your dad's favorite Western novel than Brokeback Mountain.

And that's a good thing.

The world of the young shop clerk Ethan Keller and ranch hand Travis Cain is a vivid Technicolor creation that harkens back to the Western films of Hollywood's Golden Age. I've never been a fan of Westerns - in literature or films - but was pleasantly surprised at how quickly Probst's breezy style and likeable characters drew me in. The writing itself is sturdy, masculine and free of flourishes, making it perfectly suited to the genre. And while he tends to paint in broad strokes, the settings he describes - the general store, the boisterous saloon, a spinster schoolmarm's genteel parlor, the Rocky Mountain vistas - are all so iconic, it's impossible not to picture them perfectly in your mind.

The downright wholesome love story between the two main characters develops slowly with just enough tension to keep the reader turning pages in sweet anticipation of the inevitable. A refreshing change in this day and age when it seems most modern romances involve the couple falling into bed first, and love later. Both protagonists are well developed and complicated, particularly the adorable Ethan, an upright, bookish young man who struggles to understand his desire for Travis at a time when homosexuality was never spoken of. But it's with some of the secondary characters that Probst really shines. Miss Peet, the lonely school teacher who shares her love of books with Ethan and hopes to share her life with Travis, and Willie, Ethan's ne'er-do-well older brother, both take surprising, uncharacteristic, turns late in the story that prove them to be multi-dimensional real-to-life human beings.

The book is broken into three major sections - the first dealing with Ethan's life at home and the second chronicling the treacherous 900 mile cattle drive. I must admit I got the most pleasure from these. In part three, the story takes on a darker tone and the author injects a bit of Twenty First Century proselytizing that the book might've been better served without. Nonetheless let me just say, without giving away the ending, overall the story left me pleased and satisfied. And definitely eager for more from this budding talent. ( )

"The Filly" is a tender, sweet-hearted cowboy romance. The author's love of the Old West is readily apparent throughout the story. I could practically taste the dust on the air, and hear the saloon doors squeaking. It's filled with small, well-researched details that place a reader firmly in the time period. Though westerns are not my cup of tea, the author's enthusiasm is contagious and I found a new appreciation for the subject. Ethan is an appealing character. Though I think his overall naïveté was a bit too much for the time he was living in (I think he would've been aware of the extreme prejudice, not to mention laws against, homosexuality), his youth and shyness endear him to the reader. Travis has more experience, but he is not so jaded that he doesn't enjoy life. Together, they are a great, likeable couple.

The romance is very slowly built, which I appreciated. Too often, characters fall in love in a couple paragraphs with no support for it. Not so here. Part one of the book is mostly about Ethan's life living with his mother and brother, and working in the general store. After meeting Travis, they decide to go on a cattle drive together. This is where the romance develops, though the pacing of the story remains constant. Travis helps Ethan learn the ways of being a cowboy and about hiding his nature for his own protection. Yet, despite the very real danger of being outed as a homosexual, Travis has a very optimistic nature. This drive is over three months long, and it is easy to believe the two would become close. So, when Travis and Ethan decide to go into business together and raise horses it fits the story just right. The cattle drive was my favorite, and I think the best written, part of the novel. The two men get to know each other, have conversation, swim together, etc. There is no explicit sex in "The Filly," but the men obviously have a physical relationship. The implied sex works much better for the nature of this romance than something more graphic. The reader gets glimpses into what it must have been like to travel 20 miles a day by horse, herding cows, crossing a desert without much water and sleeping for months in a tent. It was an intense experience, for them and for the reader. However, part three left me with mixed emotions.

The next paragraph (only) contains a slight SPOILER:

I try to avoid even small spoilers in my reviews but couldn't articulate my problem without revealing a bit of the story. Ethan goes to visit Travis' family before starting their new life. Rumors of their relationship surface, and Ethan ends up being brought to trial for a crime he didn't commit. Now, I was expecting something to happen to upset the romance and provide angst. However, what happened left me feeling unsettled. Despite the OBVIOUS lack of evidence, Ethan is convicted. Though this result is perfectly realistic, it didn't work for a romantic story - which this was up until these events. And, why would Ethan's lawyer choose a jury trial in such an obviously biased town? I knew right then he would be convicted (though I was truly hoping not!) Second, I felt like Travis put Ethan at risk all along. Not by starting the relationship, but by insisting they stay in a hotel instead of with his family and by not realizing that Ethan is young and vulnerable. He's supposed to be older and more experienced, but he left Ethan alone when he knew they were in danger. I won't go into more detail because I don't want to ruin it, but Travis' actions in the last third of the book made the character almost selfish. "The Filly" does have the prerequisite happy ending of a romance. However, having Ethan go to prison soured it somewhat - it was too much of a stretch for Ethan to literally walk out of prison into a happily ever after with Travis. I think the ending would've worked better (for me) if Ethan and Travis had had to spend months rebuilding their relationship, and Ethan healing from what must have been a horrifying experience in prison.

When I finished this novel right before I went to bed, I lay awake thinking about it for a very long time. The characters stayed with me. That is one of the best things I can say about any novel. Though the ending didn't sit quite right with me, the overall story was excellent, the romance well developed, and the writing top notch. So, I have no hesitation in recommending this to others. This was much more than a cookie-cutter romance. ( )

Part Two centers on the cattle drive. This includes a thrilling sequence where the cowboys herd the thirsty cattle night and day across the arid Llano Estacado plateau to the Pecos River on the far side. The men are a rough crowd ... (please click for full review on Obsidian Bookshelf of The Filly by Mark R. Probst) ( )

I have never read a western novel. I have nothing against them. I just never had the urge. I am not a huge fan of American-style movie westerns either. Give me the dark, stylized Italian ones any day of the week. I also hated "Brokeback Mountain", which was the only thing I had ever encountered involving gay cowboys. That being the case, I started Mark R Probst's, debut novel, "The Filly", with minimal expectations. To my surprise, I found the book to be a charming, engrossing and thoroughly entertaining read.

The story in a nutshell: Handsome cowboy Travis, new in town, breezes into the general store where he encounters teenaged bookworm Ethan. Sparks fly. Travis finds work at the local ranch. Travis and Ethan become friends and Travis talks Ethan into signing onto a 900-mile cattle drive. En route, Ethan spies Travis bathing in the river and the sight of the water glistening off his lean, well-muscled frame makes the young man go all light-headed (as all the blood rushes from his head down into his quivering young loins). There's much more to the story of course, but it isn't very long so I don't want to give anything else away.

There are a few stock characters in the book (some of the other cowboys are fairly interchangeable, for example), but they all add to the rustic, "Zane Grey" feel of the book, so it's okay. As to the main characters, Travis and Ethan, they are both well-developed and highly likeable, and the evolution of their relationship is both touching and believable. Now, for those of you looking for a one-handed read, you won't find it here. What sex there is in the book is mostly implied, which makes it an ideal read for teens as well as adults.

Being an author myself, I quibble a bit with a few of the author's word choices, but none of those really interfered with my overall enjoyment of the book enough so that I feel they need to be mentioned here. All in all, "The Filly" is a great first novel. It grabbed me early and kept me wanting to turn the pages right up through to the end. I look forward to reading Mark Probst's future works.

- Pat Nelson Childs, author of Orphan's Quest ( )