Sign-In
Cart
The Ranch Hand Diaries: Second Act, First Rodeo
Paperback
Series: The Ranch Hand Diaries
General FictionGeneral GLBTQIA Fiction
Publisher Price: $19.99
Publisher: David Nygaard
Published: Sep 4 2026
Pages: 492
Weight: 0.96
Height: 1.22 Width: 5.00 Depth: 8.00
Language: English
At fifty-five, Lance Nels Nelson had his glide path to retirement perfectly manicured: spreadsheets, timelines, and enough Sauvignon Blanc to soften the edges of daily corporate life. Then a sudden layoff yanks the rug out from under him, leaving Nels with a severance package, a cookbook vision, and a terrifying amount of time to wonder what comes next.
With help from his golden retriever husband, Buchanan Buck DeWitte, Nels attempts to rebrand himself from project manager to lifestyle domestic icon. Unfortunately, soufflés collapse, budgets tighten, and their once-comfortable Denver life starts looking less like a forever home and more like a very expensive holding pattern.
When Buck's own thirty-year finance career gets tangled in a Texas-sized corporate mess, the couple heads north for what is supposed to be a temporary reset: ninety days in a doublewide trailer on a dusty Northern Colorado tree farm owned by Nels' no-nonsense sister. The farm needs help. The event center needs events. The Mercantile needs someone with retail instincts, vintage Pyrex opinions, and the ability to turn chaos into an Instagram caption.
What begins as a practical family favor quickly becomes something much bigger. Between sunflower patches, barn dances, weather-obsessed farmers, shirtless tractor moments, budget coffee, surprise friendships, and one dangerously charming social media account, Nels and Buck discover that country life may not be the detour.
It may be the destination.
Funny, heartfelt, and proudly Gen X, Second Act, First Rodeo is an LGBTQ comedy about reinvention, chosen family, rural chaos, and the terrifying joy of realizing the life you planned might not be the life you want after all.
Second Act, First Rodeo, by Dave Nygaard, launches The Ranch Hand Diaries comedy series with a funny, heartfelt LGBTQ rom-com about midlife reinvention, chosen family, accidental internet fame, and finding joy when the life you planned falls apart.
Also in
General GLBTQIA Fiction
That's What Friends Are for: A Hilarious, Tender Story Based on the Golden Girls
Rouse, Wade
Hardcover
Heap Earth Upon It: Exclusive American Edition with Additional Material
Howarth, Chloe Michelle
Paperback
The Impossible Garden of Clara Thorne: A Cozy, Sapphic Romantasy with Gardens, a Quest, and Lots of Spice!
England, Summer N.
Paperback
Heaven Official's Blessing: Tian Guan CI Fu (Deluxe Hardcover Novel) Vol. 1
Mo Xiang Tong Xiu
Hardcover
Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation: Mo DAO Zu Shi (Deluxe Hardcover Novel) Vol. 5
Mo Xiang Tong Xiu
Hardcover
The Husky and His White Cat Shizun: Erha He Ta de Bai Mao Shizun (Novel) Vol. 11 (Special Edition)
Rou Bao Bu Chi Rou
Paperback
The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System: Ren Zha Fanpai Zijiu Xitong (Deluxe Hardcover Novel) Box Set
Mo Xiang Tong Xiu
Hardcover