I am Mackenzie Country born and bred. Farming the high country runs in my blood, like my father, and his father, and my great grandfather before him. My future has been mapped out for me since the day I was born. Or at least it was, until Liam Skelton walks onto Lane Station, lights a fire in my heart, and turns my whole world upside down.
Bossy, tatted, and out and proud, Liam is everything my father abhors.
And I want him.
Badly.
But having a chance with Liam means risking everything. My family. My future. And my life in these mountains that I love.
Still, the heart wants what it wants, and mine wants Liam.
With so many things against us, maybe we don’t have a chance.
Maybe we’ll crash and burn.
Or maybe we’ll find a way to have it all.
Title: The Science of Attraction
Series: Mackenzie Country #3
Author: Jay Hogan
Genre: MM Romance
Tropes: Hurt comfort | Opposites attract | Humour | Small town | Homophobia | Closeted/coming out | Bisexual awakening | Different worlds | Overcoming odds | Courage
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When we arrived back at the cottage, Jules looked pretty much like I figured I did—grilled to within an inch of his life. I’d barely stepped in the door when he grabbed my hand and pulled me back out onto the veranda and proceeded to kiss me like he hadn’t seen me for months. I loved it, along with far too much of the man actually doing it considering I’d only known him a month.
“I’m so sorry,” he apologised, brushing my hair out of my eyes. “How bad were they?”
“It was fine,” I reassured him. “I just have to be nice to you if I don’t want my balls fed to Holden’s stud Angus bull while they’re still attached. A terrifying thought if I let myself dwell on it too much.”
“Oh god,” he moaned. “I’m gonna kill him.”
I laughed and grabbed his arm before he could follow through. “Forget it. Besides—” I lifted up on my toes and pressed our lips together. “—I have zero intention of being anything other than very, very nice to you.” I palmed his dick through his jeans and squeezed. “So, I figure I’m safe.”
His eyes rolled back in his head and he thrust into my hand, adding in a strangled voice, “The kennel shed out back should be friend-free if we hurry.”
“No time for that.” Zach waggled his brows at us through the window.
“Fuck me,” Jules groaned under his breath.
“I heard that.” Zach smirked. “But Gil needs a hand on the barbecue and your name was volunteered.”
“Go on.” I gave Jules a shove toward the front door and then slapped his butt on the way. “We have all night.”
He grumbled over his shoulder, “If there’s anything left of my nerves after the Gordon Ramsey of the Mackenzie is done using me as his bitch.”
I laughed and gave him another shove.
Oh man I knew this would be good, and I was right.
Full disclosure, this can be read as a stand alone, but you should really read the first two for quite a bit of back story.
Ok. Julian. Jules. Golden son. First born. Running the sheep station since his father had a stroke. His very bigoted father. The one who kicked out his other son for being gay. Which is why Julian has buried the fact that he is bisexual. That’s a can of worms he doesn’t want to open. They have enough problems with his father still trying to run the station even though he physically and mentally can’t.
So the family hired one of the best therapists in New Zealand to help Paddy with his rehabilitation. And when he just walks into the family home in the middle of a situation, Jules worries about that can of worms.
Liam is out and proud and isn’t afraid to call people out. Even people he is hired to help. Like Paddy. There’s quite a bit of tension which just reinforces Julian’s desire to bury his attraction to men. Except Liam ticks a bunch of boxes Jules didn’t even know he had.
This is a great story that really allows Julian to grow and to come into his own. He is moving the station into producing better wool, spending where it needs to be spent as an investment. Without the support of his father. Or his father’s best friend who lives there as well.
But with his father out of the day to day grind, Julian shines. He is a great boss, working right alongside the other men, never expecting them to do something he wouldn’t. Which is the biggest reason most of them know he’s been sneaking around with Liam.
I won’t say much more because there’s a lot of story there. But none of it was tedious. I gasped, I cried, I swooned, I cheered.
I will say that I love that Jay Hogan (and other authors) from New Zealand or Australia don’t pander to American readers. Kiwi slang is used often and it’s fun looking things up. Plus I feel like I learn stuff reading these books. I google everything to get a good idea of where the story takes place.
I think this one is the strongest story of the three. Don’t get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed the first two books. But this one, with Julian standing up for himself, growing into his own man, I loved it.
4.5 pieces of eye candy
Heart, humour and keeping it real.
Jay is a 2020 Lambda Literary Award Finalist in Gay Romance and her book Off Balance was the 2021 New Zealand Romance Book of the Year.
She is a New Zealand author writing mm romance and romantic suspense, primarily set in New Zealand. She writes character driven romances with lots of humour, a good dose of reality and a splash of angst. She’s travelled extensively, lived in many countries, and in a past life she was a critical care nurse, nurse educator and counsellor. Jay is owned by a huge Maine Coon cat and a gorgeous Cocker Spaniel
Find Jay in all the places: https://www.jayhoganauthor.com/landingpage