The Art of Husbandry by Jay Hogan

I’m a huge fan of Jay Hogan’s character driven mm romances set in New Zealand, and The Art of Husbandry certainly didn’t’ disappoint. It was such a wonderful and swoon worthy gay romance with two amazing main characters to root for, and some added layers of grief and PTDS after the loss of a child.

This is the first book in Jay Hogan’s new Mackenzie country series, and follows two main characters, in alternating POVs; the sheep farm boss Holden with commitment issues and the grieving Gil who lost is daughter in a car accident one and a half year ago, and his marriage soon thereafter.

In an attempt to get a new start and find a way forward from the anger, the grief, the nightmares and the sheer hopelessness of it all that has been his life for the past eighteen months, Gil accepts a temporary offer to be a chef for three months at a high country sheep station in the middle of nowhere. Leaving his psychologist practice and his old life behind, he hoped for a way to move forward. But he got so much more when he unexpectedly connected with the young station boss and suddenly started to feel again…

I truly rooted for both Holden and Gil, and I really appreciated the way in which they slowly began to open up to each other, and for Gil to possibly see a new beginning and hope for happiness and love again, and for Holden to deal with his relationship and commitment problems.

Jay Hogan did a wonderful job with Gil, truly making us see and feel his loss and grief and his inner turmoil, his vulnerability and fear for opening up again and risking more pain. And Hogan was such a cocky and sexy, fun guy with a heart of gold and his own battles. The way the two of them lifted each other was so amazing!

There were also some great side characters and some interesting insights to the hard sheep farming life in southern New Zeeland that I truly appreciated. Sometimes there were perhaps a bit too many details about the farm and its surroundings and the description of the muster and all other farm work that slowed the story down. I also wasn’t a big fan of the way the characters not only told us about their feelings, but also analyzed them for us readers. Especially Gil, which of course in a way makes perfect sense with him being a psychologist, but I still think the story could have benefited from leaving a little more up to the readers. But those minor complaints set aside, this was a beautiful and wholesome story. I especially appreciated that there weren’t any truly bad guys. (Apart from Zach’s homophobic dad.) Gil’s ex Luke was also grieving and just dealt with his grief in another way than Gil, and Zach was jealous at first of course when founding out this best friend/long time crush had moved on, but quickly became supportive.

All in all, this was a heartwarming, poignant and addictive reading experience and a great way to start a new series! I can’t wait to read Zach and Luke’s story in the next installment!

I received a free ARC of this book, which I have voluntarily reviewed.​

Rating:
4 stars

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​Author info:
Jay Hogan