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A review by kaje_harper
The Shearing Gun by Renae Kaye
4.0
This is another sweet, fast-reading romance from this author, who is becoming trustworthy for a warm comfort read. It is imbued with the feel of a rural sheep operation in Australia, and the lives of the men in that community. Hank is a young man who has made a success of himself after being thrown out of his home for being gay. His gay uncle took him in and helped with funding, but Hank is building his sheep operation with day after day of hard work, supplemented by the income he makes in shearing season. He has a lot of friends around, some of them pretty good mates, whom he drinks with and plays sports with, and works beside. But none of them are close enough for him to share his orientation with. He takes rare breaks in the city to find a bar and a pick-up, and is content but not truly happy.
Elliot arrives in town to take a position as the second physician covering a wide swath of rural practice. And from the first time they see each other, there is a physical attraction that is hard to deny. But in the fishbowl of a small community, having any kind of relationship is difficult. Elliot isn't sure what the elderly doctor who employs him would think if he found out Elliot is gay, and Hank is certain that coming out would make him unlikely to get the vital shearing jobs he needs, no matter how much of a "gun" he has proven himself to be.
Small town life is slow, but there are moments of crisis everywhere. Navigating those crises will show Hank and Elliot how they fit together, or determine whether the risks will push them apart.
This was a smooth, easy read with some likeable characters. There was nothing unexpected about the plot, but it worked well and the unusual setting added interest. I felt just a little distanced by the narrative style which occasionally explained too much - nice to avoid confusion but at the same time making the narrator appear to address the reader and thus pushing me out of the emotions of the story a bit. Still, fun and sweet and well worth rereading when I need a light, comforting story of finding love and your place in the world.
Elliot arrives in town to take a position as the second physician covering a wide swath of rural practice. And from the first time they see each other, there is a physical attraction that is hard to deny. But in the fishbowl of a small community, having any kind of relationship is difficult. Elliot isn't sure what the elderly doctor who employs him would think if he found out Elliot is gay, and Hank is certain that coming out would make him unlikely to get the vital shearing jobs he needs, no matter how much of a "gun" he has proven himself to be.
Small town life is slow, but there are moments of crisis everywhere. Navigating those crises will show Hank and Elliot how they fit together, or determine whether the risks will push them apart.
This was a smooth, easy read with some likeable characters. There was nothing unexpected about the plot, but it worked well and the unusual setting added interest. I felt just a little distanced by the narrative style which occasionally explained too much - nice to avoid confusion but at the same time making the narrator appear to address the reader and thus pushing me out of the emotions of the story a bit. Still, fun and sweet and well worth rereading when I need a light, comforting story of finding love and your place in the world.