Rating: 4 stars out of 5
Duncan McLeish owns a ranch. Unlike most ranches, this one is in the Scottish Highlands. Having inherited a failing farm from his grandfather, he turns it into a successful business. He has friends and he loves his home, but he’s lonely, and not even infrequent trips to Glasgow and Edinburgh slake that thirst to find someone. Then Drew Sinclair walks into his life.
Drew Sinclair is tantalizingly close to getting his clothing brand noticed in the industry. He and his business partner, Joy, create individual dresses, while, on the side, Drew produces a line of men’s lingerie. He visits Scotland to design a bridal gown for his sister, Jenna, who is marrying Duncan’s best friend at Christmas.
Duncan and Drew have nothing except their Highland upbringing in common, but they say opposites attract, and the attraction is immediate. Is this simply a summer fling, or can two men who live such opposite lives miles away from each other find a way to love?
Reader Advisory: This book contains references to homophobia and references to death of a character’s parents.
This was a very nice story. Duncan has resigned himself to being alone knowing that no one would want to move to the country even if he could ever find someone he wanted to live his life with. Drew throws his lonely and well managed life out of whack and he isn’t sure what to do about it.
Drew has never found someone worth keeping around and will flirt shamelessly with all those around him. They both are open while Drew is visiting but don’t even risk thinking that their lives could be intertwined and they end up hurting themselves more than they even thought possible. It was hard to see both of them hurting and knowing their friends didn’t quite know how to help them.
We see both of these characters’ points of view which allows us to understand these characters better. I could feel Duncan’s confusion about his feelings that contradicted how his grandfather raised him but knowing that he can’t leave his ranch he resigns himself to nothing more ever happening. Drew has never felt this strongly for a lover before and can’t seem to get Duncan out of his head, not even able to move on as he planned when he got back to London. I loved that Drew realized he couldn’t live without Duncan and was able to adjust his life to make their dreams possible.
Cover art is beautiful and gives a great visual of Duncan and background for the story.
Sales Links: Pride Publishing | Amazon
Book Details:
ebook, 196 pages
Published: June 6, 2017 by Pride Publishing
ISBN: 9781786515674
Edition Language: English
Glenn Holloway’s predictable life ended the day he confessed his homosexuality to his family. As if that wasn’t enough, he then poured salt in the wound by walking away from the ranch he’d grown up on, to open the restaurant he’d always dreamed of. Without support from his father and brother, and too proud to accept assistance from anyone else, he had to start from scratch. Over time things worked out: Glenn successfully built a strong business, created a new home, and forged a life he could be proud of.
Two years after riding off into the sunset with ranch owner Rand Holloway, Stefan Joss has made a tentative peace with his new life, teaching at a community college. But the course of true love never does run smooth. Rand wants him home on the ranch; Stef wants an exit strategy in case Rand ever decides to throw him out. Finally, after recognizing how unfair he’s being, Stef makes a commitment, and Rand is over the moon.
Graham has been riding the rodeo circuit for years, and he and his partner, Jackson, have won the calf-roping championship and set high standards for competitors many times. But this year is different. This year, there’s a complication—a group of animal rights protestors are creating a commotion outside the arena, and more specifically, outside the barn where Graham and Jackson house their horses and Graham intends to stop them. But when he gets face to face with them, he’s halted in his tracks by his sudden attraction to one of the young men. Kaz is a college student, vegan, activist, and gay, and he’s stunned by his attraction to the cowboy who comes out to confront his group. He couldn’t be gay too, could he? 
Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words 