Review by Lily Lamb
TITLE: Cutting Out
AUTHOR: Meredith Shayne
PUBLISHER: Bottom Drawer Publications
LENGTH: 222 pages
BLURB:
A twenty-year veteran of the shearing shed, Aussie Shane Cooper loves his job, and the home he’s made for himself in New Zealand. If he’s a little lonely, he’s got good mates to keep his spirits up. When a hot, cocky young shearer named Lachlan Moore catches his eye at a competition, he’s content to look but not touch, knowing the young man is out of his league.
Lachie wouldn’t mind a piece of Shane, but the gorgeous gun shearer from Australia is soon forgotten when the Christchurch earthquake hits, and tragedy strikes Lachie’s family. Lachie deals with it the best he can, cutting himself off from all he knows. A year later and he’s back in the shearing shed, out of practice and lacking confidence. That Shane’s there to watch him flounder doesn’t help his nerves.
As Lachlan struggles to re-acclimatise, Shane can’t resist giving him a hand to get back on his feet. As they move from friends to something more, Shane finds himself wanting to know everything he can about Lachie. But Lachie’s got secrets he desperately wants to keep, and when things come to a head, those secrets might just mean the end of them before they’ve truly begun
REVIEW:
What a beautiful story of love, loss, grief and healing.
Australian Shane Cooper who is in his early forties has been working as a shearer in New Zealand for some years. He made NZ his home for the reasons the readers will find out later. He is a successful shearer and is well known in his field. During a competition, Shane sees younger Larrikin Lachie and feels emotions that he did not feel for some time and the feeling is mutual. Sadly before these two men actually meet, tragedy strikes with a huge earthquake in Christchurch where Lachie’s family live and sometime later Lachie and Shane meet again and this time they work together as shearers.
There are many things I loved in this story; the descriptions of the areas to the point I now want to see NZ. I also learned a little about the life of a shearer and felt I was among them when they were working….I think I even felt the twinge in my back from the repetitive position to hold sheep to shear. The way the writer described the earthquake so eloquently, I found myself in tears. The trauma of Lachie’s family felt like my own trauma and my heart went out to them. The grief process and symptoms of depression were described and explained in a very empathic and insightful manner.
Insecurities of older Shane left me feeling very protective of him. I felt his joy, hopes, and his sadness as well as his passion. He was a very lovable man that anyone would be proud to call “my man”.
Both characters were well established, complementing the plot and Kiwi culture.
Whilst sex was sensuous, it did not play a huge part in the story and did not defocus me as a reader, from the actual story.
Lachie’s emotional struggle felt very realistic. The story was so engaging to the point, I found myself in Lachie’s family home among the mess with two young teens trying to survive a very difficult time as well as Lachie’s own grief and quitting his Larrikin ways as he had to assume the head of the family role. His mother’s trauma was described appropriately for the event and made me very emotional.
The dialogue between the characters were appropriate to their sex, age and experience and I enjoyed noticing those fine qualities.
What made this story extra special that any adult can understands how the Christchurch earthquake was, and its impact on the individual, family and the community. Those pages were written so articulately as well as with empathy.
The only thing I noticed in the story is at times it was more focused on the events than the emotions. I respected that because the earthquake in Christchurch happened recently and is still fresh in our minds. The delicate balance between the fiction and the reality part in this story must have been very hard for the writer. I personally applaud the writer for the way the writer picked this topic.
Whilst there were minor misconnections in the story because it is a complex plot, I think the writer did a fabulous job of showing me the lives of shearers, the trauma a community experienced, two men falling in love with each other in very difficult circumstances, grief , loss, emotional struggle of teens and a grieving mother/wife.
This story will be a reread for me in the near future because I was captivated with the plot and characters.
I really enjoy this one. I was on holiday in New Zealand for two weeks and really love this beautiful and peaceful country. So the setting of the story in NZ with the wonderful descriptions is such a pleasure to read. I especially enjoy the camaraderie among the sheep shearers and the writer has certainly done her research, including the slangs. I like both the MCs and their slow burning romance. Sex only starts about 60%+ into the story which is just fine by me! Some maybe frustrated with the g
RATING: 
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