Reviewed by Tammy
TITLE: Roses, Rallies & BBQ
SERIES: Clan McKinloch #5
AUTHOR: Kaitlin Maitland
PUBLISHER: Loose Id
LENGTH: 112 pages
BLURB:
Ossian McKinloch is the quintessential big brother who has all the answers, all the time. He considers himself the confirmed bachelor of Clan McKinloch until Jax Bequette stumbles into Oz’s pub and shakes things up. Now Oz is having trouble keeping things casual. Who can resist a guy like Jax who is the perfect mix of fun, masculine, and sexy as hell?
Jax Bequette has never been comfortable in his own skin. Raising his younger sister after their parents’ death gave Jax no time to explore his sexuality. When his friendship with Ossian McKinloch slides into something more, Jax is ready to explore what he’s been missing. The chemistry is combustible, but Jax is almost afraid to believe that he could ever be enough to tame a free spirit like Ossian.
REVIEW:
Jax Bequette and Ossian “Oz” McKinloch have been friends for several months. Oz wants to keep things casual and not have to admit either to Jax or himself that he’s falling in love with his best friend. Oz has had a few lovers in his life both male and female but no-one for the last ten years. His last lover just about destroyed him and he’s not too keen to let anyone else close enough to finish the job!
Jax had to raise his little sister after their parents died so he never really had a chance to explore who he was or who he liked. He has always known that he was not comfortable with himself as he is until he meet Oz. The more time they spend together the more Jax realises that what they have is a lot more than simple friendship. He instigates a mutual masturbation “incident” over the Christmas holidays and from that moment on Jax goes out of his way to be with Oz every chance he gets. Oz tries to keep his distance but he just can’t. How can he stay away from the one person who has come to mean everything to him?
Over the next several months there are a lot of misunderstandings between the two. Jax wants to tell the world he’s in love with Oz but, Oz refuses to put a label on his sexuality. And when Jax learns about the fact that Oz has been with both men and women it just lends to his confusion, does Oz want to keep his options open?
The stress of it all becomes too much for Jax, he feels like Oz won’t own his feelings and is just marking time with him. The split is of epic proportions and Jax goes off the rails trying to come to terms with the fact that he’s gay and now he’s single. The group of people he decides to hang out with are not exactly pillars of the community, they have ‘rallies’ almost every night. The leader of the group is the only person who knows about Jax being gay and holds it over his head. He gets Jax to do increasingly dangerous stunts at their rallies by intimating that he’ll out him to the others if he refuses. Jax has come to the realisation that he’s trapped, he either does the dangerous stunts or accept the consequences of everyone knowing. It’s at about this time that Oz gets a little help from one of his brothers to come to terms with the fact that yes, he is gay and yes, he is in love with Jax. Now he just has to find him to tell him!
I love the way Kaitlin tells her stories, there are twists and turns you never expect but you are never left feeling lost. This is the first Can McKinloch book I’ve read but I didn’t feel lost coming in at book five you get background information about everyone who was in previous books, of course I’ll now have to read the previous four books in the series but if they’re anything like this one and knowing Kaitlin’s books, they will be! You are never left wanting when you read a Kaitlin Maitland book! Except wanting more of course! This is definitely a book I recommend to everyone.
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