Reviewed by Annika
TITLE: The Shearing Gun 
AUTHOR: Renae Kaye
NARRATOR: Dave Gillies
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
RELEASE DATE: October 8, 2015
LENGTH: 7 hours, 39 minutes
BLURB:
At 25 Hank owns a small parcel of land in Australia’s rural southwest where he supplements his income from the property with seasonal shearing. Hank is a “shearing gun” – an ace shearer able to shear large numbers of sheep in a single day. His own father kicked him out when his sexuality was revealed, and since no one would ever hire a gay shearer, Hank has remained firmly closeted ever since.
Elliot is the newbie doctor in town – city born and somewhat shell-shocked from his transplant to the country. When a football injury brings Hank to Elliot’s attention, an inappropriate sexual glance and the stuttered apology afterward kick-starts their friendship. Romance and love soon blossom, but it’s hard for either of them to hope for anything permanent. As if the constant threat of being caught isn’t enough, Elliot’s contract runs out after only a year.
REVIEW:
The Shearing Gun was a sweet and at times funny read. Great characters to fall instantly in love with – and the country setting and cowboys were just the cherry on top.
Signing a contract with the government to work in rural areas for the same amount of time as his education, Elliot finds himself in the rural South West working with the local doctor treating everything from broken bones to delivering babies.
A football injury forces Hank to the local doctor for treatment, only the doctor treating him wasn’t the elderly Doc Larsen, but a handsome young city transplant, who if he wasn’t mistaken checked him out when he was removing his shirt. After a few hiccups, the two forms a tentative friendship slow growing into something more. The rest is as they say history.
I loved watching Hank and Elliot together. They shouldn’t work, but they do. They are both closeted and afraid of the consequences if people finds out about them. Heavy subjects are dealt with, but it never brings the story down. It still feels light, romantic and hopeful.
I’ve only listened to one book narrated by Dave Gillies (Loving Jay) before and really enjoyed it. Overall I enjoyed listening to The Shearing Gun too, with one exception; his voice for Elliot didn’t quite match the personality. It was light pitched and immediately brought my mind to twinks and femme characters (yes, I know I’m stereotyping, and I’m sorry for that). This voice was perfect for Jay (in Loving Jay) or Jimmy, Hank’s uncle’s partner who were in fact on the more femme and dramatic side of things. I just couldn’t quite get there with Elliot, it just didn’t fit him or his personality. That being said Gillies has a wide range of voices for the characters – and I just love the accent, it added another layer to an already great narration.
I loved listening to this book. It was everything you’ve come to expect from Renae Kaye. And who can resist a cowboy and a small town doctor? Not me that’s for sure.
RATING: 
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