Reviewed by Anna Lynn
TITLE: Against the Grain
SERIES: Auckland Med #4
AUTHOR: Jay Hogan
PUBLISHER: Southern Lights Publishing
LENGTH: 406 pages
RELEASE DATE: December 8, 2020
BLURB:
I don’t like labels and I’m happy that way, but it’s taken a long time to get here. A jerk of a father, too many bullies to name, and a string of dipshit boyfriends whose interest in me rarely made it past the skirts I sometimes wear. Suffice to say, my faith in men runs a little thin.
The last thing I need is a gruff, opinionated, fiery, closeted, Paralympian jock messing with my hard-won peace. Miller Harrison is a wrinkle in my life I could definitely do without. I have a job that I love at Auckland Med., a boss who understands me, and a group of friends who accept me as I am.
I should walk away.
But Miller knows a thing or two about living life against the grain, and that hope I thought I’d buried a long time ago, is threatening to surface.
REVIEW:
I love reading all of Ms. Jay Hogan’s books, but especially An Auckland Med. story, and this one didn’t disappoint! Against the Grain is book 4 of the Auckland Med Series whose main character we have met in the previous book. Sandy Williams is the esteem assistant to Dr. Ed Newton, the new Pathologist of Auckland Med. Miller Harrison is a Paralympian who plays for the Wheel Blacks and one of the players who represents their country in international competition, highly visible and revered.
Miller and Sandy have had their fair, sometimes more than, share of heartaches, be it about family, career, disappointments and life-changing situations that they have forged through and still fighting for, in some cases. Although Miller hasn’t really experienced homophobia per se because he hasn’t been out, yet, but Sandy has had more than his share.
You cannot really choose who to love, when your heart starts beating for someone, that’s it! Falling head over heels for Sandy was something that Miller didn’t see coming. Coming out hasn’t really been paramount in his life because let us be honest, Miller didn’t have someone important enough for him to do it for. If you say he could have “outed” himself for his own happiness, well he could have, but he didn’t see the point because why stir the peace, or so he says. His family knows and that was enough for him at the time, but meeting and falling for Sandy makes him want to have a freedom to show the world who he loves and cares for.
Sandy’s coming out resulted to something that required him to avail of psychological attention for a few years. He believed that his sexuality played an important role as to why his father left and divorced his mother after. So whenever he meets someone who doesn’t know him yet, his defenses are always up. He doesn’t allow himself to be judged, he lives how he wants to live, for himself. Maybe it’s selfish, but he decided that if he let people’s opinions and homophobia affect him, he will live a miserable life. He knows that he is an acquired taste but if someone truly cares about him, they will accept him for who he truly is. He is happy the way he is, he loves his job and he is good at it, he has friends who accepts and loves him. He is content, or so he thought.
I love Miller and Sandy/Dee, they had to go through a lot in order to have their own happiness. And that is why I love Ms. Hogan’s books, they are amazingly written, with endearing characters in situations that are true to this day.
RATING: 
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