Reviewed by Larissa
TITLE: Against the Grain
SERIES: Auckland Med Book 4
AUTHOR: Jay Hogan
NARRATOR: Gary Furlong
PUBLISHER: Southern Lights Publishing
LENGTH: 11 hours
RELEASE DATE: November 19, 2021
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:
Jay Hogan’s Against the Grain is the fourth book in her excellent Auckland Med series but can be read as a standalone. To say I loved this book would be an understatement. Vibrant, unique characters, an unusual take on the opposites attract romance, and sensitive treatment of disabilities, all wrapped up in sublime writing.
Sandy Williams and Miller Harrison are the leads in this story. We met Sandy in Book Three, Up Close and Personal; he works in the morgue with Auckland Med’s forensic pathologist, Dr. Edward Newton, whose romance with Detective Mark Wright is featured in that story. Sandy is a skirt-wearing, independent, utterly unapologetic force of nature. He knows who he is and refuses to compromise that for anyone – including Miller – or anything – including his job – even though he loves them both.
Miller Harrison, a New Zealand Wheel Blacks player, is a complete contradiction. He is prickly on the outside but a loving, doting, selfless man on the inside. He’s also adorably and frustratingly clueless, especially where Sandy is concerned. However, he has good intentions and is willing to take responsibility for his actions and apologize.
Miller struggles under scrutiny from a physical disability due to a car crash and being out as a gay man while in the public eye. Managing the attention from both simultaneously overwhelms Miller, so he chooses to draw the focus to the former and hide the latter. Inevitably yet unintentionally, Miller essentially closeted himself all over again. Sandy makes Miller realize that authenticity is crucial.
Ms. Hogan gives stellar treatment to Miller’s disability. Her intensive research shows, as does her sensitive handling of it within the story. It’s an integral part of who Miller is and his choices, but it’s not the story’s focus or only who Miller is. It is just another characteristic about him, like his gorgeous red, wavy hair, but it doesn’t define him.
Miller and Sandy have an intriguing dynamic that I wholly invested in. They are so different, yet fit together perfectly. Their evident chemistry sparks through their verbal sparring and their physical encounters which are uber-sexy and smoking hot. 
Miller and Sandy construct an unshakeable bond between them, but they also create an extended “found family” comprised of friends like Cam and Reuben, family, and even an abused, gay teenage friend of Miller’s nephew. Some of the funniest yet most touching scenes in the book involve them. It’s heartwarming, reassuring, and “warm fuzzies”-inducing.
Gary Furlong is back, narrating the audiobook of Against the Grain. Like his vocal performances in the three previous books, he takes Ms. Hogan’s top-notch writing and adds his inherent ability to tell a great story. The result is a wholly engrossing listen that will make the eleven-hour length fly by.
Mr. Furlong embraces the complex personalities of Sandy and Miller, and he channels them through vocal characterizations that accurately communicate who they are, what they are feeling, and why. The story features a host of secondary characters, and even those get similar, thoughtful treatment, with all these varied voices delivered consistently with distinction.
If you’ve read Book Three, Crossing the Touchline, Cam Newton’s over-the-top, sharp-tongued, unapologetic personality has indelibly imprinted in your mind. He plays a role in this story as well. Sandy bears that same determined countenance and saucy, spirited personality. He’s less abrasive than Cam, but doesn’t shirk from confrontation when defending his principles or someone he cares about. But he’s also generous and kind, with an obvious, huge capacity to love that he wants to share with the right partner.
Mr. Furlong captures all of this in Sandy’s voice. It is energetic with vibrancy and determination, and you can often hear Sandy’s fierceness come out through sarcasm-laced dialogue.
Miller is a man with a strong presence. Like sandy, he is also fierce, determined, and often defensive. Mr. Furlong has Miller’s voice sit in a lower register to Sandy and adds a bit of a growl to it. It’s different in tone and speed, but no less intense. It’s an expertly crafted representation of Miller’s character.
Mr. Furlong then marries these two voices and hence Miller and Sandy’s personalities, evidencing how perfect they are as a couple. We listen and we get it. We understand how they fit together. It’s the inevitable byproduct of an exceptional writer and narrator collaboration as we have with Ms. Hogan and Mr. Furlong.
Against the Grain is a unique, fascinating, wholly absorbing, and enjoyable listen that I give my highest recommendation. It’s one of the best titles I’ve read and listened to this year.
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