Reviewed by Anna Lynn
TITLE: The Art of Husbandry
SERIES: A Mackenzie Country Story
AUTHOR: Jay Hogan
PUBLISHER: Self-Published
LENGTH: 402 pages
RELEASE DATE: June 1, 2023
BLURB:
When life drowns you in lemons, to hell with making lemonade. I wanted to burn the whole world. But eighteen months from the day my life was torn apart, I’m tired of the anger. Tired of the nightmares. Tired of putting one foot in front of the other just trying to survive. Three months on a high country sheep station in the middle of nowhere is exactly the reboot I need. A chance to break free. To breathe again. To find a way forward.
I put my entire life on hold and head south to Mackenzie Country. But falling for the captivating young station boss was never part of the plan. Holden Miller might be smart and sexy and push all my dusty buttons, but we come from two different worlds. I’m not looking for a relationship. I’m not interested in love. I’m done with all that.
But Holden doesn’t care about my rules. Nestled safely in the arms of the spectacular Southern Alps, on an isolated sheep farm at the top of the world, Holden begins knitting my battered heart together one careful stitch at a time. And with every pass of the thread, every braid of the river on our doorstep, I catch a tantalising glimpse of something I’d almost given up on.
Happiness, and maybe even love.
If I have the courage to reach out and grab them.
REVIEW:
This is the first book in the Mackenzie Country and it shows us the beauty of life in a sheep farm in the Southern Alps, and the people who care for them to live a life of isolation. A story of healing and new love.
Holden Miller has inherited the sheep farm from his grandfather who is suffering from Dementia and is slowly deteriorating as time goes on. But it doesn’t come easy for Holden. The farm is on the brink of losing to bankruptcy if he doesn’t turn it around. He has a lot of innovative ideas that could take them out of that but his Grandpa’s constant reminder (through phone calls) that he is not ready sometimes make him doubt himself and his capability to do what is right for the farm.
Gil Everton accepted the job of Domestic Manager in a sheep farm in the high mountains of the Southern Alps to get a new start, a reboot of his life. After the loss of his daughter in an accident eighteen months ago, and his husband left him (this was coming way before the accident), he was adrift. It was as if his life ended too (which he sometimes wished for). But when he met the young owner of the sheep farm, he started feeling. Oh, he started feeling a lot of things, emotions that he already gave up feeling again.
Attraction between the two was instantaneous although there are too many reasons not to succumb to it, for both sides. But when you live together in one house, you get to know each other better and start understanding the other person, feelings can’t be help. Holden and Gil are meant for each other, they complement each other.
But Holden was well-meaningly advised to focus on the farm and the fact that Gil will only be there for 3 months, also makes a start of a relationship impossible. Even if both men are attracted to each other, it will likely still end in heartache, for both. But Ms. Jay Hogan made it work for both men. I love the fact that they talk, make things clear before doing them. Holden is mature for his age, maybe because he was always with his Grandpa, Grandma and Mom. He doesn’t get the time to just be his age, even when he was younger, because of his responsibilities and what was ingrained in his mind by his Grandpa. Gil, although older, felt young again when he started living in Miller Farm, and you would never know with his looks. He is “hot” and so is Holden. What did I say, they are perfect for each other!
Ms. Jay Hogan’s stories are so beautiful and its’ depth reaches deep into your heart and soul. Add to that a lovely setting and a family you never knew you were longing for. Thank you Ms. Jay Hogan for another well-written beautiful story of two men who have healed each other’s soul, unbeknownst to them. Thank you for all the research you put into writing this book about what goes on in a sheep farm, the struggles of keeping one in business, the hard work of all the men and women in them. Thank you for this lovely and amazing love story. I am looking forward to the next one.
RATING: 
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