Title: Stick Shift
Author: K.M. Neuhold
Series: Big Bull Mechanics #3
Pages: 276
Red has had a crush on his straight best friend Journey since he was a teenager. It helps that he left the country years ago as a travel blogger and their relationship consists of sporadic texts and chats but now Journey is home and taking over his deceased uncle’s farm. Neither of them know how to take care of the farm but they can figure it out together, if things don’t change between them first.
This is a friends to lovers, queer awakening that while I enjoyed it was also a bit boring at times. Journey is a travel blogger who comes home after the death of an uncle and learns he has been given a farm. He realizes he is ready to stop traveling and wants to try to make this farm work, especially if Red will help him. Journey eventually realizes that he is bisexual and demisexual after realizing his feelings for Red. I liked Journey and his growth into learning more about himself and his sexuality.
Red on the other hand had no personality outside of making Journey happy. We never get anything about his backstory or family. He doesn’t even take time to think about selling his house and moving into this farm with Journey, which only his coworkers seemed concerned about but they didn’t even really try to talk to him about it either. My other issue was that while Red seemed to be taking all the notes and being the prepared one when it came to taking over the farm, neither of them asked Jane to go over the feeding schedule with them or to stay for one more day and go through the routine at least once with them, which I find very irresponsible as animal owners.
Overall, this was not as good as some of Neuhold’s other romances but I still plan to read the rest of the series.
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Previous books and reviews for the series:
Red-Haired Ash Reads 