The Hired Man

The Hired Man by Jan Irving
Dreamspinner Press

Novel: 274pages

4.5 out of 5

Blurb:
Reverend Ian Kenyon knows the harsh sting of life and how a man can suffer a loss of faith. The death of his wife and newborn son shook him to his foundations, and he's been drifting ever since. Bryn Morgan has returned home from prison to the only family he has, an abusive father who abandoned him to the law when Bryn was unjustly accused of rape. Still poor, lost, and shunned, Bryn searches for work, any work that will allow him to survive.

Reluctantly moved by Bryn's plight, Ian hires the young man to work on his farm despite Bryn's prickly, defensive nature. Soon Ian fears his growing feelings of grace and compassion might be something else, something more... heated. Whatever the cause, he knows they are impossible to pursue, because Heaven only knows what would happen if a man of God began to have forbidden feelings for his hired man.

Review:
What can I say I loved it. Jan Irving is now on my automatic buy list, liked her work from when I read The Janitor and this one was no disappointment. My first historical M/M loving, and that just makes it all the more enjoyable. Lets just say I will be reading this genre in the future.

Reverend Ian Kenyon is having it hard, slowly drifting through life without actually seeing it. Suffering years after from the loss of his wife and young son, he feels like an imposter going around and preaching the word of God to his townfolks, when he has lost his faith. How horrible is that he has lived to serve him and in the end all that he loved was taken away. He has lost his faith and sees no way that he will redeem it. Until Bryn Morgan returns to town and he finds him sitting on his doorstep.

Bryn knows what a hard life is, he has lived it. Growing up with an abusive father, dirt poor, the town thinking he's trash and to later be charged with a crime he did not commit. After spending four years in prison he is back and just as lonely and unwanted as when he left. He thinks of one person that might be able to help him, and thats the Reverend. What he never expected was to find complete acceptance and love with the man.

Man this book was a beautiful romance, so sweet and yet laced with pain. You get a glimpse of life for Bryn when he was in prison, and a person who had to face something like that should be covered and cloaked in bitterness; yet Bryn is compassionate and able to see the beauty in everything. By no way is he a pushover, but a fighter who just wants to be loved. What Ian suffered broke my damn heart, for him to get through that speaks highly of his character. He is suffering, but he is also caring and has a deeply rooted dominant and protective nature. The chemistry between both Ian and Bryn was just downright perfection.
Yet as sweet as it was both characters had a lot to overcome, and had to reach an acceptance for their budding relationship.

The writing was a little hard to understand at times, I dont know if it was faulty editing or it was just the speak at the time. That was one of the small problems with the book, the other was just some unusual encounters between the lead male characters and other people in the book. I felt that all those little interludes was unnecessary and instead of adding drama it took away from the book. Otherwise a solid read, with interesting characters and sexy dialogue which I truly enjoyed. The love scenes were few and not overly explicit but I find that made them extra sexy. This Hired Man was a good investment. 
 

4 1/2 Pants Off

Go Ahead Take Those Pants Off