Boolgarrin

by Jude Rule

When a father's hatred becomes a weapon from beyond the grave, two men must fake a marriage to save a family farm.

Finn has hurt him once. Can Ben survive being married to the man he desires most in the world without his heart being crushed in the process?

Located in the fictional town of Murrilup, Western Australia, Boolgarrin is a tender marriage-of-convenience romance. Amidst small-town prejudice and a vengeful neighbour, two men hope for a second chance at love.

152 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 8, 2025

Reviews

[Joyfully Jay · Rating 2 out of 5]

A Joyfully Jay review.

2.5 stars

A few things about this book rubbed me the wrong way. First, the main plot of the fake marriage and the side plot of trying to start a new business fit together fine, but the conflict with Fraudel seems like it was meant for a different version of the story. Fraudel’s actions escalate wildly, but despite the family showing initial concern, they don’t do much to stop him other than contact the police and put up cameras before going back to the other plots.

I really did enjoy the dynamic of Ben and Finn together once they felt free to actually act as a couple, especially their honeymoon where they wined and dined and went on research field trips for their business, and I would have gladly seen more of them working together either to thwart Fraudel or validate their marriage out on the town. Unfortunately I can only judge what I saw, and it looks like this story could have used some more work.

Read Nishan's review in its entirety here.

[ButtonsMom2003]

I really wanted to love this story but there were several things that kept me from doing so. The underlying story was good and I enjoyed the characters. I don’t know if this author had an editor or not but there were many mistakes that just shouldn’t have been there: a wrong name, information that was repeated and a few things that just didn’t seem to make sense. I did receive a review copy of this book but I also borrowed it from KU to see if the mistakes were in the published copy and they were.

I know how hard authors work so I’m not going to leave a star rating at this time. It looks like Jude Rule may be a very new author because I can only find one book on Amazon. I would suggest they hire an editor and continue to hone their craft. Like I said, the underlying story was good and I enjoyed reading it for the most part but the errors were a bit distracting.

A review copy of this book was provided to me at my request; my review was voluntary and not influenced by the author.

[Saskia Veldhuis · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. I was especially interested in the Western Australian setting (having grown up in Perth). The "fake" marriage was well thought out, as were the new businesses incorporating the whole family. The time jumps were occasionally too abrupt - just when some scenes were really developing, the author suddenly skipped to something different. The issues with Fraudel would have been better if there had been more attempts to thwart him, as it was these fizzled out too easily. The family group were wonderful characters, and I really liked Ben and Finn together.

[Maggie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy m/m romance, and I especially enjoy it if the setting is somewhere different. So when Boolgarin came up to read and review, I was in, because it also has a fake marriage trope, which I love.

Read more here: https://wp.me/p12iNR-eDm

[DLB2572 · Rating 3 out of 5]

On the Fence

I wanted to like this one more but there were just too many things that didn't work well for me.

I received an ARC and this is my unbiased opinion

[Jess Middleton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed Boolgarrin, a new book from a new Australian author, and give it 4 ⭐️
It’s a low-angst book about multiple loves. As well as the mm human love interest there’s very much a love of the land, of country.
It’s very evident that the author has a respect for Indigenous Australians and their culture, and I love the weaving of sustainable agriculture into the story, building a future for the extended Merrick family.
The characters, community and country are well-drawn, the relationships are realistic and you definitely get a HEA.
As other reviewers have noted there are some editing issues but they can be overlooked.
I originally got this book on loan through Kindle but chose to purchase and reread. On second reading the irritating parts show up more clearly, but so do the strengths in the writing and crafting, including supporting real businesses.
I look forward to future books from this author.