The Farm

But We're Bros! #17

by Heath Grayson

”But then, Buck still was a straight boy, wasn’t he? Ostensibly, at least. And I’d been with more than a few curious straight guys in my past.” – Cody

Running a farm is hard work. Running a farm when I have no idea what I’m doing is even harder. That’s why I plan to sell. After I inherited it, my old friend Buck reached out to offer condolences and help with the farm if needed. My heart stopped when I saw his message as memories of him filled my head.

Buck used to boss me around when we were younger but was never a jerk about it. If anything, I kind of liked it. The last time I saw him was … eye-opening. We had an entire conversation while only his huge farmer’s hand protected his modesty. From what I could tell, there was a lot to protect.

The idea of Buck returning to help me rehab the farm and get it back to its profitable glory is alluring. And terrifying. Broad, muscular frame honed by the land, topped with loose curly hair that grows under his ball cap. His gigantic paws could handle anything or anyone easily. I don’t know what I’m going to do yet. I do know that working with Buck again will be more difficult than just learning how to plow.

Genres: Romance, Novella, M M Romance, Gay

157 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 3, 2022

About the author

Heath Grayson writes erotic fiction featuring men who've just found out there may be more to life than they ever imagined. His debut series, But We're Bros!, depicts guy friends crossing lines that bros typically don't. Heath is fascinated by the quiet moments between men, how a single stare, repeated joke, or the simple brush of a hand can turn into something much more. The first time with your good bro can change your world.

Reviews

[~✡~Dαni(ela) ♥ ♂♂ love & semicolons~✡~]

I skimmed mostly, so I'm not going to rate.

Much of M/M romance is written by women, so I really appreciate a male perspective. I liked the rawness of this story, but that's about the only good thing I can say.

The writing is amateurish with numerous editing fails and an abundance of exclamation points!!!!

There is no character/relationship development, no real plot, no distinct ending.

This is basically bad porn in novella format.

I won't be reading anything by this author again.

[J · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this is Heath's best yet. He really delves deeply into the two characters and makes them come alive in a situation many of us find ourselves in, close proximity to someone we want to love but are too afraid to do so because of fear. Buck's and Cody's story builds on their childhood friendship and blossoms into a wonderful, romantic HEA, although there are some significant bumps along the way.

Heath is an automatic "buy" from me bc his stories are so raw, so beautiful, and so masculine. He writes about sex and the relationships between men in a real world kind of a way. I love all the various MM romance tropes and stories out there but they're usually missing a dimension, mainly the male perspective. Each book from Heath hits all the right notes for me, and I'm glad I discovered his books.

[⚓Dan⚓ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, just Wow! Heath's books just get better and better :^)

[Rielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

These are the perfect little palette cleansers. If you go in understanding these are slightly silly, but meant to be fun then you’ll thoroughly enjoy the series. I use them when I’m in a slump.

[Lb [worlds longest slump] · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another one that’s an actual story!!

I liked this 🥰

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Buck and Cody were summer friends while teens. Cody spent time with his biological father on his farm and Buck was there as the son of the farm manager. Cody figured out that he was gay when he realized he was more attracted to Buck than any woman. Buck had girlfriends and identifies as straight.

Ten years passed before they crossed paths again, following the death of Cody's father. Cody had inherited the farm, but he lacked the confidence that he could manage it, so he was considering selling. Buck talked him out of it and told him that he would come back to work as the manager. Cody was attracted to Buck immediately ramped up again, but this time, he was surprised to not that it was being reciprocated at times. Can these two men find a relationship when Buck seems to run hot and cold with Cody and Cody lacks the confidence that he can make a success of the farm?

This romance is more raw and probably realistic to real life. It's not a steady relationship arc, but the two men get there. More than a few typos make the reading jarring at times. There is a lot of passion, sexy times, emotions, and a satisfying HEA.

[Robert Fontenot · Rating 5 out of 5]

I generally love Grayson‘s work, and this is no exception. This is one of the hotter ones, but there is that characteristic emotional depth that really carries it through. Cody‘s relationships with his family, past and present, give his character a richness not often seen in an erotic novella and Buck’s coping mechanisms make him feel like one of the more realistic closeted men in the genre. There is still my usual complaint about a lack of specificity in Grayson‘s work. At times it feels more convoluted to try to talk around details such as city, county, state specifics than it is to just make a commit to setting the story somewhere. I don’t think we ever find out exactly what crop they were trying to grow on this farm.

[JKGuy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this author! His stories keep getting better and better, and I'm loving the word building he's created. Both the main characters are complex, and I couldn't put the book down once I started. Their relationship is complicated but it's it's so worth the journey. And the heat level on the read is perfect!

[SJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like this type MM genre written by men, and perhaps aimed more at men who read MM? It is usually pretty basic writing and a story that is in the neighborhood of porn with plot. I enjoy the natural sounding dialogue. This author’s book ran evenly between sex and a plot of a man coming back to his roots in the farm he has inherited. Cody is the single POV as he navigates a many years long unrequited lust for Buck, the earthy farmer. What an odd duck is Adonis like Buck. He is extremely basic and masculine. He does not hold back in his views and opinions. He is his own person. Cody is an introspective man who has been screwed over by his family all his life. The product of a one night stand who has no real place in his mother’s world. I felt for him in scenes with his dreadful family. Cody was much more at home at his father’s cash crops farm while growing up. The story is his attempt to get the dilapidated fields and farm up and running again. Buck comes back into his life as farm manager who is eager to keep the large acreage out of the hands of developers.
There is a lot of sex, but the book is not sex heavy. The relationship between the MCs is crazy up and down from Buck’s straight to gay freak outs. The book ends on an up note.
I enjoyed this easy to read story and am going to read another.

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

May 2024 reread: My comments below mostly hold up. Wish Buck had been developed more. Well, maybe in the sequel?

This was a surprising bit of erotica. The author apparently has written number of stories where bros (friends) fall for each other somehow. In this case, the author has developed two bro characters with some complexity and made a fairly decent m/m romance. Romance-Ish.
Cody's got a troubling family history. His mother was married to Carl and they had two children when she drunkenly slept with his father. Carl and his older half-siblings didn't really treat him in a familial sense growing up, and they often excluded him often and left him to be the odd boy out. He'd be seated at the not-family tables during weddings, or he'd not be invited to family birthday party, or Carl (don't call me Dad call me Carl) would only take his real kids camping. Each summer though, Cody would visit his biological father's farm, and spend the months playing and working side-by-side with Buck. The two of them were friends through their 18th summer, when Cody realized he was wildly attracted to Buck. That was the last time they saw each other. Cody went to college, got a great job, bought a condo, and somehow got conned into paying for his older sibling's weddings.
When Cody is 28, his biological father passes away and leaves him the family farm. Cody decides to make it a go, after Buck encourages him and insists on helping him. But Buck has got his own issues with homophobia and drinking, as Cody witnesses both repeatedly. It's disturbing to see how Cody keeps going back for more every time he's abusively rebuffed by the bigger man. And that's my only major issue for this.
The sex scenes here felt more realistic and grounded than most other. I attribute this to the author being male and more thoughtful about it. (Most modern gay books seem to be written by women with some very weird ideas about m/m sex.)
Three stars (has a lot of charm, mostly I knocked it down for the red flags about Buck)

[J W H · Rating 3 out of 5]

Welllll

I love a series, and there is nothing wrong with this one . I do agree with another reviewer that it just ends with so much not finished. I read over 500 mm/mmm/mm paranormal/mm books last year that I am sad to say there is a cookie cutter formula that almost all writers seem to use these days. At least they are not dark morbid sad with horrible endings as the gay books of the 70s were. This series would be so much more if the MC's were continued mixed with the next brought up again friends of the other MC's some sort of continuation. That's just me, writer's write usually what they know, I hope that this writer has had more than just straight boi's

[Dave Fredrickson · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was awesome! Great characters, interesting story, hot steamy romance! This was the perfect story for me. I grew up on a farm, moved away from the farm and inherited it when my father passed, so this really was a home run for me. The development of the relationship isn’t without a hiccup, but it ended up on the right track and we get a beautiful HEA!!!

[Adrian Cross · Rating 4 out of 5]

Impressed

For a male author, this exceeded my expectations. There were no insanely filthy moments that would have you questioning your sanity and actually included a realistic process of figuring out who you are later in life. In other words, ate.

[Theodore · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF @ 20%

So Cody knew Buck was homophobic but was still 100% willing to work with him on the farm AND kept a torch burning for him? It's one thing to have unrequited attraction to a straight guy, it's a whole other thing to pine for a homophobic, traditionally toxic straight guy AND still choose to work with him.

Buck just basically just going "oh, sorry. I'm not actually an asshole, just inexperienced with progressive stuff" was what got me to DNF. I don't think something as strong as "I hate illegals" and "the alphabet mafia" type ideas really fit in a novella like this. I personally need stronger writing and plots for those kinds of topics (especially homophobia in a freaking GAY romance novel). If Buck was suddenly alright with dropping the homophobic shit, then he shouldn't have been homophobic in the first place imo. That sort of change in personality needs a lot of character development that books < 200 pages don't have space for, ESPECIALLY when it's not even the POV character going through that change.

TL;DR: I don't like homophobia in MM romances, but I can read through if it's handled in a respectable manner (aka treating it like an actual character flaw and having the homophobic character either grow and learn through proper character development OR having them suffer appropriate consequences for having such backwards beliefs). This book doesn't do that because Buck spouts the generic "I hate the gays" shit then turns around in the next chapter and is suddenly "oh, I didn't mean it that way" and we're supposed to take that at face value.

[Glenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a compelling story of two men who spent many summers together in their youth, returning to the farm where their sexual feelings went unexpressed.

Heath Grayson weaves the narrative from a decade when Cody’s biological father welcomed him each summer, along with his mother and her family with whom he lived. The tension of being treated differently from the other children in his family left a scar.

His best friend during those summers was Buck, the farm manager's son, who now becomes Cody's love interest as he seeks to restore the farm to its former glory and save it from urban development.

The author blurb on Mr. Grayson indicates he writes erotic fiction and he delivers on that. With graphic descriptions, Buck, who identifies as straight and has posted homophobic rants on social media in the past, initiates their first interaction. Meanwhile, Cody laments that Buck is his employee.

Despite his youthful lust for Buck, he never acted on it, and this pairing occurs as Buck works to revive the 20-thousand-acre farm. They face challenges, including Buck’s drinking problem, which is thoroughly explored after he visits a therapist.

The book is well-written and is a page turner. It has anger and frustrations. It is a love story, a passion for the land where they met, and a belief that their future can be better than their past.

[Sheila · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cody came to his father's farm every summer. Buck's father was the farm manager during the summer. Now Cody has inherited the farm. He is planning to sell it but Buck calls him and urges him not to sell and hire Buck as the farm manager. Cody agrees. Buck comes to the farm. Cody has always had a crush on Buck. Does Cody have a chance with Buck?

I enjoyed this story. I liked Cody. There were times Buck was a jerk. He hurt Cody too often because of his insecurities. Cody tries to stay mad, but he is a very forgiving man. It is not only Buck who hurts Cody but his family also. While I was glad his stepfather let him know he was loved, the stepfather picked a lousy time to tell him. I did not like the pressure his family put on him to sell the farm. I was glad that Cody won out on that. I was happy when Buck comes back and really talks to Cody and lets him know what spooked him and why he left. I was glad the two ended up together.

I look forward to another book in this series.

[Brown One Gem · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pleasantly surprised

Given the title of the series and all the innuendo in the summaries, I didn’t really expect this well written novella tbh. This was long enough that we got background and character development. We saw Buck struggle with reconciling his ‘inclinations’. We saw Cody struggle with his feelings for Buck, his family and farming. I was totally drawn in. The steam was steamy alright but not plunked on page for the sake of it. The physical connection was very much a reaction to their emotional connection. This was my first time reading anything by this author, I’ll definitely be exploring more.

[Alicia Meyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

noticing a trend

The concept is good. But I’m noticing a trend in this series. A lot of saying ‘man’ in conversations with the characters. Not just this book but with the last. Also noticed that there is a theme of one guy is gay or somewhere on the spectrum and out and one guy is not and guy gets turned on and freaks out leading realization they are not as straight as they wanted to be or thought. I’ll give the next a chance but if this keeps up I might have to dump the series.

[Larry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bro, I have crush on you.

I do like stories that take place over several years. The bulk of the story is a summer planting, but there were also the summers Buck and Cody were kids. The story touches several issues and handles them all well. I didn’t feel like there were hanging story lines. Great story, I have started another book by Heath

[Keith · Rating 3 out of 5]

It Gets Better

The beginning of this storyline was reminiscent of those 1970s dark-themed gay novels, where it seemed the MCs never got a decent break. This one goes there, but then makes a rather abrupt reversal past the halfway point and manages to create a promise for a happy ending. Unfortunately, there is more left unsaid at the end than answered.

[Merulus Valayil · Rating 5 out of 5]

So so hot and slightly ansgty

Love the character development so much, especially of the Straight Boy and not even in terms of turning gay but in terms of learning to heal himself. I love that subplot journey.

[Tom Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Get ready you will be up passed bed time.

This one of those books that you read fast to find what happens next. The emotions of the characters will grab you as well. It's a fun read and one that has you thinking. Good ending for the next one.

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

That was fun. Boy remembers boy, boy loses boy, boy gets boy and the farm prospers.

[Laci · Rating 1 out of 5]

No thanks

This book was hard to finish. It's so stupid. The guys are like children. The F word is used about 15 times per page. Just awful.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet m/m romance with a farm and two besties finding each other.

[Vanessa · Rating 5 out of 5]

intriguing story

Buck & Cody story was written well. They had to overcome many obstacles. I can’t wait to read the sequel to their story.

[Reagan James · Rating 4 out of 5]

They got therapy woot woot 🥰

[NTDan · Rating 4 out of 5]

interesting portrayal of buck
im interested to see how this goes in the second book

[laura cabezas · Rating 3 out of 5]

cody & buck: 3.5 stars 🤍🤍 these two were messy af but i fucked with it lmao, i am looking forward to reading the sequel for this one

[Russell Moll · Rating 4 out of 5]

Expected a light fluffy romance and got something a little more….