Heart and Home by Andrew Grey
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Contemporary, LGBTQ+, Erotic Romance
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Fern

Professional marketer Alan Wright needs time to recover, both physically and mentally. After getting out of the hospital, his best friend Clay takes him to his farm, where it’s quiet to recuperate. Healing is going to take a lot more time and effort than Alan ever imagined and require professional help, which comes in the form of a strong man with a gentle touch.
Haley Martin, a nurse-therapist, has never fit in with his family, the town, or himself. When he’s hired to assist Alan with his recovery, he discovers a place with people like him who live their lives without shame or fear. As Alan begins his recovery, Haley starts to come into his own as well. He just has to have the courage to take it to heart.

As Alan and Haley both learn to overcome their challenges, Haley needs to figure out how to deal with his overbearing father and stand on his own two feet. Together, holding on to each other, they learn to be stronger together and start to build a possible future. But their old lives still have pull, and they both must decide what’s truly important.

Recovering from having been attacked, Alan is grateful his best friend Clay opens his house and farm for Alan to heal and take some time. Determined to get back on his feet, Alan accepts when Clay hires a local nurse-therapist, Haley to help Alan recuperate. Haley has never felt like he belongs anywhere. In the comfort and safety of Clay and Dell’s home, Alan and Haley learn together how to both get stronger and come into their own. Can Haley and Alan both realise what’s most important and move together in the right direction.

I really enjoyed this lovely slow paced romance. At the very beginning, even though Alan and Haley were immediately attracted to each other, they both had their own issues to overcome. While a fair bit of the story focused on this I enjoyed watching Haley find his strength and find a home and place where he belonged. Alan was a secondary character from the previous book and so I was delighted for him to get his own story – but this book totally and completely stands on its own. Readers can definitely start with this and go back to Clay and Dell’s story. I felt awful for Alan – needing to physically, mentally and emotionally recover from his injuries, but I loved watching him come back into his own and find his strength – mental and physical – once again.

Readers looking for an emotional and well paced story should definitely find this fits the bill. With two super solid and interesting plots this story wasn’t just about the blossoming romance between Alan and Hayley, but also about them both sorting through their lives and issues in a safe, stable and warm environment. Hayley had a very difficult family environment he needed to come to terms with and Alan not only had to recovery from his injuries but also try and figure out the direction his life and work in general was heading. Neither of these issues were small or had quick fixes and so I felt the balance in the book was really well handled. The two plots and the relationship were given equal attention and I felt like the whole book sang because of this.

With a bunch of strong secondary characters and layered, realistic and interesting people this was a lovely and engrossing read for me. Readers who want a heavily erotic or intensely sexual story might feel that aspect of the story is a little light on. While there is intimacy and a lovely emotional and connected romance between Alan and Haley – and a few intimate scenes – the story really is more focused on their building a new life together and working to get there. With some awesome characters, some solid and interesting plot and a wonderful setting this is a lovely story and one I will enjoy many times again in the future.