Boolgarrin by Jude Rule

RECENT RELEASE

Book Title:  Boolgarrin

Author:  Jude Rule

Publisher: Warru Press

Cover Artist: Leo Fortin

Release Date: November 8, 2025

Tense/POV: third person, past tense, alternating POV

Genres: Contemporary MM Romance

Tropes: Small town romance, fake marriage, marriage-of-convenience romance, second chance

Heat Rating: 3.5 flames    

Length: 38 913 words/ 150 pages

It is a standalone story and does not end on a cliffhanger.

Goodreads

Buy Links - Available in Kindle Unlimited

Amazon AU  |  Amazon US  |  Amazon UK

He thought he was saving the farm. He never expected to lose his heart.

Blurb

Sometimes you have to fake it before you make it—especially when it comes to marriage.

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.

Excerpt 

Ben couldn’t sleep. He twisted in the sheets, fists clenching against the mattress. The ceiling above seemed to tilt with the shadows, and his breath caught sharp and uneven, as if the ground had shifted beneath him.  He was used to having control of his life, and now he felt completely unbalanced.  His mind was racing.  In one day, his whole life had been upended.  Amelia and Josie had started wedding planning.  The admission by Finn, though, was what really blind-sided him.  

He finally gave up on sleep. Slipping his feet into his slippers, he padded into the kitchen. 

He smiled faintly as he put a couple of brownies in the microwave, then turned to flick on the kettle and noticed pots simmering on the stove. Iris made the best brownies.  

"Sorry," he said. "I thought I'd be the only one up."

Amelia appeared from the pantry, smiling tiredly.

"Can't sleep either?" he asked.

She shook her head and gestured to the kitchen bench. "Come sit. I'm just finishing something."

“I can make my tea and head back to my room,” Ben said.

“Nah, come and join me,” she said, pulling out one of the breakfast stools.  After helping herself to some water from the fridge door, she sat down.

They sat together briefly, neither saying anything.  

“What are you making?” asked Ben, breaking the silence.

“Hand cream.”

“It smells amazing.”

“Thanks,” said Amelia. She smiled, the first genuine smile Ben had seen from her all day. "I've been selling some at the farmers' market in Bremer Bay. Nothing major, just pocket money really, but people seem to like them."  She returned to the pots on the stove and started stirring them.

"Selling them?" Ben raised his eyebrows. "That's brilliant, Amelia. Have you thought about expanding it?"

She shrugged. " I wanted to. I have notebooks full of ideas, including new scents and packaging designs, and I've even researched what it would take to start officially." Her face fell slightly. "Dad said university was a waste of money for girls. That I'd just get married and have babies anyway, so why bother with business studies?  He was happy to spend money on the stuff I needed to make the product, but he wasn’t happy with me selling any, even at the market.”  

Ben felt that familiar anger toward his father rising in his chest. "That's rubbish, Amelia. You know that, right?"

"I know. But when someone tells you something often enough..." She trailed off, focusing intently on her stirring.

"You could still do it, you know. Study business. Sell these." Ben gestured toward her pot of hand cream. "Finn would help with the legal stuff."

Amelia's face brightened. "You think he'd help?"

"Of course he would. Especially after..." Ben paused, realising he was about to bring up the marriage arrangement. "Well, especially considering everything he's doing for us."

For a while, the kitchen was quiet except for the sound of Amelia's spoon scraping the sides of the pot. Ben stared into his tea, Finn's words from earlier echoing in his head.

"Can I ask you something?" Amelia said quietly.

“Sure.”

"I saw your face when Nate said Finn would move in. Why is that such a big deal? He used to stay over all the time."

Ben raked a hand through his hair. "That was different. Back then, he was just Nate’s friend."

Amelia tilted her head. "So?"

He took a big breath.  “It’s a lot, okay?”

“I know, but …”

“Look, if I tell you something, do you promise to never tell anyone, not Finn and definitely not Nate?”

She nodded, “Of course.  I love you, brother. I’m just trying to understand.”

“I’ve never told anyone this before.”

“Then I'm honoured you trust me.”

He laughed nervously and began, fingers picking at his nails.  “When I was seventeen, he came over, but Nate was out with Josie.  Their relationship was still new, and they had gone to the Stirling Ranges, where they planned to have a picnic and do the Kanga Walk.  He told me that he would hang around until they got back, as he hadn’t let Nate know that he was coming anyway.  We had a great afternoon.  We went for a ride and sat down by the old Moreton Bay Fig Tree.  When we returned, he came into my room and we played video games.  We just talked and laughed, and I may have just snaffled a port, so we may have had a drink or two too.”

Amelia arched a brow.  “You may have?”

“Fine, I definitely did.” Ben grinned briefly.  “Finn was more used to drinking than me, but we both became a little tipsy.”

“Oh no.  This is going to be bad, isn’t it?” Ben nodded his head.  

“I started talking to him about how he had the most beautiful, deep blue eyes, like the ocean, that someone could drown in.  I even told him his eyes were cobalt blue.”  Ben put his hands over his face.  “I mean how geeky is that?”

Amelia shrugged and continued to stir her concoction on the stove.  “I don’t know, it’s not as if you told him the hex code for the colour.”

Ben laughed and shook his head.  “No, but it gets worse.  I then told him what kissable lips he has, and then I leaned forward and kissed him.  At first tentatively, but then when he put an arm around me, I reached out and pulled my hands through his hair.”  Ben closed his eyes; the mere thought of that kiss always brought him back to that night, the softness of Finn’s hair and the feel of his lips. It was as if electricity shot through Ben.  Before Ben knew it, he had acted on instinct, their lips moving together, Ben’s tongue moving across the seam between Finn’s lips.  Finn responded, sliding his arm around Ben’s waist and kissing him back. When Finn moaned, Ben pulled him closer.

“Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.”

“Nate,” said Amelia quietly.  She had stopped stirring and was sitting opposite Ben on a stool.  Ben nodded and put his hands over his cheeks.  

“Finn jumped back, causing me to step back.  Our hair was mussed, our skin flushed, and our lips swollen.  Nate opened the door and told Finn that he was home.  He had dropped Josie off on the way.  He looked between the two of us, and I still have no idea what he was thinking.  Finn told him he would join him in a sec.”

“Close call.  I’m glad that Nate didn’t just walk in.”

I shook my head.  “I’m so glad too.  It was bad enough as it was.”

Amelia reached over and put her hand over mine.  “What happened next?”

“Nate’s forehead creased, and he looked like he was going to say something, but then he closed the door and left.”

“Finn spoke quietly, presumably so that Nate wouldn’t hear, but there was a forcefulness to his voice.    ‘What the heck!’ he had exclaimed, ‘we’re both men.’  I looked down, thinking that I’d misread all the signals.  I thought he had liked it.  He told me in no uncertain terms that it could not happen again, as he didn’t like me that way.  He then left the room, while I slumped to the floor, wondering how I was ever going to recover.”

Amelia reached across and squeezed his hand. “So, that’s why you started trying to avoid him?”

“Was I that obvious?”  Ben rubbed his chest, wondering why it hurt so badly all these years later. 

“Yep.  Sorry, but it was very obvious.”

“It was only a couple of weeks later that I came out to you and Nate.”

“So, you fell in love with Finn when you were drunk.”

Ben shook his head.  “No, I had had a big crush on him for a couple of years, before I, well, before that incident.”

“Look, I can see why it was embarrassing back then, but I don’t see why it is such a problem now.”

“Because I made a fool of myself.  I was so utterly embarrassed that I couldn’t face him until now.”  Ben paused.  “Even now.”  

“But is it really that bad?  I mean, you made a pass and he kissed you back, right?”

“Right.”

“And he wrapped his arm around you?”

“Yes.”

“Then, when you were nearly caught by Nate, he lied and told you he wasn’t gay.”

“Right again.  I didn’t even know he was gay until today.”

“I still don’t get why you were so embarrassed.”

“He rejected me, and he is my brother’s best friend, which meant that I had to face that rejection every day.”

Amelia shook her head.  “Ben, I think that he may have rejected you with his words, but his actions say something else.  I think he was attracted to you and liked the kiss.  When he was nearly caught by Nate, he freaked out.”

About the Author 

Jude Rule is an author from Western Australia.  This is his debut novel.

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