Adam has managed to keep his sexuality a secret from his father--until his father comes home early one night and catches him in bed with his best friend. Determined to get Adam away from "bad influences," his father uproots him from the life he's known and takes him to live on an old family farm in the country. If that wasn't bad enough, Adam has been promised as an extra set of hands for the neighbors, and is forced to work with Ben, a surly young man who very clearly would rather Adam wasn't there at all. But Ben's not unattractive. And when Adam pushes through the rough exterior, he finds there may be more to his new "supervisor" than he realized. But even if Ben is interested in return, can a relationship like theirs survive in a small town? And what would Adam's father say or do if he found out?

I don't like the stories where parents are terrible to their children when they find out they're any part of the LGBTQ spectrum, but only because I wish they were not a reality for anyone in our community. But since they are, they need to be told, if only to help provide glimmers of hope that things can and do get better, and hopefully these kinds of stories will one day be clearly in the realm of fiction. The story does a good job of addressing the issues that Adam and Ben face, within themselves, with each other, and against the world. There are a few change of heart moments for characters that I thought were a bit superficial or rushed, but overall this is an enjoyable read. ( )