Long Hot Summer by Victoria Purman

It is bushfire season in Adelaide and all those who reside in the Hills are going about their daily business, and looking for any spark that may mean a large, destructive bushfire.

Hannie Reynolds is such a person. She lives in the Hills and runs her remade jewellery business. She lives in a cottage near her aunt. Her mother moved to Cairns after the death of her husband, Hannie’s step father, in a bush fire. Hannie misses her mother but is happier living in the Hills.

Dylan Knight is one of the famous, and infamous, Knight family of fire fighters. He has returned home to Adelaide after a stint in Melbourne. It is there he meets Hannie, again. Hannie, it turns out, is Dylan’s one regret. Dylan had one kiss with Hannie, when they were teenagers, which shocked him but he has never forgotten.

When they meet again after Hannie’s Aunt Mandy falls, the chemistry is still there. Hannie is conscious that Dylan dated her cousin. The same cousin who screamed at her for ‘kissing her boyfriend’ when in fact Alice and Dylan had broken up. Hannie has always been a target for Alice and there are many circumstances in the story when this comes through, and it is obvious when Alice, who is married with children, tries to break up what is happening between Hannie and Dylan. Then a major bushfire happens.

Dylan is working on bushfire strategy and very worried when he cannot contact Hannie. When he sees her burnt out car, he reports her as a missing person. But naturally they do find each other in the aftermath of the fire.

There is also Ted, a secondary character. Ted is Hannie’s dog. Ted has had an operation and needs some special care but he is a subtle prompt that pushes Hannie towards Dylan. He seems like a very cute dog and a bit of a mischief maker.

I really enjoyed this story. The mention of places in Adelaide and the bushfire awareness are two things that bring back memories. I like that Hannie and Dylan manage to re-connect after many years and have still retained that spark between them.

This story is part of a series called Hot Aussie Knights by various writers. I have already read Hot Mess by Amy Andrews. And I think I need to find the remaining stories based on the Knight family of fire fighters.

Reviewed by Heather

Hannie Reynolds returned to Reynolds Ridge after leaving for college. Back in her childhood neighborhood and living in a small cottage is brining her more peace than she ever thought. But when she finds her aunt injured in her step, she faces her biggest high school crush Dylan Knight on her aunts front porch. She can’t believe she faces him again after all those years.
They have history going back to her senior year at the party when he kissed her. But he wasn’t her boyfriend, he was her cousin’s boyfriend. That’s what she thought because after that party she never talked or saw him again. Everything was big misunderstanding on both parties due to her evil cousin.
Now they are back and they want to clear the air since they keep running into each other thanks to her aunt and they are enjoying each other’s company and getting closer than before.
But summer in Reynold Ridge puts everyone edge due to windy condition and fire danger. When another fire approaches her cottage and her aunt’s home, she is almost prepare to leave when her dog gone missing. When she was looking for her dog, she injures her back and rescued by her friends but there is no way to communicating to Dylan. Now they have to wait until they can get back but when Dylan goes back to Hannie’s house and finds her car burned. He finally realize his feeling for Hannie.
What will happen to Hannie and Dylan?? Where she go aftermath of firestorm?? Will Hannie ever stand up to her evil cousin who caused all the problems...

Description of the Reynold ridge was wonderful other than fire danger every summer. I was happy for Dylan and Dannie for finding each other again and Dylan standing up for Hannie. I can’t wait to read about his twin brother. It was perfect for summer read.

Being each other's unrequited first loves has made for a whole lot of awkwardness between Hannie and Dylan, now that she's moved back to take care of her aunt. He's back home too, moving into his parent's place and putting him back in close proximity to Hannie just like when they were kids. As they begin to build a friendship they soon realize that there was always something more between them but a common person kept them apart with lies for their own purposes. And just when they've got a shot at a future together, their world goes up in flames around them.

This was a great story! Romantic, great characters, touching and set in Australia? Awesome!

Hannie is a wonderful, caring character. She's strong, independent, deeply caring for her loved ones (absolutely LOVES her old Labrador Ted!) and creative (designs and makes jewelry pieces). She lives on Reynolds Ridge in a cottage on her elderly Aunt Mandy's property, helping out with the animals, chores and, most importantly, fire prevention.

Dylan Knight, a firefighter, has returned to his home next door to Mandy's property. While on the lookout for fires, Dylan sees Mandy takes a fall and rushes to her aid as Hannie is trying to help her up. Hannie is surprised to see Dylan again and memories from their senior year of high school come flooding back to her. What happened at that time to drive them apart is still painful for Hannie.

Although forest fires where I live have certainly increased in the past decade or so, even a very small one only about half a mile from my home last summer, it is hard to imagine living in an area where every summer there's a serious threat of fire close by! I had forgotten how very arid and dry Australia is...

I bring that up because besides being a very real threat that Hannie must deal with on a daily basis in the summertime, the brushfire that does occur is a turning point in Hannie and Dylan's lives.

Without giving away the story, there is more than a brushfire that threatens Hannie and Dylan's newly kindled relationship. Once they learn the truth about what and who tore them apart, do they have time to continue to rebuild their relationship or will the fire tear them apart?

Victoria Purman is a new author to me but I look forward to reading more from her!

I voluntarily read an advanced reader copy of this book, however, this is my honest opinion.

Thank you NetGalley and Tule Publishing for an advance reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

I'm so enjoying these Hot Aussie Knights!! A second chance romance between Hannie and Dylan. A high school crush that finally comes true. Dylan has returned Adelaide Hills as a firefighter when he runs into Hannie, who is caring for her aunt and her recovering dog. Soon a bushfire breaks out which will threaten theirs lives.

Hot romance, check! Hot fireman, check! Cute Dog, check! How can you go wrong. A great couple that I was rooting for through out the story. Hannie is so kind hearted!!

A great addition to the series, but can be read as a stand alone. I highly recommend this book along with the rest of the books in the series.

If you're a reader that loves stories encompassing heroes that are firefighters, then this is the series for you. Seriously, the first two stories penned by authors Amy Andrews and Sinclair Jayne were fantastic, and this one was no different. Right from the beginning, it was entertaining, fast-paced and had me liking the heroine because she's so passionate about her work and would do anything to make her customers happy. Will she be able to work her magic to make the perfect jewelery piece for someone to cares about?

The dialogue was well-written and drew me into this story due to the main characters back stories, the lies and jealousy of someone Dylan was once very close with, and the obstacles these two face to achieve their happy ever after such as if Hannie can overcome her guilt of an error in judgment she made in the past. However, what I liked most about the dialogue was the light-hearted moments between the hero and heroine as well as between the main and secondary characters. Certainly, Dylan is persistent in wanting to recapture the opportunity they lost in being together in the past. I also liked how kind and caring Dylan was towards Hannie's aunt, because the woman needs all the help she can get due to what's happening to her.

While Hannie, she's a wonderful heroine. I could understand why she's hesitant to give Dylan a chance because of a member of her family's reaction. However, in saying that, I liked that she was strong and brave enough to take a chance on Dylan, because they deserve a second chance at love and shouldn't let the lies interfere with them getting that opportunity. I also liked how kind and caring she is, because family is important and her aunt needs her. Yet, I did feel sorry for her when it came to her cousin. The woman is bitter and selfish and needed to be made to realize that family is important. Indeed, I was a tad disappointed that Hannie didn't put her cousin in her place more than she did.

Overall, Ms. Purman has penned a fabulous and entertaining read in this book where the chemistry was strong and the romance revealed how right these two are for each other. The way this story ended had me concerned for the main characters, as the situation they're going through could end in tragedy, if luck hadn't have been on Hannie's side. However, it was the last chapter that wrapped everything up beautifully, because readers discover how far Hannie and Dylan have come in their relationship, the surprise Dylan had for Hannie and how good being back in Reynolds Ridge has been for the pair. I would recommend Long Hot Summer by Victoria Purman, if you enjoy firefighter heroes, the second chance romance trope or books by authors Amy Andrews, Sinclair Jayne or Trish Morey.

This one didn’t really win me over and I’m not sure why. It has lots of things that I should love – gorgeous landscapes, characters who actually do their jobs, a cute dog and a mix of second chance and teenage crushes finally coming true. For the most part I even enjoyed it, but I never loved it.

Part of that is because I didn’t quite get Dylan’s feelings for Hannie. When he was a teenager she kicked a ball and that was it, he was done… for the rest of his life. Except he kept dating her cousin until just before he left, when he realised he’d rather spend his life with Hannie – at eighteen. It just didn’t make much sense to me, and since those old feelings were what their adult attraction was based on, I would have liked a bit more.

Hannie’s attraction was much clearer, for both teen Dylan and the adult version. What annoyed me about her was the way she put up with her cousin’s petty manipulations. She felt guilt for all those years, but it’s not like she’d been close to her cousin before, so she knew what she was like. I just wanted her to grow a spine and not let her get away with everything.

Then came the big drama, which had been building all book. While it was firmly grounded in the reality of who they both were and what was happening, it also felt a bit flat. I wanted more drama after such a big build up. I needed a big romantic moment. Instead it was kind of normal.

So overall I found this okay. It’s enjoyable enough, but didn’t quite deliver on the drama I hoped for.

This is the third story in this series which features members of the fire fighting Knight dynasty. Each story is written by a different author and can easily be read as a standalone though there are linking events and characters in them. In this case the firefighter is Dylan Knight and he’s returned to the Reynolds Ridge (in the Adelaide Hills) where he grew up, buying and moving into what had been his childhood home. He’s not the only one to return to the Ridge, so has Hannie Reynolds. She’s moved into the guest cottage in her aunt’s property and it is there that she’s set up her own jewellery design and making business whilst also keeping an eye on her increasingly doddery aunt and her animals. (Just wait to you read about Ted and Zelda!) The area is prone to bush fires in the summer and that’s not the only source of heat in this story - the connection between the two is scorchingly hot!

The two had been attracted to each other whilst in high school, however he’d gone out with Hannie’s cousin, Alice, before realising he was with the wrong cousin. Alice proved to be maliciously vindictive and deliberately sabotaged their romantic prospects and it is only once the lies are revealed that they stand any chance of achieving their HEA together . . . but those summer bush fires threaten to intervene in this tense scenario!

This is a delightful, suspense filled, second-chance romance that I enjoyed escaping into. It has great characters and is an emotional firecracker, with sparks flying everywhere. A real romantic page turner, I have no hesitation in recommending this and the other books in the series that I’ve read so far!

I requested and was given a copy of this book via NetGalley and this is my honest opinion after choosing to read it.

Long Hot Summer is a story rich with the beauty and danger of the Australian countryside during fire season, and the second chance at what they always should have had together for Dylan and Hannie. They meet 14 years after their final encounter once again back home on Reynolds Ridge. This time around it’s Hannie who is staying with her Aunt Mandy in a cottage on the property and Dylan who has returned home to buy his parent’s property and make the place he called home truly his own. Their possibility of a future had been ruined by her cousin Alice’s lies and deception back in high school… and in some ways continues on to today as Alice’s hatred has never decreased, only gotten wiser in how she directs it in front of others. The spark, the feelings between Hannie and Dylan are still there but Hannie will fight against the attraction since she still believes Alice’s lies. Dylan knows the truth, but he has no idea of what Alice has done to Hannie so his hurt, frustration and confusion play out perfectly. Mix in a beloved aunt who needs the solid relationship with Hannie as she faces her own struggles, the heightened tension and fears surrounding fire season in the area of Reynolds Ridge and you have the perfect combination of situations for an exciting, emotional love story.

I completely enjoyed my time with Dylan and Hannie. Their story is bitter and sweet as the lies are uncovered, a true fresh start to their own happiness can begin and the dangers surrounding them can be faced together. If I wished for Alice to get her true due for her actions, well let’s simply say that the spoiled, entitled people of the world rarely acknowledge the pain and harm that their actions trail behind them. It’s somehow enough to know that Hattie and Dylan finally got their happy ever after in a more definable way than she ever will.

I’d recommend Long Hot Summer for any Romance reader who enjoys a touch of natural danger, lovers reunited and the beauty of a harsh environment seen through the eyes of those that live and love there.

*I received an e-ARC of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley. That does not change what I think of this story. It is my choice to leave a review giving my personal opinion about this book.*

A series written by multiple authors can either be gripping in its variety, or boring and lacking inspiration; Hot Aussie Knights is definitely in the first category.

The third instalment by Victoria Purman, tells of Hannie and Dylan’s lost love, a second chance and the heartbreaking betrayal that drove them apart. A passionate and emotional tale, Long Hot Summer is a must read and a fabulous edition to this addictive series!

I can’t wait for what comes next, and there’s plenty of Knight siblings and cousins to fill the void.

Long Hot Summer by Victoria Purman is the third of the Hot Aussie Knights which center around the Knight family of firefighters. This is brother Dylan Knight second chance at love story. Hannie Reynolds a former lover comes back to town. After many years the truths come out that changes their perspectives on the past. Now they must battle old hurts and family betrayal as well as out of control bushfires as they work through the relationship that they could have now. What I found so interesting is seeing how they built the relationship after all this time, especially since they have changed over time.

Long Hot Summer is an emotional read both for the romance and the danger of the fire in the hills. The descriptions of the area are rich and vivid making you fear for the land as well as the people. It is a romance for sure, but also a story that displays the tough, enduring spirit of the people who live in the Adelaide Hills.

An ARC of the book was given to me by the publisher through Net Galley.

Long Hot Summer is a lovely story which I very much enjoyed, but it's not Victoria Purman's best effort. I loved her characters. Hannie and Dylan worked really well and I cared about them. I enjoyed the plot and the story did hold my interest but there were times when I felt as though I was receiving an info dump on what to do in the event of a bushfire. It's important information, as was the extensive information on making sure your property is properly prepared and that you have your important documents, treasured photos and the like all packed up, but I just felt at times as though I was being educated at the expense of the story. That aside, this was great way to spend an afternoon.

Long Hot Summer by Victoria Purman
Hot Aussie Knights #3

Miscommunication and misunderstanding with a bit of cousinly malice kept Hannie Reynolds and Dylan Knight apart in high school but when both find themselves living in the same place again they eventually clear the air and things begin to sizzle. Dylan is a firefighter and Hannie repurposes jewelry. Both love the Adelaide area and are aware of the damage deadly bushfires can do. When a bushfire hits their area and they are apart there is tension aplenty till a missing persons notice is cleared. This is a well written second chance at romance love story that I enjoyed reading. I am thoroughly enjoying the series and now want to find out what happens to Caleb, Dylan’s twin brother.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tule Publishing for the ARC – This is my honest review.

4 Stars

Long Hot Summer is book 3 in the Hot Aussie Knights series. Hanna is a caring, independent female and Dylan is a strong and determined. I really liked these characters, the storyline allowed you to feel the emotion and a part of the story itself. I would recommend this book and series to readers and look forward to exploring more of Victoria Purman’s stories.

'Long Hot Summer' is such a lovely read, and it's one that I know will stay in my mind because of the beautiful, extensive descriptions of the natural landscape of Adelaide hills and the slow burn, second-chance trope that comes with it when a jeweller returns home and runs into her teenage crush.

In fact, I was captivated by Dylan Knight's and Hannie Reynolds's relationship and how, even fractured by lies and a vindictive cousin who never really got her just rewards, that was never too broken to fix, 14 long years later. But if I was frustrated by Hannie's big-heartedness and her passivity towards her cousin's petty jealousies and manipulation, both Dylan and Hannie's steadfast commitment to each other after these lies were uncovered were more fulfilling because of it and no less powerful because it burns bright and hot against the ever-present menace of the summer bush fires that threaten their homes.

Effortlessly woven into the drama of their lives is the inescapable bit of the unique (and biting) Australian weather and landscape that kept me engrossed and reading on, as Victoria Purman pays tribute not only to Dylan and Hannie, but also the rural community's resilience and hope when tragedy strikes. By the end of it, it does feel as though Dylan/Hannie's happiness is tied as much to the land as it is to each other and the bittersweet ending is simply one that speaks of their personal, hard-won victory.