Mountain Lodge is a sensual read that begins at Mount Hotham in the Victorian high country. Heroine Josephine Romano has just discovered that she’s missed the bus home after a day skiing and that there are no rooms to rent. Luckily for her, hunky Angelo Rossi, who owns a pub in her home town, Ash Gully, is staying at Mountain Lodge for the weekend and spots her drinking in the bar, her ski gear beside her. He’s had a thing for her for years but has never had the courage to do anything about it but seizes the opportunity to join her for a drink. The offer for her to share his room for the night means these two finally get to know each ther though there’s plenty of awkwardness that night. I really loved Josephine and angelo. They’re great characters and have a good supporting cast of equally well developed characters as friend and family. This is a really good story that flows well. The dialogue is excellent and really natural. The only thing that really annoyed me was the grammar, which pulled me out of the story time and time again.

3.5 ⭐

This book was a fun and quick read. I have not read the first book in the Ash Gulley series, but this book stood on its own and provided reference where appropriate. It would be a great holiday read or perfect reading while on a flight.

There was a lot packed into a tiny package here, and the storyline overall was great and the main characters were really likeable, but it lacked the depth I was craving that would come from a longer novel. I wanted Josephine to stand up to her family more. I wanted Angelo to fight harder for her and the "feud" had the potential to be explosive but was a bit of a let down.

Unfortunately, there were more things I disliked about this book than I enjoyed. I really struggled with multiple characters especially Josie. All characters came across as immature and with an inability to simply communicate. If people were able to have a simple conversation they wouldn't have had nearly as many issues. This all felt unnecessary and continued to drag on. This one just was not for me.