(I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.)

Take one city girl - and drop her into the back of beyond ...Housesitting in rural Burdekin's Gap, high up in the East Gippsland mountains, is not an obvious career move for a PR executive like Jaime Hanrahan. But, hey, retrenchment is a kicker. Plus she's determined not to spend Christmas in Melbourne with her friends, who still have company cars and six-figure salaries, or with her mother, Blanche, who has remarried too soon after her father's death.However, it turns out that Burdekin's Gap is a little more remote than Jaime had anticipated, the house is in the middle of a cattle station, and the handsome manager, Stirling McEvoy, doesn't appreciate a new farmhand in Jimmy Choos and Sass & Bide cut-offs. Soon Jaime is fending off stampeding cows, town ladies wielding clipboards, sheep who think they are goats, nude sportsmen and one very neurotic cat. So why does she feel like she's falling in love . . . with the life, with the breathtaking landscape, and with one infuriating cowboy...

*3.5 stars*

This novel is based off her novella, A Bush Christmas.

This was a very good story, populated with interesting characters in an interesting location. Jaime finds that life in rural Australia is not quite what she expected - the isolation can be intimidating. Then she meets Stirling and the whole story turns on its head and becomes more of a romance story. Which is fine. But I really did like watching Jaime trying to adapt to her location - stampeding cows are not something that should be tackled in expensive shoes...

What annoyed me somewhat is the fact that the novella this story is based on is pretty much included word for word. About 1/3 of the book I had already read. There was no warning that this was the case. I would have been even more annoyed if I had paid $20 for it to discover this...

A great story that could have come with a warning...


Paul
ARH