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

Orphaned at thirteen, Charlie Anderson has been on her own for half her life. Not that she minds - she has her work as a vet and most days that's enough. Most days. But when she's sent to a small town on the New South Wales coast to investigate a possible outbreak of the deadly Hendra virus, Charlie finds herself torn between the haunting memories of her past, her dedication to the job and her attraction to a handsome local.
Travelling to Naringup means coming face to face with what is left of her dysfunctional family - her cousin Emma, who begged Charlie not to leave all those years ago, and her aunt Hazel, who let her go without a backwards glance. But it also means relying on the kindness of strangers and, when she meets local park ranger Joel Drummond, opening her heart to the possibility of something more...
As tensions in the country town rise, can Charlie reconcile with the past and find herself a new future in the town she left so long ago?

Another variation on the Australian rural romance genre, this book actually took the concept up a notch and incorporated a few great storylines and characters that elevated it just beyond "girl meets boy in small country town, falls in love..."

The idea of Charlie, the protagonist, having a highly-qualified career was a great choice. Too often we see the man being the high-flyer and the woman in the story almost being invisible as far as a career is concerned. Here, Charlie is a veterinarian with the DPI. Not the type of job we normally see...

The other thing that I really did appreciate was the romance aspect - not too heavy, not too mushy, but enough for me to understand the relationship between Charlie and Joel. It doesn't always have to be hot and steamy sex scenes to tell the reader that boy loves girl...

Other things I liked: the locations and descriptions. I knew I was in rural NSW within the first few pages. I could feel the fresh air and smell the countryside all the way through this novel.

The only reason this didn't hit 5 stars was that I thought the characters were a little one dimensional, at times. Especially Emma and Hazel. I think we could have gone a bit deeper with those two and really had more story from them. But that is a bit of a minor complaint...


Paul
ARH