Cathryn Hein

When her father gambles away the family farm as well as her life savings, Teagan Bliss feels she is left with nothing. She had to sell her beloved horse before she set out on the long journey from South Australia to seek sanctuary with her Aunt Vanessa at Falls Valley in New South Wales. With her dream of working the family farm shattered, her whole world seems broken and Teagan spirals deep into depression. Blacksmith Lucas Knight is interested in Teagan romantically, but Teagan doesn't believe herself worthy of his attention and small-town politics don't help with her mental state. Great that the author has explored depression, but not many of those who need help have access to an exclusive 'wellness centre' for several weeks to heal - although they should.… (plus d'informations)

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Jack Hargreaves bolsters into Hair Affair on his way to his mother’s funeral, impatiently helps himself to a haircut and shave and garners the interest of owner Elsa. He gets through his mother’s funeral and sets to work trying to find sapphires she said she found. Hein shows Jack’s emotions surrounding his mother succinctly and realistically. His interactions with various family members are interesting and left me wondering if I missed out on any backstory by not having read the preceding two books. His grief for his mother is stark and sad. For a very taciturn man, his POV is eye opening.
Elsa pursues Jack with a relentless, almost teenage infatuation even though in some situations he is clearly uncomfortable, like when he made it clear he didn’t enjoy being teased about being a movie virgin and Elsa didn’t stop, or stop poking him, which really made her seem immature. Some of their interactions seem more brother and sister like than potential lovers.
Despite their minimal, sporadic interactions Jack finds himself in love with Elsa. His thoughts read more like in lust, but as this is a romance book, we all know where it is heading.
There is a lot of Jack describing Elsa’s body, his reactions to it and vice versa for a book that takes the actual sex off page. A closed-door approach to sex scenes isn’t always a bad thing but ramping up the sexual tension and not delivering to readers is a cruel thing to do 😉.
Jack is clearly uncomfortable being back in the town he grew up in. The sins of his father have been foisted onto his shoulders by older townsfolk and he allows their judgements to essentially keep him out of his mother’s property. Elsa tries to counteract this by encouraging Jack to ignore the looks they give him. Which is often easier said than done.
Hein reuses “Christ on a bicycle” eight times in less than 200 pages and often didn’t fit the scenario. It was too repetitive for a short novel.
All in all this is a sweet tale of finding one’s place, facing the past and falling in love.… (plus d'informations)