True Love Across Continents
4 stars

Everyone knows that I love a good Mills & Boon and that I also love a bit of aristocratic shenanigans. You don’t often find a contemporary romance with some blue blooded English gentlemen running around it - so this book sounded perfect for me.

However, as soon as I started to read this book I immediately became extremely wary.

There were dogs. Lots of dogs. Seven dogs to be precise.

And we were in Australia. Yet Bryn Morgan - our debonair aristo - was very much English (or maybe Welsh).

What was going to happen to the dogs when the couple likely moved to England? And the cows - Cordelia and Violet? Where were they all going to live?

And this is why I tend to avoid books with animals in them, as I end up far more concerned with them all surviving to the last page rather than what I should be focussing on which is the love story of Bryn and Charlotte aka Charlie.

But as time passed, I started to put the worry to the back of my head and concentrate on the burgeoning romance. As this is part of the True Love line, it’s clear from the outset that the pair share a special, instant connection. It’s sweet, heart-warming and believable, despite the short time-frame the pair have known each other.

Sadly for me, we get only kisses in this book. I know the pair had sex but the bedroom door doesn’t even shut when the going gets good. Because we didn’t even see the bloody bedroom door. And I get the feeling that this author would have been really good at writing sex scenes, too. Bryn kept on thinking thoughts of feudal laws of old and wenches and maidens. Oh my! It made me laugh but it also made me want more naughtiness. Or just some naughtiness. Any naughtiness at all, really.

Not to worry - Bryn and Charlie are now back in England and while Charlie was having trust issues over Bryn’s lies - I’m still expecting them to work things out and us to get a lovely happily-ever-after.

And then Flossie - the best dog of the pack of seven - goes and makes my heart almost stop. We also get a couple of chapters of seeing things from Flossie’s point of view and I nearly couldn’t cope. Good God - you made it to 89%, Flossie - just hang on a few percent longer.

Without spoiling the outcome, you’ll be happy to know that all dogs (and cows) survive this book - even Flossie and Bryn’s dog who was introduced as ancient. (Red flag! Red flag!) Well, at least you don’t have to go through the trauma of not knowing, like I did when reading.

And as for Bryn and Charlie - true love really does win in the end and Regency fairytales of barons and their Australian maidens do happen in modern times. And you finish this book feeling happy, satisfied and hugging your own doggies all the bit tighter. 4 stars. ( )