Review: Loved it!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 01 6, 2014
When Lena Todd learned from her boss Ivan, that she was to be sent to the site on the Pilbara as the engineer for the construction team, she was bereft. She was a city girl through and through and the thought of no restaurants, no shops, no hair salons – she almost had a panic attack. But she knew she had no choice but to go – her future as an engineer depended on it. With her uni degree creating turmoil in her mind, she gritted her teeth and packed her suitcase.Arriving on the site was an eye-opener in itself – the animosity coming from Mike as he drove her from the airport to the offices was hard to take, but seeing what she would be living in – things called dongars; little boxes with room for a bit of furniture and not much else – what had she done! Then meeting her project manager Carl, whose vocabulary was different, to say the least! At least Sharon, who drove the bus from the offices to the wharf end and back every hour, seemed friendly. But 350 men and only one friendly woman? Her battle was uphill before she started.As Lena began to introduce her ideas for improving production on the site, she was met with resistance at every turn. The client, Dan Hullog, or Bulldog as he was known by everyone, was an obnoxious, surly and hard to please man – so why did her pulse accelerate each time she saw him? The men harassed and tormented her – half the time she wasn’t sure if they were having a go or serious. Suddenly she decided enough was enough. She was about to take a stand! The red dust, the lonely men, the outback, even the kangaroos – all seemed out to get Lena! Would Lena head back to Perth with her tail between her legs, or would she succeed in her venture?This is Loretta Hill’s debut novel, and as I’d read books two and three, I decided this one had to be read next. I thoroughly enjoyed it, Loretta’s writing is great – she took me through the outback of Australia, the scenes of the whales and dolphins frolicking in the ocean and the streets of Perth with ease; an absolute entertainment delight. A book I have no hesitation in recommending highly.