Review: B rating....
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 01 27, 2014
My Review:Do not judge this book by the story description that has been put with it. It's truly not a very good representation of this story. This story is about Sami. She's a very proud, very stubborn girl who's had a lot of hard licks over her lifetime. She grew up on a farm in the Outback and truly never had much interaction with other people because her family farm was so remote. But when her mother died, leaving Sami destitute with a young brother to take care of, they had to sell the farm and she went to work in town as a barmaid. The towns people looked down on her and she developed a screw-you attitude. It's the only way she survived.So she's a bit leery when she finds out she's inherited a ranch right outside of Sydney, especially when the sleazy solicitor immediately talks down to her and tries to convince her to sell it. She goes into the whole situation with her back up. See, the solicitor's son owns the neighboring vineyard and wants part of her property for his plantings. Dad wants to make sure he gets it any way possible. But his son, Mason, is not that way. He's willing to accept that Sami doesn't want to sell. It's disappointing, but he can make other plans. That's the basic set-up of the story.This is a story set on a prosperous ranch in Australia. Next door is the vineyard. I loved the scenes set in Mason's vineyard...the created such a pretty setting.The hardest part about this book is getting past Sami's character flaws. She's extremely prickly and defensive. She attacks with the slightest provocation especially when she's feeling cornered. She's not an easy character to love just because she is so harsh and hard, but she's had to become that way to survive all the heartache in her life. Plus she just truly hasn't been around many people besides her family and the ones she has been around, haven't exactly been kind.Mason sees all that but he likes the honesty of it. Most of the girls he's dated have been Sydney socialites who are beyond fake. He's intrigued by Sami and the fact that she's completely honest about who she is.There's are two other characters in Sami's world that are worth mentioning...the ranch hand/manager- Tibby and her little brother- Garth. I love how both these guys call Sami out when she's over the top or wrong. I also really liked that she's a super-prideful girl, but is always willing to apologize when she's wrong.As an American, I enjoyed this view into Australian ranch life. Overall, it was an entertaining little read. There were a few minor editing hiccups especially in the first half of the book, but if you can overlook that, this might be a book for you.  I certainly enjoyed my escape to this Australian ranch.I received a complimentary copy of this book in return for an honest review.