Review: Meet a mate festival in the countryside, I wish I could have been there!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 03 9, 2012
The title is a tad misleading because Augustine 'Gussie' shows up in southern New Zealand to rest and write her dissertation for a MBA. Unfortunately, it is exactly the week of the first annual 'Meet a mate' festival in this tiny obscure town that she had had hopes to get lost and find a quiet hideaway. She could have still been in luck if it hadn't been for the the Sex Worker's Collective (aka the Luscious Ladies) that shows up looking to exchange their prostitute jobs for domestic engineer positions with the lonely farmers.So from the beginning there is a lie by omission by Gussie to Joe the veterinarian that leads him to think that she is part of the Collective because she arrives at the same time as the others. She isn't looking for love as she is a real career woman but she likes seeing the bad stereotypes and wrong assumptions of Joe because Gussie is actually an educated powerful Ad Executive from the big city.This is filled with fun light-hearted banter between the characters. I enjoyed the pace and the flow of the story. There is some sexy scenes and the toilet lock-up is funny and hot although nothing much happens. This couple has serious chemistry. This is a funny contemporary outback/western romance, romance being the key word. This was a great story about two strangers finding each other and then proving their love with a series of ridiculous 'sports' events.This is the only time I was actually was interested enough to read about a cricket match. That is probably the last time I don't have to skip ahead during a sport episode in a book.