Review: A country girl and a city boy
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 02 10, 2013
I read and loved the previous novel by this author, and I have to say that I liked Beneath Outback Skies more. Alissa Callen paints a wonderful picture that is Banora Downs, she creates great characters and there's a mystery that keeps you turning the pages.Paige and Tait are opposites, a country girl and a city boy.She's a tomboy, doesn't care much about luxuries and appearances, and her farm, that is her life, is completely broke. She takes an instant dislike to Tait for everything he represents because she's been hurt in the past by his type. And not to mention she has bigger issues to deal with than catering to some spoiled city boy.She is also extremely vulnerable, and wary of trusting strangers - especially Tait.He's a rich CEO, running away from the city to get some peace from all the vultures that surround him. Oh, and he has secrets. He drives a sleek, fancy car, doesn't think twice about spending money but it's not because he likes to flaunt it - he actually likes sharing what he has. I loved his girly moments, too, fixing up her hair, picking her a dress, and it was all very masculine at the same time.The two of them also have more in common than they think at first, but it takes them a while to look past their prejudices.The romance is slow-building, low key, and there is great chemistry between Tait and Paige, but they both fight it because they have more important things to deal with. It takes them a while to come together, but when they do you can see it means something to both of them.It's written in alternate POV, but there's also a third POV character, Paige's disabled father, Connor, who is in on the secret and he is basically the gives you the clues to figure it out, although Paige and Tait also played a good part of it. I did figure it out pretty early on, but I was still interested in how everything plays out and what the full story is.I also want to say that Connor's disability was dealt with in a respectful way.There are no graphic sex scenes in this, it's all fade-to black.Overall, I liked this more than the other book I read by Alissa Callen. There was better character development, the pace was perfect, the conflict was believable and I loved the setting. I definitely recommend it.