Review: Amazing historical romance ending in an Australian convict colony.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 01 7, 2013
Loved this book. An amazingly detailed historical romance from a debut author that captured the sights, smells, and tastes of a developing Australian nation perfectly.Joanna Lloyd captured the horror of the British colonization and transportation years so well that I was terrified for the characters in this book and praying they would survive.I felt an immediate empathy with Electra, Joanna's heroine, who was wrongly convicted in London, tossed into prison, and abused on a transport ship to Sydney. Electra's struggles as a convict in the growing Australian colony were so real that I could have been walking alongside this heroine on the streets of Sydney, visiting the shops with her, and learning to live in the rugged Australian bush. I spent the entire book hoping Electra was strong enough to survive.And William, the hero, is such a lovely and hard working man that I wanted the couple to overcome their numerous problems as quickly as possible so I could be part of their happy ever after.I also loved the minor characters in this story as they were so typical of the variety of people who had to ignore ingrained class barriers when they began new lives and embraced different occupations in Australia.