Everyone enjoys a bit of romance – especially if it involves scenes and settings that are highly relatable to rural readers.
One of Karly Lane’s recent releases, Wish You Were Here, delivers all that and more.
Set on a cattle property in NSW’s New England tablelands, Reggie MacLeod has returned home from a high-flying career in London to help care for her parents after they’re involved in a car accident. Her brother has recently established a farmstay business on the property to help supplement the farm’s income but not long after Reggie’s return he becomes terminally ill and dies leaving Reggie as her parent’s only support and main worker on the farm.
But things start to look up when Tim Warbois, who’s searching for a place with peace and quiet, checks into one of the farmstay cabins. Readers are only given hints of Tim’s backstory to start with but we know he has suffered loss and tragedy and, like Reggie, he is grieving.
And so begins the exciting and blissful stage of early romance that author Karly Lane is such an expert at conveying as we follow Tim and Reggie’s discovery of their mutual attraction.
There are loads of beautifully captured moments between these two main characters as their romance blossoms and the reality of their emotions takes hold. The flirtatious dialogue between them is particularly enjoyable and definitely laugh-out-loud humorous at times.
The author creates a multitude of challenging, yet bonding, opportunities for these characters to navigate through that reflect the more demanding aspects of life on the land. There are practical obstacles like damaged fences, wild dogs and stolen cattle, through to bigger issues such as financial strain and farm succession when there is only a daughter as next in line.
But this book is not just about love hearts and romantic rainbows as there’s another theme running through this book that explores the invisible effects of war on those who have served in conflicts.
Tim, who was with the Special Air Services (SAS), took part in several tours of duty to Afghanistan and while we aren’t given details of what he saw or what he did we know he and his mates returned home with deep emotional scars. Finding it hard to adjust, and suffering from PTSD, a number of his army mates have either taken their lives or died in tragic accidents since returning home.
The author handles this topic with great care and respect and Tim’s romance with Reggie helps him to not only start to heal himself but it creates an opportunity for him to help other ex-servicemen on a path to recovery.
I definitely recommend this book to anyone seeking an easy-read romance that’s filled with humour, sensitivity, depth and totally likeable characters.
Author: Karly Lane
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
ISBN: 9781761066108
Pages: 384
Available: 29 November 2022
Recommended Retail Price: $29.99
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This book review is supported by the Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund.
