Aussie Book Review: Rosalee Station by Mandy Magro
Mandy Magro- Rosalee Station Format- Paperback Source- Review copy provided by author/ Penguin Australia Synopsis: Sarah Clarke's dream is to experience life in the real outback. When her boyfriend Brad offers her a job with him on Rosalee Station, she can't believe her luck. But within days of arriving, her relationship is in tatters, and the dream is fast losing its lustre.Sarah stays on to prove herself in the unforgiving land, earning the admiration of Matt, the station owners' son. Beneath the wide outback skies, the pair are irresistibly drawn to each other, until a stolen kiss leads to disaster. Sarah leaves Rosalee, convinced she'll never see Matt again – but fate has a way of intervening…From the thrill of mustering cattle to the wild adrenaline of a country rodeo, this passionate love story takes you to the very heart of the Australian outback. Review: Sarah Clarke is a fun, Aussie, larrikin who lives on her parent’s farm and isn’t afraid to get her hands dirty. When her boyfriend of one year offers her a job as the cook at Rosalee Station in the Australian outback she jumps on the opportunity to spend four months learning the ropes of a mustering farm. On her first week on the farm, Sarah’s relationship ends and he leaves her behind. She decides to stay on the farm and make the most of her time; it also gives her a chance to get to know the employer’s son, Matt who she has her eye on.Rosalee Station is a fun, quick read about a strong female working hard in the Australian outback. The romance in the story was sweet but not as well developed as I would have liked. Matt was a bit of a mystery character and so it would have been nice to have shown their chemistry and the emotional connection between them in more depth. I think this could have been done through lengthening scenes so the reader could connect with what was going on for the characters. Also, Matt wasn’t introduced until almost a third of the way into the book which meant my alliance had started to form with Brad.What I did love about this story is how Mandy brings to life the outback; I really felt like I was there, standing upon the red dust and sweating in the heat of the day. I am only six weeks away from going on a big Aussie road trip and so it was this aspect of the story I was really drawn to.Overall, Rosalee Station is a light, fast read by a debut Aussie outback author.
3/5 rating
Purchase book @
Fishpond/ Boomerang Books
For more info about Mandy, please check out her blog. She also stopped by for a guest post last month to chat about what inspired her to write Rosalee Station.