Aussie Book Review: Wish by Kelly Hunter #aww2012

 Wish by Kelly Hunter ebook Review copy provided by publisher/ netgalley Desiny Romance (Penguin), August 2012 Synopsis- All single mother Billie Temple wants is to trade her hectic Sydney lifestyle for simple country living and a place to call home. When she finds a small country pub in need of some TLC she thinks she's found the perfect solution. Until she meets her new landlord.Meanwhile, all cattleman Adam Kincaid wants is for Billie and her son to leave town. Adam and Billie are on an inevitable collision course, but will love prove the perfect solution? The obstacles seem insurmountable. Adam doubts his ability to protect and love, after failing to prevent a family tragedy a few years earlier. Billie can't trust anyone but herself.– and she's done a damn good job at looking after her son without help. Who needs a man? Then, things take an unsettling and faintly sinister turn with several strange incidents, all apparently aimed at hurting Billie.Wish is a wonderful, sexy romance that will keep you guessing until the very end. It's a brilliant collision between two headstrong people, and filled with moments of tenderness that will touch your heart. Keep the tissues on hand Review- Hunter is a well-established romance author under Harlequin Mills & Boon and after initially choosing to self-publish Wish it was picked up by the new Penguin digital first imprint, Destiny Romance. I couldn’t resist a novella about an Aussie gal in a country town who shares a property with a rugged country bloke on the cusp of the Christmas season.

Billy Temple and her son Cal move away from Sydney and their life of living and residing in a pub to rent a cottage and take on a new pub job in a small country town. But when she turns up at Adam Kincaid’s property intent on renting his cottage he suggests she moves on as she wouldn’t be suited to the country lifestyle. Despite his protective streak and gruff attitude towards her, physical attraction fizzles between them and he eventually relents and allows her to stay on for the duration of a six month lease.

Adam has lead a quiet, lonely life since the death of his wife and young son eight years prior and these painful memories are activated in the presence of the bubbly Billy and her gentle-natured son. He’s reluctant to put the past behind him and he’s in no way ready for an instant family and he makes this clear to Billy from the outset. She accepts his unresolved issues and agrees to a “no one gets hurt” fling that is purely physical. Only problem, Adam and Billy’s feelings for each other grow stronger by the day and are very much at risk of hurting one another.Billy is a likeable character who finds a place easily in this sleepy town and takes pride in her work. She’s also quite insightful about the risk she takes in getting involved in Adam and does make a decision to put herself and her son first. Adam is a strong, hard-working cattleman whose defences are set firmly around him and I liked seeing these break down as he slowly opens his heart to Billy.Hunter succeeded in creating a believable attraction that develops into something deeper in the face of a novella. A sweet, quick read from a proficient Australian romance author, Wish is the perfect Christmas read this year.

Overall Rating

3.5/5

"I really liked this"

Wish can be purchased direct from the publisher, Destiny Romance

About the author: Australian born Kelly Hunter is a well known, popular author of contemporary romance novels. She was first published in 2007, writing short contemporary romances for Harlequin Mills and Boon. With 15 books published so far, Kelly's books have finalled in the Romance Writers of Australia's RUBY Award, the Australian Romance Readers Award, the Romantic Times Reader's Choice Award, and in the Romance Writers of America's RITA Award.

Kelly got her start when working on a biological control project in Malaysia, She decided romance writing sounded much easier than flicking sterile, half-frozen, screw-worm flies (that lay eggs that morph into flesh-eating maggots) out of aeroplanes with no doors. Happens it is.Kelly lives with her husband and two sons in Tablelands NSW.

This book was read as part of the AWW2012 challenge: