Review: Sunshine through the Rain

Title: Sunshine through the Rain

Author: Penelope Janu

Publisher: 29th November 2023 by Harlequin Australia, HQ & MIRA

Pages: 416 pages

Genre: romance, women’s fiction

My Rating: 4 cups

Synopsis:

For readers of Karly Lane, Fleur McDonald, Maya Linnell and Rachael Johns - a heartfelt and fresh rural romance about trust, hope and finding your place in life from an award winning and much loved author.

Country vet Primrose Cartwright knows more about heartache than most but in the close-knit community of Ballimore, she's found a place to call home. Prim has her work and the love of her sisters, and she doesn't need anything else - certainly not Blake Sinclair. The new vet in town, Scotsman Blake has a love-them-and-leave-them reputation. He is curiously protective of Prim, but his privileged upbringing and jet-set life are nothing like her own. Prim has tried - and failed - at the dating game. Even if there's a burning attraction between them, the last man she could ever trust is Blake. Blake finds Prim fiercely independent, vulnerable, and unlike any other woman he has ever known. But Prim won't tell him her secrets unless he tells her his own, and Blake's pain is buried deep. Will Prim's determination to unravel the mystery that threatens her career bring Prim and Blake together or tear them apart? As the storm clouds gather, can Prim and Blake confront their painful pasts and create a future together? Will they find the sunshine through the rain?

My Thoughts

Penelope always guarantees an engaging read with her books - I absolutely loved Shelter From the Storm, so I couldn’t wait to read this third book on the Cartwright sisters, Prim. This tale kept me engaged from beginning to end.

‘Phoebe on one side, Patience on the other. Just the three of us. They know me. I know them. I trust them.’

With much on offer, this really is more than your standard rural romance. Of course, there is a lovely relationship with a wonderful leading man but it is clearly evident the research that Penelope has gone into for this book. There is an engaging mystery with an environmental issue which I always fully appreciate about Peneolope’s books. The details concerning ethical farming and the use of hormones with a UN agent even getting involved was topical.

As always the Australian Outback is on display with life in a small rural town and the community that comes together in times of need. A special aspect that Penelope often includes is for all the animal lovers out there - on this occasion Prim being a vet, there is a range of animals and one cannot help but be moved by her advocacy for animal rights and welfare. Add onto that details on veterinary procedures and the life of animals kept in a zoo and there is much to appreciate and take on board.

‘I remember everything. The needing and wanting and craving. The finding and keeping and sharing. The sunshine through the rain.’

Yet for me I was captured by the themes concerning childhood trauma and facing/overcoming fears, especially with issues surrounding Prim’s stutter and the impact - past and present - of that. This was a wonderful novel about healing and being brave enough to go after your dreams. With tensions brewing, family dramas, animal welfare, Sunshine through the Rain is a highly engaging read.

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.