Review: Along Country Roads

Title: Along Country Roads

Author: Mandy Magro

Publisher: 22 May 2017 by Harlequin (Australia), Teen/Mira

Pages: 320 pages

How I Read It: ARC book

Genre: womens fiction, romance

My Rating: 3 cups

Synopsis:

Can love ever be enough to heal two damaged souls?

On the run from her troubled past in a stolen four-wheel drive, Matilda Denver seeks the sanctuary of sleepy Moonstone Valley where she hopes to heal and make a fresh start. But her plans go awry when the vehicle breaks down and she's stranded at the side of a deserted country road.

Ryan Hunter, after working himself into the ground at his interstate truck-driving job since his sister's death, is making his last run before a well-earned month off. On the last stretch home, he happens across a beautiful woman and scraggy dog hitchhiking. It's not long before he connects Matilda's bruises to her past and what she's on the run from. He instinctively wants to protect Matilda and offers her a place to stay at Heartsong Hills.

Although both battling their own demons, they start to discover how much they have in common – and soon they're also battling the strong desire to fall hard for one another. But when Ryan tries to help by organising for the four-wheel drive to be fixed, he unwittingly gives away Matilda's location and her life may be on the line. Can Ryan find her before it's too late?

My Thoughts

Having read Mandy’s previous book, I was looking forward to another escape to the country. All the right ingredients are there for an enjoyable escape as Mandy portrays real characters facing real issues, thus ensuring that the reader is always engaged. There is a bit of background mystery to our two main leads in this tale which helps to build the tension. Add to the mix a sincere and swoon worthy male lead, a female looking to break free and some wonderful secondary characters, even including the stray dog Huckleberry, and what you have here is some great escapism.

‘They were both too broken to be anything other than friends.’

On a serious note, this is a heartbreaking look at the trauma of domestic violence to all of those involved. Nothing is left unturned here as an authentic portrayal of perpetrator, victim and victim’s family are all given credence in this tale. I also appreciated the inclusion of a look at anxiety and how it can inhibit individuals to a staggering degree. I believe Mandy uses this medium to take the opportunity to present serious issues in today’s society and, especially concerning the anxiety attacks some useful strategies, and I applaud her for that.

‘It was a terrible illness and people often shunned those who experienced it because they didn’t understand it. But given the right tools, panic attacks were something to never fear again.’

Unfortunately this one did not quite hit the mark for me, despite the commendable stance taken on some relevant issues. Even though you know what you are getting in for in picking up these lovely rural romances, I found this one to be somewhat cliched. The ‘insta-love’ in the first few hours of meeting was sadly unbelievable for me, as were a few coincidental outcomes.

‘She couldn’t help but admire Ryan’s depth—she’d never met a man quite like him.’

I would still read Mandy again as her detailed Aussie outback locations are always inviting. Combine that with her efforts to always bring a different slant to the usual formulaic approaches on this genre, and one is always assured of some fruitful time spent reading.

‘You read much?’ ‘Whenever I can. It’s my way of shutting off from the world for a while.’

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher and provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The quoted material may have changed in the final release