Publisher: 2nd February 2022 by Harlequin Australian, HQ & MIRA
Pages: 334 pages
How I Read It: ARC book
Genre: romance, contemporary
My Rating: 4 cups
Synopsis:
A woman's journey of self-discovery meets Bundilla's small-town charm and an intriguing post-WWII mystery in this captivating romance from bestselling Australian author Alissa Callen.
The greatest risk of all is love ...
Interior stylist Grace Davenport has come to the mountains for solitude and a place to heal after her parents' death. Returning to their beloved town of Bundilla, she plans to restore a local bluestone mansion in honour of their memory. She'll just be there for the summer, until she figures out her next step.
Rowan Parker never used to think twice about taking risks until his love for a woman blinded him to all common sense. Now, between his cattle farm in the high country and his work as a stonemason, there's no room in his life for further mistakes. But when he meets the beautiful but reserved new owner of the historic mansion he's been hired to rebuild, he realises his best laid plans have run amuck.
Together, Grace and Rowan work to bring the mansion back to life. But when they uncover a hidden trove of post-WWII secrets about the house's former inhabitants, their quest to find answers draws them ever closer. And just when the stone rubble around them begins to resemble a home, a landslide threatens all that Rowan and Grace have rebuilt. With their futures as unstable as the mountainside, each must fight for what they really want, even if it means losing everything...
My Thoughts
There's something for everyone in Alissa’s latest offering, Snowy Mountains Cattlemen. When you are looking for that light and loveable read, look no further especially if you like a few more ingredients than the prerequisite romance. Alissa brings all the small town feels of a picturesque countryside along with a mystery surrounding an old homestead renovation.
This is such a light and lovely feel good book to read. The characters in the fictional Bundilla are regular folk you would more than likely meet and mix with on your travels. The leads - Grace and Rowan - having both lost their parents, share their journeys when dealing with grief. As Grace tries to realise her parents’ dream to purchase and renovate the run-down Crookwell Park homestead she employs cattleman and pastime stone mason, Rowan. I love how their romance swam along as they wavered and weaved in their healing journeys.
Snowy Mountains Cattlemen is the second in the Bundilla series but can definitely be read as a standalone. As always, the experience would be that much richer when familiar faces appear, but I had not read book one. I would certainly love to return to this heartwarming community with promised future instalments in this lovely series. The added bonus of a somewhat derelict homestead slowly revealing its hidden secrets from the past brought not only a joint project for Grace and Rowan to work on together but also added another layer to the story.
A country girl herself, Alissa brings real authenticity to the locale, capturing the genuine charm of the community. Snowy Mountains Cattlemen is an engaging tale with all the small town antics, a homestead mystery and well matched romantic leads that helped make this a delightful escapism.
‘Today had been the first step in reshaping the landscape of her new life. When the days shortened and the mountain weather cooled, she needed to have found a way through her grief for she had nowhere left to go.’
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.
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