OUTBACK DIRTY by JoAnne Kenrick

OUTBACK DIRTY  by JoAnne Kenrick Publisher: Decadent Publishing Date published: 1-Jan-14 ISBN: 978-1-61333-641-0 M/F contemporary, erotic romance E-book Reviewed by Helen Weblink:

http://www.decadentpublishing.com/product_info.php?products_id=886&osCsid=dtn0qst0uth7vukefekc5b0rb0
Obtained via publisher
Rating: 3.5

Australia Day is all about the beer and the barbecue. That’s how Chris Ruter plans to spend the holiday. However his New York ex, Janine Red, arrives all set to use his melon plantation as the scene for a photoshoot, preferably with him front and center.


Being an Australian, I was unable to resist sitting down to read this book on Australia Day. 26 January’s right in the middle of summer here, and when we say our weather is hot, we don’t mean 80F. We mean well over 100F.

Ms. Kenrick has crafted a story with complicated and engaging characters and one where first thoughts don’t make allowance for the depth and layers that underlie the hero and heroine’s activities. Or even the thoughts and actions of the some of the secondary characters. Chris and Janine will take the reader on a roller coaster ride of emotions.

The author has also done a good job with the Australian setting. The author can feel the heat and see the farm. (Plantation is not an Australian word, but I expect it’s one the editor/publisher insisted on so American readers would visualize the sheer size of things in outback Australia. Some of our “farms” are larger than entire US states and some European countries.)

The choreography is sometimes a bit muddy. Surely the log pile wasn’t inside the barn – this is outback Australia where wood doesn’t need to be kept dry because the weather is mostly very hot and dry. And her heel caught on a beam when she climbed the fence but she was wearing ballet flats, so that needed better explanation too. Also some of the word usage was clumsy. Walls were described as “stark” yet had pictures hanging on them and were wallpapered, and sheets described as “crisp” after being slept in on a very hot night with no air conditioning.  I can assure readers those sheets were not just limp, but probably damp with sweat and badly in need of laundering.

But over all they were great characters and this was a good read.

This is an objective review and not an endorsement of this book.