Well written and perfectly paced. Jim and Mark are well developed and I couldn't help but like them both. Plenty of action to keep my interest. This author is new to me but I want more of this terrific series. ( )

Well written with engaging characters and an interesting setting. My only wish would be that there were more. Please let there be more! ( )

This series has been in my TBR file for much too long, and now that I started reading the first book, I know the others won’t remain there for much longer. What a treat! Australia! Dangerous snakes (of course, this is Australia, after all!). A gorgeous doctor with a questionable past saving a hardworking, lonely cattleman’s life. The fact that it’s a historical (set in 1875) almost didn’t matter other than the care Jim and Mark have to take when they are among people. Not that this happens very often – the bush is vast and life, if you know how to survive, can be very good. All these ingredients ensure that this is a great novella – with wonderful characters, a setting that is fascinating, and a budding romance that surprises no one more than the two men involved.

Jim is trying to make a living by raising cattle. In the Australian bush. He has already lost his wife and two children, but he is not one to give up easily – or at all. He is lonely, so when he gets bitten by a deadly snake and a stranger comes along to save him, his gratitude is to be expected. But when the gorgeous stranger called Mark stays on to help until Jim has completely recovered, Jim soon figures out there may be more going on between them than sharing body heat during the freezing nights. Except – there can’t be, can there? What Jim is beginning to feel for Mark is something he’s been told all his life is wrong.

Mark is a doctor, and a pretty skilled one. He doesn’t tell Jim the whole truth about his past, because he has a dark secret. Mark has known all his life that he is attracted to men, but never expected there to be more than physical pleasure. For him, discovering that he has feelings for Jim is an eye-opener and more than a little scary. It’s a good thing that Mark is not a coward!

If you like stories set in almost untamable nature, if two men who expect anything except love developing between them sound interesting, and if you’re looking for a read that is exciting, surprising, and full of risks taken by both main characters, then you will probably like this novella.


NOTE: This book was provided by Dreamspinner Press for the purpose of a review. ( )