Blog Tour | Book Review | Third Time Lucky | Karly Lane

December Doyle returned home to Christmas Creek two years ago to try and pick up the pieces of a life that turned out to be a lie. Unable to move on, she hasn’t really been living but merely surviving, after giving up her little Melbourne café to work two jobs and live in the granny flat on her parents’ property while she pays off the huge debt that her husband left hanging over her head.

The only daughter to be born within three generations of the Doyle family, Em has always loved Christmas Creek and living there again has started her thinking of ways to revive the little regional town that is barely just surviving.

When Seth Hunter left Christmas Creek more than a decade before, he swore he’d never return to the town that refused to accept him because of his misfortune at being born into the wrong family but, after a newspaper article piqued his interest, the pull suddenly became too strong for him to ignore.

Now a successful businessman, he’s come a long way from the boy who lived on the wrong side of the tracks and, whilst small towns have long memories, he’s also never forgotten the only girl who ever made him feel like he could be someone more than a no-hoper.

“When everyone thinks you’re nothing, you start to believe it” – Seth

It's when Seth finds out that the town committee have vetoed December’s ideas to boost tourism that he approaches her with an offer too good to refuse.

For December, accepting the offer is the easy part. It’s realising that the man he has become is very different to the teenage boy she once knew and that, even while the magnetism that played havoc with her heart all those years before is still present, there is far more to Seth’s return than he is letting on.

“Once I put my mind to something I very rarely let anything stop me” – Seth

Well, you’re going to need to push aside the laundry and the housekeeping for a few hours this weekend!

Because that’s exactly what I did last weekend when Queensland found itself in the midst of a disgusting heatwave that had us all rushing for either the pool or the air-conditioning. Of course, I chose the air-con and, with great gusto, settled in to read this latest by Karly Lane. I’m a sucker for a “bad-boy”, “second-chance” romance and I immediately knew that I’d made the right choice when Karly’s characters’ emotions started making my stomach do fluttery flip-flops.

Karly is extremely adept at bringing the heartache and conflict of a realistic situation to the fore, allowing the reader to empathise with her characters and I found myself warming to Seth (don’t you just love that name?) and December very quickly. They are strong, independent and thoroughly likable and I couldn’t help but fall for Seth with his battered heart and tortured soul.

Whilst December loves the town, Seth is the opposite because it brings back so many painful memories and it is the contempt from the townsfolk along with his feelings of inadequacy that drive the hate, bitterness and anger he feels towards those that shattered the dreams of a boy who only ever wanted to belong.

On the opposite end of the scale, the chemistry between these two sizzles right from the start and, as memories of their youth intrude seamlessly into the narrative, pulling us into their world of teenage emotion and angst, there is a warmth and intensity that offers the reader a glimpse at the torch they once carried for each other.

Karly not only gives us rural romance but her stories always tackle real issues that plague small Australian towns and this one is no exception as she highlights the fact that big business is slowly choking off their sources of revenue, thus making us completely aware of how, without important injections of capital, their landscape and livelihoods is rapidly changing.

Did I mention that Granny Doyle is an absolute hoot!!

With her vivid characterisation, magical sense of place, heartfelt emotion and a dash of hope where hope has been lost, Rural Fiction's Favourite Daughter gives us a moving story about family, betrayal, love and the power that the past can hold over our lives. You will laugh, you will cry but most of all, you won’t want to put this heart-warming Aussie Christmas tale down until you are satisfied that things are going to work out.

I wish to thank Allen and Unwin for inviting me to take part in this Blog Tour and for providing me with a hard copy ARC for review.

About the Author

Karly Lane happily lives with her husband and four children on the mid-north coast of New South Wales in the same small town where her parents, grandparents and great grandparents all lived. She has a strong love of rural towns and is passionate about writing stories that embrace rural Australia and the vast communities within it

She is the best-selling author of nine novels including Second Chance Town, Gemma’s Bluff, and Bridie’s Choice and her novels range from romantic suspense to family saga.

Karly is a huge supporter of social media and loves to meet her readers.  If you'd like to connect with her, you can do so at the following links:

Twitter    Facebook    Instagram    Website

About the Book

When her marriage ends, December Doyle returns home to Christmas Creek. Will she conquer her fear of heartbreak? A heart-warming novel about betrayal, ambition and the power of love.

After a disastrous marriage, December Doyle has returned to her home town to try to pick up the pieces of her life and start again. She’s also intent on helping breathe new life into the Christmas Creek township, so the last thing she needs is trouble.

Bad boy Seth Hunter has also returned to Christmas Creek, and trouble is his middle name. Wrongly convicted of a serious crime in his youth, Seth is now a successful businessman, but he’s intent on settling some old scores.

As teenagers, December and Seth were madly in love, and seeing each other again reawakens past feelings. But will Seth be able to overcome his destructive anger about the past, and can December conquer her fear of heartbreak to make their relationship third time lucky?

By the bestselling author of Second Chance Town, this compelling novel is about betrayal, ambition and the power of forgiveness - and love.

ISBN:  9781760291822
Publisher:  Allen & Unwin
Pub Date:  December 2016
Page Extent: 352
RRP: $29.99

Third Time Lucky is available now from the following eStores:

iBooks    Booktopia    Amazon

It would be lovely if you could show some blog love by clicking on the links on the gorgeous interactive tour poster below so that you can visit all the wonderful blogs that have taken part in this tour.