Snowy Mountains Promise (Bundilla Novels, #3) in Aussie Readers

Jan 19, 2023 Brenda rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: own-read, arc, net-galley, aussie-authors, 3500-2023, read-on-kindle, romance, rural, 2023-release

3.5★s

Hettie Burbrook had been devastated at her great-Uncle Elliot's cancer diagnosis and wanted to bring him peace before he died. Heading to the small town of Bundilla in her Cessna and using the cover story of photographs for her new book, Hettie was determined to find the answers for Elliot that he didn't know he needed. Staying with her good friend Brenna in the homestead, with her twin, deer farmer Taite Lancaster nearby in his cottage, Hettie knew once again that her feelings for Taite h ...more

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Jan 09, 2023 Helen rated it it was amazing

Shelves: review-copy-from-publisher, review-copy-from-netgalley

I am loving this series, Alissa Callen knows how to pull her readers into the lives of the characters, find their vulnerabilities, their strengths and bring them to life on the pages, to make them friends to the readers, I savour every word in her stories and being back in the beautiful book town of Bundilla with Bundy the dog was fabulous, come along and get to know Taite and Hettie.

Hettie Burbrook is a pilot, chiropractor and a photographer and is happy at this stage, single, she lives in Wood I am loving this series, Alissa Callen knows how to pull her readers into the lives of the characters, find their vulnerabilities, their strengths and bring them to life on the pages, to make them friends to the readers, I savour every word in her stories and being back in the beautiful book town of Bundilla with Bundy the dog was fabulous, come along and get to know Taite and Hettie.

Hettie Burbrook is a pilot, chiropractor and a photographer and is happy at this stage, single, she lives in Woodlea but her best friend Brenna lives in Bundilla, her dearest uncle is unwell and Hettie learns a little about his past and is determined to help him and this will mean a trip to visit her friend Brenna, but of course this will bring her close to Taite, someone who holds a special place in her heart.

Taite Lancaster is one of the most eligible bachelors in Bundilla and he steers well clear of matchmakers, he is a deer farmer and fabulous sculptor. With everything that happened to his father Taite will never let his feelings take over, he loves his twin Brenna and has lots of friends but when Hettie arrives in town he knows that she is here for a reason and he will help but will that bring him closer to her and start to break down the walls he has built around his heart?

Bundilla is a busy town in winter, there are the dog races, the ute muster and the upcoming winter ball, a trip in the snow together and the long buried scandal that will put Hettie in danger brings them closer together, can Taite put his vulnerabilities behind him and let his emotions out to find the love that he deserves with Hettie, she truly is the best person for Taite, Hettie has had things to get over from her past as well and now she is ready to love and to share the happiness that they both deserve.

I do highly recommend this book and the series, my visits to Bundilla are always the best this is a beautifully told story and spending time with Bundy, who knows who needs his support is always so good, and catching up with friends from previous books, who will Bundy be with next? I loved this story so very much thank you MS Callen for another keeper.

My thanks Harlequin AU for my copy to read and review.
...more

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Mar 21, 2023 Nicola Marsh rated it it was amazing

Shelves: aussie-authors, rural-romance, read-in-2023

A wonderful rural romance, with heartfelt emotion and genuine characters.
Like curling up on the couch under a snuggly blanket, this book will give you all the feels.

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Mar 20, 2023 Tien rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: australian-author, for-review, romance, australia

This took me so long to read only because I keep wanting to set aside time where I could just sit down and devour it (possibly in a single sitting). The reality is that this is no longer possible with young children in the family; much as I love my kids, this saddens me lol. It was a bit stop and start for the first half but I did manage to read the last half in one sitting so I enjoyed the last half a lot more than the first.

One of the things you're really excited about is when the love interes ...more

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Feb 08, 2023 Bree T rated it liked it

Shelves: romance, arc, series, australian, contemporary

This is the third book in Alissa Callen’s Bundilla series, centred around a small town in the New South Wales snowy mountains region. Having recently visited part of the Victorian snowy mountains for the first time (and seen snow! In February!) I found myself even more interested in the setting this time around, than in the previous two novels. Even though I’m in a different state (although I have actually been to the NSW snow, when I was 11 though, so it doesn’t count), I feel like my weekend t This is the third book in Alissa Callen’s Bundilla series, centred around a small town in the New South Wales snowy mountains region. Having recently visited part of the Victorian snowy mountains for the first time (and seen snow! In February!) I found myself even more interested in the setting this time around, than in the previous two novels. Even though I’m in a different state (although I have actually been to the NSW snow, when I was 11 though, so it doesn’t count), I feel like my weekend though a similar area gave me more understanding of the type of terrain and weather as well. It made me even more appreciative of the area because some of the country I drove through that weekend was just….stunningly beautiful.

In this book we meet Hettie, best friend to Brenna (who has appeared in both previous books) from boarding school. She’s in Bundilla to get some answers hopefully, for someone she cares about enormously and she’s also coming to terms with a new and fresh grief. She’s met upon arrival in her small plane by Taite, Brenna’s twin and the man Hettie has never been able to forget. They had a moment many years ago but Taite has kept himself quite unavailable since then. With Brenna away upon Hettie’s arrival though, she and Taite are destined to spend time together in close quarters. And Bundilla’s popular matchmaking kelpie Bundy has shown up as well, in an ominous sign, choosing to spend his days with Taite and Hettie.

One thing I love about this series is that we get to see so much of the town and the locals and that includes those who have been featured in previous books. I really love a series that is set in a small, quite intimate town where you get to experience plenty of the local community interactions and events. These books (and Alissa Callen’s other series, the Woodlea books) really excel at that. This book also includes a deeper more overarching mystery that is revealed when Hettie digs into the past to find the answers to hopefully give someone she loves closure on something that happened decades ago, but something that has quite clearly shaped their life ever since.

I enjoyed the story of Hettie and Taite kind of being forced to reconnect by proximity. It’s clear that they both have never really ‘gotten over’ feelings from a few years ago and there’s been a careful distance ever since. Mostly on the part of Taite, who has a reason for not wanting to develop something strong and lasting – it’s hard to judge without having experienced what Taite has, the pressure and trauma and grief and stress of what he discovered when he was really quite young. He’s been very protective of his twin, shouldering the burden alone and it’s definitely meant that he’s sacrificed a lot himself and continues to sort of do so, refusing to open himself up for the sort of thing that could make him really happy when honestly probably one conversation could’ve changed everything.

I also thought that Hettie’s background was conveyed well – the tragedy she had experienced as a child and how it had impacted upon her growing up and even how it continued to do so now that she’s well and truly into adulthood. And how it had made her relationship with her mother something of a challenge, as Hettie always felt like she was trying to live up to someone and something that she could never truly be, even squashing her true self down to try and fit this mould, until she decides that she just can’t anymore.

However I did have a bit of a quibble with this – it felt fractionally too long for me…..particularly in the beginning, it just seemed to take quite a while for the story to start revealing itself and 400p is quite a long story. For a novel this long, I also would’ve liked a little more time spent on Taite and Hettie’s past and maybe a little less time in the present where it seemed like to be honest, not a lot was really happening other than some day to day life. However I do really enjoy the setting and the series and loved the little cameos from familiar characters (I also love Bundy). I’m very keen to see Brenna get her story.

***A copy of this book was provided by the publisher for the purpose of an honest review*** ...more

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Mar 12, 2023 Dzintra aka Ingrid rated it really liked it · review of another edition

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Feb 26, 2023 Monica marked it as to-read · review of another edition

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Feb 09, 2024 Susan marked it as to-read

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