The Girl in the Hard Hat in Aussie Readers

Dec 28, 2012 Tanya rated it really liked it

I'd gone to Big W in search of a completely different book when I stumbled across The Girl in the Hard Hat by Loretta Hill. I loved The Girl in Steel-Capped Boots so much that the authors name was enough to convince me to buy it (I didn't even read the blurb!) and put it straight to the top of my TBR pile (and start on it immediately, despite the fact I was halfway through a book already).

If I'd actually taken the time to notice more than just the authors name, I would have realised this was a c ...more

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Dec 13, 2012 Shelleyrae at Book'd Out rated it really liked it

Shelves: aussie-author, provided-by-publisher, netgalley-reviews, arc-are

In Loretta Hill's debut novel, The Girl in Steel Capped Boots, love for Lena and Dan was discovered in the most unlikely of places, amongst the red dust of a mining camp in the Pilbara. In The Girl in the Hard Hat, Loretta Hill returns to the iron ore operation on the coast of Western Australia as Wendy Hopkins arrives for her first day as a Saftey Officer at TCN.

After a two year sabbatical Wendy is eager to return to work but on arrival finds there is no job for her, despite the promises made In Loretta Hill's debut novel, The Girl in Steel Capped Boots, love for Lena and Dan was discovered in the most unlikely of places, amongst the red dust of a mining camp in the Pilbara. In The Girl in the Hard Hat, Loretta Hill returns to the iron ore operation on the coast of Western Australia as Wendy Hopkins arrives for her first day as a Saftey Officer at TCN.

After a two year sabbatical Wendy is eager to return to work but on arrival finds there is no job for her, despite the promises made by her Uncle Mike. Wendy is crushed, she needs to stay in the area to search for the biological father she has only just learnt exists, so when she is instead offered an assistant's position at Barnes Inc she is grateful for the arrangement. Wendy's first mistake is turning up at the camp wearing TCN's uniform, starting a rumour that she is a spy for the client. Her second is annoying the camp clerk who assigns her a donga with a broken air conditioner unit and damaged furniture. Her third is informing Carl that the company's Safety Officer is an alcoholic resulting in the man being unceremoniously fired ad she being promoted to his position. They aren't the only mistakes Wendy makes but perhaps falling for the camp womaniser, Gavin Jones, will be her fourth and final one.

I was happy to return to Cape Lambert and re discover the characters I had grown familiar with in The Girl in the Steel-Capped Boots. Lena, Dan, Carl and Sharon all have a role in the story, as do Fish, Leg and Radar. But it is Gavin, the charming, cheeky, womaniser, and Mike, the misogynst bully, who have the most significant roles in The Girl in The Hard Hat.
Gavin Jones turns out to be an alias, for he hides a secret that prevents him from revealing his real identity. Keeping in character he makes a move on Wendy and is rebuffed but that suits Gavin just fine, he isn't interested in getting involved and Wendy doesn't strike him as the casual type. Yet he can't seem to get that single impulsive kiss out of his head, or ignore the sizzle of attraction between himself and the hot blonde.

Mike is also hiding a secret from Wendy, one that will shock her to her core when he finally confesses.

I found it took me a little while to warm to Wendy, she seemed a little cold and officious initially. Eventually we learn that her guarded behaviour disguises her obsession with finding her father and Wendy's concerns about the safety of the company stem from her failure to prevent a tragic accident at her last job. As she begins to settle into Barnes Inc she recovers some of her equilibrium, befriending her office mate, Chub, as well as Lena and Sharon and daring to admit her attraction to to Gavin, if only to herself.

The romance that develops between Wendy and Gavin burns slowly building sexual tension with smouldering glances and casual touches. There is a little more drama and suspense in The Girl in The Hard Hat- an accident on the wharf, a surprise inspection and a killer stalking the town as a category five cyclone hits the camp head on.

You don't need to have read The Girl in the Steel-Capped Boots to enjoy this novel but I recommend that you do. Well written, witty and entertaining, The Girl in The Hard Hat is an engaging contemporary romance in an unique Australian setting that I can't wait to visit again. ...more

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Aug 15, 2014 Paula Phillips rated it really liked it

Ever wondered what it's like to be a female working in a man's world ? Are you a fan of the Australian Rural Fiction ? One of my favourite authors is Loretta Hill who writes about your average female who finds themselves planted bang smack into the man's world of jobs. In Book #1 The Girl in the Steel-Capped Boots, we met Lena who became an Engineer and now in Book #2 The Girl in the Hard Hat , we meet Wendy who has arrived to the outback with one goal really in mind - to find her true father a Ever wondered what it's like to be a female working in a man's world ? Are you a fan of the Australian Rural Fiction ? One of my favourite authors is Loretta Hill who writes about your average female who finds themselves planted bang smack into the man's world of jobs. In Book #1 The Girl in the Steel-Capped Boots, we met Lena who became an Engineer and now in Book #2 The Girl in the Hard Hat , we meet Wendy who has arrived to the outback with one goal really in mind - to find her true father as she has just discovered that she was adopted. Wendy, needing a job finds herself work in a construction site as the Safety and Health manager and within her first week there, it seems she is getting on the wrong side of people as they are needing to buck up their ideas especially since the previous manager was a drunk who let alot of things slide. With her new job and trying to fit in and on top of that trying to locate a dad she doesn't really know anything about , there isn't much time for Wendy to have a social life and find love but that doesn't mean that love has given up on her as she captures the eye of Gavin - one of the engineers in Lena's department. The thing though is Gavin only tends to have one night stands as he can't let anyone discover his secret, but will he find himself falling hard and fast for Wendy ? Can he protect Wendy and the ones he cares for and has made friends with , when his secret blows wide open and their lives are threatened ? Will Wendy be able to find her biological father and what will her reaction be when she discovers who her father is and the truth about her family ?
Another awesome book and I love how Loretta brought a few of the characters from the first novel into Book #2 and now I am looking forward to reading Book #3 The Girl in the Yellow Vest.
If you are looking for a strong female character to read about , one older than Katniss Everdeen and Tris Prior , then check out Loretta Hill's Series "The Girl In The" as you will not be disappointed. ...more

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Dec 16, 2012 Brenda rated it it was amazing

Shelves: net-galley, aussie-authors, read-on-kindle, arc, 2013-release, own-read

Wendy Hopkins’ first day on the job didn’t go too well! She arrived at the TCN site, only to find there was no position available. With a sinking heart, she started to leave, but was told by the boss, Dan Hullog (known as Bulldog behind his back) that she could head over to a nearby site, Barnes Inc, where he knew there was an opening as an assistant. And so began her life as Safety Manager of the tallest, longest and deepest open-sea wharf in the world, based in Wickham, on the Pilbara, in WA. Wendy Hopkins’ first day on the job didn’t go too well! She arrived at the TCN site, only to find there was no position available. With a sinking heart, she started to leave, but was told by the boss, Dan Hullog (known as Bulldog behind his back) that she could head over to a nearby site, Barnes Inc, where he knew there was an opening as an assistant. And so began her life as Safety Manager of the tallest, longest and deepest open-sea wharf in the world, based in Wickham, on the Pilbara, in WA. The difficulties she faced were made worse because it was a man’s world…there were only four women on site, but approximately 300 men. Their safety standards were not up to par, but they didn’t want to take orders from a woman, and when she discovered her direct supervisor was not doing his job properly, she had him fired. THAT made her popular!

They lived on site, in dongas, which had just the bare essentials, everything was portable, with the dongas in a large group, the main one being the mess, where they all met for their meals. The project manager, Carl Curtis, was a fair, likeable but volatile man, and one of his off-siders, Gavin Jones, was eye-catching…dangerous, a ladies man! Wendy was determined to keep away from him…she had no time to get involved with anyone, let alone a man of his reputation….she was searching for her father. She hadn’t known she was adopted until a year prior, and it devastated her…she felt she HAD to find him to find out why he’d deserted her at birth, but the search was going nowhere. With her latest clue being the Pilbara, she had decided to head there to continue her quest.

Wendy was nicknamed ‘Sergeant’, and was the butt of many pranks, but she gritted her teeth and kept working. Feeling alone, and lonely, she wondered if she would ever make any friends.. would she ever earn the respect of the men she was determined to protect? But the danger of a terrible storm, as well as danger of the human kind, changed everything. Would their training be enough…could she save them from potential disaster?

I really enjoyed my first Loretta Hill novel. The suspense was gripping, the humour was wonderful…I will be reading more of this author.

Thanks to NetGalley for my copy:) ...more

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Dec 16, 2012 Bree T rated it it was amazing

Shelves: australian, contemporary, arc, aww2012, romance, kindle-version, netgalley, rural-lit

Wendy Hopkins has arrived in the Pilbarra on a secret mission. She’s searching for her real father after a simple query into obtaining a copy of her birth certificate led her to discover that she possessed two – the first one which listed her father as unknown and the second one after the man she always believed was her father adopted her when she was just a toddler. Wendy has always wondered why her father had looked at her in that broken-hearted way, almost like he couldn’t bear to, from the t Wendy Hopkins has arrived in the Pilbarra on a secret mission. She’s searching for her real father after a simple query into obtaining a copy of her birth certificate led her to discover that she possessed two – the first one which listed her father as unknown and the second one after the man she always believed was her father adopted her when she was just a toddler. Wendy has always wondered why her father had looked at her in that broken-hearted way, almost like he couldn’t bear to, from the time she was around six years old. She was shunted off to boarding school not long after and her relationship with both of her parents has never been tight. Her mother was reluctant to give her any information when Wendy confronted her about the birth certificates but finally she admitted several things: her father’s name was Hector, he worked in mining/engineering and had been in the Pilbarra. So Wendy decided that she would track him down. She had to know who she really was.

Things do not get off to a good start when it’s revealed that her Uncle Mike, a bit of the family black sheep, blackmailed Dan Hullog into giving her a job. Dan no longer has the job for her because the person he was protecting doesn’t need it anymore but he has arranged for Wendy to work for Barnes Inc, the company constructing the iron ore wharf. As the new Safety Manager, Wendy isn’t exactly the most popular person in the company, especially as she arrives wearing an enemy uniform. No one is particularly open to her suggestions either, especially the man she’s working with who is clearly not up to coping with the rigorous demands of enforcing safety on such a big site. Wendy, as one of only five women and some 350 men in the camp is subjected to a gentle hazing from most of the men and made the butt of most of their jokes. Notorious womaniser Gavin Jones is one of the main culprits but there are times that Wendy catches a glimpse of a very different Gavin before he slams the door.

Gavin can’t afford to get involved with anyone, tempting as Wendy herself may be. He’s a casual kind of guy, a love them and leave them type. He’s been moving around for far too long now, looking over his shoulder and always wondering. To get close to someone would be to put them in danger so Gavin keeps it casual. Wendy doesn’t do casual though. She wants to know what Gavin is hiding. Danger is coming to the Pilbarra and it’s going to take all of Wendy’s planning and execution of safety plans to keep the entire camp safe. And she might just get the answers she’s been so desperately seeking as well.

The Girl In The Hard Hat is the follow up book to The Girl In Steel-Capped Boots which was probably one of my Top 10 reads of 2012. I was delighted when I found out Loretta Hill was writing another book set around the construction of the Iron Ore wharf in the Pilbarra, focusing on a new couple but still including all of the well-known characters from the first book. They’re all back – Carl, who still cannot stop swearing, Sharon the bus driver, the boys down at the wharf. And if you’re curious about Lena and Dan then be happy because they’re here too and their story continues along with this one in a very satisfactory sort of way. But the spotlight is on Wendy Hopkins and Gavin Jones and it’s quite the ride.

It’s hard not to feel for Wendy right away as she recounts her relatively lonely childhood, discovery that the man she thought was her father isn’t and her mother’s reluctance to even give her the answers she needs. Armed with what little information she did have, she trekked all the way to the Pilbarra only to be told that the job wasn’t actually a real one but Dan had set her up in another one. She faces hostility and ribbing that ranges from the gentle, good-natured type to the more serious. Her accommodations are less than satisfactory but Wendy doesn’t let this get her down. She has a goal and it seems like nothing the Pilbarra can throw at her will dissuade her from that goal. Even Gavin Jones. Gavin is handsome, charming, flirtatious and with the reputation of being quite the womaniser. Wendy knows she should stay away from him but she can’t help but be drawn to the deeper side of Gavin

This book is rife with the same humour and charm that made me fall in love with the first one and it easily leapfrogs sophomore book syndrome. Despite the fact that Lena and Wendy might seem similar at first glance, Hill keeps them starkly very different and the same with the two male love interests. Gavin Jones is very different and the way in which the attraction between him and Wendy unfolds is different as well. The chemistry between them was electric but it was also a bit of a slow burn – there were so many obstacles getting in the way of them, especially Gavin’s reluctance to attach himself to anyone and potentially put them in danger. His protectiveness of Wendy was sweet, at odds with most of the way he behaved. His life had been spent looking over his shoulder for a few years and it had taken a bit of a toll on him. He hated seeing people waste their lives and opportunities.

This is the sort of book that I would recommend to everyone I know, especially if they liked The Girl In Steel-Capped Boots. And if you haven’t read that one then… you definitely need to! ...more

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Dec 05, 2012 Lauredhel rated it really liked it

Shelves: australian-women-writers-challenge, contemporary, rural-setting, australian, netgalley, aww2013

Another really enjoyable read by Loretta Hill, and a crossover with The Girl In Steep Capped Boots and taking place after its events, which was a nice surprise for me.

Hill's rural settings aren't all horses and rivers and pretty bushland; her heroines work in heavy construction in the Pilbara, hard up against a sexist, male-dominated workplace culture, a dangerous workplace, and a harsh environment. They're smart, singularly competent, and about the right amount of steely. Hill also manages to ...more

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Dec 28, 2012 Marg rated it really liked it

Shelves: aww2012

Last year I read and thoroughly enjoyed reading Loretta Hill's debut novel, The Girl in Steel-Capped Boots. The things that really stood out for me in that book were the unusual setting, having the heroine in a truly male dominated environment and the great story. Fortunately, the author has managed to keep all of these same factors in her follow up novel.

When Wendy Hopkins turns up for work at her new job, things couldn't really have gone more wrong. Her uncle Mike has put in a good word for he ...more

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Jan 24, 2013 Kat at Book Thingo rated it really liked it

Shelves: australian-authors, romance-contemporary, review-copies, vomit-list

This is an excerpt of my review. Click here for the full review on Book Thingo.

Wendy Hopkins arrives at the Pilbara in search of her biological father and some self-redemption after a bad decision in her previous job resulted in disastrous consequences. But being the safety manager at an iron ore wharf comes with a load of politics, an overdose of testosterone and, with cyclone season approaching, more danger than she bargains for.

When a stranger, who 'brought the same visual pop to her eyeballs This is an excerpt of my review. Click here for the full review on Book Thingo.

Wendy Hopkins arrives at the Pilbara in search of her biological father and some self-redemption after a bad decision in her previous job resulted in disastrous consequences. But being the safety manager at an iron ore wharf comes with a load of politics, an overdose of testosterone and, with cyclone season approaching, more danger than she bargains for.

When a stranger, who 'brought the same visual pop to her eyeballs that Brad Pitt brought to the big screen', follows her while jogging, she punches him in the jaw. In return, he steals a kiss. The stranger turns out to be Gavin Jones, piling engineer and infamous womaniser, and it also turns out that he may have the information Wendy is looking for.

I found it difficult to put this book down, despite the lacklustre character arcs and romance plot. I might have skimmed through some of the descriptions of working procedures at the wharf, but I was always drawn back by the dialogue. Where else, for example, would you find a simile like this: '...when he came in here last week he was looking at you like you were a bowl of hot wedges served with sour cream and sweet chilli sauce.'

The lack of chemistry between Wendy and Gavin makes it impossible to believe that she'd be open to his advances after the jogging debacle. Even as they get to know each other better, their courtship seems shallow and largely plot-driven. Gavin really does have a good reason for not wanting to become seriously involved with Wendy, but even this is mostly played out for the plot---the high emotional stakes that make a good romance so compelling are missing from the story.

This book is loosely related to The Girl in the Steel-Capped Boots, but it's not necessary to have read the first book. Fans of the first book should enjoy the recurring characters, particularly Lena and Dan, who get their own very minor subplot.

Despite the weak romance and a family conflict that remains unresolved, The Girl in the Hard Hat has enough interesting characters and situations to make it an engaging, if not altogether satisfying, read.

Who might enjoy it: Romance readers who love a strong sense of place in their stories

Who might not enjoy it: Readers who like their characters to be politically correct

An advance reading copy of this book was generously provided by the publisher via NetGalley. This review is part of the Australian Women Writers Challenge. Click here for a list of books I’ve read so far. ...more

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