The House on Burra Burra Lane in Aussie Readers

Apr 19, 2013 Brenda rated it really liked it

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

Samantha Walker made a grand entrance into the township of Swallow’s Fall in the Snowy Mountains of NSW and its residents when she rushed into the vet’s rooms with her ginger cat Duke, tripped over Ruby, the resident pig, and went flying into the arms of the local vet, Dr Ethan Granger. Escaping from Sydney, an abusive ex-fiance and nasty, vindictive mother, Sammy had only been in Swallow’s Fall and her very own “old” home for ten days, and she wasn’t expecting to have her blood stirred by a han ...more

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Jan 15, 2014 Brenda rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2013-release, aussie-authors, own-read, read-on-kindle, 2014-release, contemporary-fiction, first-in-a-series, first-reads-winner

Samantha Walker made a grand entrance into the township of Swallow’s Fall in the Snowy Mountains of NSW and its residents when she rushed into the vet’s rooms with her ginger cat Duke, tripped over Ruby, the resident pig, and went flying into the arms of the local vet, Dr Ethan Granger. Escaping from Sydney, an abusive ex-fiance and nasty, vindictive mother, Sammy had only been in Swallow’s Fall and her very own “old” home for ten days, and she wasn’t expecting to have her blood stirred by a han Samantha Walker made a grand entrance into the township of Swallow’s Fall in the Snowy Mountains of NSW and its residents when she rushed into the vet’s rooms with her ginger cat Duke, tripped over Ruby, the resident pig, and went flying into the arms of the local vet, Dr Ethan Granger. Escaping from Sydney, an abusive ex-fiance and nasty, vindictive mother, Sammy had only been in Swallow’s Fall and her very own “old” home for ten days, and she wasn’t expecting to have her blood stirred by a handsome man, who also, it turned out, was a carpenter as well as a vet, and could help her with repairs to her home.

But Ethan, as well as Sammy, had issues with an extremely painful past, and even with the sparks that were between them, neither of them was prepared to take anything further than a tentative friendship. Both had been severely hurt in different ways, and issues with trust created a huge barrier between them.

Sammy gradually made friends with the locals, especially old Grandy, as she frequented his hardware store to buy tools to repair her house, the chicken coop, the shed, the vegetable garden…some of those tools she had NO idea what to do with, but she figured she could learn. She was also an artist, and her work with a Sydney firm kept her financial to pay for her repairs.

With the locals having bets to see how long Sammy would stay in town, suddenly the past was on her doorstep. With danger surfacing, Ethan acting strangely and her mind in turmoil, Sammy didn’t know where her future lay anymore. What would happen to Sammy? Could Ethan let go of his terrible memories to be able to build a future?

I really enjoyed this book and sped through it in only a couple of hours! Another debut Aussie author for me to follow, and one I would recommend to lovers of rural romance.

I received this paperback copy as a Goodreads FirstReads winner:) Even though I read it on ebook last year (2013) when it was first released, Jennie's paperback copy was released on 1.1.14. ...more

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May 24, 2020 Bree T rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: rural-lit, australian, romance, series, kindle-version, aww2020

Sammy Walker has fled the city and her manipulative mother and abusive ex-fiance for the relative peace of Swallow’s Fall in the Snowy Mountains of NSW. She’s purchased a house, although it needs a little bit of work. A trip to the local vet for a check up for her cat Duke reveals that Ethan Granger, the vet also moonlights doing carpentry, and so Sammy asks if he might be able to help her with a few of the issues her house has. And that sets the little town abuzz with gossip.

There were things I Sammy Walker has fled the city and her manipulative mother and abusive ex-fiance for the relative peace of Swallow’s Fall in the Snowy Mountains of NSW. She’s purchased a house, although it needs a little bit of work. A trip to the local vet for a check up for her cat Duke reveals that Ethan Granger, the vet also moonlights doing carpentry, and so Sammy asks if he might be able to help her with a few of the issues her house has. And that sets the little town abuzz with gossip.

There were things I liked about this – I loved the setting. A small town in the Snowy Mountains is a beautiful place to set a book and the house and land Samantha buys (about 2 acres I think) seems like a lovely place for a ‘tree change’. I also loved that hiring Ethan to fix her porch/veranda and various other issues with some of the outbuildings on the property gave the two main characters a chance to get to know each other in a relaxed but intimate sort of setting. However….a lot of their interactions were really awkward.

There’s a lot of back and forth in this, some of it inexplicably so. There’s a few really weird moments for two people that have just met each other, in the vet office. Both of them have some baggage going into this – the breakdown of Sammy’s previous relationship and also Ethan’s issues centred around his family and his identity and what he tried to do….and what he fears about himself. So it’s not going to be easy for them anyway, to actually converse like two mature adults. But this book hides a lot of information – Sammy doesn’t know for the longest time that the house she’s living in is actually the house that Ethan grew up in and that has incredibly bad memories for him and he can barely stand to set foot in it. But he keeps coming around to help her fix it and instead of telling her about his connection to it, he just pretends that it doesn’t exist, like this is just a house in town he’s really never seen before.

There’s also a benevolent elderly gentleman referred to as “Grandy” who seems to preside over the town and all of its residents like some sort of kindly overlord, but one that isn’t afraid to kick a struggling teenager out of town with just the money for the bus fare. Like, okay? That was weird. How were they just not like, you’re not the boss of me old man. But strange betting markets from the locals and all that aside, the thing that really just did make me struggle with this was the simple fact that Ethan and Sammy go back and forth so many times. It’s like being on a see-saw. They’re friends. They’re flirting. One of them takes it too far which makes the other retreat. They agree to be friends again. But they are finding each other super hot so there’s a remark. Or a look. Or a kiss. And then one backs off. Or says something that is taken as a slight by the other, in a moment of fragile self esteem (this is something that Sammy suffers with, due to her past relationship). And then after there’s finally a cohesive moment, a step forward in this relationship, we are back on the see-saw again and it was just….too much going around and around with no actual progress.

There’s also a subplot regarding Sammy and her ex-fiance and her mother and I found the resolution of that very unsatisfying. I wanted Sammy to own her independence, her emancipation from this toxic couple and embrace the new live she’d made without them. However it felt more like Ethan just sorted it all out for her and which, back up is appreciated, especially with men like her ex, who bully women but flee at the sight of a stronger man than they are but Sammy became a passive bystander in her own story.

A mixed bag for me. ...more

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Dec 12, 2013 Tien rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: australia, romance, own, australian-author

I was just in the mood for some light reading after some classics & literary works. The House on Burra Burra Lane definitely fits the bill and lightened up my day. An easygoing and entertaining read with (of course) an HEA are requisites for an Aussie outback romance to my mind. I found all these in Jennie Jones’ debut.

I loved the opening of the book –a massive pig, a damsel in distress, a down-to-earth-knight-in-shining-armor… It was funny. It was electric. It sets the tone of the book. Samanth ...more

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