Home Before Sundown in Aussie Readers

Jul 19, 2013 Bree T rated it really liked it

Shelves: arc, australian, romance, rural-lit, aww2013

Bella Fairburn has been living it up in Europe and loving it – or so she keeps telling herself. But when she gets the news that her beloved father Peter has had another, more serious heart attack, she wastes no time packing her bags, saying goodbye to her French boyfriend Anton and jetting home with her aunt, Liz.

It’s been two years since Bella returned to her family’s outback northern Queensland cattle property and for Liz, Peter’s sister who is now an acclaimed pianist working all over Europe, Bella Fairburn has been living it up in Europe and loving it – or so she keeps telling herself. But when she gets the news that her beloved father Peter has had another, more serious heart attack, she wastes no time packing her bags, saying goodbye to her French boyfriend Anton and jetting home with her aunt, Liz.

It’s been two years since Bella returned to her family’s outback northern Queensland cattle property and for Liz, Peter’s sister who is now an acclaimed pianist working all over Europe, it’s been even longer – about thirty. After seeing Peter in Townsville for themselves and making sure he is resting up okay and hopefully on the mend, Bella returns to the family property to run it while her father is in hospital. Her brother Luke was always supposed to take over the running of the property but he’s recently begun carpentry work and has developed a passion for it. Tied up with an important job doing something he loves, Bella is happy to run the farm to save her parents hiring a manager and outsourcing what is a family role- she knows she can do it. She grew up doing it. She will make her father proud and give him back the reins when he’s ready to resume his position.

But running the family farm puts her back in close contact with Gabe Mitchell, her next door neighbour. Growing up, Bella trailed everywhere after Luke and Gabe, honing her tomboy skills. When Bella was at university, Gabe was the man she one day hoped to marry. Luke would have the family farm, but Bella would be right next door with the man she had fallen in love with, helping him run his own farm. However after a family tragedy, Gabe spurned her and broke her heart, sending her overseas to put as much distance between him and herself as she could.

Back at Mullinjim, both Liz and Bella will have to confront painful moments from their past during their time there and make the steps towards healing and moving forward to bright new futures.

Last year I read and loved Zoe’s Muster by Barbara Hannay and was excited to revisit the area for Home Before Sundown. Bella is Zoe’s half sister (they share the same father) and she’s been overseas travelling for several years. However when family brings her home, Bella throws her all into running the family farm – some one hundred thousand acres desperately on its way to being crippled by drought. Bella has grown up on the farm, there’s not much she doesn’t know how to do and when she needs help, she has neighbours. Her half sister Zoe has married Mac, who bought one of the neighbouring farms when Bella was away at Uni and then there’s Gabe Mitchell, with whom Bella has history.

The chemistry between Gabe and Bella is obvious, as is the fact that they both have regrets over what happened during their short lived fling a few years ago. At first Bella maintains a polite distance from Gabe, resisting asking him for help but the more time they spend together, the more she sees that resistance is futile. Their move back towards a relationship is hampered drastically when Bella’s French boyfriend Anton arrives, causing Gabe to lash out at Bella the same way he did several years ago, challenging her to figure out precisely what she wants.

It’s not an unfair charge – Bella ran from what she wanted after what happened with Gabe and tried to make herself happy travelling around Europe but it’s very clear that her heart lies with her home at Mullinjim. She just needs to embrace the courage she needs to go after what she wants and make it hers, rather than trying to run from it. Gabe is of course, a part of that, but a rash promise Bella made before she left France really ends up complicating things for her! I think that Bella did just need a little time to grow up and realise that Gabe wasn’t able to put her first back then, that he was going through something horrible. I understand why she reacted the way she did, and I think it was perfectly reasonable for her to be hurt and feel betrayed, jilted and abandoned. But running away definitely did not help.

The story is greatly enhanced by Liz’s character who has her own reasons for not having returned to her childhood home. I really enjoyed the character of Liz and the role she played in Bella’s life and also the story. Her tragedy had led to her filling her life with relatively meaningless connections and relationships, pouring her energy into her career as one of the world’s most talented pianists. It’s interesting that in a place that she assumes would be a dating dead end, she meets perhaps the first man that has truly interested her in a long time. The two stories worked great alongside of each other and intertwined as they revolved around the homestead and Liz and Bella both witnessed the other’s burgeoning relationships and tried to extract information or offer advice.

Home Before Sundown is a well-rounded story with heartache, loss, love and new beginnings. I have to admit, one event threw me totally – did not see it coming at all but I understand how it helped the story, particularly Bella’s personal growth and her understanding and compassion towards someone else who had experienced the same thing. Once again Barbara Hannay has delivered a fantastic story with beautiful characters and a lovely backdrop of rural Australia. I am so looking forward to her next book, which will feature Bella and Zoe’s brother Luke. In this novel we got a few glimpses of Zoe and Mac and the happiness they had found together (which always satisfies the need in me to know more after a book ends!) and I hope for glimpses of them again and Bella and Gabe too in Luke’s book. ...more

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Jun 18, 2013 Shelleyrae at Book'd Out rated it really liked it · review of another edition

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

In Home Before Sundown, Barbara Hannay returns to the Fairburn's cattle station, Mullinjim, in Northern Queensland. Peter Fairburn, whom we met in Zoe's Muster has suffered a heart attack he may not survive, prompting their daughter's, return from Europe where she has been traveling for the last two years. Accompanied by her Aunt Liz, who has been avoiding Mullinjim for almost thirty years, Bella Fairburn arrives home and takes over the running of the family farm while her father recovers. Thoug
In Home Before Sundown, Barbara Hannay returns to the Fairburn's cattle station, Mullinjim, in Northern Queensland. Peter Fairburn, whom we met in Zoe's Muster has suffered a heart attack he may not survive, prompting their daughter's, return from Europe where she has been traveling for the last two years. Accompanied by her Aunt Liz, who has been avoiding Mullinjim for almost thirty years, Bella Fairburn arrives home and takes over the running of the family farm while her father recovers. Though it is hard work, Bella is happy to be home except for the presence of her neighbour, Gabe Mitchell, the man who broke her heart.

I was delighted to return with Hannay to the characters I grew familiar with in Zoe's Muster. Zoe, the daughter of Peter Fairburn and half sibling to Bella and Luke, is now happily settled with Mac McKinnon. Home Before Sundown features Bella and her Aunt Liz, Peter's sister, both of whom fled Mullinjim after experiencing heartbreak.

Bella was crushed when Gabe rejected her in the wake of his father's death and took off to Europe but he was never far from her thoughts and now she has returned she has to face him. Gabe had his reasons for pushing Bella away but now that she is back he doesn't want to see her leave again. It's a sweet romance with evident chemistry simmering between the pair. Naturally their reunion is complicated by not only their past but by the cute, French, ski instructor boyfriend Bella left behind and the Bella's indecision regarding what she truly wants.

Liz's story arc gives added depth to this novel about family, love and loss. A renowned concert pianist, Liz also fled Mullinjim nursing heartache and a secret she has never shared but that has haunted her for thirty years. Being home forces Liz to confront her past and re-consider her future.

Home Before Sundown is an engaging story of joy, tragedy, romance and heartache set within the dusty landscape of the Australian outback. I am already looking forward to Hannay's next book which promises to feature Bella and Zoe's brother, Luke Fairburn.

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Nov 27, 2013 Kellie Schache marked it as to-read

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