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teresajluvs2read's review against another edition
4.0
**I received a copy of His Outback Temptation from Net Galley in exchange for an honest and voluntary review**
His Outback Temptation by Annie Seaton is the final book in her Pickle Creek series. Even though I'm sad that the series has ended I'm sure Gran Helena isn't done with her matchmaking in the family. However Sebastian and Isabella's story wasn't my favorite it's still worth all 4 stars. I just wish that Seb & Bella had more of a connection to each other instead of dancing around the will she or won't she part of the story.
Sebastian has finally come home to Pickle Creek and Spring Downs but he wonders if he'll end up staying because the farm life isn't what he loves as much as his photography. When he steps in to save Isabella from her overzealous seat mate, little does he know that she'll be come home also. When they arrive at her father's milk bar they both realize that their careers are very important to each other and farm life isn't what they want to do.
Isabella Romano is coming home only for six weeks to hopefully convince her father to finally return to Italy with her mother. As a chef with her dream job waiting in England after her visit ends with her father is very surprised how much has changed in Spring Downs. With shops closed and everyone driving to the nearest town she wonders how long her father can afford to stay. After the caterer cancels on Lucy and Jemima's wedding she'll enjoy having something to create for them. But will Seb finally tell Bella that he has fallen in love with her but knows that his family expects him to help take over the farm will he stay or won't he?
His Outback Temptation by Annie Seaton is the final book in her Pickle Creek series. Even though I'm sad that the series has ended I'm sure Gran Helena isn't done with her matchmaking in the family. However Sebastian and Isabella's story wasn't my favorite it's still worth all 4 stars. I just wish that Seb & Bella had more of a connection to each other instead of dancing around the will she or won't she part of the story.
Sebastian has finally come home to Pickle Creek and Spring Downs but he wonders if he'll end up staying because the farm life isn't what he loves as much as his photography. When he steps in to save Isabella from her overzealous seat mate, little does he know that she'll be come home also. When they arrive at her father's milk bar they both realize that their careers are very important to each other and farm life isn't what they want to do.
Isabella Romano is coming home only for six weeks to hopefully convince her father to finally return to Italy with her mother. As a chef with her dream job waiting in England after her visit ends with her father is very surprised how much has changed in Spring Downs. With shops closed and everyone driving to the nearest town she wonders how long her father can afford to stay. After the caterer cancels on Lucy and Jemima's wedding she'll enjoy having something to create for them. But will Seb finally tell Bella that he has fallen in love with her but knows that his family expects him to help take over the farm will he stay or won't he?
leanner's review against another edition
5.0
Wow, here I am a city girl reading about my beautiful country. Areas I've only seen on TV and photos. The author brought the Outback to life, I could almost taste the dust. I really wanted these characters to get together and I'm so happy the way it ended. I thought please don't be predictable. Sebastian has had his taste of the World in his photography career and comes home at his Grandparent's request. Bella comes for a short visit to see her Dad and knows she has a career waiting for her in England. Could love ruin someone's dreams or enrich it?
I highly recommend this book, I enjoyed it immensely.
I highly recommend this book, I enjoyed it immensely.
dani_reviews's review against another edition
3.0
Rating: 2.5 stars
This one was a really weird one for me. For a romance, it didn’t really hit the mark. But then I did appreciate some of the things it did do.
So what do I mean? Let me see if I can break it down.
Sebastian (Seb) is the last of four grandchildren to come home to the farm that his grandparents handed over to Seb and his cousins. As a photographer, he’s travelled the world, but now’s the time to come home, or so he thinks. On his plane is the Italian Isabella (Bella), who is visiting her dad in Prickle Creek before going off to Windsor, England to follow her culinary ambitions in a posh pub. In a somewhat problematic “meetcute”, the two find each other in the airport and decide to go back to Prickle Creek together.
From a modern life standpoint, I liked how this book addressed two things through its two main characters. The town everything takes place in does come across very traditional, almost dated. The men must have very traditional roles as leaders of the families, with very masculine jobs, while the women all want to become wives and mothers and take on jobs in the caring professions (e.g. housewives, nannies, schoolteachers). I also noticed this in His Outback Nanny, which I admittedly enjoyed because things did make sense in that one, and it wasn’t as apparent.
For Seb, the big issue was family expectations to do with his career. Despite his international renown as a photographer, this profession did not fit in with what the town and his family deemed worthwhile. He believed he had to stay and make the farm his life. He’d always felt like they didn’t respect what he’d done with his life, with photography being a fun, frivolous hobby that didn’t require all that much hard work. As someone who knows a lot of artists of various kinds – including authors – I know that this is a common perception that people with non-creative careers have of creatives. And it did come across like this a lot of the time, though in the end, he had to decide what was right for him.
Bella had the same sort of issues, but it was more. Not only did people question her career ambitions – with even Seb failing to acknowledge her dreams – but she also had the same problem a lot of us career women have: questions and expectations regarding her family plans, as if everyone has a say in your procreation. Her father, Seb, everyone seemed to want her to just give up the amazing opportunity she had waiting in England to stick around for a guy she’d only known for a few weeks. I, for one, appreciated seeing her struggles, especially in a town and around women who seemed wholly consumed with marriage and babies. (Everyone has babies, guys, everyone. No one is safe.) Yes, she wanted children one day, but why did she have to give up her career? As someone who has the same internal battles about whether/when to have children, I could empathise with Bella.
In the outback, it was nice to see two characters struggling with dated expectations and figuring out what worked for them. The ending, especially, was pretty awesome, but I can’t say why without spoiling anything.
You may have noticed my little comment about a problematic first interaction earlier. Seb and Bella meet at the airport when Bella launches herself at Seb, kissing him without warning. I don’t care how cute this is supposed to be just because they’re “meant to be” or whatever, this is sexual assault. He has no idea it’s going to happen, doesn’t know who she is at first, and is told to go along with it. Ok, yes, he could have pushed her off, but that doesn’t mean what she did wasn’t wrong. Are we just supposed to ignore this because it’s a girl doing it? Because she’s pretty and he’s handsome? Because it works out in the end?
Ultimately, though, what really made this book so-so for me was that the chemistry was never really there. As with His Outback Nanny, this was a very clean book, with a bit of fade-to-black, which meant it had to rely solely on dialogue and some more innocent interaction to build up a connection. But I didn’t feel anything while reading, didn’t see what all the fuss was about with them parting because it never seemed like anything special or meaningful. And that’s the kicker.
So while I liked seeing some of the modern relationship issues presented in this book from a literary standpoint, it fell short for a romance.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
This one was a really weird one for me. For a romance, it didn’t really hit the mark. But then I did appreciate some of the things it did do.
So what do I mean? Let me see if I can break it down.
Sebastian (Seb) is the last of four grandchildren to come home to the farm that his grandparents handed over to Seb and his cousins. As a photographer, he’s travelled the world, but now’s the time to come home, or so he thinks. On his plane is the Italian Isabella (Bella), who is visiting her dad in Prickle Creek before going off to Windsor, England to follow her culinary ambitions in a posh pub. In a somewhat problematic “meetcute”, the two find each other in the airport and decide to go back to Prickle Creek together.
From a modern life standpoint, I liked how this book addressed two things through its two main characters. The town everything takes place in does come across very traditional, almost dated. The men must have very traditional roles as leaders of the families, with very masculine jobs, while the women all want to become wives and mothers and take on jobs in the caring professions (e.g. housewives, nannies, schoolteachers). I also noticed this in His Outback Nanny, which I admittedly enjoyed because things did make sense in that one, and it wasn’t as apparent.
For Seb, the big issue was family expectations to do with his career. Despite his international renown as a photographer, this profession did not fit in with what the town and his family deemed worthwhile. He believed he had to stay and make the farm his life. He’d always felt like they didn’t respect what he’d done with his life, with photography being a fun, frivolous hobby that didn’t require all that much hard work. As someone who knows a lot of artists of various kinds – including authors – I know that this is a common perception that people with non-creative careers have of creatives. And it did come across like this a lot of the time, though in the end, he had to decide what was right for him.
Bella had the same sort of issues, but it was more. Not only did people question her career ambitions – with even Seb failing to acknowledge her dreams – but she also had the same problem a lot of us career women have: questions and expectations regarding her family plans, as if everyone has a say in your procreation. Her father, Seb, everyone seemed to want her to just give up the amazing opportunity she had waiting in England to stick around for a guy she’d only known for a few weeks. I, for one, appreciated seeing her struggles, especially in a town and around women who seemed wholly consumed with marriage and babies. (Everyone has babies, guys, everyone. No one is safe.) Yes, she wanted children one day, but why did she have to give up her career? As someone who has the same internal battles about whether/when to have children, I could empathise with Bella.
In the outback, it was nice to see two characters struggling with dated expectations and figuring out what worked for them. The ending, especially, was pretty awesome, but I can’t say why without spoiling anything.
You may have noticed my little comment about a problematic first interaction earlier. Seb and Bella meet at the airport when Bella launches herself at Seb, kissing him without warning. I don’t care how cute this is supposed to be just because they’re “meant to be” or whatever, this is sexual assault. He has no idea it’s going to happen, doesn’t know who she is at first, and is told to go along with it. Ok, yes, he could have pushed her off, but that doesn’t mean what she did wasn’t wrong. Are we just supposed to ignore this because it’s a girl doing it? Because she’s pretty and he’s handsome? Because it works out in the end?
Ultimately, though, what really made this book so-so for me was that the chemistry was never really there. As with His Outback Nanny, this was a very clean book, with a bit of fade-to-black, which meant it had to rely solely on dialogue and some more innocent interaction to build up a connection. But I didn’t feel anything while reading, didn’t see what all the fuss was about with them parting because it never seemed like anything special or meaningful. And that’s the kicker.
So while I liked seeing some of the modern relationship issues presented in this book from a literary standpoint, it fell short for a romance.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
beckymmoe's review against another edition
3.0
Reviewed on my blog, Becky on Books, on 5/13/18.
Finally, Seb's story!
Having read the second and third books in this series ( as [b:Her Outback Cowboy|35423407|Her Outback Cowboy (Prickle Creek)|Annie Seaton|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1497293014s/35423407.jpg|56352878] waits patiently in my TBR) I was very interested to see what Sebastian's book was going to bring. We don't really learn all that much about him in previous books (making this one work perfectly fine as a standalone if you're new to the series) nor do we know Bella at all, which made everything going into this one a big question mark as far as expectations went.
At times, though, it felt as if the question mark stayed in place while I was reading...
I liked both Seb and Bella, but it was clear from the start that neither of them were going to be happy in the Outback and that they shouldn't be considering spending the rest of their lives there. The whole time they were looking elsewhere and thinking about the future--which is fine, but they were also doing it in a vacuum, for the most part. As attracted to Bella as Seb was, he gave no hints to her about his future hopes and plans until literally the last minute and when he did he didn't at all take into consideration what she'd been telling him about her own hopes and plans for weeks. As a result, most of the time the two of them spent at Prickle Creek felt like little more than a rest stop on the road of life that Seb at least was 100% pretending was something else--which made the main part of the book feel rather frustrating.
Seb does pull off one heck of a grand gesture, though, and clearly the decision that the two of them do make about their future ends up being the right one--only we barely get to really enjoy it since it all happens (or we're told about it) in the last few pages of the book. So though I'm glad we got to see Seb's story, I wish we'd seen what more of it away from Prickle Creek was like, because it definitely seems as if that's the more satisfying part of it.
Rating: 3 stars / C
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.
Finally, Seb's story!
Having read the second and third books in this series ( as [b:Her Outback Cowboy|35423407|Her Outback Cowboy (Prickle Creek)|Annie Seaton|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1497293014s/35423407.jpg|56352878] waits patiently in my TBR) I was very interested to see what Sebastian's book was going to bring. We don't really learn all that much about him in previous books (making this one work perfectly fine as a standalone if you're new to the series) nor do we know Bella at all, which made everything going into this one a big question mark as far as expectations went.
At times, though, it felt as if the question mark stayed in place while I was reading...
I liked both Seb and Bella, but it was clear from the start that neither of them were going to be happy in the Outback and that they shouldn't be considering spending the rest of their lives there. The whole time they were looking elsewhere and thinking about the future--which is fine, but they were also doing it in a vacuum, for the most part. As attracted to Bella as Seb was, he gave no hints to her about his future hopes and plans until literally the last minute and when he did he didn't at all take into consideration what she'd been telling him about her own hopes and plans for weeks. As a result, most of the time the two of them spent at Prickle Creek felt like little more than a rest stop on the road of life that Seb at least was 100% pretending was something else--which made the main part of the book feel rather frustrating.
Seb does pull off one heck of a grand gesture, though, and clearly the decision that the two of them do make about their future ends up being the right one--only we barely get to really enjoy it since it all happens (or we're told about it) in the last few pages of the book. So though I'm glad we got to see Seb's story, I wish we'd seen what more of it away from Prickle Creek was like, because it definitely seems as if that's the more satisfying part of it.
Rating: 3 stars / C
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.
cheryls's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 Stars
This is book 4 in the Prickle Creek series and it features Sebastian and Isabella. I love this entire series but this one is my least favorite. The lack of romance between these two seem to drag on until the last quarter of the book. The story line is good but I was not feeling the love. I also did not care for Isabella, who I thought was extremely selfish. Sebastian is a great guy. He was willing to give up his dreams to work the family farm and make his family happy.
I will miss this Prickle Creek family. I love seeing the other cousins happily married and watching their families grow. I always look forward to whatever this author comes out with next.
This is book 4 in the Prickle Creek series and it features Sebastian and Isabella. I love this entire series but this one is my least favorite. The lack of romance between these two seem to drag on until the last quarter of the book. The story line is good but I was not feeling the love. I also did not care for Isabella, who I thought was extremely selfish. Sebastian is a great guy. He was willing to give up his dreams to work the family farm and make his family happy.
I will miss this Prickle Creek family. I love seeing the other cousins happily married and watching their families grow. I always look forward to whatever this author comes out with next.
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