The narrator Clara has gone alone on vacation to Australia after discovering her boyfriend cheated on her. It takes her awhile to get over her grumpiness, and we do get a lot of it. Fortunately, her inner voice is amusing. She’s immediately attracted to Evie, the drover assigned to her small group of tourists. Evie is just as attracted, and the scenes between them are very enjoyable. This book is different than usual romances. I felt like it was the gradual reawakening or even blossoming of Clara. There is some romantic tension as well as Clara’s doubts about whether pursuing anything with Evie is a good idea. I liked where Ripley ended it, but I can’t say more than that without giving things away. I appreciated the hopeful ending.

I adored this book so much and loved the characters so much. The way that Clara is honest about her bisexuality and her feelings towards Evie are discussed great. I wanted to know what happened next after the holiday ended and its a shame it wasn't included. A great book and a fantastic romance by Ripley!

This is a quite decent short story about a bisexual woman from US going to a vacation in Australia, after being cheated by her boyfriend, using the vacation that said boyfriend had planned as a kind of revenge, but the woman, Clara, is not completely convinced of if she will enjoy the trip. Becaiuse the vacation consist in a five days raid trough the australian lands guiding cattle riding a horse. But there is also this drover, Evie, that guides Clara and the rest of tourists in the journey, only that with Clara the guidance goes beyond than sitseeing their sorroundings. The story has some funny parts and little sex, but it's a short so that can be expected. It has been easy to read and enjoyable enough.

I do not have a good track record with F/F books, and Riding the Track unfortunately didn't break my losing streak.

Riding the Track is a cute, easy to read novella that is more of a hook up story than a true romance. If you are looking for deep feelings or a long-lasting relationship, you are barking up the wrong tree. Which sort of confused me, to be honest. The story isn't steamy enough for an erotica book (the sex scenes are mostly fade-to-black) and not romantic enough to be a swoony read. It is sort of in the middle of the two and not quite fitting into either.

I enjoyed some of the internal monologuing of Clara, our MC, but it got to be a little too much one-sided conversation and too little actual talking for my liking. Also, some of the phrasing is meant to sound funny or maybe sexy, but just came off as... strange.

Someone must have turned on a leaf blower in my stomach, because all of the moisture had been blown out of my gut. It'd gone south.

I know that was meant to sound erotic, but the biology major in me just read that as, well, diarrhea...

I liked the sexy cowgirl aspect of the story and the fact that we got a POC aboriginal MC, but I wanted more relationship development and some tweaks to the storytelling to feel satisfied.


*Copy provided in exchange for an honest review*

I wanted something short and fun to read, so I picked this one up. When Clara discovers that her boyfriend's cheating on her, she kicks his butt to the curb and goes on the trip they had planned together-- five days in the Australian outback, riding horses and herding cattle. Her group guide is Evie, a beautiful "jillaroo" (cowgirl) with Aboriginal ancestry. I'm not in a position to say if the Aboriginal representation was good, but it was there, which I appreciated.

Let me start with the things I really enjoyed. One was Clara. The story's written entirely in Clara's point of view. It's also written in first person, which I sometimes have a hard time getting into. Here, I had no problem, and a lot of that was due to Clara's voice. She's bitter and snarky, and I loved it. It works because she just got out of a relationship that ended very poorly, and I think Ripley did a good job conveying that her bitterness toward her fellow travelers (especially Michael and Louise, that lovely couple) was less about them and more about her own unhappiness. She also makes great progress in terms of her mood throughout the trip, which was nice to read.

I also loved the descriptions of Australia. I'm an outdoorsy person (although I don't spend as much time in it as I'd like), so I loved reading about a gorgeous place I've never been to. A few favorite moments:

"Before I crawled into my tent, I took a moment to gaze at the sky. The constellations were all different, everything was out of place, but the stars were so thick and lustrous that I was, for a few seconds, overwhelmed at their grandeur, their beauty. No pollution. No buildings. Nothing between me and the galaxy."

and:

"The land kept going and going, a great sleeping serpent of ochre rock, sand, and dust." So, yeah, some great writing about nature that made me want to go on a hike, even though I am far away from Australia.

My biggest complaint is, as some other reviews have mentioned, the ending. Even for a short book, the ending is abrupt. I was slightly disappointed, too, that the Happily For Now wouldn't last very long at all. Maybe that's just the romantic in me.

A couple minor things I noted and felt could have been changed. One of the characters rides a horse named Gypsy, and at one point, Clara claims a little cow will be her "spirit guide" for the trip. It doesn't seem like "spirit guide" has the same cultural significance as "spirit animal," but it still gave me pause.

Overall, this was a wonderful quick read! I'd definitely read more from Ripley, and I'll have to check out her books under Rebecca Langham.

The writing in this book is absolutely gorgeous — vivid, funny, memorable, and entrancing. My only problem — and it may be a huge spoiler — is that the book doesn’t end with an HEA, or even an HFN. If the couple’s not a couple at the end, what you have is not a romance, but a sex story. A really good sex story, granted, if a little short on the secondary characterization, but still. Not a romance. I was profoundly disappointed.

3.5 Stars. When I realized that Ripley was a pen name for sci-fi author Rebecca Langham, I decided I wanted to read this. This was a cute but also steamy at times novella. While I did like Langham’s sci-fi novel better, comparing the two is like apples and oranges.

After being cheated on by her boyfriend, Clara decides to go on their planned vacation alone. The vacation is a trip to Australia riding horses on a cattle drive. While Clara is clearly out of her element, the attractive cowgirl Evie soon makes the trip worthwhile.

While I would put this in the romance category, it was more of a story of attraction then it was of love. This is a vacation fling with some heat. I thought Ripley wrote some fun characters that were easy for me to like. I do have to mention Clara is very sarcastic. This kind of character might not work for everyone. I must admit a few times I felt some of the inner dialogue was a little forced. However, overall the dialogue was witty and even funny and I liked the mouthy Clara.

A few other things to mention, I felt like the Australian setting was wonderful. I loved being in the Outback. I did feel the ending was a little abrupt, but I thought the story worked for a novella.

If you are looking for a fun read, with a little heat, in a great setting, than this novella may be a good choice. While I am looking forward to Langham writing more sci-fi, I would read more romance style stories under her Ripley name.

<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40104495-riding-the-track" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="Riding the Track" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1526111528m/40104495.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40104495-riding-the-track">Riding the Track</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18021021.Kara_Ripley">Kara Ripley</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2401752444">3 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
I rec'd an ARC from NetGalley/Nine Star Press for an honest review.<br />Main characters are Clara and Evelyn. Set in the Australian outback during a dude cattle drive, the scenes are beautifully written and interaction between characters is crisp and witty. A nicely built storyline until the end which seemed abrupt. Anyone who likes (lesfic) romance, horses and the outdoors should enjoy this quick read.<br />3.5 stars
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/31134832-gail">View all my reviews</a>

Clara is grumpy. Angry at herself for still thinking about her cheating ex-boyfriend and irritated that she’s in the Australian Outback do a five-day horseback cattle drive to spite him because it was his dream trip. In spite of her all-round reluctance, Evie, the leader of her group, is hard to dislike with her easy smile, cute butt and high cheekbones.

I loved the descriptions of the area and the translations of uniquely Australian words. Clara is the kind of character I’m often drawn to and her engagement with the tour group and Evie was a lot of fun. There are some really sexy moments even though there is nothing particularly explicit.

This is an enjoyable, short read. Kara Ripley is the romance-writing alter ego of sci-fi author Rebecca Langhan whose novel “Beneath the Surface” is now on my reading list.

Book received from Netgalley and NineStar Press for an honest review.

Clara embarks on a dream vacation her ex-boyfriend wanted them to share, a cattle drive up the Oodnadatta Track on horseback. When she discovered he had cheated on her Clara decides to make the trip alone, denying him the chance to fulfill his dream. She may not have been on a horse since childhood but how hard can it be? Cue this fish out of water tale with a backdrop of gorgeous rugged scenery, and a gorgeous drover named Evie.

The author packs a lot into a few short chapters. In addition to the beautiful backdrop and the experience of dude cowboy cattle drives we get an angry city girl coming to terms with the end of one relationship and the early days of another. I was impressed with how Clara’s bisexuality was portrayed. There is nothing tentative about her attraction to Evie. There was the usual “college experience” and the wonder of soft lips when they share their first kiss but mostly she was just attracted to who she was attracted to. It was refreshing.

An entertaining tale and effective sales pitch for anyone thinking of trying their hand at South Australia adventures with hopes of meeting the drover of their dreams.

ARC received from Nine Star Press via NetGalley for review.

I received an ARC copy of this book from the Publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is the first book I have read by this author. Rebecca Langham writing under a pen name. I was disappointed that the book was short but I got a taste of the author’s work, which I am happy about.

It is written in First Person from Clara’s POV. It has a good story line and the characters are likeable. I felt a slight connection with the pair (Clara & Evie). Didn’t like Evie to begin with but she grow on me by the end of the book. The ending felt like it was a little rushed, perhaps an extra chapter or two would have made the story more complete. But all said and done, I liked the story and looking forward to reading more from this author.

4 STARS

4.5 Stars

I thoroughly enjoyed this story. It's told in first person and completely from Clara's point of view, and oh wow, what a wonderful narrator. I loved her voice - loved it! That's not to say everyone will, different strokes and all that.

The setting was another huge plus. I love books set in the land/s down under (Australia and New Zealand) and they're not alway easy to find.

Another winning factor of this story for me was how well it represented a bisexual character. For anyone worried there's no MF action in this story. There's a hint of heat between the leading ladies, but it fades to black. (Pouts)

I knocked half a star off for the premature ending. I wanted more! More, more, more. But that's a good thing, right?