Have you ever picked up a book thinking it’s a stand-alone only to find out after you’ve started that it’s a book in a series, and that it’s not the first one?

This is exactly what happened with this book.

I got it off NetGalley thinking it was a stand-alone, only to realise when I set up all my tracking that I’d started the seventh book in the Woodlea series. Normally I hate coming into a series mid-way through, yet the way Alissa wrote this one I didn’t feel like I had come in part way.

Knowing that it was the seventh book only made one difference to my reading, it made me wonder who all the other seven couples were. I could only pick three, so it’d be interesting to go back and find out who they are and their journeys.

The self-doubt, the emotions, the second guessing that both Ella and Saul experienced throughout this book felt so natural. I think the time this was spread over helped make it believable. I’m not sure exactly how long it’s set over, but its longer than a few days or weeks.

The feel of a small country town was so palpable throughout the story. Everyone knowing each other, the community spirit etc. It all felt so authentic to small, rural towns of Australia. I’m sure these aren’t unique to Australia, but when they make references to the hay truck convoys it reminded me how hard our farmers have it at the moment.

If I remember rightly, we’ve been in draught for close to 10 years. Our farming communities are struggling to provide feed and water to their animals, let alone themselves. And then our supermarkets buy their meat and dairy at cost and price it at profit for them. Sorry for the rant, but it really frustrates me to have these communities romanticised in books like this without showing what they’re going through financially.

I always like returning to the town of Woodlea and in The Boundary Fence, book #7 in the series, it was wonderful to reconnect with the characters from the previous books as well as experience a new couple falling in love.

I loved meeting Ella again and learning more about her and what she had been through to cause her to swear off relationships. The same goes for Saul, a newcomer who has bought the property next to Ella's. Both have some serious issues with relationships, but the chemistry between them means that they are both struggling to keep the boundaries they've spent so long building, standing.

As well as the relationship between Saul and Ella, there is a mystery involving Violet who used to own Ella's house. Her daughter went missing many years ago and Violet has always wondered what happened to make her disappear and what happened to keep her from coming back. Violet has always left the porch light on for her daughter in the hopes that one day she will return. Ella and Saul get drawn into helping Violet try and uncover what really happened all those years ago, working together on this doesn't help the growing attraction each of them feels. 

I really enjoyed this story, and I hope to return to Woodlea again and catch up with the characters, old and new. 

Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Australia for a digital copy in return for an honest review.

I love a story set in my home country.
A sweet tale set in the countryside with wonderful characters. I could totally relate.
I have to go back and read the rest of this series.

Alissa Callen has become one of my favourite Australian authors through reading all her other stories in the Woodlea series. The Boundary Fence follows the story of Ella and Saul in typical rural romance fashion. Ella is the local vet and a character we have come to know through other Woodlea stories. She has recently moved out to a rural property of a local older lady called Violet who had her 16 year old daughter disappear suddenly many years ago. And part of the story is about solving the disappearance. Next door to Ella, a dashing Saul Armstrong has moved in to start his own Bison farm after many years away on the rodeo circuit in the USA. The pair have instant chemistry but it wouldn't be a romance novel without a whole lot of denial of feelings and a family mystery to solve.
Anybody that loves a good romance novel will enjoy The Boundary Fence and I highly recommend the previous books in the series too.

A light hearted Australian Outback romance and current event story telling in the little town of Woodlea that I have come to know though Alissa's previous books, although I think I have missed one in the middle. I do love to read Australiana books and this one is no exception. The two main characters in this book Ella and Saul, with their past demons and nuances to overcome seem like a fitting pair for a love affair. Doesn't hurt that they live on neighbouring properties. There were parts where I was smiling, part where I was laughing, part where I was cringing (at them) and parts that brought tears to my eyes, but I enjoyed every part of this book. Can't wait to see what happens next in Woodlea.

Country vet Ella is happy in the quiet little town of Woodlea. Even the town matchmaker knows to keep her nose out of Ella’s business. Her distracting new neighbour is making her rethink all her dearly-held beliefs about being happier single, though. Except Saul obviously has his own demons in the past.

This is a story about two people overcoming their own personal demons individually and together. Both Ella and Saul have difficult pasts, though I did think they were a little overblown in both of them thinking they could never find love again. Yes, ugly breakups happen. Most people* realise that it sucks, take some time to get past things, and are aware even at an early stage that this too shall pass and one day, hopefully, someone better will come along. (*The exceptions, and reasonably so, being victims of relationship abuse who Do Not Want another relationship Ever, but that wasn’t the case with either of these two). I’m not that fond of the I WIll Never Love Again But Whoops There You Are trope because it makes the character an unreliable narrator, and in this case it was both of the protagonists, something which made me pretty impatient with them.

This is Alissa Callen’s seventh book in the Woodlea series, and I haven’t read any of the others, but I didn’t feel like I was missing out on too much by jumping in here. Woodlea is a vividly painted community suffering in the grip of the drought, even if it does appear a little too perfect to those of us who know what Australian farmers are currently going through, that’s forgivable because gritty financial struggles, depression and dying stock do not make a great background for romantic fiction. Instead Woodlea is the sanitised, prettified version of an Australian rural town we’d all like to see, inhabited by lots of friendly folks many of whom I suspect had their own books in the series already (there’s a wedding here for one couple). Still, there’s angst and tension aplenty, not least while Ella and Saul investigate the disappearance of a teen girl twenty years earlier to try and give her mother closure.

There were parts of this book I really loved: Callen does a great job of bringing rural Australia to life in her story and the way of life in a small town felt extremely realistic, especially with the town busybody poking her nose into everyone’s business. The community as a whole was really enjoyable to read about, it’s just that I didn’t feel all that invested in the romance at the heart of the story. Overall, I’ll give it four stars.

Technically this is book 7 in the Woodlea series but I think it’s the 4th full length book with 3 others being short stories or of novella length. I read the other 3 full length books when I was on holidays visiting family some six months ago and I’ve been waiting for this one to come out. Ella is a character who appears in several (or maybe even all) of the previous books and it’s always been obvious that she had some sort of painful past which has scarred her and made her quite determined to stay single, even with the best efforts of local matchmaker and busybody, Edna.

Ella is the local vet who bought a property belonging to a widow named Violet who has recently entered an aged care facility, somewhere smaller and closer to town. Violet’s daughter Libby disappeared at age sixteen some twenty or so years ago and she’s kept her bedroom exactly the same – and Ella keeps it the same way too. And every night, just like Violet did, she puts the porch light on so that Libby will always be able to find her way home. Ella has made some good friends in the local community – Cressy, Fliss, Neve and their partners. But she has never dated, nor has there been anyone that even tempted her. Until Saul Armstrong.

Saul is Australian but spent a large portion of his life in America riding bulls and whatever else with Denham. Now he’s returned to Australia and has bought the property adjoining Ella’s where he runs American bison. They were paired together at the wedding of their friends and both of them felt….and saw, something in the other. A shared pain, a secret past. For that Ella finds him unnerving and she’s aware that she’s been avoiding her friends so as to avoid Saul. But when he requires her veterinary services, she realises that she cannot continue that way. And the more time they spend together, the more they learn about each other and the deeper the friendship they build up.

I really liked both Ella and Saul. I already liked Ella, I knew less about Saul but I found him to be exactly the sort of man I like reading about in this sort of book. Quiet, dependable, a bit of a hint of a mystery. He’s the tall, strong and silent type but eventually he confides things about himself in Ella and is always willing to listen when she decides to return the favour. As neighbours they end up spending quite a bit of time together away from their shared friendship group – Ella’s occupation, her cheeky little goats, Saul’s dog, they’re all reasons why they end up in each other’s company. Saul is also fond of Violet, his former neighbour as well and when Ella starts looking into Libby’s disappearance a bit more, trying to see if she can find anything that might give Violet some closure, whether she be alive or not, Saul is all too willing to lend a hand and an ear as Ella digs around.

I loved the friendship they built up, how ensconced in each other’s lives they became. How they both turned to the other, whether things were going well or if things had been a bit rough. What is difficult at first becomes suddenly easy – almost too easy as they both realise they are catching feelings for people that have only ever claimed loudly to want to stay single. Their lives fit together so well, they’re both attracted to each other but there’s a lot more than that. They both manage to fulfil something for each other. Ella understands Saul’s passion for his animals, his dedication to his farm and he understands her job, the hours it takes, the demands it can sometimes make. I always enjoy books where the author really takes the time to build a friendship between the two characters, something deep and abiding that you can imagine carrying them through a lot of years. The instant attraction is fun too but I like to read about a couple and think that I know where I see them in the future, knowing that they have not just the hots for each other but a lot of mutual respect, admiration and trust. I definitely got that feeling with Saul and Ella.

I’m not sure if the author has more books planned for this series – there were ways in which this felt quite final for the core little friendship group. Marriages, babies, etc. But there were also characters I felt could possibly get their own story in the future, if there were to be more books and it’s easy to introduce new ones. I’d certainly be happy to read more. I really have enjoyed my experience reading about Woodlea and the people that live there.

8/10

The Boundary Fence is the first book I've read by Alissa Callen. It was an incredibly charming story and I feel can read as a standalone, despite being book 7 in the Woodlea series, with little to no confusion for the reader. The story is described as being 'warm-hearted and touching' and by the end, the books gives you all the warm feelings of comfort, family and being home. I'll admit it did take me a little while to work out who each of the characters were since I haven't read the previous books and there seemed to be so many but once I became familiar with recognising the characters, I found I couldn't help but like each of them with all of their quirks. I also don't often read many stories based in Australia, especially the outback, so it was a lovely change of pace getting a more in-depth look at the small town country atmosphere in Australia.

Thank you to Harlequin Australia and Netgalley for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

The Boundary Fence is one of several books set in the fictional outback NSW town of Woodlea, but fear not. If this is your first Alissa Callen book it won’t in any way spoil your enjoyment of others she has set in this location.
If you love reading about country Australia and its people then you’ll feel right at home in this book.
Woodlea is the quintessential country town complete with people who truly care about each other and for whom it’s never too much trouble to drop everything and lend a hand. Of course there’s the town busybody as well and Edna seems to know everything about everyone long before anybody else does. The town is also the perfect setting for vet Ella Quinlivan and bull-rider turned bison breeder Saul Armstrong to heal from past hurts and discover love.
Ella and Saul are well rounded characters, competent in their working lives while dealing with the issues that act as a boundary fence between them as neither wants to enter into a relationship that is anything more than friendship.
While the developing relationship between Ella and Saul is central to this story the subplot revolving around the missing daughter of Violet, the former owner of Ella’s house, provides added interest.
This book is feel-good rather than earth shattering, drawing readers into the lives of Ella, Saul and their community. It’s packed with cute goats, a flock of guinea fowl, horses, bison and Saul’s dog Duke, all of whom contribute to the rural quality of the story. I felt right at home.

Opening up an Alissa Callen book is like walking into a happy home filled with family and friends, always a warm welcome with characters that are real and true, I loved being back in Woodlea and journeying with Ella Quinlivan and Saul Armstrong as they find their way to true love and happiness.

Ella is the local vet and has made her home in the country town of Woodlea she has many friends whom we have seen find love, but that is not what Ella is looking for she has too many scars from the past, she now is living in a beautiful homestead and helping the past owner and friend Violet discover what happened to her teenage daughter years before, getting to know her neighbour Saul has to stay on a friends only basis, but there is a connection that pulls Ella.

Saul, ex bronco rider is making a new life for himself back here in Woodlea after the breakup of his marriage, looking for love is not on his horizon, he is starting an American bison farm and has a big fence between him and his neighbour the beautiful vet Ella, but when he needs a vet for one of the bison the attraction and the emotions she makes him feel will be hard to deny and the more time they spend together helping Violet the closer they get.

There is so much to love about this story, it is so beautifully written with emotions that flow from the pages, Saul is such a quiet man with a wall built around him and Ella such a beautiful caring person but guarded with her feelings and things that she keeps to herself, they come together so beautifully after a few ups and downs to find they are free of the past and to a love that is deep and lasting, this is one that I highly recommend, and of course catching up with all of the friends from Woodlea was just so good, I loved the ending so many happy sighs, thank you MS Callen for another keeper.

I found this a very sweet Australian country tale.

Ella is a vet at Woodlea. Saul is her neighbour and he has bison. Their paths cross often because they live in a small town but both of them have been hurt and both of them are guarding their hearts.

The book, the first one in the series I have read, reads quite well as a standalone (although I couldn't figure out why Ella would want to visit the UK, after what happened there). Other than that, the story makes sense. I am sure that if I had read the other books in the series, reading this one would be a richer experience, but I liked it just as it was anyway.

Saul was a lovely fella, solid and caring. Ella was a kind, community-minded girl. I also liked the secondary characters in this book; I really felt like I was walking around in their community, at times, I could FEEL the sun on my shoulders and the dust in my nose.

4 stars from me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Australia.

The Boundary Fence by author Alissa Callen is a nice story that spotlights some likeable characters. A story with a likeable setting and small town country atmosphere that adds more likes to the read.
Review copy received from the publisher via Netgalley