Stella Quinn and rural small town romances go together perfectly and Down the Track is testament to that.

When I think of paliantologists, Ross Geller, David Schwimmer’s character from Friends, is the first one to come to mind, now though I think I have a new favourite, Dr Joanne Tan she’s a thirty something divorcee broke and has a 10 year old son who isn’t her biggest fan.

Returning to the past in many ways than one Joanne is on the hunt for dinosaur bones at the request of two absolutely delightful old ladies know as the Dirt Girls.

Gavin ‘Hux’ Huxtable is someone from Joanne’s past that she didn’t expect to encounter again but this visit back to Yindi Creek had her coming face to face with him and their past.

I loved the way the chapters in this book alternate between Hux and Joanne, there is humour in Hux’s chapters and that inner voice of his is quite a character in itself.

This book has it all, wonderful characters, a mystery both new and old that is in need of solving. Relationships get mended with the help of some unexpected people.

And something I especially loved was that there was an A Country Practice reference!

Without hesitation I highly recommend this one.

Very good read. Involves drug runs, dinosaur bones and revisiting the past (in more ways than one). Very enjoyable

Meticulously researched, quintessentially Australian, loveable characters and a cute dog, Stella has delivered another knockout rural romance. She has perfectly captured the heart and dust of the Qld outback. It's the perfect setting for a little mystery and romance. Love reading romance/women's fiction with rich, deep plots. Highly recommend.

What I enjoyed most about this book was the second chance romance and the discussions about fossils. As you know I also enjoy a book that involves a missing person. So this book covered my tropes and for that reason alone I loved it. This book is about the past , letting go of baggage to move on. It also about parenting. Told by the POV of Hux ( Gavin) and Jo.

Thanks to NetGalley, Harlequin Australia, and the author for the chance to read this book.

Stella Quinn writes enthralling rural fiction novels, and this book did not disappoint. The romance aspect was at times frustratingly slow due to the main female characters' self-proclaimed lack of people skills, but not so painful that you wanted to stop reading. There were enough clues to help solve one of the mysteries within, but it was still interesting to tie up those loose ends. There were plenty of quirky characters and relationships in the story to add humour and lightness.
Overall, it was a really enjoyable read.

What happens when paleontologist Dr. Joanne Tan arrives in the small town of Yindi Creek hoping upon hope to discover some dinosaur bones and build up her career, but what does happen is she runs into someone from her past, Gavin (Hux) Huxtable, someone who meant a lot to her fourteen years ago, there is a lot of water under the bridge now including her ten year old son Luke where will this go?

Hux has never gotten over Jo, although a helicopter pilot he is also now a writer of best -selling series Tyson Clueless Jones, he is not normally in Yindi Creek at this time of the year but when his business partner and brother in law has a problem with a missing customer, Hux arrives home to do what he can and meeting up with Jo was the last thing he expected, maybe it is time for Hux to open up to Jo.

Stella Quinn has written another witty fun and thoroughly enjoyable rural romance, this one is a busy story with lots going on, dinosaur bones, missing men, relationships between families and such wonderful characters that added so much to the story, there were many laughs and smiles reading this one as I cheered Hux and Jo through an up and down journey to happiness.

I would highly recommend this one any lover of a good rural romance.

My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my digital copy to read and review.

Mysteries, romance and dinosaurs against the captivating backdrop of remote Queensland.

Fifteen years after her last visit to Yindi Creek in outback Queensland, paleontologist Jo Tann is back in a last-ditch effort to get her life headed in the right direction again. Her ex-husband may be a dick, her ten-year-old son may dislike her at the moment, and her job may be in jeopardy, but digging up some dinosaur bones could just be the fix. Only, the two elderly women who made the original fossil find can’t remember the location of the dig site, the police banish her from trying to find the dig site because of a missing investigation, and the helicopter pilot flying her over the outback is the fling she left behind fifteen years earlier. Gavin Huxtable had no plans of being in Yindi Creek over the summer, but when a man goes missing in the outback and the last person to see him was his business partner and brother-in-law Charlie, Gavin leaves his writing retreat on the coast behind to get back home. And to make matters worse, the one woman he has ever loved is back in town. Prehistoric and very modern history starts to intertwine as Jo and Gavin’s paths continue to cross as they reluctantly work together to tackle several mysteries, and maybe even their still-present feelings.

Stella can honestly do no wrong when it comes to rural romances! And when I say rural, I mean remote as we are transported to the vastness of outback Queenland and Australia’s dinosaur trail. I LOVE small town romances, but I love them even more when they’re Australian, and Stella has once again captured the heart and quirks of regional and rural Aussie communities, sprinkling in an intriguing mystery and second-chance romance.

Although tagged as a rural romance, the book definitely leans more in the direction of a rural mystery with a side of romance. Jo and Hux have so much chemistry, and we get to see the development of their relationship both in the past and present. But it is there present relationship that is a major slow burn to the point where they don’t get together until the end of the book. And while I enjoyed the story and how Stella crafted it, I do really wish we had seen a little more of their second chance on-page, especially when the ending and their happily ever after was a bit rushed compared to the pacing of the rest of the book. The story itself is very much more of a second-chance in terms of reconciling previous heartbreak to get closure while also potentially recapturing that love by making different decisions than you did the first time.

In terms of the mystery, I was captivated! I was not expecting the mystery elements of this story to be such a major player in the overall story, but I deeply enjoyed how Stella weaved the current missing person mystery into the story, and how it linked to the various past and present elements of story. I’m not someone who necessarily reached for crime and mystery novels, but this was just the right amount of mystery without getting bogged down in a dark crime storyline.

The people of Yindi Creek were an interesting bunch, and it was fun to get to learn a little about all of these characters throughout Jo and Hux’s story. Unlike Stella’s previous rural romances, there doesn’t seem to be anyone with potential to have their own book - aside from a Christmas-themed novella coming later this year - but I would definitely love to return to Yindi Creek in the future and see more of all these characters. It’s such a rich and interesting setting with lots of intriguing characters that will have you itching to make the trek to outback Queensland to

I really appreciate how much time, energy and effort that Stella clearly put into her research - if I didn’t know any better I’d think she was an actual paleontologist or archaeologist! Because while Yindi Creek is a fictional town, the nearby Winton and the dinosaur discoveries of remote Queensland and very much real and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to learn and experience these discoveries and history through Stella’s story. If this don’t have you wanting to explore the Australian Dinosaur Trail, I don’t know what will!

As I’ve said a million times before, rural romance is once of my favourite romances to pick up and Stella continues to deliver must-read romances filled with the heart and soul of rural Australian communities. If you’re yet to dip your toe in the rural romance pond, or if you’ve only read American cowboy romances, this is the place to start!

Set in the Winton area of outback Queensland, Down The Track combines romantic suspense with a second-chance-at-love story for paleontologist Joanne Tan and successful author Gavin Huxtable. I loved these two characters. Each has their flaws and their endearing characteristics. Jo, divorced from her husband Craig, a demeaning and misogynistic man, loves her ten-year-old son Luke but struggles to connect with him. She is passionate about her work but with her current contract ending, her self-confidence could use a boost. Gavin is a helicopter pilot based at Yindi Creek for most of the year but secretly writes under the pseudonym Gavin Gunn. He fell in love with Jo fourteen years ago and was hurt when she put her career ahead of a relationship with him. I loved watching these two growing together again while they helped Yindi Creek sisters Ethel and Dot to find evidence that a dinosaur bone found years earlier was part of something more. I was swept up in the mystery of the missing man, whose disappearance is a driving force in the secondary plot of this story. There was plenty going on throughout and I couldn’t stop reading. I always enjoy Stella Quinn’s work and this book has been a fabulous read.

Set in Queensland in the outback this is the story of Joanne and her relationship with her ten year old son, and her life as a palaeontologist. She is quite focused on her job and sometimes it's hard for her to care for human relationships.

It's also about Gavin, who comes from a fairly large family and  is well known in the area as a helicopter pilot. Years back Joanne and Gavin had a relationship that fizzled out. Mainly this happened because Joanne left the area with hardly a goodbye. Gavin is also a very popular author. 

The story is told from both viewpoints and most of the time I preferred Gavin's storyline. He just seemed far more likeable and interesting, although Joanne does grow and change somewhat by the end of the book.

Down the Track has a setting that feels authentic. It has some great side characters and I am thinking mainly of Maggie who runs the hotel. She dispenses wisdom where it's often needed. There is also a bit of a mystery that threads throughout the book.

The romance between Joanne and Gavin I found a little unsatisfactory, they weren't together that often! The story relied rather heavily on what had happened fourteen years before. However on the whole it was a satisfactory read.

Dr Joanne Tan is a divorced palaeontologist, she's labelled as a hopeless mother by her ex, her son lives at his dads and her work contract hasn’t been renewed, Jo wants to return to Yindi Creek in the Western Plains of Queensland and if she finds the right fossil it will save her career at the Natural History Museum. Jo hires a helicopter to fly them to Corley Station, going with her are sisters Dot and Ethel and they refer to themselves as “The Dirt Girls”, and fingers crossed something looks familiar and they can remember the location of where a suspected fossilized two-legged plant-eating ornithopod with a crocodylomorphs tooth embedded in it was?

Last time she was in town, Jo had a brief fling with a helicopter pilot, Gavin Huxtable, he gave her an apple and she could resist the sight of him in a singlet taking part in a shearing completion. Jo has no idea Hux is part owner of Yindi Creek Chopper Charters, and he’s a successful published graphic novelist, she broke his heart when she left and Jo understands science and not feelings. Trying to find a fossil in the Western Queensland isn’t easy, it’s hot, prone to droughts and floods and it isn’t just the weather and climate Jo has to deal with. A man chartered a flight the day before Jo arrived in town, he’s gone missing, and the police are looking for him and they think Charlie his business partner and brother-in-law has something to do with his disappearance and Charlie's innocent.

I received a copy of Down The Track by Stella Quinn from Harlequin Australia and NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased and honest review. This book is different to the author’s previous novel, A Home Among the Snow Gums, I devoured them both and I really liked the mystery element to this narrative, the diverse mixture of characters, the possible links to off shore crime in Queensland and well written plot.

My favourite characters were, Jo and Hux, Sal and her stressed out husband Charlie, Maggie the publican, Dot and Ethel, Jo’s son Luke, Possum the three legged dog and writer Gavin Gunn. A hilarious, fascinating and drama filled read. Hux is a hunk and good guy, and who would've thought ancient life, fossils and how sediment forms would be so interesting. With sizzling chemistry, past history, hunting for clues, the possibility of romance and it makes for a five star read.

Stella Quinn writes about finding love a second time in the Australian Outback, looking for fossils may not be the only discovery!
The storyline unfolds slowly to reveal how a small town works together to solve a mystery, all while the search is on for long lost relics.
The main characters are both on different paths. Dr Joanne Tan is trying to save her career and shaky relationship with her son, Hux has a business and writing career to keep him busy.
I particularly enjoyed the different personalities of the locals, with their own special contribution to the story.
The drama and feelings are always simmering with the possibility of new beginnings, there’s a lot to be unravelled in this story!

Thank you to the publisher, NetGalley and the wonderful Stella Quinn for the opportunity to read this book.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Gavin Huxtable - Hux to his friends - had a pseudonym. Known for his crime writing prowess, Gavin Gunn had a following. But he kept his writing name close to his chest and no one, other than his family, was aware who the writer actually was. When Hux, holed up in his writing cave, was contacted by his sister back at Yindi Creek in Queensland, he packed up and along with three legged Possum, headed for home. There was trouble afoot and Hux was determined to discover what, and stand by his family.

Dr Joanne Tan was a palaeontologist, was also divorced and in joint custody with her husband for Luke, their ten year old son. Her self confidence was at an all time low after being accused of being a terrible mother, while Luke wanted to spend more time with his father. Her job situation at the Natural History Museum was dire and unless she discovered something special in her trip to Yindi Creek, she'd be out of work and completely broke. With Luke's excitement high when he learned his favourite author of graphic novels, Gavin Gunn, was doing a library talk in Yindi Creek, Jo persuaded Luke to join her for the couple of weeks during school holidays. What would be the outcome of the meeting between Hux and Jo? And would Jo be able to sort out her future, and that of her son's?

Down the Track by Aussie author Stella Quinn is set in the vast rural outback of Queensland with the heat and dust, flies and other pests a constant. Small town Yindi Creek is the same as all rural towns in Australia, where everyone knows the other's business, most are kind to their neighbours and the isolated bush is somewhere to be wary of - especially on your own. Recommended to fans of rural romance.

With thanks to NetGalley & the publisher for my digital ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.

Dr Joanne Tan is thirty-something, broke, divorced and getting the cold shoulder from her ten-year-old son. However, with her job now uncertain at the Natural History Museum, an invitation to dig up dinosaur bones on a remote Queensland sheep station arrives, seems to be a way for Joanne to get her life back on track. It is not her first trip to Yindi Creek, having fallen in love with Hux, fifteen years ago, whilst at a dig. When Gavin 'Hux' Huxtable, helicopter pilot and reluctant sheep-shearer, arrives to collect her and her two elderly passengers Dot and Ethel, they are both equally stunned. Hux has never forgotten Joanne but he has turned his broken heart into a secret (and successful) writing career. When they find themselves thrown together to track down a missing person and some fossils, their feelings begin to resurface.
Not only are Joanne and Hux two great characters but so are Maggie, the publican, Dot, Ethel, Phaedra, and his sisters. They bring to light the great camaraderie of country life in Australia. The history behind Hux and Joanne is gradually told throughout the story, which I enjoyed and I found the backdrop well tied into the storyline. I would have wished for a few less ‘ockerisms’ as whilst they are funny, they seemed a bit too frequently used. Overall, a good read!
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I found this a little slow to start so it took me some time to get into the story but I eventually enjoyed it. The main character Jo was ok but I really liked Hux and his dog Possum. I didn’t know about the fossils found in Queensland so was really interested in that side of the story.


Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Archaeologist Jo is back in Yindi Creek to revisit a dinosaur dig. After 15 years she’s not the same person, now she's divorced and mother of an angry 10 year old. Helicopter pilot Hux remembers her and their time together. He’s not the same either, he’s a successful writer now (and still single) - he’s helping out with the chopper for his brother-in-law’s sake. Pay attention in the early chapters as we work out who is who and what’s going on. Then it’s just sit back and enjoy it all!

I won’t add more on the plot because it unfolds so delightfully, but I do want to say how much there is here to feast on. Apart from dinosaurs and digs, and meddling old ladies and local police, a missing person, some unresolved family grief, and all the texture of small-town outback Queensland, there’s also the possibility of a rekindled romance.

The best thing for me was Hux. He owned his feelings and because it’s alternate both of their points of view, we can see him pining for Jo, and trying to understand what went wrong. It’s such a great turnabout from the usual dynamic - he’s not arrogant, or dismissive, just a lovely guy who wants what he wants. It’s closed door, and a slow burn and this fits with Jo’s anxiety and how she slowly (slooooowly) gets herself together. So good!

Thank you NetGalley, Harlequin Australia and Stella Quinn for the ARC. Opinions are my own.

This book started out really great for me I was flying through it; and then I just hit a wall with it.

I managed to get 52% through it but at the moment it is a do not finish as I’m struggled to kept being hooked by it.

I feel it’s just a bit over the place and confusing in places and not knowing what is happening at any point. I may attempt to finish this book at a later date; and will update my review to reflect this.

At the moment I will not be reviewing on any other sites.

What a delightful book.
Dr Joanne Tan is returning to the small country town of Yindi, where she spent a wonderful few weeks on an archeological dig 15 years ago and where she also found attraction with local helicopter pilot Hux.
Now with her contract with the Natural History Museum running out, a toxic divorce and a floundering relationship with her 10 year old son, she is hoping a lead to uncover mystery dinosaur bones will resurrect her career….and fingers crossed she won’t run into Hux.
But fate has other ideas and Hux also has his secrets (no triangle romance, thank goodness!)
With a wealth of colourful characters, a little bit of mystery due to a missing man and a second chance of love, this book had a bit of everything and it left me in a happy place.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy to read.

Down the Track is the story of Jo and Hux as they are thrown back together and sparks will definitely fly! I loved exploring the outback in this true blue Aussie based novel. I am not usually a fan of archaeology but this is written in such a way to make it fun. The cover of the book instantly grabbed my attention because I love dogs and the colour of the sky is stunning. The plot is chock block full of intrigue, mystery and romance all woven together to make the perfect outback Australia book. I feel like this book is slightly different to the authors usual writing but it is just as good!

Stella Quinn perfectly portrays what outback Australia is all about in this feel good rural romance.

Yindi Creek is the perfect back drop to this second chance romance that has the locals playing match maker and showing Dr Joanne Tran that digging up the past isn't always going keep you from facing your truth. Her feelings for Gavin 'Hux' Huxtable and the reason she ran out on him many years ago are things she would rather keep buried.

Told from dual points of view, Down the Track highlights the beauty and harshness of the Australian outback, expertly capturing the essence of rural communities and the colourful characters that reside there.