Trial by Fire

By: BA Tortuga

Narrated by: Rusty Topsfield

One Aussie. One Texan. One baby. One hell of a fight.

When his sister and her husband are killed in an accident, Aussie cattle station owner Lachlan McCoughney rushes to Texas to rescue their infant daughter, Chloe. He expects to find his niece living in squalor with the Sheffields, a rodeo family.

Instead, Lachlan finds Holden Sheffield, a salt-of-the-earth cowboy, running a huge business operation. They want to explore their mutual attraction despite the many problems thrown their way, and together, they must find a way to give Chloe a new family and find a love that spans thousands of acres and two continents.

©2016 BA Tortuga (P)2016 Dreamspinner Press

God Damn Accents!

arrrrg. For the love of Pete. If you can't manage to hold an accent don't bother trying!! i have aaalll the issues with this one. and they start and end with the narrator...Gahlaaa not garla...oh god, if you're australian don't even bother. the botched accent made my teeth hurt and confused me. Oh and it's pronounced Brisbin not brisbaine. there were other issues but yh
at was the main one

Really enjoyable

I I like the characters and the narrator and can't wait for the next book.

i love it

i wish i didn't end so worth it you will not be disappointed it is so good i love it a lot

Rusty's accents aren't that great but good emotion

Lachlan’s sister Adie left her life of cloistered richness to run away with a rodeo bull rider who is the twin of Holden Sheffield. When she and her husband die they leave behind a 3 month old baby girl that nobody in Lachlan’s family knew about but are determined to keep.

Holden is of the impression that the McCoughney’s are ruthless snobs who can’t possibly be good enough for his little niece even though her new uncle is a hottie.

When the ranch faces some danger – including the kidnapping of the baby! – everyone must band together and when that happens – some surprising feelings surface.

**

Boy oh boy – there’s a lot going on in this story. There’s the single parent thing, the grieving brother thing, the cattlemen from two countries things, the danger/ransom thing, the big misunderstanding thing and the insta-love thing…. A lot.

I found myself confused a bit as I read this and had to go back and forth to catch up to what exactly was going on – there are a lot of people in this story and a lot of Aussie slang as well as some “cowboyisms” that keep you on your toes.

I had no problem with the two MCs falling for each other right away – but some of the other drama seemed to really bog the story down and detract from their romance. The MCs only spend a few pages together and the rest of the time it’s them and their families – sorting things out.

There is even another little side romance that occurs – again, though nice it detracted from the MCs time together.

Like the other books in this series, this one is a little OTT and drama-central, but if that’s your thing – you’ll really enjoy this.

Audio
This is a mixed bag for me. Rusty Topsfield definitely handles the emotion in this story very well. When he gets to cussin’ – ooooeeey – you feel it right with him! But… there are Spanish accents, Texan accents and Australian accents and really – he just can’t do all of them justice. He gives it a great try – but his Spanish accent isn’t great, his Texan is pretty good and his Aussie is only sometimes passable. It’s hard to do – I’m sure – but he’s just not that great at them. I think he added to my enjoyment of the story by brining it to life with his vibrant portrayal of the characters, but I think it was a bit too much for him in the end.

Overall 3 of 5 stars

Insta-romance with some suspense and humor

Any additional comments?

This fun and sweet romance actually has a little bit of everything: humor, insta-love, suspense, some emotionally charged scenes, action, heartache, some sexiness, and even a kidnapping!

For over two years Aussie cattle station owner Lachlan McCoughney has been looking for his runaway sister. Instead of the happy reunion he hopes for he instead finds out his sister and her husband have recently been killed in a plane crash leaving behind their infant daughter in the custody of her husband's twin brother, Holden Sheffield.

Lachlan immediately rushes to Texas to take custody of his niece from Holden. There's friction between the two at first, but, of course, that friction turns to sparks and the two fall in love. Lachlan recognizes how perfect Holden is with their niece Chloe, and he tries to work out how to break it to his parents that Chloe will be staying with the family she already has. However, when Chloe is kidnapped the two men must work together to bring her home.

Yes, it is bit dramatic at times, and the insta-love is super fast (especially under the circumstances), but I was prepared for all of that and enjoyed it all.

The only thing I was baffled by is how Holden, who runs a huge rodeo operation in the U.S., and Lachlan, who runs an enormous cattle station in Australia, would be able to make a relationship work. In the end obviously there's a solution, but I didn't quite buy it. I found myself having to suspend my disbelief a lot in order to enjoy the HEA.

Rusty Topsfield is a great narrator and I enjoyed the narration overall with one glaring exception. I'll admit I didn't care for his Australian accents. Though I give full kudos for him making an effort, I felt like his Aussie needs some work.

If you're looking for an insta-romance with some suspense and humor, and are a fan of the Dreamspun Desires series, I think you'll enjoy this as much as I did.