A romance reader recommended this novel, and because it was an indie author, especially one from Australia, of course I had to try it.

I was glad I did! The novel was short--more of a novella--and the story the tried and true arranged marriage, which can be so much fun in the right hands. These were the right hands! I particularly loved Piper, the Australian girl who's got a successful food truck business going with pies, and who needs a way to stay in this country. So her friend Cherie, who is a bit of a matchmaker, arranges a marriage for her.

We know what's going to happen, it's how it happens that makes the story. There are fun characters, good female friendships, great banter, an excellent sense of what it's like to run your own business, and of course the chemistry between Piper and Aaron, who has his own issues.

I had to laugh at some of the Australian slang spoken by Americans, and I tripped over some copyediting issues, plus there wasn't much of a sense of place--but that's one of the issues with indies. Good copyediting is often beyond the budget of authors trying to get their name out there. The romance itself was awesome, and if McDowell writes any based in Australia I will buy them in a heartbeat.