Reviewed by Cheryl K

TITLE: The Men of Echo Creek

AUTHOR: N.R. Walker

PUBLISHER: BlueHeart Press

LENGTH: 400 pages

RELEASE DATE: May 17, 2024

BLURB:

In the winter of 1882, a boy from the mountains has to prove himself a man.

~*~

When Albie Bramwell’s father died, he was left with two thousand hectares of mountain to farm, and little help to run it. Abandoned by all but two of his workers, the whole town of Alpine Falls called him too young to run the farm alone.

Young, yes. At just nineteen, he was determined to prove them wrong. Even if it killed him.

In search of a new life, Percy Collins found himself in a small mountain town where he ran into a man not much older than himself and scored a job at Echo Creek. A property full of misfits, or so the townsfolk had called it. But what Percy found was a home.

What Albie found was something he never thought possible. A man to love, and a man to share his dreams.

But times were tough, the winter harsh, and money scarce. Albie and Percy would need to do more than prove themselves worthy. They’d need to not only prove themselves better than anyone else. They’d need to prove it twice.

REVIEW:

What a fantastic story.  Albie and Percy’s story is a sweet, romantic love story, set in a time period where their love was illegal and not well thought of.  This is a brilliantly crafted historical romance, a slow burn to be sure, but so worth the wait.

The world building is nothing short of brilliant.  Picturing the mountains of Australia, in the winter, a ranch setting and the ultimate challenges that come with losing a parent at a young age.  N.R. incorporates all of these things as well as the ranch life setting.  None of which was easy. It was a hard, dangerous life and I loved how all of this was portrayed.

As wonderful as the world building is, the character development is stellar.  We have Albie, the young son who inherited the ranch after his father passes away. He’s determined to show everyone, that he is no to young to be running this ranch.  His only problem is that he doesn’t want a wife.  He’s attracted to the stranger from town – Percy.  Percy is running from his own issues and becomes a rock solid partner to Albie.  Then we have the multitude of side characters, that are fully fleshed out and deeply impactful to the story and the main characters.

To be honest, I never expect nothing less than sheer perfection from a N.R. Walker story.  Her ability to weave a story, is so engaging and all encompassing I am never disappointed.  She creates a world with her prose that is as action packed adventure. But also brings on all the feels.  From the slow burn romance to the chasing the brumbies it made me cry in spots and cheer loudly – waking all the people and animals in my house.

I can’t recommend this book enough.  If you are familiar with the 1988 movie, The Man rom Snowy River, you will truly enjoy this story.  N.R. Walker is one of those one click, immediate buys for me and this story does not disappoint.  So do yourself a favor and run  to your favorite eBook purchasing site and grab this book.

RATING:

BUY LINK:

Amazon