Author: Mandy Magro
ISBN: 9781489210609
RRP: $29.99
Charlize Dawson is a talented Sydney reporter working through the fallout of an adulterous marriage. She is grieving, she is angry and she is sick of the constant attempts at contact by her cheating husband. Charlize needs some space to work through her feelings and that is something Alistair won’t let her have. Her boss at The Insider also happens to be an old family friend and he puts her forward for a promotion, if she takes a week to head to a country town to interview cowboy Dallas Armstrong who is working towards becoming crowned the Australian Bull Riding Champion. She is a city girl through and through which makes the whole idea of living in the sticks for a week quite daunting for her, but this promotion is what she’s been working towards her entire career so she has to give it a shot.
Dallas Armstrong is a bull riding champion, farmer and loving son. We meet him early on as he struggles to digest things he has overheard and the tragic death of his father. He is suffering through his grief and his guilt as he tries to stay strong for his mum. He is kind and sensitive and not sure he likes the idea of being interviewed for a Sydney paper.
The characters are well drawn and I could feel their grief. There is an element of suspense running through the story and it isn’t resolved until close to the end. I kept waiting and waiting thinking it was about to be revealed but it was kept under wraps quite well.
I did find it all to be a little predictable and could see what was going to happen but I still enjoyed the slow unfolding. There was a scene quite close to the end that I found very difficult to suspend disbelief for and it did mar my enjoyment of the closing chapters. I don’t believe that these characters would actually have it play out like that so it didn’t feel genuine.
The romance is all encompassing in Walking the Line; as well as the chemistry between Charlize and Dallas we are treated to the very sweet romances of other couples. Magro managed to tell the story of Reg and Nancy, Dallas’s grandfather and late grandmother, and Dallas’s parents. Both his mum and his grandfather are widowers still grieving the loss of their spouse, still feeling the loss intensely regardless of the passage of time and we are treated to their love stories and the enduring nature of some loves. The kind of love many of us aspire to and hope to find for ourselves.
I like the storyline and the flow of Walking the Line, the characters are endearing and watching city girl Charlize begin to embrace her time on the farm was a joy. She was sure she would struggle out of ‘civilisation’ but found that Grenfell wasn’t quite the end of the earth she was expecting. She found a sense of belonging and embraced the spaces, the animals and the people in a way she hadn’t expected.
I quite like Mandy Magro’s stories but there is something about them that makes it difficult for me to be completely enthralled and in love with her storytelling. I’m not quite sure I can explain what it is. The bones of the story are great, the characters I can completely feel but there’s something a little simplistic about the method of storytelling that holds me at a bit of a distance. I have loved all of the stories I have read that Magro has created but they haven’t completely enchanted me.
All in all Walking the Line is a beautiful story of love in all its forms, it’s also an interesting look at farming and rodeo with quite a bit of country music thrown in. Lovers of the rural genre are sure to get a kick out of the latest by bestselling Australian author Mandy Magro.
Walking the Line is published by Harlequin Mira and available now from Angus & Robertson Bookworld, Booktopia and where all good books are sold.
Mandy Magro can be followed on Facebook and her Website.
Walking the Line is book #61 for the Australian Women Writer’s Challenge 2016.
Thanks to Harlequin 20 of our Beauty and Lace club members will be reading Walking the Line so please be aware there may be spoilers in the comments below.
I devour books, vampires and supernatural creatures are my genre of choice but over the past couple of years, I have broadened my horizons considerably. In a nutshell – I love to write! I love interacting with a diverse range of artists to bring you interviews. Perhaps we were perfect before – I LOVE WORDS!
Thank you for the opportunity to read this light and easy to read romantic novel. Mandy Magro depicts the warmth of country folk and the rodeo life very well. I enjoyed the depth of the main characters , especially Vivien, Katherine and Reg however, I would have preferred more exploration of the “murder mystery ” within because this was a little too scantily presented in my opinion. Overall though if looking for a relaxing and enjoyable distraction from the hustle and bustle of everyday life reading this novel is a good option.
Walking the line was written mainly from the perspective of Charlize Dawson; an inner city journalist striving for success at a big name magazine, and Dallas Armstrong; a country boy who rides bulls for a living. Charlize is sent to the country on a big work assignment that could make or break her career, and the idea of spending a week out there is almost unfathomable to her. She does go however and it turns out significantly better than she could have imagined when she meets Dallas and his family.
I liked that the book gave some information about bull riding and rodeos as I learnt a few things about them that I didn’t know. The landscapes were well illustrated by the author so I could picture the scenes in my mind.
The style of the book was easy to read but unfortunately I found that the story didn’t really seem to go anywhere for a long time though as I realised that I was nearly three quarters of the way through and nothing too exciting had happened let alone Charlize discovering the big secret promised in the blurb. When the “big secret” does come out, it only goes on for a couple of chapters and it turns out the impact isn’t as huge as you might have expected.
While this was a light easy read, I didn’t overly enjoy it as parts of the story seemed a bit fake and others were overly predictable – the ending in particular was very predictable. On a positive note though I did like that there was an epilogue even though this didn’t give enough information, as I found the small snippet of what Charlize was doing 5 months later a little unbelievable without more content.
Overall I don’t highly rate this book but it is still worth a look especially if you like country settings as the scenes are set well. Thanks to Beauty and Lace for the opportunity to review this book!
What a beautifully, romantic and sexily written book. I love these types that get me hooked in straight away. I related to this book instantly and it had me hooked.
Mandy Magro is a very expressive writer, and makes reading her book a breeze. I found it hard to put the book down.
Its a kind of city meets country love story. Although I didnt find it so typical that it was boring.
Charlize’s life is in some what of a mess and she has the opportunity to escape it and do a story on a rodeo rider and a nudy calendar. She realilzes that her marriage has been a sham and her husband is cheating on her, and what a wonderful distraction for her.
In the country she meets Dallas and his mum, Katherine, and grandfather, Reg. What a beautiful, generous and heartwarming family they are. Dallas is the bull rider, and centre of Charlize’s story. She just expects that he will be arrogant and over confident, but she finds the exact opposite. Her story takes a turn when a nasty woman claims to have some dirt on the family. I will not spoil it, but there are a couple of twists and turns.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and will be reading more of Mandy’s books
The only thing bad I have to say, which is really nothing, and that is that it needed to be proof read a little closer. lol
Mandy Magro has written another great book!
It will make any city girl want to pack up bags and move to the country.
The book is easy to read.
Walking The Line is worth a read but it is a little predictable, didn’t leaving you hanging for the next page.
It was still an enjoyable read.
Charlize’s life is in some what of a mess and she has the opportunity to escape it and do a story on a rodeo rider and a nudy calendar. She realilzes that her marriage has been a sham and her husband is cheating on her, and what a wonderful distraction for her.
In the country she meets Dallas and his mum, Katherine, and grandfather, Reg. What a beautiful, generous and heartwarming family they are. Dallas is the bull rider, and centre of Charlize’s story. She just expects that he will be arrogant and over confident, but she finds the exact opposite. Her story takes a turn when a nasty woman claims to have some dirt on the family. I will not spoil it, but there are a couple of twists and turns.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and will be reading more of Mandy’s books
i did notice there where a few errors in the spelling so maybe it needs a little bit more proof reading over all it was a well written story i enjoyed it
‘Walking The Lne’ by Mandy Magro is a great easy read. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and found I didn’t want to put it’ down so I could find out if my predictions about what was to come were right. I love reading romances and this definitely did not disappoint.
I loved the storyline of Charlize, the city girl and Dallas , the bullriding country boy. Couldn’t wait for them to end up together and for Charlize to send her cheating husband, Allistair, packing.
A wonderful way to begin the summer holidays! Thank you Beauty and Lace and Harlequin!
Thank you to Beauty and Lace and Harlequin for the opportunity to read the book Walking the Line by Mandy Magro.
This was a very easy read and I liked the characters and detailed description of the scenery in the town of Grenfell, NSW. However, I don’t feel that the storyline was really that great. I expected a fair amount of suspense but instead this was more of a slow moving romance novel. Also, I don’t think this was proof-read correctly as there were quite a number of word errors..
I enjoy reading books written by Australian authors and if you are after a romantic easy to read book to relax with and with a small measure of suspense thrown in, then this is a book I would recommend.
so sorry really thought I had reviewed this .
firstly thank you for allowing me to read this .
I thoroughly enjoyed this one , loved the story line and the main characters in the book.
Goes to show never judge a book by its cover so to speak .
Nice to see an Australian author writing such a great book that was easy to read and to follow .
yes would recommend , have now passed this on to my mum as she loves a good Aussie read.
I read this book a while ago and forgot to submit review so sorry, i totally enjoyed this book and have actually got it out to read again. The characters in the book were awesome and so easy to get to know and like through the pages. I enjoyed the romance and the plots and twists that were in this novel. I really liked Charlizes character.