A Coalcliff Stud novel – His beloved home is under threat, and with it the beautiful, haunted woman he’s never been able to forget … X-Treme TV sports star Reid Stratton has everything-until his best friend falls to his death on a climb while shooting their show. In the fierce media fallout, Reid begins to question everything about himself. Crippled by a new fear of climbing, Reid returns to … Reid returns to CoalCliff stud, his family’s horse farm, to recover.
Single mother Natalia Robinson is determined to start afresh, away from the shadow of her past. A job at CoalCliff Stud where she lived as a child is the perfect opportunity to live the quiet life she always wanted. But she is unprepared to see Reid, and is even more unprepared for the passion that still burns between them.
But after a series of menacing events threaten the new home she is trying to build, Nat realises that Reid is the only person she can rely on to keep her and her daughter safe. Together, Reid and Nat must face the pasts that haunt them if they are to survive the present and forge a future of hope.
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Another great Aussie author writing a wonderful rural mystery with lots of passion and a hint of suspense. Leisl writes the beautiful setting so realistically I felt like I wanted to live there.
I do love reading books in a series and this is book one and I thoroughly enjoyed it, such a beautiful story of love and hope and putting the past behind you and with the added threat of danger around the corner Reid and Nat have a rough time to mend their love and look to the future, set on such a beautiful horse stud, this is a fabulous second chance love story one that I do hope you will enjoy like I did.
Reid Stratton has come home to the place he is hoping will help him put the past and guilt behind him CoalCliff is run by his loving grandmother Barb, Reid grew up here but when he was eighteen and had just had his heart broken he ran and made his dreams come true and became and X-Treme TV sports star with his best friend Luke. Ten years later Luke was killed in a climbing accident while filming and the media come at him from all angles, home is where he can mend his heart and get back on with life.
Natalia Robinson has been to hell and back with her nine year old daughter Tilly and it is now time to look to the future for her and Tilly, now a single mum she needs to do what she can for Tilly and herself, so when Barb the closest person to a mother she has rings and offers her a job at CoalCliff, Nat jumps at the chance and moves her and Tilly back to the only home she has ever known and where she can mend but finding Reid there was not what she expected especially when her feelings for him come to the surface after all of these years.
There is a lot going on threats to take Tilly of Nat and a few odd incidents around the stud and Reid is getting worried, but the more time they spend together the more they open up to each other both have had their lives turned upside down and maybe together they can find for love and happiness again. But with the danger heating up Reid steps up and finally Nat feels like she has someone she can trust and love finally grows together they can become a family.
This is a story that has great characters that are easy to love and with suspense flowing through the story it is enough to keep me on the edge of my seat, lots of emotions running along with the suspense and the ending is wow everything comes to a head and we find out who and why there has been danger, this is a story that I highly recommend and I am sure the next story is going to be just as good, bring it on.
Thank you to Harlequin Aus and Harper Collins for my book to read.
This is the first in a romantic suspense series centred around the Coalcliff Stud, a property on the edge of Victoria’s alpine region which runs horseriding camps for kids, trail rides and some adventure activities. Matriarch Barb runs the show and specializes in taking in lost souls.
Years ago, Natalia was one of Barb’s lost souls. Coalcliff was a safe haven for her growing up, until she got mixed up with Barb’s grandson Reid, who at just 18 was four years younger than she. Unable to deal with the intensity of their relationship, Nat took off and ended up married to someone else… a marriage that ended in blood and tragedy and left her needing a safe haven once again, this time with her nine-year-old daughter Tilly in tow.
Reid’s lived his own share of disaster. A world-class climber with his own TV show, he’s lost his nerve after his best friend Luke died right in front of his eyes. He’s going home to Coalcliff to try and put the shattered pieces of his life back together… but the last person he expected to find there was Nat.
There is SO MUCH backstory for these two, and honestly… I think in trying to avoid info-dumping the backstory, Leighton has gone a bit too light on. Information is doled out in dribs and drabs, which is okay if it’s part of what leads into the suspense plot, but just confusing when it comes to the details of Nat and Reid’s prior relationship and why it failed. I was left with way too many questions. I checked twice on the series information for this, wondering if it really was a first in series, or maybe tied back in to an earlier series by the author, because there were all these hints about Previous Important Events, but we never got a full explanation of them. There were a few weird continuity things too – Barb is 63 but her grandson is 28? Something a bit hinky about the maths there.
Those things aside, the romance plot was actually really good. There was some gorgeous pining between two very damaged souls, Tilly was a delightful plot moppet, and there are lots of wholesome country activities going on with horses and dogs (though I have to give a trigger warning for animal death, so be aware). The suspense plot was intriguing and took a surprising twist at the end… though I admit I’d have liked to see the ultimate villain featured a little earlier. The reveal had me wondering yet again if this led on from another series where he appeared, because he did pop up a little bit out of the blue.
I did enjoy this, but I think it needed to be about 20% longer. Maybe it was cut down to meet a publisher’s required word count, I don’t know, but it reads that way, and what got cut was backstory that was actually essential to really understand and empathise with Nat and Reid’s situation. I loved Coalcliff Stud, and several characters were introduced who I suspect are going to get their own books later on, which would be good to see. Overall a good read. Four stars.
Disclaimer: I received a review copy of this title via NetGalley.
X-Treme Sports TV Star Reid Stratton can’t get over the death of his best friend Luke who died in a climbing accident. Or was it a suicide? Reid can’t sleep, can’t climb, is a real mess. He decides to go home to Coal CLiff Stud Horse Farm where his Gran is waiting to give him healing hugs and there’s plenty of work to do to keep him busy and not thinking of his loss. Gran hires Natalia Robinson to do PR work for Coal Cliff. Nat is also returning home as she lived at Coal Cliff in her youth. Along with her daughter Tilly, Nat makes the drive to Walhalla and her new job. She needs to escape the memories of bad times with her deceased husband. Nat feels Coal Cliff would be a great place for Tilly to heal from the trama of her father’s death plus it’s a great place to grow up.
Nat and Reid have a history. Reid fell in love with Nat many years ago. When Nat returned to Coal Cliff to help take care of her dying mother 10 years ago they had a brief affair. Nat ran away back to her ex-fiance and got married to him. Reid ran off and got involved in X-Treme sports and became an international star. Now they meet again. The sparks are real! The attraction is red hot! Now what will happen?
Climbing Fear by Leisl Leighton is the first book in her new series Coal Cliff Stud. This is a romantic suspense story which is light on suspense and heavy on romance. This works just fine for this story. The author did a great job of hooking me into the story from the very beginning. I liked the characters and enjoyed the re-establishment of Nat and Reid’s relationship. Eight-year-old Tilly added much interest and fun to the story.I look forward to more stories about the people of Coal Cliff horse farm.