Karen Devitt is a young, beautiful and ambitious artist. She is also struggling to make ends meet. And to make matters worse her father has fallen ill. Through love and a sense of duty, she neglects her painting to be by his side while her brother, in the absence of their father, is forced to take over the family firm which is now collapsing under his stewardship, leaving the entire Devitt family … family in disarray and facing certain financial ruin.
Single, but not looking for love, Karen meets the dashing and ruggedly good looking Ralph Corbeck, a wealthy landowner of a prestigious game reserve in southern Africa. He is also a highly regarded businessman and a ruthless investor with a reputation as a womaniser. And he has identified and targeted the Devitt’s family business for an aggressive takeover.
From Karen and Ralph’s first encounter emotions run high, and unwittingly, Karen is lured to his game reserve where she stays at his extraordinary safari chalet, Vundu Lodge. Here, she begins to get an insight into the real Ralph Corbeck. Betrayal, deceit, jealousy and love all have their role to play, and the inferno and beauty of the African wilderness fuels this searing and beautiful romance.
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I didn’t really know what I was getting into with this book. It is so much more than I was expecting. It has a rich scenery that backgrounds a budding romance.
It caught my attention from the beginning and was interesting. It also had some small entertaining hijinks along the way. The progress of Ralph and Karen’s relationship in the beginning is slow, lukewarm and tentative at best. As the book progresses however, their relationship blossoms.
The descriptive writing, however, does make me feel as though I am there at Vundu Lodge.
During the time I read this book I came to care for these characters. The strong, honest and silent Ralph. Protective and humble he truly made his mark on me.
Creative and caring, Karen’s a perfect match for Ralph.
The colorful secondary characters made this book come together. They were as diverse as they were unique.
Overall, 3.5 stars because I found, at parts, the story lagged. I also wish I would have been moved a little more by the characters. It is a wonderful, colorful story and I wanted to feel all the feels but it didn’t move me as much as I’d hoped.
This book, for me, personifies true, swoon-worthy romance. Nothing over the top and nothing truly dark. Simple, wonderful, swoon-worthy romance! Sigh!
The gripping ending has me wondering what’s in store for Karen and Ralph. Definitely a cliff-hanger ending that will leave you wanting more.
I am eager to continue life at Vundu Lodge. To reconnect with its characters and the brilliant panorama of life and love in Africa.
I received an ARC of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
**3.5 stars**
Spending two months at a secluded game reserve where you can get away from all the stresses of the real world, and focus all of your attention solely on creating art? Not to mention the added benefit of the dashing game reserve owner showering you with all of his personal attention. Sounds like paradise. Now…if only I knew how to paint!
Perhaps the most enthralling part of this read was the stark juxtaposition of city vs. open plains, as well as the contrast of how beautiful, yet dangerous this landscape could truly be. We become immediately enchanted by this quiet landscape just as Karen does. It can sometimes be hard to imagine a place that is completely void of the encroachment of civilization and modernity, yet for a brief moment the author transports us to this magical place. An area lacking “…billboards or glass window displays, no litter, no fast food outlets, no music, no people – just a dusty road encased by bush and majestic trees with abundant wildlife.”
However, we also see the other side of the coin when it comes to this spectacular paradise seemingly untouched by humanity. The dangers of nature become immediately apparent, from predators stalking their prey, to intense heat, the immorality of poachers, crazy witch doctors, and the endless miles of dry earth stretched in every direction. It’s a give and take to both appreciate the beauty laid out in the wild, yet also take heed of the threats which might be lurking hidden in the bush.
Misunderstandings abound throughout this novel, which even hearken back to Ralph and Karen’s first meeting. Things just sort of snowball from there, primarily stemming from Ralph’s involvement in her family’s affairs. It is only after she arrives at Vundu Lodge and the two are able to spend some quality time together that we get a slight reprieve from all the conjecture. Emotions stir, and physical intimacy ensues before everything comes to a crashing halt. Assumptions rise up once again with the introduction of a female character who Karen is convinced means more to Ralph than herself. The end result involves a further building of misunderstanding that neither Ralph nor Karen allow to be explained away by any sort of conversation between them. Karen doesn’t elaborate on why she’s suddenly demanding that Ralph leave her alone, and Ralph doesn’t press for answers. This man, who in the beginning was so demanding of Karen’s presence in his life, now surprisingly demands no explanation as to why her affections so quickly turned back to animosity.
As the story evolves we see a growing distance form between them which becomes increasingly exaggerated with each new assumption Karen garners about what must be going on in Ralph’s life. While this method certainly intensified the overall dramatic nature of the plot, there’s one major flaw with this kind of build-up. It’s frustrating. All of these misconceptions could have been simply explained away with one quick and honest conversation between our two characters, yet they continuously shied away from having any kind of dialogue. As Karen continued to jump from one conclusion to another you wanted to scream at her to openly confront Ralph with what was bothering her, because we all knew there’d be some kind of easy explanation as to what was going on. And that’s ultimately what happens. When all of a character’s fears and doubts can be explained away in one five-minute conversation at the end of the novel, you question why it couldn’t have taken place back when her worries were initially taking shape.
Lo and behold though there’s an even bigger surprise lying in wait at the end of the novel. Just when it seems all is well for our characters, we get a surprising last minute introduction of intrigue and a cliffhanger ending that will make you go, “say whaaaaat?”
See full review at romance4thebeach.wordpress.com
This is my first book by this author so I wasn’t sure what to expect.
I enjoyed the writing style and the beautiful detailed description of the landscape and its inhabitants, animal and humans. The author painted an amazing picture and it was so easy to see it all in my head.
The actual love story was a combination of assumptions, misunderstanding, stubbornness and no communication. it left me a little frustrated.
I did enjoy the big twist at the end though. I want to know what happens.