Red Dirt Heart

[4.5] Wow, I absolutely love the Australian outback setting, equal parts beautiful and relentless, and the characters. Travis is fun and easygoing, and he isn't afraid to express his feelings and fight for what he wants. With Travis by his side, Charlie can take his first step in challenging his own erroneous beliefs regarding happiness and self-worth that stem from his father and find contentment at last.

This is by no means a bad book, and I see that most of the reviews are enthusiastically positive. The author's style just didn't work for me. Somehow, I didn't really feel the romance between the main characters. Travis in particular was pretty one-dimensional. Charlie's major hangup, though, was realistic and well-executed, and I also thought the author did a good job portraying his relationship with Ma and George.

Honestly, I need to stop reading contemporary romances for a while, because it's very rare that I enjoy them.