⭐⭐☆
Rich girl-poor girl, city-country, high-intensity lawyer –
deeply committed farmer, not-much-to-do-with-kids – devoted mom running programs
for kids on her farm – the number of opposite characteristics that the author
has woven in are a lot, but all done in a non-obtrusive way simply as a part of
characterisations.
Nina Pellegrini owns a huge plot of land left to her
by her grandmother on the outskirts of Sydney. The city has expanded and a heap
of suburban housing units have sprung up around Nina’s Banksia Farm. An
opportunistic builder is trying to buy the land from Nina at a cost much lower
than the market rate. In any case, Nina is not interested in selling because though
she is cash-strapped, she runs a number of programs for children on the farm
and knows that the exposure that the farm gives the children are important
living skills. There is an unfortunate riding accident with one of the kids and
Nina is slapped with an insurance case. She approaches Leigh Willoughby
reputed to be the best in these kind of lawsuits. Nina doesn’t have the money
and Leigh doesn’t have the time.
The initial part of the book where Nina slowly convinces
Leigh to take her on as a pro bono case and their growing attraction is
excellently written. It falters in the middle when Leigh doesn’t seem to be
really doing anything at all about Nina’s case. It would’ve been stronger if we
could have seen Leigh’s commitment and effort in handling the legalities just
so that Nina’s gratitude later would seem justified. The chemistry between the
MCs is really good and there is rather believable backing-and-forthing too.
We absolutely adored Leigh’s paralegal, Grizz.
On the whole, a great first-half and an okay later part.
⭐⭐☆
