Audio Review: Trial by Fire by B.A. Tortuga

Reviewed by Morgan

Title: Trial by Fire
Author: B.A. Tortuga
Narrator: Rusty Topsfield
Heroes: Lachlan McCoughney/Holden Sheffield
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 5 Hours, 36 Minutes
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: April 20, 2016
Available at: Amazon, Audible and iTunes
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: One Aussie. One Texan. One baby. One hell of a fight.

When his sister and her husband are killed in an accident, Aussie cattle station owner Lachlan McCoughney rushes to Texas to rescue their infant daughter, Chloe. He expects to find his niece living in squalor with the Sheffields, a rodeo family.

Instead, Lachlan finds Holden Sheffield, a salt-of-the-earth cowboy running a huge business operation. They want to explore their mutual attraction despite the many problems thrown their way, and together, they must find a way to give Chloe a new family and find a love that spans thousands of acres and two continents.

Review – Book: (Book reviewed here previously)

Lachlan’s sister, Adie, left her life of cloistered richness to run away with a rodeo bull rider who is the twin of Holden Sheffield. When she and her husband die, they leave behind a 3 month old baby girl that nobody in Lachlan’s family knew about but are determined to keep.

Holden is of the impression that the McCoughney’s are ruthless snobs who can’t possibly be good enough for his little niece even though her new uncle is a hottie.

When the ranch faces some danger – including the kidnapping of the baby! – everyone must band together and when that happens – some surprising feelings surface.

**

Boy oh boy – there’s a lot going on in this story. There’s the single parent thing, the grieving brother thing, the cattlemen from two countries things, the danger/ransom thing, the big misunderstanding thing and the insta-love thing…. A lot.

I found myself confused a bit as I read this and had to go back and forth to catch up to what exactly was going on – there are a lot of people in this story and a lot of Aussie slang, as well as some “cowboyisms” that keep you on your toes.

I had no problem with the two MCs falling for each other right away – but some of the other drama seemed to really bog the story down and detract from their romance. The MCs only spend a few pages together and the rest of the time it’s them and their families – sorting things out.

There is even another little side romance that occurs – again, though nice, it detracted from the MCs’ time together.

Like the other books in this series, this one is a little OTT and drama-central, but if that’s your thing – you’ll really enjoy this.

Review – Audio: This is a mixed bag for me. Rusty Topsfield definitely handles the emotion in this story very well. When he gets to cussin’ – ooooeeey – you feel it right with him! But… there are Spanish accents, Texan accents and Australian accents and really – he just can’t do all of them justice. He gives it a great try – but his Spanish accent isn’t great, his Texan is pretty good and his Aussie is only sometimes passable. It’s hard to do – I’m sure – but he’s just not that great at them. I think he added to my enjoyment of the story by bringing it to life with his vibrant portrayal of the characters, but I think it was a bit too much for him in the end.

Overall Impression: I liked it

*I received a copy of this book from the publisher in return for a fair and honest review.*