{Review} The Australian by Lesley Young

We’re really liked The Frenchman, the first book in Lesley Young’s Crime Royalty Romance Series, so we were so excited to be invited to participate in the blog tour for the second book in the series, The Australian. Before we get to our thoughts, here’s the 411 on The Australian:

The Australian by Lesley Young
Also by this author: The Frenchman
Series: Crime Royalty Romance #2
Also in this series: The Frenchman
Published by Self-Published on March 25, 2015
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 290
Goodreads  Buy the Book

Imagine leaving behind all that you know and starting over halfway around the world. Imagine you’ve got no gut instinct to rely on, no natural-born ability to read people or sort out lies from truth. Imagine your heart goes haywire every time you stare into a certain pair of deeply mesmerizing dark eyes. Now you’re in Charlie Sykes’ (highly sensible) shoes . . .

Charlie Sykes takes everything and everyone at face value, and believes life would be a lot easier if everyone else did, too. Jace Knight, international Aussie hotelier and purported playboy, has never met anyone like the absurdly literal and obliviously beautiful American who applies to his personal assistant position.

The trouble is, how do you seduce a woman whose definition of flirting comes straight out of the Merriam-Webster Dictionary? That, and he’s not the only one after Charlie. Seems Mr. Knight may not be a reformed criminal after all.

Charlie soon finds herself caught up in a whirlwind of dangerous international espionage that takes her from the hip streets of Sydney to the majestic Great Barrier Reef and the wild, desolate outback. A terrible trap’s being laid, but how will Charlie protect herself and prevent a devastating betrayal when she can’t even sort out what her heart’s telling her?

Kassiah: I liked The Australian a bit more than I liked The Frenchman.

Following the death of her drug addict mother, Charlie Sykes sells off their trailer and heads to the land down under to start fresh. She’s practical to the point of driving people away and finds herself lonely. After a few weeks in Sydney, Charlie finally lands a job, working as a personal assistant to self-made billionaire Jace Knight. She’s up front about her strict convictions for a non-fraternization policy when she takes the job.

“You’ll find, Mr. Knoght, I am not most women.”

After a moment, he murmured, “No I see that.”

It isn’t long before those convictions are tested and Charlie finds herself falling into bed with–and falling for–her boss. Meanwhile, she finds out that he could be involved in some underhanded dealings and is asked to spy on him. But where will her loyalties lie when she’s put to the test?

Though there were some annoying things about Charlie, I liked her a lot more than I liked Fleur. Her reason for being in Australia and the situation she found herself in was far more authentic. Her clinical way of looking at things got old, but she definitely grew as a character, and I was rooting for her.

Jace was intriguing from the very beginning. He was loyal, funny, and protective. And pretty hot.

“Right, now just relax right, get used to me,” he uttered hoarsely, curling over me, and between kisses on my neck, added, “Because I hope to be there a lot.”

I really liked that though their situation was not black and white, Jace saw what he had to do and did it. He was mysterious and downright chivalrous. I respected him, which is more than I can say for a lot of characters.

What didn’t I like? First of all, I think the cover is hot. But it’s not really representative of the story. Or maybe I just didn’t get it. Also, the blog tour banner? Don’t look at that–because this guy is not your typical cowboy. Also, though Charlie’s antics made sense to me, she did get on my nerves.

He had a good handle on his biological urges to mate.

I felt like for someone so black and white, she should have been able to do a better job than she did. She lacked emotion and felt stuffy, and I had a hard time connecting with her.

Jace made up for that, though.

“You’ve caught me, ay. I’m yours.”

I know the next book in the series is entitled The American, and I’m excited to read that one, too. I just wish all of these books would somehow tie together.

Like I said in my review of The Frenchman, I was disappointed that we didn’t see any of the characters from that book here, but there are some similarities–mafia ties, a bit of mystery, and virgins. If you’re looking for a mafia romance with international espionage, travel, and a hot Australian bloke, then definitely check out The Australian by Lesley Young.

Report Card
Cover
Characters
Plot
Writing
Steam
Overall:	3.5

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