Home Before Sundown

by Barbara Hannay

Coming home can break your heart ... or change your life.For Bella Fairburn, a girl from the bush, her new life in Europe is a dream come true. But news of her beloved father's heart attack brings Bella rushing back to Australia along with her aunt Liz, an acclaimed musician who's been living in London for the past thirty years.Coming home is fraught with emotional danger for both Bella and Liz. While Bella is confident she can deal with drought, bushfires and bogged cattle, she dreads facing her neighbour. Gabe Mitchell is the man she once hoped to marry, but he's also the man who broke her heart.And for Liz, Mullinjim holds a painful secret that must never be revealed ... In the rugged beauty of the outback, new futures beckon, but Bella and Liz must first confront the heartaches of the past. 'A fantastic story with beautiful characters and a lovely backdrop of rural Australia ... heartache, loss, love and new beginnings.' 1 girl ... 2 many books

Genres: Romance, Australia

320 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 24, 2013

About the author

Multi award winning author, Barbara Hannay, is a city bred girl with a yen for country life. Most of her 50 plus books are set in rural and outback Australia and they've been enjoyed by readers around the world.

Barbara has been nominated five times for Romance Writers of America's RITA Award which she won in 2007 and she has twice won Australia's Romantic Book of the Year award.

In her own version of life imitating art, Barbara and her husband currently live on a misty hillside in beautiful Far North Queensland where they keep heritage pigs, hens, ducks, turkeys and an untidy but productive garden.

Visit Barbara's website at www.barbarahannay.com
Follow her on Facebook and Twitter

Reviews

[Bree T · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bella Fairburn has been living it up in Europe and loving it – or so she keeps telling herself. But when she gets the news that her beloved father Peter has had another, more serious heart attack, she wastes no time packing her bags, saying goodbye to her French boyfriend Anton and jetting home with her aunt, Liz.

It’s been two years since Bella returned to her family’s outback northern Queensland cattle property and for Liz, Peter’s sister who is now an acclaimed pianist working all over Europe, it’s been even longer – about thirty. After seeing Peter in Townsville for themselves and making sure he is resting up okay and hopefully on the mend, Bella returns to the family property to run it while her father is in hospital. Her brother Luke was always supposed to take over the running of the property but he’s recently begun carpentry work and has developed a passion for it. Tied up with an important job doing something he loves, Bella is happy to run the farm to save her parents hiring a manager and outsourcing what is a family role- she knows she can do it. She grew up doing it. She will make her father proud and give him back the reins when he’s ready to resume his position.

But running the family farm puts her back in close contact with Gabe Mitchell, her next door neighbour. Growing up, Bella trailed everywhere after Luke and Gabe, honing her tomboy skills. When Bella was at university, Gabe was the man she one day hoped to marry. Luke would have the family farm, but Bella would be right next door with the man she had fallen in love with, helping him run his own farm. However after a family tragedy, Gabe spurned her and broke her heart, sending her overseas to put as much distance between him and herself as she could.

Back at Mullinjim, both Liz and Bella will have to confront painful moments from their past during their time there and make the steps towards healing and moving forward to bright new futures.

Last year I read and loved Zoe’s Muster by Barbara Hannay and was excited to revisit the area for Home Before Sundown. Bella is Zoe’s half sister (they share the same father) and she’s been overseas travelling for several years. However when family brings her home, Bella throws her all into running the family farm – some one hundred thousand acres desperately on its way to being crippled by drought. Bella has grown up on the farm, there’s not much she doesn’t know how to do and when she needs help, she has neighbours. Her half sister Zoe has married Mac, who bought one of the neighbouring farms when Bella was away at Uni and then there’s Gabe Mitchell, with whom Bella has history.

The chemistry between Gabe and Bella is obvious, as is the fact that they both have regrets over what happened during their short lived fling a few years ago. At first Bella maintains a polite distance from Gabe, resisting asking him for help but the more time they spend together, the more she sees that resistance is futile. Their move back towards a relationship is hampered drastically when Bella’s French boyfriend Anton arrives, causing Gabe to lash out at Bella the same way he did several years ago, challenging her to figure out precisely what she wants.

It’s not an unfair charge – Bella ran from what she wanted after what happened with Gabe and tried to make herself happy travelling around Europe but it’s very clear that her heart lies with her home at Mullinjim. She just needs to embrace the courage she needs to go after what she wants and make it hers, rather than trying to run from it. Gabe is of course, a part of that, but a rash promise Bella made before she left France really ends up complicating things for her! I think that Bella did just need a little time to grow up and realise that Gabe wasn’t able to put her first back then, that he was going through something horrible. I understand why she reacted the way she did, and I think it was perfectly reasonable for her to be hurt and feel betrayed, jilted and abandoned. But running away definitely did not help.

The story is greatly enhanced by Liz’s character who has her own reasons for not having returned to her childhood home. I really enjoyed the character of Liz and the role she played in Bella’s life and also the story. Her tragedy had led to her filling her life with relatively meaningless connections and relationships, pouring her energy into her career as one of the world’s most talented pianists. It’s interesting that in a place that she assumes would be a dating dead end, she meets perhaps the first man that has truly interested her in a long time. The two stories worked great alongside of each other and intertwined as they revolved around the homestead and Liz and Bella both witnessed the other’s burgeoning relationships and tried to extract information or offer advice.

Home Before Sundown is a well-rounded story with heartache, loss, love and new beginnings. I have to admit, one event threw me totally – did not see it coming at all but I understand how it helped the story, particularly Bella’s personal growth and her understanding and compassion towards someone else who had experienced the same thing. Once again Barbara Hannay has delivered a fantastic story with beautiful characters and a lovely backdrop of rural Australia. I am so looking forward to her next book, which will feature Bella and Zoe’s brother Luke. In this novel we got a few glimpses of Zoe and Mac and the happiness they had found together (which always satisfies the need in me to know more after a book ends!) and I hope for glimpses of them again and Bella and Gabe too in Luke’s book.

[Shelleyrae at Book'd Out · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Home Before Sundown, Barbara Hannay returns to the Fairburn's cattle station, Mullinjim, in Northern Queensland. Peter Fairburn, whom we met in Zoe's Muster has suffered a heart attack he may not survive, prompting their daughter's, return from Europe where she has been traveling for the last two years. Accompanied by her Aunt Liz, who has been avoiding Mullinjim for almost thirty years, Bella Fairburn arrives home and takes over the running of the family farm while her father recovers. Though it is hard work, Bella is happy to be home except for the presence of her neighbour, Gabe Mitchell, the man who broke her heart.

I was delighted to return with Hannay to the characters I grew familiar with in Zoe's Muster. Zoe, the daughter of Peter Fairburn and half sibling to Bella and Luke, is now happily settled with Mac McKinnon. Home Before Sundown features Bella and her Aunt Liz, Peter's sister, both of whom fled Mullinjim after experiencing heartbreak.

Bella was crushed when Gabe rejected her in the wake of his father's death and took off to Europe but he was never far from her thoughts and now she has returned she has to face him. Gabe had his reasons for pushing Bella away but now that she is back he doesn't want to see her leave again. It's a sweet romance with evident chemistry simmering between the pair. Naturally their reunion is complicated by not only their past but by the cute, French, ski instructor boyfriend Bella left behind and the Bella's indecision regarding what she truly wants.

Liz's story arc gives added depth to this novel about family, love and loss. A renowned concert pianist, Liz also fled Mullinjim nursing heartache and a secret she has never shared but that has haunted her for thirty years. Being home forces Liz to confront her past and re-consider her future.

Home Before Sundown is an engaging story of joy, tragedy, romance and heartache set within the dusty landscape of the Australian outback. I am already looking forward to Hannay's next book which promises to feature Bella and Zoe's brother, Luke Fairburn.

[Dale Harcombe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having read and enjoyed Zoe’s Muster I was happy to be taken back again to Mullinjim to catch up with the Fairburn family. Bella, in Europe at the time, receives news of her father’s heart attack and promising to return leaves her French boyfriend Anton to rush back home to Australia. Her aunt Liz, a concert pianist who has lived overseas for 30 years, also heads home to see her brother. Coming back home brings back painful memories for both Bella and Liz.
I liked the descriptions of the Northern Queensland outback area. It is probably as close as I will ever get to Northern Queensland. While I enjoyed this novel I found that Bella and Liz did not have the same appeal that Zoe did in the earlier book. Zoe does appear in this book, since she is now married and settled down with Mac but it is not really a major role. Bella in particular annoyed me with her immature behaviour. I could have happily shook and told her to ‘grow up.’ And I have to admit the love interest of Gabe didn’t do a lot for me either. So while I enjoyed reading it, for me it didn’t have the same appeal as Zoë’s Muster. Also think the cover would have been better with just the putback scene and no face. I like to visualise the characters, not have someone depict them for me.But that could be just me.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved Zoe's Muster so I was really hanging out to read this follow up but I was a little dissapointed with it. I Liked the book overall but i just found some of the Bella storyline a little bit off, her issues seemed a little bit more minor than the importance that was placed on them plus her immaturity throughout the story was a little strange considering she was managing a cattle property.Zoe's Muster had some great supporting characters whereas I didn't feel that in this book. Overall I liked this book but Bella didn't grab me the way that Zoe did in the first one.

[Alicia Hope · Rating 3 out of 5]

A well written, easy to read story with a happy ever after ending.

[Sue Gerhardt Griffiths · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

I adored Home Before Sundown just as much as Zoe’s Muster. This book had its own unique storyline and it's always a joy to reconnect with the central and minor characters from a previous book. Fabulous, realistic characters and gorgeous descriptions of Far North Queensland’s outback. This book is not only about Bella the main protagonist the reader is also introduced to Bella's aunt Liz, both tales were equally fantastic. Barbara Hannay certainly has a talent for creating magnificent stories.

*Book #8/72 of my coffee table to-read pile challenge

[Paula · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was a little disapointed with this book, especially after loving Zoe's Muster. For someone with the huge responsibility of running the family farm/cattle station, Bella seemed a little childish/immature at times. I enjoyed Liz's character, however I didn't feel her "secret" was as earth shattering as anticipated - quite an anti-climax actually. Equally I didnt' think Bella's reason for "running" years ago, was as big as the build up.

[Hari · Rating 3 out of 5]

Home before Sundown is a well written romance with a conventional plot. This is the second story centred around the Fairburn family based in Mullinjim, and I won’t give away any spoilers. But if you’ve read the first about Zoe you’ll love and cry at being reunited with the rest of them too.

Bella and her aunt Liz return from Europe after Bella’s dad Peter Fairburn suffers another heart attack. Leaving behind romantic partners and established lives they pledge to return as soon as possible.

A cosy read with unfortunately a very immature Bella as the main character. Bella brings all the histrionics of self absorbed youth to her interactions, both with her French lover Anton and her former Aussie love Gabe. Her lack of empathy was disconcerting. The closest to self awareness she gets to is when “she was struck by the unpleasant possibility that, despite her best efforts to improve, she hadn’t changed or grown up at all.” I found it too hard to warm to her.

I wish the story had instead focused on her aunt Liz. A renowned concert pianist, Liz’s return home after thirty years helps put to rest a long ago tragedy that has shaped her relationships and brilliant career. Although her story is told only through brief interludes from Bella’s saga, her character feels far more fully formed.

Easy to read but not as engrossing as previous novels by Barbara Hannay.

[Kim · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 stars for its description of the Australian outback which I liked a lot. I was enjoying this story until the main female character decided it was ok to lie and cruelly lead-on her foreign boyfriend when she knew she still had feelings for her old flame and all to make herself feel better. Then, at the halfway point, just as her and the old flame start to sort things out, who should arrive... you guessed it... french boyfriend. Queue 'miscommunication trope'. I am sick and tired of them being in nearly every romance. If the story is well written enough they are unnecessary and are often very uncomfortably put in as if a requirement. Stop it already. I can't bring myself to finish.

[Yvonne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favourite Barbara Hannay novel, but still an easy, enjoyable read with engaging characters.

[Tanya Boulter · Rating 3 out of 5]

didnt like this as much as zoes muster or moonlight plains, but it came between and was an easy skim read

[Deb Bodinnar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice easy quick read.

[Stacey Houllis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great book by Barbara Hannay.

[Courtney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great book! Loved reading every page

[Lorraine Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just needed a feel good book. Probably very predictable but it did twist and turn.

[Wendy Sice · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bella and her Aunt Liz return to Australia from their decadent lives in Europe, when they learn that Bella's dad, Liz's brother, has suffered a heart attack. Once back on the cattle station, Bella remembers how much she loves the work, and how much she still holds a flame for their neighbour, Gabe. Liz is very emotional on her return, as she is reminded of a terrible episode in her life before she left the farm 30 years ago.

This is straight out chick lit, with its continuous descriptions of blue-eyed muscly men in tight-fitting jeans. Blagh! But I always enjoy the Australian colloquialisms and descriptions of the outback in these rural romances. Bella and Liz's stories are quite painful and dark, revolving around death and rejection which adds substance to the plot. It's just a shame that there is so much swooning, as it lowers the tone.

[Jill · Rating 2 out of 5]

Barbara Hannays' Home Before Sundown' was a very limp story: the motives behind Bella and Liz's actions were weak, the romance was underwhelming, the plot and sub-plots were cliches. The saving grace was the vivid descriptions of Northern Queensland. Perhaps the Australian rural romance genre has run its course if we are given stories such as this. Nothing new here at all.

[Bettina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love it when you read a book and it has you hooked by the first page. Loved this book so much and the little hints of secrets just kept you guessing. Loved everything about it and the ending as well. A great sequel to Zoe's Muster.

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book

[Gillian Milne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very readable. Enjoyed the characters. Made me laugh and made me cry. Will definitely read another Barbara Hannay book.

[Caroline · Rating 5 out of 5]

I seriously should have been doing so many other things, but I had to keep reading!
I got a bit emotional and teary, a great follow-up to Zoe's Muster.

[Loren · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book but not as much as Zoe's muster but it was nice to go back to Mullinjim to meet some more of the Fairburns.

[Sarah Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it!! Beautiful descriptions and fantastic, realistic characters.

[Tanya]

excellent

[Briamber Mcervale · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant. Emotional and like a country song!

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Light reading. Pleasant. Nice story and interesting setting.

[Kerri Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as Moonlight Plains but it was a nice easy summer read.