Chasing Dreams

Hope Creek Series #2

by Kerrie Paterson

Almost twenty years ago, Belinda Morrison’s teenage dreams of playing top level cricket were shattered after a night of fun went wrong. While she lay in a hospital bed, the ute’s driver, her boyfriend Marc, left town.

Now Marc Orsini’s a cop, and has been sent back to Hope Creek as a temporary posting.

The sparks are still there, stronger than ever, and after a shaky start, their relationship ignites again.

With many ties to the community, the town is Bel’s life, but Marc has responsibilities elsewhere. She can't risk a short-term romance, but how can she let him walk out of her life for a second time?

160 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 31, 2016

About the author

Kerrie Paterson writes contemporary Australian women's fiction and small town romance - mainly stories about women in their 40s and above who have reached a crossroads in their life. She loves to write about women's relationships with their friends and family, as well as their romances.

Kerrie's home is a small motorhome which allows her to lead a nomadic life. This gives her plenty of opportunity to people watch and explore new horizons - and write about what she sees.

She is a member of the Romance Writers of Australia and the Hunter Romance Writers.

Reviews

[Brenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

When Belinda Morrison heard on the town’s grapevine that Hope Creek was finally getting a cop again, she was happy along with everyone else. The police station had been empty for years and the town had petitioned for the return to law and order in Hope Creek. But the name of Sergeant Marc Orsini sent shivers of apprehension down her spine. Marc was her old boyfriend from almost twenty years prior; the boy who was driving the ute when she had had the accident that had changed Bel’s life. She hadn’t spoken to or seen him in all that time – he’d gone while she was in hospital and not contacted her again. Would Bel’s deep seated bitterness and anger allow her to cope with seeing him every day?

Sergeant Marc Orsini was stationed in Newcastle in the Hunter Valley of NSW and his temporary posting to Hope Creek wasn’t something he could argue with his boss about. But he wasn’t happy to be returning. There were too many memories; some good but a lot of bad ones - his guilt over what he’d done to Bel was foremost in his mind. At least the posting was only temporary…

When Bel saw Marc again, it was as if there had been no years in between. He’d changed; become a man now, as she had changed. But she knew she still felt the same about him. She would just have to steel her heart – she couldn’t bear to have it broken all over again. When a tentative friendship formed between the two, Bel told herself it would do – she had many things to keep her occupied in the town, not least the drop-in centre for youth that she was organising. But were there more troubles in Hope Creek’s future?

Chasing Dreams is the second in the Hope Creek series by Aussie author Kerrie Paterson and as thoroughly enjoyable as the first. Set in a small rural town in country NSW, the feel of community is authentic, the manner in which country folk band together to help one another is spot on. Chasing Dreams is a lovely, gentle rural romance from an author who is finding her feet in the genre in a big way; I’m really looking forward to the next in the series. Highly recommended.

With thanks to the author for this copy to read in exchange for my honest review.

[Heather Robb]

Kindle