Review: A Change Of Pace

A Change Of Pace by Freya Barker
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Four and a half stars.

Newt Tobias is a former cop who took early retirement and moved away from the city to a small town for the sake of his teenage daughter Millie who was struggling after the death of her mother from cancer. Gradually as the book unfolds we understand the catalyst for this move.

Frederique Marchand, Freddy to everyone, works with troubled teenagers using her dog Boulder. She regularly visits the local high school and gets introduced to Millie as a new joiner. Almost immediately she can see there is 'something' the matter.

Freddy and Newt first meet when Freddy tries to stop a local all-round bad guy Billy Baldwin, step-son of the local law enforement, from man-handling a 14 year old girl into his truck. Newt bawls her out for being a 'half-witted vigilante feminist', jumping into a dangerous situation without thinking about the danger - it doesn't go well! But then, when Newt realises that Millie is still not dealing well he reaches out for some professional support to the school and they recommend Freddy. Together they need to work to help Millie, and if they fall in love at the same time? Even better.

The best bit? Freddy is 46 years old. Yep, that's right 46 years old. A mature heroine in a romance. Not a secondary character but the heroine!

I loved this book, I loved that two people, three if you count Millie, can overcome adversity and find true love. I loved that Newt was capable, a grown-up who takes his parental responsibilities seriously, a man who can cook and build decking. Freddy is the woman we all (well I do) want to be. Strong, successful, living in her own home with a menagerie of rescued animals, a life full of friends and family.

There was just enough gritty reality to leaven the romance, just enough suspense to offset the children and animals cutesiness, just enough angst to stop it from becoming sweet, just enough heat to remind us all that over 30 doesn't mean dead.

Loved it, and I've got the previous two books on my Kindle to read on the strength of how much I liked this one.

Randomly I mixed Freya Barker with Juliana Stone (author of the Barker triplets series), I have however read a previous book by Freya Barker and enjoyed that one too, that also had a mature heroine.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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