Here Are Some Reviews of “Wilderness Liaison”

5.0 out of 5 stars TAKE A TRIP TO NEW ZEALAND! June 6, 2012
By Tifferz

I love to travel and want to go to New Zealand. Well, after reading Wilderness Liaison. New Zealand has been bumped up on my travel list. Ms. Ashby did such an great job describing the scenery that I want to go camping. And I am not a huge camper. I love that Shal and Jodie do not like each other when they meet and for some time. The tension was so thick. Excellent writing and the story has a good pace and some unexpected developments. I also like that Shal and Jodie had flaws and had to work at the relationship. It was not always smooth sailing. I think if you need a trip and can’t afford one get this book and enjoy the ride. I can’t wait to check out all Ms. Ashbys work.

Just fyi this has a handful of swear words and some descriptive foreplay. All sex is behind closed doors.

5.0 out of 5 stars A HEART-STEALER!, March 17, 2012
By ManicScribbler

First of all I have to say this is a really powerful read. It takes you across New Zealand – deep into bushland and then into the heart of buzzing town life – and if, like me, you live on the opposite side of the world, this makes for a truly fascinating and realistic journey. It most certainly puts NZ on my wish list of places to visit before I die! It also allows us to get to up close and personal with the hero and heroine and start to understand them long before they understand each other.

The H & H are Shal and Jodie – representing town -vs- country values – two very single-minded individuals both with complex histories. Shal brings a team from his workforce to Jodie’s parents’ bush set up for a team-building week. Because neither can accept the authority of others, hackles rise from their first meeting. As their tramp through the bush progresses they are both forced to re-evaluate their opinions of each other.

The chemistry between the pair is powerful to the point of scintillating but prickly Jodie rebuffs every attempt the gorgeous Shal makes towards friendship. It isn’t until a potentially tragic accident occurs that she is able to re-appraise the ‘townie’ and recognise his inner strengths. Sadly however, it’s not Shal’s inner resources that are the problem, but Jodie’s.

It would be unfair to relate more of the story – it should be sufficient to say that it is an action-packed and quite gripping adventure revealing as much about the dangers in the bush as about the dangers lurking within the human psyche and both need to be approached with the greatest of care.

Shal is one of those great, unforgettable romantic heroes who will make you want to push Jodie aside and grab for him yourself! There were times when I wanted to take Jodie by the shoulders and give her a thorough shaking but as her story unfolds, sympathy and understanding build up as the fractured pieces slot into place.

This novel held me captive from the beginning and kept my attention gripped throughout. I will undoubtedly be reading more of Anne Ashby’s works and would not hesitate in recommending this to all lovers of sweet, sexy and totally irresistible contemporary romance.

4.0 out of 5 stars Wilderness Liaison, March 15, 2012
By BookWorm

I really enjoyed this book! Anne Ashby does an excellent job of developing Shal and Jodie’s characters. You knew their traits, which you could see first-hand during their tramp through the bush. The sensual tension between the two of them was well created and you could feel it. I was so frustrated with their relationship because it was very realistic. At times I wanted to hit Jodie over the head and tell her to get a clue and wake up! When the characters seem like “real” people, you know the book is good! I loved the description of the bush in New Zealand. It was wonderful and made me want to go and see it for myself! (This is considered a sensual book and contains descriptive sensual scenes)

5.0 out of 5 stars BEAUTIFUL REALISTIC ROMANCE, March 14, 2012
By LaVerne Clark (Nelson, New Zealand)

I was lucky enough to be a preliminary reader for this story as it was going through the initial query stage for the publisher.

I was thrilled to be assigned this story as it is set in my home country and I’d heard the writer told a great story. I hadn’t been led astray and I fell in love with Shal and Jodie immediately. I got such a kick out of reading about a setting I was so familiar with too – but when combined with such great writing – I was in heaven!

I encourage everyone to read this story – I can’t recommend it highly enough. Now, I’m off to buy my own copy. It’ll be interesting to see what, if anything has changed during the editing stage 🙂

5.0 out of 5 stars TWO UNFORGETTABLE CHARACTERS, March 9, 2012
By Paula Martin

Shal Gregory is bored by the team-building week his father has insisted he attends with some of his staff. He’s also shocked when he discovers their four-day hike in New Zealand’s bush-country is to be led by a girl. Shal is used to being in control and is sure he’ll have to take charge when the girl panics in an emergency.
Jodie Mathieson, with her knowledge and experience of bush-country, thinks Shal is an arrogant, chauvinistic, pompous ass, as well as being a dreaded `townie’ with no appreciation of the countryside.
Sparks fly between them, but their prejudices and preconceptions are gradually changed during the tramp in the bush, especially when emergencies arise. The author’s description of how they both struggle, first to ignore and then to fight their growing attraction to each other, is superbly written, as is their eventual surrender to that attraction when they’re forced to spend time together in the wilderness without the rest of the group.
On their return to the `real’ world, Shal and Jodie still have to recognise and deal with their own shortcomings and we follow them through their uncertainties as they try to find a way to understand themselves and each other.
Anne Ashby has created two very real characters in `Wilderness Liaison’. To start with, I thought I wasn’t going to like Shal very much – at first he did seem very much as Jodie thought of him – but I soon learnt to understand him, and very much enjoyed the portrayal of how these two seemingly very different people struggled and eventually resolved their prejudices about each other. The description of New Zealand’s wilderness country was also extremely well done.
This is a story that will stay with you long after you have turned the last page, because of its depth and realism, and two unforgettable characters.

5.0 out of 5 stars A TREAT!, March 8, 2012
By Lindsay Townsend (Yorkshire, UK)

Shal and Jodie appear total opposites. Shal is a man who likes to control and a dreaded ‘townie’, Jodie is a fiercely independent outdoor girl. Both have good reasons for why they are the way they are and both are attracted to each other, but fight it.

When they are forced to spend time with each other in the Wilderness, will their Wilderness Liaison endure their return to ‘civilisation’? Will they accept each other as they are?

The humming attraction and sensual tension between Shal and Jodie is particularly well-written, as is the descriptions of the New Zealand bush and wilderness. I could understand both characters and their motivations and was cheering both of them on as I read this novel. Throughout the story Shal and Jodie learn about themselves and begin to understand and appreciate each other, understanding that blossoms into love.

I found this story a treat and delight and will looking out for more by Anne Ashby.

October 7, 2012