Lynette Noni is the author of the bestselling and award-winning Fantasy series The Prison Healer, the Medoran Chronicles and the Whisper duology, but in this novel, she has moved from her usual fantasy genre to young adult contemporary romance with a survival/adventure twist.
Set in the wilderness of the Australian Blue Mountains National Park this novel evokes a reality TV, young adult adventure story which involves Zander Rune, a former Hollywood teen star whose online image needs improving after a DUI incident, and Charlie Hart, a young teen who hates everything Zander stands for because of her own personal traumatic loss.
The two are thrown together to hike the wilderness for a 4-day, social media competition which goes horribly wrong when their support team suffers major injuries. They must work jointly to overcome their animosity and deal with danger, exhaustion, hunger and hypothermia all whilst being unknowingly filmed for a worldwide audience.
The survival moments are compelling and dangerous enough to feel real, and due to the advanced traumas that they experience their romantic attraction develops through mutual vulnerability into a trusting relationship.
The novel is well paced with the action sequences alternating well with the character development. The supporting characters, Ember, Summer, Maddox and the Blue Mountains area are also well drawn, not just side characters.
