Published: 24 March 2020 (print)/1st April 2025 (audio) 
Publisher: Self Published/Bolinda Audio
Pages: 178/4 hrs and 41 mins
Narrator: Elizabeth Brennan
Format: Audiobook
Genre: Romance
★ ★ – 2.5 Stars
He might be the perfect model, but is he the right man for Scarlett?
When up-and-coming artist Scarlett Ash discovers the perfect model in small-town Levenham, she can’t believe her luck. Her creativity abandoned her months ago and with her move to London to take up a prestigious residency fast approaching, she’s desperate for a muse to bring it back.
Surfing dairy farmer Sam Greenwood is delivering milk when a gorgeous girl accosts him. Charmed by her invitation to model for a painting, Sam wants to say no. While Scarlett might be stunning, she’s arty-farty weird, and he’s flat out with his growing dairy business. Somehow, though, he can’t resist.
As Scarlett struggles to find her way with her new work, Sam becomes determined to help. Scarlett is smart, talented and sympathetic to the unremitting toil of dairy farming, and they’re both healing from failed relationships. Soon burgeoning friendship blossoms into so much more.
Knowing that London beckons and her time in Levenham is short, Scarlett resists the lure of love. She has no plans to return to Levenham, and big-hearted Sam deserves more than a brief fling followed by a quick goodbye. Except as their affair deepens, how can she leave the man who’s not only given her back her passion but her heart?
This was an interesting book, a lot more character based than plot compared to the others. It was only a five hour audio but I stopped and started a lot. I don’t know whether there wasn’t enough plot to grab me or I wasn’t as into Sam and Scarlett’s relationship to keep my attention but I found myself tuning in and out a lot as I listened.
Like I’ve found with a lot of the men in this series, they are all a bit sexist and leery in this book too, which might be what the women are all interested in, but the fact Sam wasn’t was a refreshing change.
All the characters we’ve met before come back in roles of various sizes and it is a great way to track timelines and see how the community interacts. One thing I’d’ve loved was an explanation about the vagueness from Eddie, things like information about the painting or the issue with Chrissy – I may have missed something either in this book or the last but it did stand out.
Reading the novellas back to back was like a fun novel. Some of the later books hark back to the first book of course, which also gives a great sense of time passing but no real requirement for a set reading order as you get all the information and context in each novella. Some books were better than others, but I enjoyed how there were hints in one story about the next one. It was a great way to introduce us to new characters without making them feel like they’d come from nowhere.
Having the previous characters make an appearance was nice and helped to bring me back into the story. I didn’t not like the concept of Sam and Scarlett, it was sweet and as I say, Sam was much nicer than the other men, but it wasn’t enough to elevate my enjoyment.
Overall I enjoyed this series and while this final one wasn’t my favourite I enjoyed the journey of reading about these characters’ lives and the different interactions, relationships, and community life. From reading the novel Rocking Horse Hill it was a great way to keep the community alive and I enjoyed seeing the ongoing repercussions and story from that first book into these fun little stories. If there was ever going to be another book in the Levenham series I wouldn’t hesitate to pick it up and see what adventures these characters are up to now. But until then, this final book is a great wrap up of the series and the adventures of this town. Hein has made a nice community with sweet romances to go along with it.
You can purchase Scarlett and the Model Man via the following
Wordery | Blackwell’s | Angus & Robertson
Fishpond | Amazon | Amazon Aust | Audible | Author
