Just Like Heaven by Julia Quinn (Smythe-Smith Quartet, Book 1)
No one does comedy, wit and light-hearted romance like Julia Quinn.
In which wandergurl and @katydidinoz band together to win a coveted ARC at ARRC2011′s silent auction.
Honoria Smythe-Smith plays the violin in the infamous Smythe-Smith quartet’s annual musicale. (If you’ve read the Julia Quinn’s Bridgerton series, you’ll know they sound horrible.) It’s her secondish season out, and this time, she’s determined to find a husband, as the last few have cried off.
Marcus Holyroyd, Earl of Chatteris, is Honoria’s brother’s BFF. Since his hurried departure for the continent, he’s been looking out for Honoria (discreetly) and warning away any inappropriate suitors. He’s also secretly in love with her, but he hasn’t figured that out yet, which is all right, because she hasn’t figured out that she’s in love with him.
Will they figure it out in time for the next Smythe-Smith musicale?
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Lover Unleashed by J. R. Ward (Black Dagger Brotherhood, Book 9) - Australian/UK edition
A book for those already invested in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series. Prepare for more darkness than usual and don’t expect all your questions to be answered up front.
It’s not going to surprise anyone to read that I approach a new Black Dagger Brotherhood book differently to any other book. I scribble notes as I go along and I started reading Lover Unleashed with a mental checklist:
Is there anything written on the inside cover in the Old Language?
No, but there are crossed daggers, one black hilt, one white. Symbolism?
Are there any new words in the glossary?
Lhenihan – ‘A mythic beast renowned for its sexual prowess. In modern slang, it refers to a male of preternatural size and sexual stamina.’ Hmm, interesting.
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Vroom by the Sea by Peter Moore - Australian edition
An entertaining read about an enchanting part of Italy not always covered in travel books.
In line with Travel Tuesday (#traveltuesday) on Twitter, Wandergurl will be reviewing a travel book once a month.
Peter Moore is one of my favourite travel writers. I discovered him on a trip to Sydney in 2002, prompting me to return home with all his books at that time. He’s exceedingly funny and has a tendency to get himself into hilarious situations. When I found out that this book was released on Kindle, I just had to get it.
This book is a sequel of sorts to Vroom with a View, a book he wrote about travelling around Italy on a Vespa for his 40th birthday. This time around he takes a Vespa around southern Italy, partly to contemplate his impending fatherhood. There’s no need to read the previous book, as lord knows I didn’t remember much of it before reading this one. He does a good job of explaining any previous references.
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Border Watch by Helene Young (formerly called Border Watch)
In which we discover that an Aussie book by a real Aussie does not include the words ‘fair dinkum’.
You can probably tell that I haven’t read many Aussie authored novels. Or, if I have, I didn’t really know they were. Or they weren’t set here (or in this era!). Most of my Australian based romances came in category form, where characters lived in the outback, were written by Americans, said ‘ass’ instead of ‘arse’ (Kat’s mega pet peeve) and said ‘fair dinkum’ a hell of a lot. Now, there’s nothing wrong with ‘fair dinkum,’ but honestly I think I have heard it fewer times than the number of years I have been in this country.
Wings of Fear was nothing like the stereotypical category romance I read growing up, proving that if you want to write about Australia, you really do need an Aussie to get it right.
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Foreign Correspondence: A Pen Pal’s Journey from Down Under to All Over by Geraldine Brooks
A lovely if at times a bit sad armchair read if you’re looking for a bit of recent history and adventure.
In line with Travel Tuesday (#traveltuesday) on Twitter, I’ll be reviewing a travel book once a month, since I read so many and love them so much. Fortunately, Australians love to travel, so there’s no shortage of books to choose from for Aussie Author Month.
Geraldine Brooks grew up in a sleepy neighbourhood in Sydney without a car, without ever making an international phone call or getting on a plane. To explore the world from her house she made pen pals and wrote to people from New Jersey, France, Israel and even not so far away in the Eastern Suburbs. Later in life, she decided to meet them all.
This story isn’t just about Brooks—who later became a foreign war correspondent—meeting her pen pals and finding out what became of them, but it is also a capsule of history of what Sydney was like in the 60s and 70s when she was growing up.
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Border Watch by Helene Young (retitled as Wings of Fear)
Intelligently written and down to earth without being boring, this is a book to refresh your romantic palate without completely departing from the genre.
This review was previously posted on the Australian Romance Readers Association blog.
The first in a trilogy based on Australia’s aviation industry, Border Watch by Helene Young is the story of Captain Morgan Pentland, who has overcome a childhood of violence to become a border patrol pilot, and Commander Rafe Daniels, a former SAS officer who suspects Morgan of leaking information to terrorists.
Sparks flew between Morgan and Rafe from the moment they met and when Rafe joins Morgan’s team, they share a combative banter, unwilling to admit to their attraction. A terrorist attack brings them closer and they develop a mutual admiration and respect for the other’s strength, but remain unwilling to get involved.
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In keeping with Aussie Author Appreciation Month, this Mixed Bag features local authors whose work we haven’t previously reviewed on Book Thingo.
Their Newborn Gift by Nikki Logan
Their Newborn Gift by Nikki Logan (Australian edition)
Lea Curran’s one-night stand with rodeo star Reilly Martin resulted in a baby he never knew about. But four-year old Molly’s only chance to live a normal life may rest with cord blood from a close genetic match. Lea will do anything to save her daughter, including sleep with Reilly again to conceive another child. But first she has to tell him about his daughter.
The complications in this story make for dramatic conflicts, and the first twist totally threw me. Nikki Logan doesn’t let up on the angst, and with a terminally ill child involved, this book is guaranteed to be a tear-jerker. Luckily, it’s a romance. With an epilogue!
Reilly starts off acting like ye olde heartless hero bent on revenge for Lea leaving him after one night—‘as cheap as a motel television’—and not telling him about the baby.
…in all her planning and visualisation it had never occurred to her he would care about the baby that would result, let alone want it. The paradigm she was working from was five years out of date: Reilly Martin, king of the circuit; lover of women; drinker of beer.
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My Reckless Surrender by Anna Campbell
Dramatic, thrilling and, yes, a little over the top—vintage Anna Campbell.
This is a modified version of the winning review in the ARRC2011 Reader Challenge. (Here’s a photo of Kat receiving the award.)
‘I want to be your lover.’
Diana Carrick presents the Earl of Ashcroft with an offer too good for a notorious rake to refuse. So when he declines, she doesn’t know whether to feel relief or despair. She’s made a bargain with the devil: a child in exchange for marriage to the man who controls the estate in which Diana grew up and which she loves.
Tarquin Vale, Earl of Ashcroft, is intrigued by the mysterious proposition but senses a bit of, well, dodginess about the entire affair. But this is a romance, after all, and his willpower is no match for Diana’s allure. Ashcroft embodies that favourite of all historical romance heroes—the rake who’s not really a rake—with an added bonus of being powerful enough to vanquish villains.
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I Came to Say Goodbye by Caroline Overington
Interesting insight into the Australian legal and welfare system. Keep the tissue box within reach.
Something tragic occurs, involving an infant and her mother. Using letters to the judge written by the mother’s father, sister and a nurse, Caroline Overington builds a backdrop against which the horrifying event—not revealed until the final part of the novel—is put into context.
Much of this novel sheds light on the ineffectiveness of the welfare and justice systems. Sometimes this is due to negligence or poor management, but it can just as easily be the result of good intentions. It’s heartbreaking to see how misunderstandings and the lack of resources can put already disadvantaged families into worse circumstances.
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Archangel's Consort by Nalini Singh (Guild Hunter, Book 3)
A solid instalment in the series, despite the exhausting intensity of the romance and a slightly underdeveloped external plot.
This review was originally submitted as an entry for the ARRC2011 Reader Challenge and was selected to be in the final round.
Archangel’s Consort continues the story of Elena, former Guild Hunter and newly made angel, and her lover Raphael, the archangel of New York. Vampires are breaking their Contracts all over the city and archangels are showing signs of madness. Either an old foe is targeting Elena, Raphael’s greatest vulnerability, or an ancient power is awakening—one that Raphael will have to confront but may not be able to vanquish.
Newcomers to the Guild Hunter series shouldn’t find it difficult to pick up the basic characteristics of the world that Nalini Singh has created. The violence is graphic, but less so than in previous books. The power struggles between angels may get confusing, but it’s easy enough to follow the external plot even without fully understanding these nuances.
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