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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A weekly round-up of Aussie Author Month activity around teh interwebs.
Our celebration of Australian authors kicked off this week, and even though we’re only three days into it, there’s been a lot of excitement and activity. It’s surprised me, and I think the other organisers, too (A Writer Goes on a Journey, Fangtastic and The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader). I’m going to have to be more organised to get on top of things!
Nyssa, the most organised of us, has started a Facebook page. We’ll be posting links to Aussie Author month posts as we find them, so make sure you check the updates. Or you can visit participating blogs individually.
And finally, I just wanted to remind everyone that, as part of Aussie Author month, we’re also promoting the Indigenous Literacy Project. I encourage you to support them in whatever way you can.
Anyway, April has just begun, but Aussie Author Month in goin’ off!
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A meme for Aussie Author Month.
If you’re keen to participate in Aussie Author Month but have left it until the last minute, we’ve created a meme to get you started. All you have to do is to copy and paste everything below this paragraph into your own blog and follow the instructions. Enjoy!
(I’ve copied the list here if you want to start with a clean copy of the meme.)
How many Aussie romance authors do you know?
Australia is home to a lot of talented authors in the romance genre. Here’s a list of romance authors from the Romance Writers of Australia website. How many authors do you know?
Authors in BOLD are authors you’ve tried at least once.
Authors UNDERLINED are in your To Be Read pile.
Authors in ITALICS are authors whose work you’re planning to try soon.
Mark autobuy authors with an asterisk (*).
If an author has written a keeper for you, add the book title next to the author’s name.
This meme was created to celebrate Aussie Author Month 2011.
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Join us for a month-long celebration of Australian authored works of (mostly romance) fiction.
For the entire month of April we’ll be focusing on books written by Australian authors, and most of them will have romantic elements because we’re all about the lurve!
Yes, an entire month! If you don’t find at least one Aussie author you like this month, we’ll…we’ll…we’ll eat our blog. You know. If that were possible.
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This month’s mailbag features fishing, horse riding, vampires, shapeshifters, magical worlds and, of course, love.
Thyla by Kate Gordon
1/4/2011 – 9781864718812 – Random House
Teen/YA urban fantasy, Australian author, Australian setting
Thyla is a story of Tasmania: of darkness, of convicts, of devils and tigers, and of promises that stay true through the centuries. It is the story of what happened to Cat, and what Tessa really is.
My name is Tessa. I am strong.
I am brave. I do not cry.These are the only things I know for certain.
Found wandering in the mountains behind Hobart, Tessa has no memory of who she is or where she came from. Frightened and alone, Tessa tries to make sense of the mystery of her past and her strange nocturnal longings. And of the strange vicious scars on her body…
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In keeping with Halloween, this month’s Mixed Bag is a mix of (mostly) otherworldly books by (mostly) Australian authors.
Fallen by Lauren Kate (Fallen #1)
Fallen by Lauren Kate (Fallen, Book 1)
When Luce starts senior year (year 12 for us) at a boarding school for troubled teens, she discovers that her classmates aren’t, well, normal, and that the reason the school hottie is avoiding her at all costs has something to do with her destiny—until for some reason her destiny doesn’t happen on schedule.
I might have enjoyed this story more if I hadn’t already read the many—oh, so many—teen urban fantasy books with similar characters and conflicts. The brooding, I’m-no-good-for-you-so-I’ll-turn-down-your-advances-by-being-rude-and-offensive hero just doesn’t work for me anymore. At least, not unless the heroine calls him out on it—and Luce doesn’t do it enough. It got interesting towards the end, but the main characters didn’t have enough shades of grey for me.
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Slice: Juicy Moments From My Impossible Life by Steven Herrick
In short: I loved this book.
Let me start by saying that Slice isn’t a book I would’ve picked up on a whim. The reasons I picked up my review copy had nothing to do with interest: it was skinny enough not to weigh down my bag; I love watermelons. Seriously, there’s something delightful about that cover.
This novel doesn’t have much of a plot, but Steven Herrick is such a fabulous craftsman that he manages to connect tenuously related vignettes about teenage life into a story I couldn’t put down.
Sixteen-year old Darcy admits he suffers from chronic ‘premature enunciation’. It’s not that he talks without thinking: ‘I mean what I say, I just shouldn’t say it aloud.’
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Comrades by Dominic Knight
Dominic Knight’s second book has everything I love about his writing, but the subject matter—student politics—may limit its appeal for many readers.
Knight’s debut novel, Disco Boy, made it to my keeper list, so I was excited to get my hands on his next book. Comrades is a semester in the life of Eddie Flanagan, outgoing Student Representative Council (SRC) president, as he tries to reconcile his ideals with the reality of the political system.
Comrades was an interesting read but a bugger to review. Knight’s wit doesn’t disappoint, and there’s a gentle romance in the story that I found irresistible, but there are aspects of the book that other readers may struggle with.
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It’s a mix of genres this month in the Mixed Bag, which includes Deborah Locke’s memoir—a must-read for fans of Underbelly.
Don’t Bargain With The Devil by Sabrina Jeffries (School For Heiresses #5)
Dont Bargain With The Devil by Sabrina Jeffries (School For Heiresses, Book 5)
When Lucy Seton discovers that famous magician Diego Montalvo plans to build a pleasure garden next door to Charlotte Harris’s finishing, she’s determined to thwart his plans. But he’s sneaky and charming and continually makes Lucy forget her vow to be the paragon of propriety. Diego has ulterior motives, however. He intends to return Lucy to her long-lost grandfather even if he has to kidnap her.
Don’t Bargain With The Devil is the kind of book I might have enjoyed when I was just discovering historical romance, with its over-the-top dashing hero and the heroine who tries to be a good girl but can’t help herself in the hero’s presence. But I’ve been reading historical romance for a long time, and this one didn’t stand out above the rest. I skimmed bits of it, and while Jeffries comes up with some good lines here and there, the most interesting bit about the book is the mystery of who the hero in the final book of the series will be.
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