With This Fling... by Kelly Hunter
This book proves that finely tuned character development and emotional honesty can turn even the most maligned clichés in romance fiction not just into an enjoyable read, but a story worth savouring.
The more I read Kelly Hunter’s work, the more I admire how well she’s able to make each couple and each story fresh, interesting and fun.
With This Fling… features what seems to be Hunter’s favourite type of heroine—a rich one. Charlotte Greenstone invents a fiancé to reassure her dying godmother that she won’t be alone. When said fiancé fails to turn up at the funeral, Charlotte concocts a story in which he’s killed in the wilds of Papua New Guinea.
But in series of spectacular coincidences, she finds herself in possession of Grey Tyler’s, well, office. Her fictional fiancé is not only not dead, he’s back from PNG, he’s hot and it seems he may just have need of a fictional girlfriend of his own.
If you’re looking for an elaborate external plot, you’re in for disappointment. With This Fling… is romance distilled.
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Red-Hot Renegade by Kelly Hunter (The Bennetts, Book 5)
This RITA-nominated book is sexy, angsty and deeply moving—everything we love about modern category romance. Oh, and the heroine? She’s the tycoon. This one’s a keeper.
You may have noticed that I’m in the middle of a Kelly Hunter glom. How I missed this awesome Aussie author boggles my mind, but Red-Hot Renegade (published in the US as Her Singapore Fling) is the book that made me first try Hunter’s work. Nominated for this year’s RITA awards, the book also features an Asian heroine with an Australian hero.
The back story for this novel is set up in the previous books of the series, which features the romances of Jacob Bennett’s siblings. Jacob’s estranged wife Jianne is being stalked and, having run out of options, she reluctantly comes to him for help.
Jacob is a martial arts champion who runs his dojo in Singapore. For reasons neither he nor Jianne want to acknowledge, they’re still officially married even though Jianne walked out on the marriage twelve years ago. What makes this reunion story different is that neither of them blame the other—instead, they remind each other of the guilt they feel about not having fought hard enough to save their relationship.
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The Man She Loves To Hate by Kelly Hunter
Mills & Boon conventions aside—yes, he’s a tycoon, she’s totally hot and they don’t use a condom—the heroine and hero of this book are rarely predictable. I only wish it could have been longer.
I don’t know why I didn’t discover Australian author Kelly Hunter sooner because she writes bloody good books.
Jolie Tanner has just removed all of her mother’s possessions from her mother’s recently deceased lover’s hideaway, when she’s caught in an avalanche with the dead lover’s son, Cole. Cole and Jolie used to be friends, but when news of his father’s dalliance with her mother became public ten years ago, Jolie was shunned and she’s borne the stigma of being a mistress’s daughter ever since.
As you do in a blizzard, Jolie and Cole share quite a bit of body heat, and what’s supposed to be a we’re-half-asleep-and-aroused-so-let’s-just-take-the-edge-off kiss ends up in unprotected sex that’s only partially mitigated by the fact that Cole isn’t a shirker and Jolie isn’t stupid enough to have sex without any form of birth control.
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Untameable Rogue by Kelly Hunter (The Bennetts, Book 4)
If you can overlook the daggy warrior references and underutilised Asian setting, there’s enough depth in the central relationship to make this book a pleasure to read. If you enjoy the daggy stuff…well, that just makes it even better.
This was my first Kelly Hunter book, but it won’t be my last. I don’t care what anyone says about the super daggy Karate Kid-style set up at the beginning of the novel, or the constant references to Chinese zodiac signs (I am the warrior tiger, hear me roar!), this book was thrilling!
From the outside, Madeline Delacourte seems a bit…suss. Her late husband plucks a much younger wife off the streets of Jakarta, and she later inherits and now runs his multi-million-dollar business. But like all Mills and Boon trophy wives, Maddy has a heart of gold. She rescues stray kids from the streets and brings them to her friend Jacob’s dojo to become his apprentice.
As she drops off her latest street kid, she meets Jacob’s brother Luke, who’s in between missions. Luke is a bomb disposal expert and he’s quick to judge Maddy, who doesn’t rise to the bait because, frankly, she’s heard it all before.
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On The Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta
This is a book to be sped through, then read again and savoured and, when it’s tattered and the pages are curling, passed on to your kids.
This is the Melina Marchetta I thought I wouldn’t finish.
The story begins with a shocking scene of children trapped in a car wreck on the Jellicoe Road. But this isn’t the main story.
Twenty-two years later, Taylor Markham is elected to lead Jellicoe School in the annual territory wars against the Townies from the local public school, and the Cadets, who camp out in town for the summer holidays.
But Taylor has other things to worry about. Her dreams are filled by a boy in a tree who whispers in her ear. Hannah, the closest person she has to a mother, has mysteriously disappeared, and Taylor’s teetering on the brink of a breakdown—or worse.
What happened to the kids in the car accident and the boy on the bike who came along to save them? And what do they have to do with Taylor?
I was so confused, I killed a fairy before I even reached page 50.
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The Piper's Son by Melina Marchetta
I’ve made up my mind. This is my favourite Melina Marchetta book. If my house caught fire, I’d probably grab it on the way out.
We have a signed copy of The Piper’s Son to give away. We’ll post details of the giveaway this week, so watch this space!
Last year I declared Saving Francesca as my favourite young adult book, but that’s not totally accurate. It’s my favourite teen novel. The Piper’s Son is a little more grown-up, and in this book, Melina Marchetta moves more firmly into young adult territory.
I was crying before I got to the end of chapter one, right through to the end, and I loved every minute of it.
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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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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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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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