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 The paradigm she was working from was five years out of date: Reilly Martin, king of the circuit; lover of women; drinker of beer.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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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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Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta
Not to to be effusive or anything, but this is the book that began my love affair with Melina Marchetta’s books.
When I read fiction, regardless of genre, I automatically seek a sense of connection with the words on the page. Sometimes a scene will get me, or a character, or a turn of phrase. I long for these moments of empathy that can turn an otherwise forgettable book into a treasure in my bookshelf.
Saving Francesca gives me diamonds on every page.
Francesca Spinelli is one of thirty girls at St Sebastian’s, a previously ‘all-boys’ school that has opened its doors to girls in Year Eleven for the first time ever.’ She misses the feeling of belonging she had at her old school with her old friends:
St Sebastian’s pretends it’s co-ed by giving us our own toilet. The rest of the place is all male and I know what you’re thinking if you’re a girl. What a dream come true, right? Seven hundred and fifty boys and thirty girls?
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The Family Farm by Fiona Palmer
The Family Farm’s blurb shows promise, but a slow plot and lacklustre romance make for a rather dull read.
I really, really wanted to like this book. I’m always on the lookout for good outback romances and at first glance The Family Farm fits the bill.
Isabelle Simpson returns to the family farm, eager to help her parents and show her father that she’s more than capable of managing the farm. But her father is convinced that farm life is too harsh for his remaining daughter, and this causes some conflict between then. When her father is hospitalised indefinitely, Isabelle surreptitiously takes over managing the farm.
Her father thinks their neighbour, Will Timmins, is in charge. For years Isabelle has blamed Will for her sister’s death, but gradually she learns the truth behind her sister’s tragedy and she discovers that Will has changed from the skirt-chasing prankster she knew as a child.
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This month’s Mixed Bag features wildly different stories by Aussie authors, which have left me with…well, mixed reactions.
Liar by Justine Larbalestier
Liar by Justine Larbalestier
Micah Williams is a compulsive liar, and Liar is Michah’s attempt ‘to tell you my story…No lies, no omissions. That’s my promise.’ Zach, Micah’s friend, has gone missing and Micah’s story is a non-linear narration of events leading up to and following from Zach’s disappearance, interspersed with her family history.
You may have heard of this book due to the US cover controversy (a non-issue for Aussie readers because we got a different cover), but it’s just as likely you’ve heard of it from the many great reviews it’s received. The praise is well deserved. Larbalestier has created an original and compelling if notoriously unreliable narrator in Micah—something the story depends on for its success.
If you know me at all, you know I almost always peek at a book’s ending. I have no problem with spoilers
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Solace & Grief by Foz Meadows (The Rare, Book 1)
If you’ve ever wondered what Sydney would be like with paranormal beings lurking about, Foz Meadows’s debut YA novel pits vampires and psychics and a swan-obsessed cat in a medieval dungeon under Hyde Park.
BOOK GIVEAWAY: Read on for a chance to win a signed copy of Solace & Grief. Ends Wednesday, March 24 AEST.
In all my years at Sydney Uni, I’ve always wondered about this door. It’s hidden in a little garden between the Main Quad and the Pharmacy building. Every time I walked past it I wondered. So imagine my delight when I realised that Foz Meadows opens that door for me in Solace & Grief … and leads me to a world of magic, vampires and prophecies.
Solace Morgan walks out of her foster home the day she turns 17, convinced she’s a vampire and that she no longer belongs to her old life. She ends up at the Downstairs Club and meets a bunch of squatters, gets drunk, and before she knows it she’s living with her new set of best friends.
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