Two Against The Odds by Joan Kilby
This book takes risks and touches on issues not often found in the romance genre, but the lack of chemistry between an unsympathetic heroine and a hero who doesn’t seem ready for a long-term commitment make this one a DNF for me.
This review is part of the AWW2012 Reading and Reviewing Challenge. Click here for a list of books I’ve read so far.
I wanted to like this book. There are too few older heroines in romance, and this book deals not only with a twelve-year gap between the heroine and the hero, but it tackles issues not normally found in the genre—abortion, miscarriage and tax evasion.
Rafe Ellersley is sent to audit Lexie Thatcher, an artist who hasn’t paid her taxes in four years and has so far ignored all communication with the tax office. He’s not overly enthused about his job, but he needs the money to be able to fulfil his dream of owning and running a fishing charter.
Lexie Thatcher is in the middle of a painting that she plans to enter in the Archibald Prize, but she’s experiencing painter’s block. The last thing she needs is the tax man hanging out at her place, asking her for receipts, and worrying about how much she may have to pay in back taxes and penalties.
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One Good Reason by Sarah Mayberry & Feels Like Home by Beth Andrews
A dramatic story with moments that will break your heart. Unfortunately, the hero’s emotional catharsis is rushed and the the resolution doesn’t match the story’s earlier promise.
This review is part of the AWW2012 Reading and Reviewing Challenge. Click here for a list of books I’ve read so far.
Gabby Wade has held a torch for her boss and best friend Tyler Adamson for four years. Unfortunately, Tyler is now very happily married—and we know it’s for read and for good because Australian author Sarah Mayberry wrote his story in The Last Goodbye (Mills & Boon Super Romance). When Tyler’s elder brother, temporarily home for reasons unknown, mistakes her for a lesbian it’s the last straw. Gabby gets spectacularly drunk…and realises that she’s been going through a long period of heartbreak and grief.
Jon Adamson is helping Tyler out with his furniture business while coming to grips with their father’s death. They come from an abusive family and Jon is wracked with grief that he didn’t do enough to protect Tyler from their violent father.
Gabby and Jon immediately feel a connection when they meet, but it’s a slow burn and they both need to face some truths before they can even acknowledge the possibility of accepting a new relationship, no matter how temporary.
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One Perfect Night by Rachael Johns
Gets off to a great start but plateaus when the conflicts are piled on to sustain the tension. It doesn’t always work, but there’s enough here for a quick, enjoyable read.
This review is part of the AWW2012 Reading and Reviewing Challenge. Click here for a list of books I’ve read so far.
As many of you know, I’m always a little wary of romances featuring Australian characters because, well, they can be done so, so badly. Rachael Johns’s debut novel, One Perfect Night, is set in Sydney and features heroine Peppa Grant, who has a one-night stand with the company CEO, Cameron McCormac, after she dings his car and has to pay him back by pretending to be his date.
Oh, it’s a short-length romance. You know how it is.
Despite the far-fetched premise, One Perfect Night starts off at a good pace, with, I was relieved to discover, an unobtrusive Aussie voice.
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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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Boomerang Bride by Fiona Lowe
Some of the plot manipulations may stand out like dog’s balls, and you’d be copping a fair bit of earbashing on Strine, but if you like gently paced romances, it’s worth a Captain Cook.
When Mark Olsen—’direct descendent [sic] of Viking marauders’—sees a bride wandering down his small home town, the least he could do is help her find her fiancé. Mark’s home for his annual Thanksgiving visit, and he’s already counting the days before he can leave.
Until it turns out that would-be bride Matilda Geoffrey—’direct descendent [sic] of convicts’—has been left standing on Main Street, with nothing but a wedding dress, a tiara and a two-tiered fruit cake ‘that wouldn’t pass a breathalyzer test’. No groom in sight and no funds for a return trip home to Australia.
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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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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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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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