Book Review: MIDNIGHT IN THE SNOW by Karen Swan

 

Title: MIDNIGHT IN THE SNOW

Author:  Karen Swan

Publisher:  Pan Macmillan

Read: October 2021

Expected publication: out now

My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

 

Book Description:

 

Award-winning director Clover Phillips is riding high when she encounters Kit Foley; a surfer and snowboarder as well-known for controversy as he is for winning championships.

Involved in an accident that had devastating consequences for a bitter rival, Kit has never spoken about what really happened that day. Determined to find out the truth, Clover heads to the snowy wilderness of the Austrian Alps, sharing a romantic winter wonderland with a man who can’t stand her.

But as she delves deeper, Clover finds herself both drawn to Kit, and even more convinced he’s hiding something.

What attracted me to this book:

 

If I had to nominate authors who made the covid lockdowns more bearable, Karen Swan would definitely be on the shortlist. Noone writes gorgeous atmospheric locations quite as well as Swan does, which makes all her books unique armchair travel experiences. For her Christmas themed novel MIDNIGHT IN THE SNOW, she has chosen the winter wonderland of an Austrian Alpine ski resort to provide a magical backdrop, and it doesn’t get much better than this!

 

My musings:

 

One reason that makes Swan’s books so irresistible to me is that her world is not only vastly different to mine, but she also makes her stories stand out by choosing a strong female lead who ends up embroiled in some type of mystery, be it family secrets or, in this case, an old rivalry with tragic consequences. In MIDNIGHT IN THE SNOW, our main protagonist is Clover Phillips, a documentary filmmaker who has won multiple awards with her film about tragic surfing legend Cory Albright. Cory’s career was cut short after a surfing accident, caused by former friend and sporting rival Kit Foley during a surfing championship. Vilified and forced out of surfing, Kit Foley has since reinvented himself as a champion snowboarder, set to compete in the upcoming snowboarding championships in the Alps. Clover, on the hunt for a new project, is intrigued when Kit’s sponsor asks her and her team to make a documentary about Kit’s side of the Cory Albright incident, which he has never spoken about. And thus Clover is thrown into the world of competitive snowboarding and sporting rivalry.

 

I love it when I learn something new whilst immersing myself in a novel, and I appreciated getting a glimpse into the world of competitive snowboarding. Swan’s love for the sport and her knowledge of the wintry slopes shone through as she provided vivid imagery of the mountains in winter, as well as their dangers. Swan also never fails to surprise me by drawing me into a completely different social scene. Zell am See in winter is not only a stage for the stars of winter sports, but also a playing field for the rich and famous. I could vividly picture the luxury ski “cabin” providing a temporary home for Clover and her team and enjoyed every minute of it, even more so since this sort of luxury is firmly out of my league in real life. Swan has a way of setting the scene which paints a colourful backdrop, and her characters are all authentic and engaging. As the dialogue flowed effortlessly, I became more and more intrigued by the mystery at the heart of the novel.

 

As someone who generally does not read romance novels, I thought that I should point out that Swan’s novels are so much more than that. Whilst there usually is a romantic element (often an enemy-to-lovers theme), there is also mystery, intrigue and drama, with the romantic element slotting seamlessly into the story in a way that does not detract from the main plot. So don’t be afraid to give Swan’s novels a go, even though romance normally isn’t your jam.

 

 

Summary:

 

All in all, MIDNIGHT IN THE SNOW is an intriguing, atmospheric tale that offers the same exquisite armchair travel as all Karen Swan novels. If you have been missing travel as much as I have, you will be pleased to find yourself instantly transported to the winter wonderland of the Austrian Alps, the perfect setting for a Christmassy read (or any time, really). With a mystery surrounding an old rivalry between two sporting greats, and a subsequent tragedy that cost the life of one of them, the book provided plenty of intrigue to keep me turning the pages. If you haven’t discovered Karen Swan’s books yet, I fully recommend picking this one up for an immersive escapist read with a wonderful atmospheric setting.

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you to Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for the free electronic copy of this novel and for giving me the opportunity to provide an honest review.

Book Review: THE PARIS SECRET by Karen Swan

 

Title: THE PARIS SECRET

Author:  Karen Swan

Read: May 2021

My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

 

Book Description:

 

Somewhere along the cobbled streets of Paris, an apartment lies thick with dust and secrets: full of priceless artworks hidden away for decades.

High-flying fine art agent Flora from London, more comfortable with the tension of a million-pound auction than a cosy candlelit dinner for two, is called in to assess these suddenly discovered treasures. As an expert in her field, she must trace the history of each painting and discover who has concealed them for so long.

Thrown in amongst the glamorous Vermeil family as they move between Paris and Antibes, Flora begins to discover that things aren't all that they seem, while back at home her own family is recoiling from a seismic shock. The terse and brooding Xavier Vermeil seems intent on forcing Flora out of his family's affairs - but just what is he hiding?

 

My musings:

 

Missing travel? Karen Swan has become my go-to author if I feel like a virtual saunter to gorgeous European locations. I love the way her stories are so much more than just romances – in THE PARIS SECRET she uncovers an old wartime mystery centred around a beautiful piece of art.

 

At times, reading THE PARIS SECRET I felt like an anthropologist studying a foreign culture, so out of depth did I feel in Flora’s world of the European art scene and the glittery, rich society of the Cote d’ Azur. But unlike other novels where the main character inhabits a totally different social scene and background to mine, I found Flora very relatable and down-to-earth. Swan’s descriptive writing instantly transported me to France as we walked the small alleys of Paris and sunbaked on the beaches of the French Riviera. I was fascinated by the author’s knowledge of the fine art scene and the information about urban explorers (being a country bumpkin I didn’t even know this was a thing!). The wartime mystery surrounding the locked Paris apartment and the mysterious painting was skilfully woven into the story and added depth and mystery to Flora’s quest.

 

History, art, mystery and travel all wrapped into a soft burrito of a sweet romance made THE PARIS SECRET a perfect feel-good holiday read that left a warm glow of happiness behind. The armchair travel component was exquisite and made me feel as if I was “on location”. I look forward to reading more of Swan’s books when I need reminding about the good things in life. Best enjoyed lying in a deckchair with a cold glass of French chardonnay by your side.

Book Review: DEVIL'S LAIR by Sarah Barrie

Title: DEVIL'S LAIR

Author: Sarah Barrie
Publisher: Harlequin Australia
Read: October 2019

Expected publication: out now

My Rating: 🌟🌟1/2

Book Description:

After the violent death of her husband, Callie Jones retreats to a cottage in the grounds of an old mansion in Tasmania. The relative remoteness of the place and the wild beauty of the Tasmanian landscape are a balm to her shattered nerves and the locals seem friendly, particularly horseman Connor Atherton and his siblings at the nearby property, Calico Lodge.

But all is not well: the old mansion has a sinister past, one associated with witchcraft and murder. As Callie is threatened by odd events in the night and strange dreams overtake her sleep, she begins to doubt her own sanity. What's really going on beneath the surface of this apparently peaceful town? Are her friends and neighbours really who they seem? As events escalate, Callie starts to realise that the mansion may hold the key to unlocking the mystery, but the truth might have as much power to destroy as it does to save.

My musings:

This book is a difficult one for me to review because I think that we just weren’t a good fit for each other. I picked it up a few times and put it down again, lured repeatedly by its promise of some Gothic suspense. Just a disclaimer, which is purely my personal opinion, but if you are a fan of Jane Harper’s THE DRY, you are not guaranteed to automatically gel with this book, even if the blurb states so. I don’t think that comparing books to other best sellers does them any favours, UNLESS they are very similar in style. However, to me – whilst an entertaining read – DEVIL’S LAIR lacked the grit of Jane Harper’s or Sarah Bailey’s novels. This is not a bad thing for readers who love a good romantic suspense novel. But for someone who doesn’t do romance well, it was a bit like false advertising.

However, saying that, I can fully appreciate how DEVIL’S LAIR will be a good fit for readers who love a rural romance set in an atmospheric setting with some crime thrown in. There is a bit of murder and suspense, but in a non-confrontational manner that is more easily digestible for readers who shy away from graphic violence. I really enjoyed the Tassie setting and was thoroughly intrigued when the old mansion started to turn a bit creepy – even though there was not enough of that stuff in my opinion. Barrie sets the scene well, and I could easily picture those lush gardens set among green Tassie hills. Despite earlier misgivings, I came to like Callie and thought her to be a plucky character who was not afraid to face her inner demons and rise from the ashes of her traumatic past to make a better life for herself. I also really enjoyed Barrie’s writing style, which was the one thing that kept me reading to the end, even when the romance threatened to take over the storyline.

On the downside, there were so many characters with strange names to keep track of. Not a single Jack, Joe or Jane in the whole group!  They were each going about their daily lives, which took up a lot of the story with often mundane descriptions of everyday stuff that wasn’t relevant to the plot. Sometimes that works well for me, other times I get a bit bored. I thought that instead of hearing about tree planting and meals in the staff room, or random conversations between the twenty or so characters working on the property, I would have loved to see a bit more action, especially the spooky stuff that was going on in the old house. It had so much more potential to be super creepy! There was even a weird over-friendly guy who gave me goosebumps for all the wrong reasons and it skirted the border of spooky a few times, but never quite got over the finish line.

Instead, I got a very predictable romance between the two main characters that held absolutely no surprises and little interest for me. As I said – not a good fit for this reader! At some point, my cynical mind coined the story as The Bachelor with some weird Gothic murders thrown in, which no one seemed particularly freaked out about. If I had found a few mutilated corpses on my property (who BTW were staff members of mine), my first priority would probably not be to feed the B & B guests and impress the visiting food critic. I could go on and on about all the things that bugged me about the crime elements of the book, but it would take way too long – let’s just say I had major issues with credibility here. Towards the end, I felt that the author was trying too hard to fit in as much weird stuff as possible – there were cases of mistaken identity, a few ritualistic murders, mental illness, a psychopath on a killing spree, witchcraft, things that go bump in the night ... too much, TOO MUCH! 

Summary:

To sum it all up, I concede that DEVIL’S LAIR and I were not a good match. I suspect that many lovers of gritty Australian crime will struggle with some of the same elements that made my eyes roll back in my head like a Chucky doll, leading to the consumption of several paracetamol to quell the ensuing headache. I really think that comparing this book to THE DRY is doing it a disservice – fans of cosier mysteries and romantic suspense will most likely enjoy it much more than I did.

Thank you to Netgalley and Harlequin Australia for the free electronic copy of this novel and for giving me the opportunity to provide an honest review.

Book Review: OURS IS THE WINTER by Laurie Ellingham

Title: Ours is the Winter

Author: Laurie Ellingham
Publisher: HQ Digital
Read: October 2017

Expected publication: 17 November 2017

My Rating: 🌟🌟

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS!

Book Description (Goodreads):

Journeying across the Arctic, their pasts are about to catch up with them. 

Erica, Molly and Noah are embarking on the challenge of a lifetime, driving Siberian huskies across the frozen wilderness of the Arctic. Cut off from the world and their loved ones and thrown together under gruelling conditions, it isn’t long before the cracks start to show.

Erica has it all. A loving husband, a successful career and the most adorable baby daughter. But Erica has been living a double life, and as she nears her fortieth birthday her lies threaten to come crashing down.

Molly was on her way to stardom. But when her brother died, so did her dreams of becoming an Olympic champion. Consumed by rage and grief, she has shut out everyone around her, but now she’s about to learn that comfort can come from the most unexpected places.

Noah has a darkness inside him and is hounded by nightmares from his past. Tortured, trapped and struggling to save his fractured relationship, he knows this journey is not going to help, but try telling his girlfriend that.

As their lives and lies become ever more entwined, it becomes clear that in the frozen wilds there is nowhere to hide. 

My musings:

To be honest, this book wasn’t at all what I was expecting, and I will probably be very unpopular when I say that I was majorly disappointed with it! I was initially drawn to the beautiful cover and the premise of a tense survival story in a merciless remote setting, where personalities clash and tension simmers. Unfortunately it was none of that. True, we do have a remote setting, and I loved the interesting facts about huskies and mushing, which I knew very little about. I also enjoyed the descriptions of the snow covered landscape and the rock where the boundaries of three countries come together. However – here it comes:

I didn’t like any of the characters – sorry! How old were these people? For the best part of the book they act like hormonal teenagers, sulking, being snippy to each other and storming off in a huff not talking to each other, and then – SPOILER ALERT – it suddenly all gets resolved in one happily ever after moment that was so far fetched for me that I wanted to throw the book and get back the time I had invested in it. All the affirmations and positive thinking in the world is not going to get you a bow-tied ending like this, where all the threads come together so perfectly. At times the book felt preachy to me, as if it was trying to give lifestyle advice, when the angry hormonal characters reflected on some deeper level and had some insights into life and its mysterious ways. And the romance – no, just no. In fact, the whole situation these people found themselves in was based on an action by one of the characters that was so immature and far-fetched that it seemed like a looooong stretch for me to be even remotely credible. Phew, I had to get that off my chest!

Personally, I think that a great opportunity was lost here. With a setting that provided an excellent opportunity for some simmering tension and an undercurrent of menace and danger that kept the reader engaged, and the opportunity to create real drama, the author focused instead on some stereotypical elements that did not live up to my hopes for the tense story of survival I had hoped for. None of the characters rang true for me, and the primary emotion when reading was irritation. I wanted to slap each and every one of them and tell them to “grow up”! I concede that I probably set my expectations too high and was just the wrong audience for this book. For me, this was definitely NOT a thriller, or a mystery. I am sure that other readers will enjoy it, even if just for the gorgeous huskies and the unusual setting. Unfortunately not a good fit for me – life’s like that. I may now go into my corner and sulk. 

 Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the free electronic copy of this novel and for giving me the opportunity to provide an honest review.

Book Review: WHAT HAPPENED TO ROSE by Helga Zeiner

Title: What Happened to Rose
Author: Helga Zeiner
Publisher: POW WOW Books
Read: December 2016 / January 2017


Synopsis (Goodreads):

Carola’s life is perfect – or so it seems. Her husband, her friends, her staff don’t see the emptiness of a loveless existence. Every day is the same, until the day when she has enough. Without warning she leaves her home country of Germany to start a new life in the Canadian wilderness.
But she is not equipped to handle the hardships of a lonely existence in a remote cabin. A five-day snowstorm brings her close to her breaking point. Searching for means to survive, she discovers the written confession of the previous cabin owner who wants to clear his conscience by admitting to a terrible sin he committed involving a girl called Rose.
When the storm subsides, Carola begins to ask questions but nobody is willing to talk. Nobody wants to tell what happened to Rose, but Carola becomes obsessed with finding out the truth.

Will Rose finally get justice? If you love mystery and suspense, with an added romance bonus, this new novel by an Amazon bestselling author will keep you turning the pages all night long.

My thoughts:

When Carola’s childless marriage fails and her husband tries to cheat her out of her fair share of marital possessions, Carola flees to Canada to escape her pain and disappointment and make a new start. Settling in an isolated country cottage in the backwaters of British Columbia she thinks she has found the simplicity and peace she had been hoping for. Drawn to Jason, the young realtor who first rented her the property, she is even taking a stab at love again, only to come up against the forbidding presence of Jason’s mother, who tries everything in her power to keep her away from her son. Stranded in her snowed in cottage in a wild storm for a few days, Carola comes across and old journal written by a man called John McLure on his deathbed, where he confesses to committing a terrible injustice to a young child, Rose, who came into his life after losing her mother in a coach accident. Drawn into the story and Rose’s sad childhood, Carola sets out to discover more about Rose’s fate – with unexpected results.

I agree that reading a book is a bit like a date – if you haven’t clicked by page 100 (aka the 3^rd date, according to Bookstr), the chemistry just isn’t there and you’re not going to live together happily ever after. In fact, you may abandon the whole thing all together, and leave half-way through your first G & T, resigning yourself to a life of celibacy. What Happened to Rose was such a book for me – having fallen for its blurb I was eager to meet its characters, only to find we had absolutely no connection. I put the book down, I picked the book back up, and felt nothing, nil, nada. Even the historical backstory, which had intrigued me enough to pick up the novel in the first place, only elicited a wan yawn. Sadly, after thinking Carola would be a strong, independent woman setting out into the wilderness alone, I found her needy and inconsistent in her thoughts and actions, obsessed with finding herself a new man at all costs. Perhaps I am being unfairly harsh here, but I didn’t like any of the characters. Or perhaps, after a strong finale to 2016 as far as books are concerned, I am just experiencing reading fatigue. It obviously wasn’t the right book for me, despite the beautiful setting, which was the one aspect that kept me reading on. If you like romance with a historical twist, you may enjoy the aspects of the book that didn’t work for me. I looked for a bit of mystery, and felt let down, but as a light holiday read this book may just work for you.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a free electronic copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review. 

Book Review: THE BALLROOM by Anna Hope

Title: The Ballroom
Author: Anna Hope
Publisher: Random House UK, Transworld Publishers
Read: April 2016


Synopsis (Goodreads):

1911: Inside an asylum at the edge of the Yorkshire moors,
where men and women are kept apart
by high walls and barred windows,
there is a ballroom vast and beautiful.
For one bright evening every week
they come together
and dance.
When John and Ella meet
It is a dance that will change
two lives forever.

Set over the heatwave summer of 1911, the end of the Edwardian era, THE BALLROOM is a tale of unlikely love and dangerous obsession, of madness and sanity, and of who gets to decide which is which.

My thoughts:

Charles Fuller, a medical officer at Sharston mental asylum located in the Yorkshire moors in 1911, is able to follow his true passion for music by organising a weekly dance for inmates, the only time the men and women of the asylum ever get together. Having observed the positive power of music on his patients, he is hoping that the program will offer him subject matter for a research paper he is writing – all he needs now is a research subject. It is for this reason that he first notices John, an Irishman committed to the asylum after suffering a severe bout of “melancholy” following the death of his infant daughter and the subsequent breakdown of his marriage. John, who has so far refused to take part in the weekly ballroom dances which are so popular with the other inmates. Forced to attend the dance, John initially keeps to himself, only reluctantly joining in the activities. It is during one of the dances that he notices pale, quiet Ella, declared “hysterical” after smashing a window at the factory she was working in to be able to see the sky. Ella, who once tried to escape the confines of the asylum, making it as far as the fields where John and the other men were working at the time. He remembers her running across the grass, making her desperate bid for freedom, and being caught by the guards and dragged back inside. The image still haunts him, and he is strangely touched by seeing her again. Intrigued by the mysterious girl he decides to write her a letter.

Thus begins an unusual, touching and heartbreaking love story between the two young people, victims of circumstance and of their time. As their growing affection slowly blossoms, Charles Fuller slowly spirals deeper and deeper into a madness of his own when he realises that his subject cannot be controlled. A madness, which will bring him into contact with the eugenics movement at the time, and make him one of its most fervent supporters. An interest that could have terrible consequences for John and Ella .....

The Ballroom brims with interesting and complex characters from various walks of life, brought together by circumstance. Charles is a good example of a man struggling with his own demons, coping only by projecting his issues onto his helpless subjects and slowly descending into fanaticism, using his faulty rationale to justify his actions. Whilst John and Ella’s love brings hope to the novel, like the beatings of tiny butterfly wings, a dark force slowly spreads across the pages, casting a shadow of doom as Charles spirals deeper and deeper into the abyss of his own madness.

I loved the way the author evoked the atmosphere of the time – a forbidding building set against the backdrop of the Yorkshire moors. Initially, the sweeping green landscape projects hope, but later becomes a harbinger of doom as a terrible drought strikes, destroying the crops and driving farmers out of their homes. Just as the people are at the mercy of nature, so are Ella and John at the mercy of their “captors”.

I am very happy to have stumbled across this novel on Netgalley and it touched me deeply. Whilst there is a love story at its centre, it is so much more than a romance. With attention to historical detail the author brought this story to life for me, and it played out in my mind like a movie I could not tear myself away from. Highly recommended.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a free electronic copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Book Review: MISSING YOU by Kylie Kaden

Title: Missing You
Author: Kylie Kaden
Publisher: Random House Australia
Read: April 2015




Synopsis (Goodreads):

Missing You is a tantalising love story and a seductive suspense novel: ‘Our lives were built around the strength of a kiss between strangers. Yet seven years on, look where it led us . . .'

When Aisha met Ryan she fell hard for his good looks and easy charm. Why worry that he didn't want children or a 9 to 5 job? Nothing and no one would come between them.

But with the birth of their high-needs son, Eli, their extraordinary love is shackled into an ordinary life, their passion blunted by responsibility.

Until Ryan can't take it anymore.

Then, following a mysterious phone call late one night, Aisha leaves four-year-old Eli in the care of her elderly father Patrick - and doesn't come back.

As Patrick struggles with the grandson he barely knows or understands, his frustration with his missing daughter and absent son-in-law quickly turns to fear.

Particularly when blood is found in Aisha's abandoned car . . .

My thoughts:

When Aisha meets Ryan at university, the attraction is instant. Despite their unbridled passion for each other, their differences become obvious early in their relationship – Ryan is much older than Aisha, values his freedom and does not want to become trapped by children, mortgages and a nine-to-five job. Whereas Aisha, whose mother left when she was a child, yearns for babies, a stable family life and a home to call her own. Young and in love they are willing to compromise, and soon they are married, have bought their own home and are expecting their first child. But with the unrelenting demands of parenting an autistic son the cracks are soon starting to show. Aisha is always tired, whilst Ryan starts to resent his surburban life which holds little joy for him. They argue, Ryan leaves, and Aisha seeks the comfort of her family. A day later, after receiving a mysterious phone call, Aisha leaves Eli in the care of her father Patrick and disappears without a trace.

Missing You is told in the voices of Patrick, Aisha and Ryan and slowly unravels their story, spanning the five-year period between Aisha and Ryan’s first meeting to the time Aisha goes missing. Whilst I enjoyed reading about Aisha and Ryan’s romance, the slow spiralling out of control of their marriage and the mystery behind Aisha’s disappearance, my favourite by far was Patrick’s voice as he is trying to connect with his autistic grandson. “Seventy years I’ve made it, and never seen a boy like him. The kid is trouble”, are his first observations about young Eli. After bringing up his own daughters on his own, he is baffled by the strange little boy who does not respond as other children do. I loved the way Patrick slowly bonds with the boy – from his initial thought that he needs a good spanking to the realisation that Eli’s mind works differently to other children. The grandfather-grandson relationship evolving is touching and though provoking, and was the part of the story I enjoyed most of all. Whilst all characters’ voices are authentic and believable, Patrick’s grumpy-old-man character captured the essence of the story for me and kept me wanting to read more.

For me, Missing You was more a story about people and relationships than a mystery, and I found elements of the final unravelling of the story behind Aisha’s disappearance a bit disappointing and anti-climatic, but will not give any spoilers here. All in all, Missing You is an absorbing read giving an insight into the effects of raising a special-needs child on a marriage as well as the long-term effects of childhood trauma and loss reaching far into adulthood. This is my first novel by Kaden and I am interested to read more from this author.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a free electronic copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Book Review: LONE STAR by Paullina Simons

Title: Lone Star
Author: Paullina Simons
Publisher: Harper Collins Publishers Australia
Read: March 2015
Expected publication: 1 April 2015



Synopsis (Goodreads):

From the author of Tully and The Bronze Horseman comes an epic new romantic saga - heart-wrenching and passionate, this compelling story of love lost and found will stay with you forever ...

Falling in love was the easy part ...

Chloe is weeks away from college when she embarks on a grand European adventure with her boyfriend and two best friends. Their destination is Barcelona, with its promise of romance and mystery, but first they must detour through the historic cities of Eastern Europe to settle an old family debt.

As they traverse the unfamiliar landscape of the post-Communist world, Chloe meets a boy on a train who is going off to war. Johnny carries a guitar, an easy smile - and a lifetime of secrets.The trip becomes a treacherous journey into Europe's and Johnny's darkest past - a journey that threatens to shatter the bonds holding together four lifelong friends.

From Riga to Treblinka to Trieste, Chloe must face her deepest desires colliding with the future she thought she wanted.

For Chloe and Johnny only one thing is certain: whatever their destination, their lives will never be the same.

My thoughts:

At 17 years old and with a family tragedy overshadowing her past, Chloe Divine is a very much loved and over-protected only child growing up in a small town in Maine, US . With her best friend Hannah living next door and the girls’ boyfriends, brothers Mason and Blake, a mere few blocks away Chloe feels sheltered and secure. But Chloe’s life is about to change as she faces finishing school, leaving home and starting college a few thousand miles away. To celebrate their coming of age, the four youngsters dream of going to Barcelona, a town which embodies everything their boring hometown is apparently lacking. For Chloe it would provide an opportunity to finally break away from her protective parents. For Blake the trip would provide material for a short story he is hoping to enter into a competition that could win him enough money for a new truck to set up his own business. Whilst Hannah may be finally able to break off the secret relationship with a much older man who will not let her go. But Chloe’s parents are concerned and reluctant to sign Chloe’s application for a passport – what if something happens to her overseas? It is Chloe’s formidable grandmother Moody who comes up with a plan: if the four youngsters agree to go to Latvia to visit her last remaining relatives there and deliver some flowers to Treblinka, the Nazi death camp in Poland where some of Moody’s family lost their lives during the war, she is willing to pay for their trip to Europe. With no money of their own to speak of, the four friends reluctantly agree – how else are they going to get to Barcelona? Blake even thinks it will be fun, and provide him with more material for a prize-winning story.

Travelling is both an adventure and a test to the four friends, as most have never even been out of their own home state. Through a chance encounter on a crowded train, Chloe and Hannah meet the charismatic yet troubled Johnny Rainbow, a mysterious American teenager  who is a tour guide and busker in Riga. Johnny is the typical bad-boy, confident, cocky and street smart, living his life to the fullest. Whilst Chloe, Hannah and Mason are enthralled by the charming stranger, Blake takes an instant dislike to Johnny and tries everything in his power to shake him off. With conflict and discord brewing, the lifelong friendship between the four youngsters  becomes strained. Johnny is trouble, that much is evident, and things soon start to go wrong on their trip. But for Chloe, Johnny Rainbow will bring something else entirely – the ecstasy and agony of first love, a growing of age, of discovering her own sexuality. Which may ultimately break her heart.

It is difficult to put into words how much this book touched me. The characters are so real they regularly jump out of the pages of the book, take you by the hand and draw you into their story. I felt as if I was part of their journey, witness to their deepest most innermost feelings. With profound insight into the human psyche and the turbulent emotions of the teenage years, Simons slowly builds up each of the four friends’ distinctive personalities layer by layer, giving each their very own unique voice. I loved how the author presents different viewpoints for the situations the youngsters face during their travels, as each of them sees the same incident through very different eyes. Having travelled with friends before myself, I have always found it fascinating how different people can form such different memories and realities from one and the same situation. Simons captures this brilliantly, which rounds the characters and makes them come to life.

Every backpacker will also be able to relate to the disasters the four friends face on their travels – delayed trains, overcrowded buses, flea-infested hostels, sleeping on someone’s lounge room floor  and the worst of the worst – having your passport stolen. Now enter Johnny, whose vivacious yet mysterious personality totally disrupts the groups’ dynamics, on which their friendship has been built and which has helped them survive as friends for so long. It does not take long for things to start unravelling. Chloe, who has always somewhat lived in Hannah’s shadow, is usually the mediator, the placatory, the quiet one who keeps everyone happy, a role which she has adopted to help her parents survive the family tragedy overshadowing their lives. All of a sudden Johnny brings out a new confidence in her which gives her the courage to break away from the group. Everyone who has ever been in love will be able to relate to the intense emotions of first love, the ecstasy and the agony of being totally and utterly consumed and absorbed by another person, the way the whole universe suddenly revolves around that person. I loved the scene where Chloe looks for Johnny in a strange town, how she sees him in the back of every dark haired stranger, how she wanders the street hoping to glimpse him, how he still owns her every emotion – have we not all done that at one stage? Johnny is your typical lost boy, the boy who will never grow up. I have met people like that – they sweep up people with their magic but leave a trail of destruction in their path. Young girls will fall madly in love and older woman will want to mother them. Despite his bravado the historical details Johnny recounts so factually on his tour of Treblinka hint at the grief of generations which runs in his veins and the darkness that consumes him.

The Lone Star is Simons at her best. It has the same sweetness and intensity as The Bronze Horseman, managing to transport the reader into another world, into the minds and bodies of its characters. It is much more than a love story – it is a story of friendship, of coming of age, of the emotional legacy of generations past still touching our own lives today. There aren't many books which are able to elicit such a deep emotional response and such regret at turning the last page. The echo of Chloe’s world stayed with me long after finishing the story. For lovers of The Bronze Horseman this is a must-read, and there is even a connection to the Tatiana and Alexander series, though I am not giving away any spoilers here. I totally loved this book and my review can never do it justice or convey how utterly it absorbed me in its pages. Definitely one for my favourite list. Very much recommended.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a free electronic copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Book Review: LETTERS FROM SKYE by Jessica Brockmole

Title: Letters from Skye
Author: Jessica Brockmole
Publisher: Random House UK, Cornerstone
Read: July 06 - 07, 2013


Synopsis (Goodreads):

A sweeping story told in letters, spanning two continents and two world wars, Jessica Brockmole’s atmospheric debut novel captures the indelible ways that people fall in love, and celebrates the power of the written word to stir the heart.

March 1912: Twenty-four-year-old Elspeth Dunn, a published poet, has never seen the world beyond her home on Scotland’s remote Isle of Skye. So she is astonished when her first fan letter arrives, from a college student, David Graham, in far-away America. As the two strike up a correspondence—sharing their favorite books, wildest hopes, and deepest secrets—their exchanges blossom into friendship, and eventually into love. But as World War I engulfs Europe and David volunteers as an ambulance driver on the Western front, Elspeth can only wait for him on Skye, hoping he’ll survive.

June 1940: At the start of World War II, Elspeth’s daughter, Margaret, has fallen for a pilot in the Royal Air Force. Her mother warns her against seeking love in wartime, an admonition Margaret doesn’t understand. Then, after a bomb rocks Elspeth’s house, and letters that were hidden in a wall come raining down, Elspeth disappears. Only a single letter remains as a clue to Elspeth’s whereabouts. As Margaret sets out to discover where her mother has gone, she must also face the truth of what happened to her family long ago.

My thoughts:

Two things instantly drew me to Letters from Skye when I came across it on Netgalley: its historical setting spanning both World Wars and the fact that the Isle of Skye has always intrigued me and is firmly engraved on my travel list (one day …..). I am happy to say I was not disappointed! Letters from Skye is a touching story of forbidden wartime romance, spanning two generations and two separate continents.

At twenty-four years of age Elspeth Dunn has never once left her home on the remote Isle of Skye due to her phobia of water and crossing the sea. Being somewhat of a dreamer she lives a reclusive life in the small cottage she shares with her fisherman husband, roaming the countryside and writing poetry. One day a fan letter arrives from far away America – David Graham, a college student in Illinois, has read one of her books whilst lying injured in hospital, and wanted to tell her how he has found solace in her poetry. One letter soon becomes a regular correspondence between Eslpeth (“Sue”) and Davey, as the two young people share their most intimate thoughts and dreams, finding a soul-mate in each other despite their personal circumstances and geographical distance. When the first World War breaks out, their friendship turns into more than just letters, and soon they are faced with some difficult choices ….

Twenty-six years later, Elspeth’s daughter Margaret Dunn accidentally finds one of the letters written by Davey to “Sue” and is surprised about her mother’s reaction when confronting her about it. Realising about how little she knows about her mother’s past and her extended family, Margaret decides to investigate. When her mother suddenly disappears, her quest takes her on a journey she has never imagined ….

Jessica Brockmole’s epistolary novel is told entirely by letters written between Davey and Elspeth, and later between Elspeth’s daughter Margaret, her fiancé Paul and her uncle Finlay. Although drawn by the content of the novel, I was worried that I would not like the unusual format, as I have never been fond of the epistolary style in the past and have even found it quite tedious at times. I am glad to say however that my fears were totally unfounded, as I thoroughly enjoyed reading this novel! With Elspeth and Davey confiding their most private thoughts, hopes and dreams, the book felt strangely intimate, as if glimpsing into the very souls of its characters. Davey’s humour was refreshing and brought a smile to my face, and I could vividly picture his antics in college just as I had no trouble imagining a quiet and reflective Elspeth roaming the wild island and losing herself in nature. Having lived in some very remote places myself (before email), I related to Elspeth’s sense of isolation and her joy in being able to share her most private thoughts and dreams with a penpal thousands of miles away.

Like its modern counterpart Love Virtually (told by a sequence of emails between two strangers who fall in love through their correspondence), Letters from Skye tackles the topic of soul-mateship, of two people being able to connect intimately without ever having laid eyes on each other. I loved the way Elspeth’s and Davey’s friendship slowly develops and makes each person grow as their unusual relationship affirms their very personality, makes them become truer to themselves.  Although I did not get the same connection to Margaret and her letters, they serve their purpose in telling the second part of the tale and bring the story to full-circle. The one problem with the letters arose when characters experienced situations together – how to best share those with the reader? This created moments where characters had to re-hash shared experiences to one another in their letters, which did not quite ring true. However, this did not impair my enjoyment of the novel.

Having a weakness for anything set amongst the backdrop of the first or second World War, I loved the novel’s historical content, especially Davey’s descriptions of his life on the front in the French countryside as an ambulance driver. I could relate to his sense of purpose there, and found it easy to imagine how the camaraderie and mateship between the men would have drawn many other young men into battle only to lose their lives there.

Probably my only slight disappointment with the novel was its ending – this was one time where an open ending would have worked much better for me, leaving the rest to the reader’s imagination rather than trying to stitch it all up too neatly. But for fear of spoilers I will not say any more about it here.

In summary, I really enjoyed reading Letters from Skye – curled up in front of the fire I soon lost myself in the novel’s landscape and its characters and it brought to life a different era. Letters from Skye is a quick, undemanding and enjoyable read which should appeal to lovers of historical fiction & romance (saying the word “romance” with trepidation since I am not a fan of lovey-dovey romance but really enjoyed this book – I even had a tear in my eye here and there).

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher Random House UK, Cornerstone for providing me with a free electronic preview copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Book Review: HALF MOON BAY by Helene Young

Title: Half Moon Bay
Author: Helene Young
Publisher: Penguin Australia
Read: June 18 - 20, 2013


Synopsis (Goodreads):

Ellie Wilding has been running from her past, but when the residents of Half Moon Bay call for help she knows it’s finally time to return home. As an international photojournalist, she’s used to violence in war zones, but she’s shocked when it erupts in the sleepy hamlet on the north coast of New South Wales, threatening all she holds dear.

Battle-weary Nicholas Lawson walked away from his military career leaving unfinished business. In a coastal backwater, that decision returns to haunt him. He remembers all too vividly his last lethal assignment in Afghanistan when Ellie’s sister, Nina, was shot and killed. Ellie’s been in his dreams ever since, even if she doesn’t remember him…

As a storm rages and floodwaters rise, Ellie struggles to save her community. But who can she trust? Nick Lawson, the dangerously attractive stranger with secrets, or an old friend who’s never let her down?

A compelling story of danger and desire by the award-winning author of Burning Lies.

‘Plenty of action, sizzling romance and page-turning suspense’ Book’d Out

‘Helene Young is a very accomplished writer, building her romance and suspense with verve and skill.’ Sisters in Crime


My thoughts:

I have been eyeing off Helene Young’s books for some time, but have always been wary of the “romance” part in romantic suspense fiction – romance not being one of my preferred genres. But in hindsight I am really glad that I have been given the opportunity to dive into one of Young’s books, as I thoroughly enjoyed her writing style – there was a lot of suspense, some remarkable characters, a great Australian setting and yes - a fair bit of sexual tension. It made a lovely change from the fare of gruesome murder mysteries I have been reading lately.

After losing her journalist sister Nina in a nighttime shooting in war torn Afghanistan, photojournalist Ellie Wilding has spent years travelling to escape her feelings of loss and guilt over not being able to help her sister. She only returns to Half Moon Bay, a small fishing village on the far New South Wales coast, when neighbours ask her to join the fight against corrupt politicians and developers who are threatening her hometown. When the mysterious Nick Lawson arrives in town representing the land developers, Ellie is both repelled by his presence as well as drawn to his enigmatic personality. Soon it becomes evident that Nick is somehow connected to the events leading up to Nina’s death in Afghanistan, and that the threat to Half Moon Bay has deeper and darker roots than expected. Not prepared to give up the fight even in the face of danger, Ellie must find out who she can trust in order to stay one step ahead of the threat and protect her own life.

Young has a flair for creating an atmospheric and authentic Australian setting and believable enigmatic characters. Having visited the part of the New South Wales coast Half Moon Bay is set in, I instantly had a vivid sense of place and could picture the scenery clearly – especially the surfing scenes brought back fond memories. The story unfolds so seamlessly and the dialogue is so engaging that it played out almost movie-like in my mind and kept me engrossed the entire time, reluctant to put the book down.

What I applaud Young most for is the fine balance between suspense and romance which made for a great read. At no point did Ellie and Nick’s relationship overshadow the storyline or dominate the narrative. Young has delivered a complex yet believable plot with enough twists to make for a suspenseful read, aided by current topical issues and a rural setting with its own natural hazards, such as isolation and bad weather. Protagonist Ellie is a plucky, independent and likeable heroine whose cause is heartfelt and worthwhile, and her motives for the risks she takes are always plausible. As for Nick – mmmh – despite his sometimes clumsy choice of phrase he sounds quite delectable!

Half Moon Bay should appeal to both Australian readers as well as an international audience, who will have no trouble picturing the idyllic setting of this small Australian seaside town (and instantly feel tempted to book a ticket to visit the beautiful Yamba area). I highly recommend Half Moon Bay to anyone who enjoys romantic suspense, or who has been (like me) a bit sceptical about the genre – consider me converted! I now can’t wait to read Young’s earlier novels, starting with Wings of Fear (which has been on my wishlist for a while).

A warm thank-you to Shelleyrae @ Book’d Out and to the author for providing me with a free preview copy of this novel, which gave me many hours of reading pleasure! The views expressed in this review are strictly my own. J

 

Book Review: RUN TO ME by Diane Hester

Title: Run to Me
Author: Diane Hester
Publisher: Random House Australia
Read: May 14, 2013


Synopsis (Goodreads):

Run To Me is a suspenseful, impossible-to-put-down chase thriller with riveting twists and turns . . .

It's been two years since Shyler O'Neil's beloved son Jesse was killed - but his final moments are as vivid to her now as they were that dreadful day. Suffering from post-traumatic stress, and convinced she did not do enough to protect him, she retreats to an isolated cabin in the woods of northern Maine.

Meanwhile, Zack Ballinger - a ten-year-old boy who has never known a mother's love - finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time. He's seen too much and is now running for his life. Fleeing into the woods, Zack soon finds himself at Shyler's cabin. He'll take whatever help she can give - even though, for some reason, she keeps calling him Jesse . . .

With the pursuers hot on their heels, 'mother' and 'son' go on the run. Protecting Zack may well be Shyler's one chance at redemption.

Either that, or she is the child's greatest threat . .


My thoughts: 

The premise of Diane Hester’s debut novel “Run to Me” had me hooked from the very start. A reclusive mother suffering PTSD from the horrific incident which claimed the life of her young son two years previously. Three neglected young boys in a dysfunctional foster home, who witness an event which makes them the target of some very evil men. As their paths intersect, each has something which may be crucial to their survival. Thus addressing three very powerful human emotions – grief for a lost child, the mothering instinct and humankind’s innate fight for survival – the novel promised a rollercoaster ride of action and suspense.

Run to Me certainly is an action packed thriller. The wilderness areas of northern Maine, a place very dear to the author, provide the perfect setting for a nail-biting manhunt in which our innocent protagonists must fight for their survival. Hester’s love for the place becomes apparent in her atmospheric descriptions of the countryside and its wildlife – one particular scene with a wild moose has stayed with me, and was one of my favourite parts of the story.

My personal opinion of this novel is very divided, and after procrastinating over my review I am still finding it hard to put my thoughts into words. Don’t get me wrong, I liked the book well enough, but I didn’t love it, which was a great disappointment because I had been waiting for my copy with bated breath and could not wait to start reading when it finally arrived. Whilst it provided plenty of action and made for a few hours of entertaining reading, it never fully grabbed me in the way other recent reads have. Trying to work out why I can only put this down to character development and perhaps revealing too much too soon, which robbed the story of much of its mystery and suspense.

Of all the characters, Shyler is the one who I found most believable. Her struggles with PTSD were well portrayed, and her motives rang true throughout the story, from her protectiveness towards her new charge to her preparedness for survival in a harsh environment.

Dr Chase Hadley, on the other hand, was the one character I struggled with most. Being a health professional, even his concern for an obviously troubled patient could not exonerate him from his unprofessional behaviour towards Shyler and his failure to involve law enforcement even when confronted with a murder scene and a subsequent break-in. Chase’s actions opened a minefield of legal and ethical dilemmas which in a real life situation would not lead to a happily-ever-after but would most likely see him disbarred from the medical profession. Similarly, I struggled to understand the motives behind the actions of Lazaro’s people and would have loved some more compelling reasons for the manhunt as well as the emotional connections between the team, which didn’t quite gel at times.

However, having seen mostly 4 and 5 stars reviews for this novel, I may stand alone in my opinion. It is quite possibly due to my inability to ignore inconsistencies in the plotline even for the sake of entertainment, which always annoys my family, who have barred me from making comments or asking questions (Why? How? What for?) through certain action-adventure movies which push those boundaries a bit too far for me. So whilst the novel offered plenty in terms of action, I never felt fully emotionally engaged with the characters, which made it an ok read but not a memorable on for me.

Having said that, Hester’s debut novel shows her talent as a new writer on the scene and I am looking forward to reading more from this author in future.

To summarise, Run to Me is an action packed thriller which will make for a few hours of entertaining reading either curled up in front of the fire or at the beach. Whilst it did not meet all my expectations I did enjoy the wilderness setting and general premise of the story and it kept me entertained through a lazy afternoon off sitting in the sun on my verandah and losing myself in a different world for a while.

This novel forms part of my 2013 Australian Women Writers Challenge.