New Release Book Review: The Truth & Addy Loest by Kim Kelly

Wow!

This was a story I didn’t want to end.

As I got pulled deeper and deeper into Addy’s story, drawing several parallels to some of my own struggles, I wanted to stay there with her as she dealt with those struggles, the stories her brain told her, the encounter with the woman who owned the curiosity shop, beautiful and tender-hearted Dan, her brother Nick and her ever grieving father.

Addy is so like many broken parts of me, so many broken parts of many others, but she shines brightly even as she doesn’t see it, even as she doubts everything about herself and thinks she is dying.

As always Kim Kelly brings to the fore important issues, not just of then, but of now. The fight women have to be treated with respect and not as an object for a man to drool over or take advantage of, the fight to not be afraid. She deals with past injustices of the war, both WWI and WWII, the effects felt generations on by those who come after and carry those memories in their cells. She touches on the need to hide who we are from those we love, to protect ourselves and them. How hard it was to be gay in the 80s, not that it is easier now for many, but as a society it is much more accepted.

I loved Addy’s love of beautiful dresses and her style, I wish I could own half the dresses she had in her closet. It makes me want to go hunting for beautiful dresses to wear, dresses with stories to tell.

This story is full of emotion, of damaged people, some trying to make sense of their lives, to discover who they are and some, like Addy’s father who get on with things because they must.

When quantum physics was wound into the story it made me laugh, because my mind works a bit like the way Dan described how quantum physics works, and though this is most certainly one concept I will never understand, I understand the feeling behind the concepts and I thought the author did a wonderful job of conveying this.

I loved this novel and I will read it again and possibly again after that. The writing and language is exquisite and perfect and such a pleasure to read.

Thanks to Kim Kelly for providing me with a digital copy in return for an honest review.

Add it to your Goodreads ready for February 2021

New Release Book Review: Montana – Lyrebird Lake #1 by Fiona McArthur

The first in the Lyrebird Lake series by Fiona McArthur, we meet Montana who has recently lost her husband and is about to give birth on a mountain. A trained midwife, she takes this in her stride and when her friends brother Andy comes looking for her he is instantly charmed by her.

I liked Montana, who is still struggling with grief and coming to terms with being a single mum. When Andy offers her a chance to get away to Lyrebird Lake with the hope she will want to work at his hospital, she jumps at the chance.

I really liked Andy, he was single-minded and passionate about his hospital, and he was adorable with Dawn, Montana’s newborn baby girl. I loved how he gave Montana space to come to terms with her loss and her feelings at the same time as gently pushing her to move on and start a new life. I also loved how open he was about his feelings towards Montana, not being afraid to say what he felt even if she rejected him.

The people of Lyrebird Lake all thought a lot of Andy and were so welcoming to Montana, it would be lovely to live in such a great community.

This was a sweet, feel good romance.

I’m looking forward to book 2.

Thanks to the author for providing me with a digital copy of this novel in return for an honest review.

New Release Book Review: When Grace Went Away by Meredith Appleyard

When Grace Went Away by Meredith Appleyard is the second novel I have read by this author, I do have a few more of her novels waiting on my shelf and I do aim to get to those as soon as is possible. This was a very enjoyable read, there was so much in it to explore and uncover. A dysfunctional family and grief being two important themes running through the story. There is also romance and forgiveness, relationships, friendship, and discovering who one truly is and what they want out of life regardless of age.

I found this a hard book to put down and even took it to work with me just in case I got the opportunity to read some, which amazingly I did.

The family members in this novel are all so different and so complicated. Grace, the eldest of the four siblings was sent away to boarding school at a young age and she’s never fit into the family in quite the way she wished because of this. She has a high power job with a financial institution and is off to London to start a new position. This is the catalyst to a load of changes that are about to happen to the Fairley family members.

Grace goes to London, following a dream she thought she wanted, before she left, she met Aaron while she was back in Miners Ridge saying a last goodbye to her family, and Aaron causes her to question some of the things she believed she wanted and didn’t want out of life. I could really feel the struggles that Grace was going through, things she’d always controlled changed once she left Australia, her family seemed to be changing and making decisions without her and she meanwhile was feeling very much out of control and conflicted in the choices she’d made.

Grace’s mother, Sarah, was a complex character, she’d left her husband and children a few years after the death of her youngest son and this caused a lot of strain and severing of ties with her children and the town she had lived in for over 30 years. She has struggled to come to terms with what she has been through and when Grace leaves and her elderly mother passes away, she has to take a look at her life and at nearly 70 years of age, she is determined to make some changes. I really loved the journey that Sarah went through, the growth she found, and the relationships she formed, through taking a chance on changing her circumstances.

Sarah’s decisions also cause a domino of changes to her other two children and her ex-husband who live back in Miners Ridge, the town she left 8 years before. There is plenty of emotion, recriminations, and learning that happens for all the family members who all have some pretty big issues of their own to deal with.

There are so many dynamics in this novel and I was completely absorbed in the lives of this family. I loved all the characters, though the jury is out on Grace’s father Doug.

Thanks to Harlequin Australia for a copy of this novel in return for an honest review.

Publication date 18/5/2020

Buy from HarperCollins Australia

#AWW2020 27/50

New Release Book Review: Two Hearts Healing by Renee Dahlia

Two Hearts Healing by Renee Dahlia is book 3 in the Merindah Park series and focuses on the third sibling Serena and her trainer boss Lee.

Serena is recovering from an accident whilst riding in a horse race, she’s dealing with the recovery of both physical injuries and traumatic brain injury. It is definitely not an easy time and Renee Dahlia does a great job of showing us some of the many impacts TBI can have on a person, while reminding us it is different for everyone and whilst someone can look physically ok, that doesn’t mean they aren’t struggling with hidden issues.

Serena is stubborn, whereas before the accident she would do as she was told, she is starting to find her voice and make decisions based on what she truly wants and feels is important to her, the top two things on her list are to ride again and to kiss Lee.

Lee has been blaming himself for Serena’s accident and has cut himself off from Shannon, Serena’s brother, and his friend, as well as from Serena. When she turns up unexpectedly asking for help to get back on a horse, Lee is left feeling emotions he has no idea how to deal with. His relationship with his parents has played a major role in how Lee sees himself and how he holds himself emotionally around others, and Serena is about to test every one of those walls and boundaries he has put around himself.

I really enjoyed these two characters, and while the banter between them was fun, there were also misunderstandings, arguments, and revelations. There is plenty of growth in store for both characters as they negotiate their feelings for each other and try and figure out what they want and what it means to have those things.

We met Serena in book two Making Her Mark as she is Rachel’s twin and they were both struggling to build a real relationship between each other as they are both quite different people. While in Making Her Mark Serena had Rachel’s back, it is nice to see their relationship has continued to grow and this time Rachel is there for Serena.

I have learnt a great deal about the horseracing industry through this series, in book one Merindah Park there is the issue of gambling, then in Making her Mark I leanrt about the extra work female jockeys have to do to get the same respect as their male counterparts, and in Two Hearts Healing I learnt about the care of horses and the issue of finding the correct homes for them when they can no longer race. It is evident that Renee Dahlia has great knowledge and love of this industry and is determined to educate us about what really goes on.

I’ve really enjoyed this series so far and I really hope there is a fourth for the last brother Shannon.

Thanks to NetGalley and Escape Publishing for a digital copy of this novel in return for an honest review.

#AWW2020 3/50

Book Review: Bound by Truth by Suzanne Cass

I have read end enjoyed books by Suzanne Cass in the past, so when I was given the opportunity to read her new novel, I jumped at the chance. What an enjoyable read this was, full of tension, romance, suspense, danger, likable and unlikable characters. It is the first in a new series called Island Bound and I am looking forward to future books.

I really liked the two main characters in this novel Sierra and Reed who are both living on the Island for different reasons, but both for a chance to get away from the things life has thrown at them.

The setting of Kangaroo Island is very interesting to me, this is the third book I’ve read set on this island this year, I’m thinking I’ll have to go and visit one day soon.

Sierra has had heartbreak and tragedy in her life and has been living on Kangaroo Island for quite a few years, she is a bit of a loner and because of past losses, is loathe to let anyone get close to her. She also has a stalker who has targeted her due to an article she wrote about abducted children and the polices seemed incompetence. Now there is a child missing on the peaceful island, and she’s been looking at further abduction cases in South Australia, could they all be related or is that too much of a coincidence.

Reed is the new police officer in town and when he meets Sierra there is a connection there that Sierra tries to deny, but Reid is nothing if not persistent. There is also a deeper connection that will cause heartache and danger, I’m not sure how I would have dealt with finding out what these two find out, possibly much the same way as Sierra does.

The search for the missing child is all hands on deck and more than one terrible secret will be uncovered during the search.

This novel had me reading past my bedtime (I feel lucky that I’ve had so many great books like this this year).

Thanks to Suzanne Cass for a copy of this novel in return for an honest review.

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