Book Review: The Game of Love by Libby M Iriks

This was a really lovely second-chance romance novella by local West Australian author Libby M Iriks. Set in Rockingham a coastal suburb just south of Perth, Libby uses the local activities and environment to help her characters come together.

Alyssa has put her career on hold and returned home from living over East for the past 10 years. She is struggling with a not so hopeful medical issue that is going to require treatment and has returned so her family can support her. The very last thing she is thinking of is romance, especially with an old friend from her teenage years.

Dean is a happy-go-lucky guy who plays the field and has absolutely no intention of finding ‘the one’ of falling in love and settling down. When he literally bumps into Alyssa both of these characters will have their plans for the future knocked on their heads.

I loved these two characters and really enjoyed the friendship that formed between them, I loved all the experiences they did together, especially the skydiving, which is one of my favourite experiences ever, though I did mine in Jurien Bay, not Rockingham, I can still picture what it was like to be free-falling over the ocean like they did.

Both of these characters second-guess themselves and what they are doing more than once, and both need to learn to open up and talk to each other and share what they are thinking and feeling and what they have been through if they are ever to make a go of having a future together.

An enjoyable read for a lazy afternoon. You can get your copy for free by subscribing to Libby M Iriks newsletter here.

#AWW2020

New Release Book Review: Pearls and Green Beer by Susanne Bellamy

I’m not a big reader of novellas, but I do enjoy Susanne Bellamy’s writing, so I was more than happy to read an ARC of her latest Bindarra Creek novella Pearls and Green Beer.

At only 65 pages, this short and sweet story is a lovely way to spend an hour. I enjoyed the two main characters, Annie and Ty. I liked that they both had issues they needed to work through and that being willing to take a chance on love and each other allowed them to realise those changes they needed to make in order to be happy. The dynamic between them was really sweet and lovely.

Thank you to the author for a digital copy of this book in return for an honest review.

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#AWW2020 7/50

Book Bingo Round 18 & Book Review – Spoilt For Love by Monique Mulligan

Book Bingo time came round too fast for me this fortnight, I’m halfway through a nonfiction book I was reading for the Themes of culture square, but I’ve managed to find one for a different square on short notice. Last night I read a novelette by Australian author Monique Mulligan called Spoilt For Love. So I’m using this to mark off a really easy square, since the majority of my reading is indeed Written by an Australian Woman, this square has been waiting for me to use as my wildcard.

This was a very short and sweet read, with characters I really enjoyed meeting. In the town of Heart Springs, Maggie, the owner of a travel agency, sees a guy she missed her chance with 6 years previously in Glasgow, everywhere she turns, until one day she turns around and there he really is. Rafe was a delightful leading man and I was rooting for him and Maggie from the sidelines during this short read. It only took about 45 minutes to read, so it’s bite-sized, but Monique Mulligan has still managed to pack in plenty to make this an enjoyable love story. For those who don’t believe in destiny, this story shows perhaps it really is a thing.