Book: Without Consent

Summary: Dr Anya Crichton, pathologist and forensic physician, is back on another chilling case that will stretch her forensic talents to the limit. This time, Anya is on the trail of a violent serial rapist. Suspicion immediately falls on the deviant Geoffrey Willard, recently released from prison after serving a full term for the brutal rape and murder of a fourteen year old girl. As Anya delves deeper into a myriad of forensic evidence, she begins to suspect that Willard is innocent. When two of the victims are later stabbed to death, a blood-smeared shirt holds the key to the truth. Only the killer knows that Anya has made a mistake. One that could prove fatal...show more


What I Thought: Wow - a great crime to start the year. Really enjoyed this. Will have to red her again.  

2016 books in review

Well I am a tad behind with everything at the minute including this post.

In 2016 I had a dismal reading year for me with only 46 books read (my mojo came and went). I barely read any of my bookgroup books either - actually a dismal 1!. So a quick breakdown:

Non-fiction - 2
Teen - 5
Rural Romance (I love this trash) - 33

So 2017 is here and I will aim again for 52 books - fingers crossed I get there - just so many other competing demands :)

Book: Grass is Greener

Summary:  For generations Bronwyn Eddings's family has thrived in the legal profession and a position at their prestigious firm is hers by right. Only problem is: she does not want it.
Her best friend Claudia has always dreamed of being a lawyer, but tragedy struck and she took up the reins of her father’s vineyard instead. It was supposed to be temporary . . . now there’s no end in sight.
Bronwyn wants Claudia’s life so badly. Claudia can’t imagine anything better than Bronwyn’s job. So the friends hatch a crazy plan to swap places.
Both are determined to be the person they always thought they could never be. But achieving your dreams isn’t easy – and falling in love with the men who oppose them is not a good idea . . .


What I Thought: A nice easy read whilst on holidays

Book: Outback Sisters

Summary: Café owner Frankie has been unlucky in love all her life. It’s hard in a small town like Bunyip Bay to meet prospective partners. Her sister, Simone, lost the love of her life years before and is now devoted to raising their two teenage girls, leaving little time for romance. When Frankie is kissed by a handsome stranger who calls her Simone, it’s a case of mistaken identity – but who is this man and how does he know Simone?
Logan Knight is in town to meet up with a woman he has met online. Although raised on a farm with his brother Angus, he has travelled the world as a journalist and is now looking forward to meeting a girl and settling down. The girl in the café was an amazing kisser – but not the one he thought he was meeting!
Reclusive farmer Angus wants nothing to do with Logan’s plans for improving the property’s finances and finding a partner – until he meets the sisters at a wedding. Who is attracted to whom? More importantly, can Frankie and Simone sort out their feelings for the two brothers without destroying their very close bond?




What I Thought: A little far fetched but who doesn't love a good double rural romance!

Book: Burning Bright

Summary: Four months have passed and River and Flynn’s romance is still going strong. River thinks Flynn has his anger under control, but when she discovers he has been getting into fights and is facing a terrible accusation at school, she starts to question both Flynn’s honesty – and the intensity of their passion. Things come to a head at a family get together when River sees Flynn fly into one unprovoked rage too many. The consequences for both of them are devastating and threaten to tear them apart forever.


What I Thought: I easily fell back in with the characters - shame that the next 2 books aren't on audio as I enjoyed them this way

Book: Peppercorn Project

Summary: After the tragic death of her husband, single mum Isabelle Cassidy is bereft and broke. When she hears about The Peppercorn Project – a scheme that offers affordable rent in the tiny but vibrant town of Stony Creek – Issie sees it as her family’s best chance at a fresh start.
Newly single police officer Matt Robertson moved to Stony Creek to lick his wounds after a bitter divorce. Wanting only peace and quiet, Matt is against the Project, seeing it as a threat to the peace he’s found in the country town – until he meets Issie. Despite himself, Matt is drawn to the widow and feels inexplicably protective of her fragile family.
Just when Issie begins to imagine a future with Matt, an accident proves how far she has to go before she can move beyond her grief. But the citizens of Stony Creek won’t rest until they see these two broken souls find a new beginning, together.
Can Issie move beyond the pain of her past and entrust Matt with her family, and her heart?


What I Thought: Another lovely rural read.

Book: I Was Here

Summary: When her best friend Meg drinks a bottle of industrial-strength cleaner alone in a motel room, Cody is understandably shocked and devastated.
She and Meg shared everything—so how was there no warning? But when Cody travels to Meg’s college town to pack up the belongings left behind, she discovers that there’s a lot that Meg never told her. About her old roommates, the sort of people Cody never would have met in her dead-end small town in Washington. About Ben McAllister, the boy with a guitar and a sneer, and some secrets of his own. And about an encrypted computer file that Cody can’t open—until she does, and suddenly everything Cody thought she knew about her best friend’s death gets thrown into question.


What I Thought: Wow - an eye opener here for me. So sad... Fab read though.

Book: Guitar Highway Rose

Summary: Popular and smart, fifteen-year-old Rosie Moon is the quintessential good girl. She also wishes she could be someone else for a while, someone more interesting. Asher Fielding is the mysterious new boy at school who has dreadlocks and a love of Jim Morrison.

On the first day of tenth grade, Rosie develops a crush on Asher, and when the two pair up for a poetry assignment they quickly form a bond. When Asher is falsely accused of stealing a wallet at school, he and Rosie decide to escape it all - their families, their school, their ordinary town - and hitchhike up the Australian coast. They know they shouldn't, and that is exactly why they do.




What I Thought: A nice coming of age story in a location I hope to visit one day!

Book: Journey's End

Summary: When Sydney botanist Kim Sullivan and her husband inherit Journey's End, a rundown farm high on the Great Eastern Escarpment, they dream of one day restoring it to its natural state. Ten years later, however, Kim is tragically widowed. Selling up is the only practical option, so she and her children head to the mountains to organise the sale. The last thing Kim expects is for Journey's End to cast its wild spell on them all.
The family decide to stay, and Kim forges on with plans to rewild the property, propagating plants and acquiring a menagerie of native animals. But wayward wildlife, hostile farmers and her own lingering grief make the task seem hopeless. That is, until she meets the mysterious Taj, a man who has a way with animals. Kim begins to feel that she might find love again. But Taj has his own tragic past – one that could drive a wedge between them that can not be overcome .




What I Thought: Another enjoyable book .

Book: From Alice with Love

Summary: After the end of a long-term relationship, Alicia's life is at a crossroads when news that her mother is critically ill takes her back to her childhood home of Alice Springs.
Though she hasn't consciously intended to remain in central Australia, when Alicia is offered a job setting up a school on an indigenous outstation she decides to stay. Surrounded by the mesmerising beauty of the desert, Alicia takes charge of the new school, and though the challenges are substantial, she finds the work deeply fulfilling.
When Alicia meets Patrick through her work she's instantly attracted to him. Patrick shares much of Alicia's outlook on life and their relationship flourishes until they hit a crisis regarding their future together...


What I Thought: More than your usual rural romance - much more depth to this - thoroughly enjoyed it.

Book: Feels Like Home

Summary: When celebrity novelist Johanna Morgan surprises everyone by arriving back in Linden Gully three weeks early for her best friend’s wedding, she’s shocked to find her ex-boyfriend Ryan Galloway is back too and well-integrated in the community as the local vet.

Jo’s maid-of-honour duties are not the only thing that’s brought her home. The family homestead of Yarrapinga is now her responsibility, and Jo needs to decide whether to keep it – and replace old memories with new ones – or sell it and cut off all ties to her childhood and her home.

Ryan has brought his young daughter home to Linden Gully to provide stability after the death of her mother. The last thing he needs is Jo’s return, and all of the emotional turmoil that she brings with her.

Thrown together as attendants at their best friends’ wedding, Jo and Ryan have no choice but to grin and bear all the tension. But it’s not only resentment lingering between them. The attraction is still there, and the heat and the memories.

They say you can’t come home again, but maybe, for Jo and Ryan, home is not just a place, but a state of the heart.

What I Thought: Another nice rural romance - so many out there!

Book: Bluegrass Bend

Summary: Ivy Tucker was a gifted musician with big dreams but the night she was viciously attacked took all that away from her. Without the intervention of a mystery man she would have been killed. She has no idea what her protector looks like and though she wrote to him, he never responded. She can’t blame him wanting to forget the past, she feels the same. To survive, she focuses on the healing work she does alongside her aunts at Healing Hills –working with horses to help people rebuild their shattered lives. But her home, her life and her business are under threat...

Ronny Sinclair is finally free after eight years in prison. He regrets ending a life, but in the heat of the moment it was the only way to save another. The young woman he protected was worth every second he spent locked up, and her face and angelic voice are etched in his heart and mind forever. A bittersweet twist of fate gives him a new start in her hometown, Bluegrass Bend. Would she recognise him? Could she, after the terrible state she’d been left in?

Fate intervenes, pushing Ronny and Ivy together at a fundraising event. When Ivy needs Ronny to help her save Healing Hills, he knows he should keep his past hidden, that he should stay away from her, but their love of the country, horses and music brings Ivy and Ronny closer –- dangerously so. As feelings build their fragile trust is threatened by Ronny’s secret. Will his determination to leave the past behind him cost them their chance at love?

What I Thought: A sweet little rural romance book.

Book: Healing Season

Summary: Dulili is suffering a people drought. Over the years more people have moved away than have arrived to stay in this old New South Wales farming town, and now only a handful of young families and elderly residents are left. The locals put a plan into action to entice newcomers: offering the town’s empty houses to newcomers from anywhere in Australia.  Who could resist renting a beautiful homestead for a dollar a week?
Alicia used to know exactly what her life would look like: marry her best friend, manage her home town agricultural store, and live in her grandparent’s old house. But life never goes to plan, and Alicia is left with nothing more than the store to keep her going. Until a new employee walks through her door and offers a new friendship – and potentially something more.
Lachlan has spent his life running, and Dulili is just far enough away for a new start. But small towns have few secrets, and running from the past is a surefire way to guarantee no hope for a future.


What I Thought: The last in the trilogy - a nice story but I loved the first two a little more.

Book: Reach for the Dream

Summary: Sometimes life takes you on a journey you never expected . . .
Alice Ferguson is eight years old when a savage bushfire tears her family apart and she is sent to live with her aunt in the tiny town of Billabrin.  Lost and lonely, Alice finds comfort in the beauty of the outback.  As her confidence grows she dreams of creating her own home and of one day breeding the best wool in the country.
Alice's strength and spirit take her far from her roots and the land she loves.  As tragedy strikes again, Alice must summon every ounce of her will to keep her dream alive, but nothing can prepare her for the treachery of her jealous cousin or the betrayal of the only man she ever loved.

What I Thought: Definitely a "saga" but one I enjoyed. 

Book: Falling Fast

Summary: When River auditions for a part in an inter-school performance of Romeo and Juliet, she finds herself smitten by Flynn, the boy playing Romeo.  River believes in romantic love, and she can’t wait to experience it.  But Flynn comes from a damaged family – is he even capable of giving River what she wants? The path of true love never did run smooth…


What I Thought: I enjoyed this teen book which had a little more depth. Must read the sequel.

Book: Remix

Summary: Two girls test the strength of their friendship—and their hearts—over the course of a summer weekend in this contemporary novel perfect for fans of Morgan Matson and Rainbow Rowell.

Ruby and Kaz’s friendship has always worked like a well-oiled machine. Ruby is loud and acts impulsively, while Kaz is quiet and plans ahead for every scenario. Together, they are two halves of a whole. But when the girls run into their ex-boyfriends at a music festival, they suddenly find themselves acting out of character and navigating unchartered territory. Afraid of letting each other down, both girls start keeping secrets—with disastrous consequences.


What I Thought: Loved it - a great teen read. Scared for my little boys though! The world has changed from when I was a teen!

Book: Honey Hill House

Summary: Dulili is suffering a people drought. Over the years more people have moved away than have arrived to stay in this old New South Wales farming town, and now only a handful of young families and elderly residents are left. The locals put a plan into action to entice newcomers: offering the town’s empty houses to newcomers from anywhere in Australia.  Who could resist renting a beautiful homestead for a dollar a week?

Newly divorced Bea Elliot needs Honey Hill House for more than just a quaint project – restoring a ramshackle old farm house to a successful B&B will prove to her family – and herself – that she is strong enough to make a go of things on her own. She doesn’t need anyone to help her, even if the guy next door is remarkably obliging, delightfully generous, and terribly charming.
A city girl won’t last six months in the country, but Callum ‘Mitch’ Mitchell has good manners and loves his town, so he’ll be neighbourly, but keep his distance. Experience has taught him not to get involved with out-of-towners. Even if this out-of-towner is surprisingly resilient, unexpectedly tough, and unpredictably fond of local football.
Good fences make good neighbours, but in Dulili, it seems like barriers might instead be breaking down…


What I Thought: Loved loved loved it!

Book: A heart stuck on Hope

Summary: Dulili is suffering a people drought. Over the years more people have moved away than have arrived to stay in this old New South Wales farming town, and now only a handful of young families and elderly residents are left. The locals put a plan into action to entice newcomers: offering the town’s empty houses to newcomers from anywhere in Australia.  Who could resist renting a beautiful homestead for a dollar a week?
There’s nothing left for Adele Devereux in Sydney: no job, no relationship, no hope, and no diagnosis for her shy, uncommunicative daughter Ali. So she packs her bags, takes her meagre savings, and moves her small family to the country. She never expects to meet Tom Wade, a man facing his own hopeless situation, but whose kindness reaches her daughter in an unexpected friendship. As the small town of Dulili attempts to regenerate itself, Adele finds herself drawn further in to the community – and into her attraction to Tom.
Tom is not back in Dulili to build a relationship. He’s there to heal wounds, help his grandmother, and make new plans. Plans that don’t come with his grandmother’s new tenant, part of the Dulili dollar scheme. But as Adele and Ali effortlessly work their way into his thoughts and his heart, he realises that there are two crucial elements that he left out of his long-term plans – the chance to find love and renewed hope for the future.


What I Thought: Absolutely loved it - sucked in big time to this trilogy!

Book: Leaving Time

Summary:  For more than a decade, Jenna Metcalf has never stopped thinking about her mother, Alice, who mysteriously disappeared in the wake of a tragic accident. Refusing to believe she was abandoned, Jenna searches for her mother regularly online and pores over the pages of Alice’s old journals. A scientist who studied grief among elephants, Alice wrote mostly of her research among the animals she loved, yet Jenna hopes the entries will provide a clue to her mother’s whereabouts.

Desperate to find the truth, Jenna enlists two unlikely allies in her quest: Serenity Jones, a psychic who rose to fame finding missing persons, only to later doubt her gifts, and Virgil Stanhope, the jaded private detective who’d originally investigated Alice’s case along with the strange, possibly linked death of one of her colleagues. As the three work together to uncover what happened to Alice, they realize that in asking hard questions, they’ll have to face even harder answers.

What I Thought: Wow - I loved this one and did not for a minute pick the twist - I was hooked!

Card Swap 1 2016