Book: The Homestead Girls

Summary: Moving to the outback to join the Flying Doctors will change Billie's life forever.

After her teenage daughter Mia falls in with the wrong crowd, Dr Billie Green decides it's time to leave the city and return home to far western NSW. When an opportunity to pursue her childhood dream of joining the Flying Doctor Service comes along, she jumps at the chance. Flight nurse Daphne Prince – who is thrilled to have another woman join the otherwise male crew – and their handsome new boss, Morgan Blake, instantly make her feel welcome.
Just out of town, drought-stricken grazier Soretta Byrnes has been struggling to make ends meet and has opened her homestead to boarders. Tempted by its faded splendour and beautiful outback setting, Billie, Mia and Daphne decide to move in and the four of them are soon joined by eccentric eighty-year-old Lorna Lamerton.
The unlikely housemates are cautious at first, but soon they are offering each other frank advice and staunch support as they tackle medical emergencies, romantic adventures and the challenges of growing up and getting older. But when one of their lives is threatened, the strong friendship they have forged will face the ultimate test . . .

What I Thought: Loved this one. So much good rural romance out there. 

Book: Being Bee

Summary: Since her mother died, it'd been just her, her dad and her guinea pigs, Lulu and Fifi. A perfect, non-nuclear family. Exactly how Bee liked it. Nothing stays the same forever though, and when Jazzi moves in, bringing with her a whole new way of looking at the world and a whole lot of secrets, Bee knows things are going to be completely different from now on.But change can be a scary thing, and when someone reaches out to you, sometimes the hardest thing to do is to take their hand.

What I Thought: A early teen novel. Explored some good issues.

Book: House Rules

Summary: When your son can't look you in the eye...does that mean he's guilty?
Jacob Hunt is a teen with Asperger's syndrome. He's hopeless at reading social cues or expressing himself well to others, though he is brilliant in many ways. But he has a special focus on one subject - forensic analysis. A police scanner in his room clues him in to crime scenes, and he's always showing up and telling the cops what to do. And he's usually right.
But when Jacob's small hometown is rocked by a terrible murder, law enforcement comes to him. Jacob's behaviors are hallmark Asperger's, but they look a lot like guilt to the local police. Suddenly the Hunt family, who only want to fit in, are directly in the spotlight. For Jacob's mother, Emma, it's a brutal reminder of the intolerance and misunderstanding that always threaten her family. For his brother, Theo, it's another indication why nothing is normal because of Jacob.
And over this small family, the soul-searing question looms: Did Jacob commit murder?

What I Thought: Brilliant - great, great read. A good Picoult one as some of her's can be dodgy. This was excellent though.

Book: Down Outback Roads

Summary: Kree Garrett's younger brother Seth is all the family she has left, so when he goes missing while working in the Australian outback, she races from America to join in the search.

To everyone's relief, Seth is rescued by local volunteers and Kree finds, in an abandoned historic Cobb & Co Coach House, the opportunity to thank the community she's fallen in love with. But it isn't only the town she's fallen for.

Ewan Mackenzie has given up everything for his brother's family, but he can never give enough to assuage his guilt at what happened one dark night, years ago . . . Ewan knows he doesn't deserve happiness, however with Kree he finds it hard to keep his distance.

Can Kree and Ewan leave the tragedies of their pasts behind long enough to find a future together?

What I thought: Loved this one - hooked from page one.

Book: Leap of Faith

Summary: Jessica Harrington is a promising horse-rider who dreams of representing her country. But the recent death of her father – her coach and mentor – has left her doubting her ability to continue in the sport. When she fails at the Adelaide International Horse Trials her fears are confirmed – and her world begins to fall apart.
Unable to bear seeing her well-bred, highly trained horses languishing in the paddock, she makes the snap decision to sell. She’s broken her own heart, but can’t see any other way – now she will just have to focus on a life without them. Her husband Steve and best friend Tiffany, however, can see through her bravado.
Jessica is dismayed when Steve brings home a horse from a clearing sale, a horse so skinny and forlorn he just couldn’t leave it behind. Unwilling to be drawn back into the world of horses, she's reluctant to get involved. But when a summer thunderstorm brings on a life-or-death emergency, she finds she underestimated the heart of one little horse. Can Jessica put her trust in Faith?


What I thought: Not her best book. Character was way too stilted. I didn't feel anything for her at all. Didn't even warm to her that much at the end either.

Book: Outback Women's Stories

Summary: The word "amazon" generally conjures up images of wild and powerful warrior women, fighting off foes in some primitive matriarchal society where they rule over men. Outback Women's Stories is a compilation of significant Australian women of simple but important character traits - strength, fortitude and courage. Australia has grown from penal colony to modern nation and important player on the global stage. During this time there have been many women who have courageously taken on the multifarious and sometimes death-defying challenges the Aussie outback has thrown at them, often alongside the man they loved with a gaggle of children in tow. These women have faced their trials admirably, with rarely a word of complaint, and continue to do so to this day - they are our "Aussie Amazons".

What I thought: OK. The stories were way to short though to really learn much. 

Book: The Painted Sky

Summary: Nina never knew what happened to her father, the celebrated artist Jim Larkin. One minute he was her devoted dad, the next he'd disappeared without trace. Seventeen years later, she's still haunted by the mystery. Until a call from outback Wandalla changes everything. At first, Nina's inheritance of a waterless property and a farmhouse stuffed with junk seems more like a burden than a gift. But this was her father's childhood home – and possibly her last chance to discover the truth. So what is the local solicitor, Harrison Grey, not telling her as he hands over the keys? Why does the area's wealthiest resident, Hilary Flint, seem to hate her so much? What is the significance of the gold locket with cryptic engravings that Nina always wears? And why, on top of everything, is she inexplicably drawn to her soon-to-be-married neighbour, Heath Blackett?


What I thought: Loved this one. Can't believe it was written by 5 different women from a bookclub. Great concept and great end result. Bring on more.

Card Swap 2 2015

another lovely bunch

Card Swap 1 2015

Our first swap of the year. Lots of lovely cards :)

Book: Intensive Care

Summary: On the surface it looks like busy intensive care nurse Kate Kennedy has it all: a long-term relationship, a great career and a sleek inner city apartment. But appearances are deceiving, and in one fell swoop everything comes crashing down around her. In a moment of spontaneity, Kate leaves her city life and takes a new role as Nurse Unit Manager at Birrangulla Base Hospital, but her dream move proves harder than expected.

Local café owner Joel O'Connor finds himself increasingly drawn to the gorgeous new nurse, but like Kate, he's been scarred by love and isn't looking to jump into anything. Yet their chemistry is hard to deny and after a near fatal incident, Joel and Kate find themselves opening up to one another.
Just when Kate thinks she's found love again, their fragile relationship is thwarted by their pasts. Can they both let go of their guilt and grief to move on to a bright new future?



What I Thought: Loved this one :)

Book: Only We Know

Summary: When Calla Maloney steps on the boat to Kangaroo Island, she’s filled with dread. Part of it is simple seasickness but the other part is pure trepidation. She’s not on a holiday but a mission: to track down her estranged brother, who she hasn’t seen since her family splintered two years before.

Firefighter Sam Hunter left the island twenty years ago and has made a habit out of staying as far away as he can get. But when his father’s illness forces him home, he finds himself playing bad cop to his dad and reluctant tour guide to a redhead with no sense of direction.
As Sam and Calla dig deeper into their long-buried family secrets, they discover that no one is an island and that opening up their hearts to love again might be the most dangerous thing they will ever do.



What I thought: This one was ok. Would love to go to Kangaroo Island one day. Will give the author another go though but not as good as some of the other rural romance writers I read.

Bookgroup: Caleb's Crossing

Summary: Bethia Mayfield is a restless and curious young woman growing up in Martha's vineyard in the 1660s amid a small band of pioneering English Puritans. At age twelve, she meets Caleb, the young son of a chieftain, and the two forge a secret bond that draws each into the alien world of the other. Bethia's father is a Calvinist minister who seeks to convert the native Wampanoag, and Caleb becomes a prize in the contest between old ways and new, eventually becoming the first Native American graduate of Harvard College. Inspired by a true story and narrated by the irresistible Bethia, Caleb’s Crossing brilliantly captures the triumphs and turmoil of two brave, openhearted spirits who risk everything in a search for knowledge at a time of superstition and ignorance.

What I thought: I know this is a very popular book and that it is very well written but it just didn't do it for me. Maybe I didn't think deeply enough about the issues or something but the book was just ok... Will be interesting to discuss in a few weeks at bookgroup!