Book: Christmas at Brigadier Station

Summary: When Tom Carmody buys a run-down cattle station in outback Queensland he is shocked to discover that the woman living next door is none other than Harriet McGuire, his high school crush – the woman who mysteriously never returned to boarding school after the summer break. In a time when women did as their fathers bid, Harriet agreed to marry the charming Daniel McGuire and move to Brigadier Station. But she soon paid the price for her naivety. Forced to protect her children from her abusive husband, she never forgot Tom’s kindness. More than thirty years after their innocent school flirtation, Harriet and Tom begin to rekindle their friendship only to find the flames of their attraction are stronger than ever. As Christmas approaches, rain storms finally break the decade long outback drought. But can the floods wash away the ghosts of the past? Or will they cause yet another disaster? What I Thought: Really enjoyable read – nice to finish off this series.

Book: Conspiracy 365 - April

Summary: On New Year's Eve, Callum Ormond is chased down the street by a crazed man with a deadly warning: They killed your father. They'll kill you. You must survive the next 365 days! Cops and criminal gangs are all searching for Cal, the psycho kid who's meant to have attacked his uncle and put his sister in a coma. Cal is desperate to clear his name, but he also has less than a year to solve an ancient family mystery: the Ormond Singularity. The stakes are getting higher and the closer he gets to the truth, the more dangerous his life becomes. What I Thought: Loving this little series. Easy read, far fetched but a great page turner nevertheless!

Book: The English Oak

Summary: Bronte Miller and her young daughter Madeline leave England and the only home they had ever known when they venture to Australia in search of a new life. A job as Governess on Tullagulla Station in the Queensland outback seems like a good place to start, however the heat, flies and long days of work bring unexpected challenges. As Bronte and Madeline settle into life on Tullagulla, the property is threatened by an unexpected rural crime wave and its residents band together to assist the stock squad. Then, just as a new relationship develops between Bronte and the local vet, a shocking secret is revealed and her life is once again turned upside down. What I Thought: Loved book 2 in this series. Nice easy light reading. Very enjoyable.

Book: Conspiracy 365 - March

Summary: On New Year's Eve, Callum Ormond is chased down the street by a crazed man with a deadly warning: They killed your father. They'll kill you. You must survive the next 365 days! Cops and criminal gangs are all searching for Cal, the psycho kid who's meant to have attacked his uncle and put his sister in a coma. Cal is desperate to clear his name, but he also has less than a year to solve an ancient family mystery: the Ormond Singularity. The stakes are getting higher and the closer he gets to the truth, the more dangerous his life becomes. What I Thought: Loving this little series. Easy tread, far fetched but a great page turner nevertheless!

Book: The Scholar

Summary: When Detective Cormac Reilly's girlfriend Emma stumbles across the victim of a hit and run early one morning, he is first on the scene of a murder that would never have been assigned to him. The investigation promises to be high profile and high pressure: the dead girl is carrying an ID, that of Carline Darcy, heir apparent to Ireland's most successful pharmaceutical company. Darcy Therapeutics has a finger in every pie, including the laboratory where Emma works. As Cormac investigates, evidence mounts that the death is linked to the lab and, increasingly, to Emma herself. Cormac is sure she couldn't be involved, but how well does he really know her? After all, this isn't the first time Emma's been accused of murder . . . What I Thought: Wow – brilliant. Better than the first book. Loved it.

Book: Any Ordinary Day

Summary: As a journalist, Leigh Sales often encounters people experiencing the worst moments of their lives in the full glare of the media. But one particular string of bad news stories – and a terrifying brush with her own mortality – sent her looking for answers about how vulnerable each of us is to a life-changing event. What are our chances of actually experiencing one? What do we fear most and why? And when the worst does happen, what comes next? Warm, candid and empathetic, this book is about what happens when ordinary people, on ordinary days, are forced to suddenly find the resilience most of us don’t know we have. What I Thought: Wow! Such a powerful book. Absolutely loved this and highly recommend reading. I sobbed and laughed and was just in awe of the people.

Book: Dead Man's Track

Summary: A tragic accident, a terrible crime, an unknown threat ... Scarred by a recent tragedy on Federation Peak, Tess Atherton is reluctant to guide a group of young hikers in the wild Tasmanian winter, but it seems safer than remaining amid the violence that threatens them in Hobart. Little does she know that she has brought the danger with her ... Detective Senior Sergeant Jared Denham is closing in on a serial killer, but someone doesn't want him getting to the truth and the case is becoming personal. He already owes Tess his life, and wants to return the favour - but when it comes to enemies, Jared may be looking in the wrong direction. Time is running out, and death is stalking them both ... What I Thought: A ripping read (just don’t listen to the audiobook version when bushwalking)!

Book: The Life She Deserves

Summary: Growing up in the small Australian country town of Granite Springs, Jo and Col have been lifelong friends. Following Jo's divorce and the death of Col's wife, the pair find comfort in their common grief. But as they tentatively explore their new relationship, they have little idea of the challenges that lie ahead. What they haven't bargained for is Jo's interfering ex, along with their three children, all of whom have their own agendas. Can Jo ride out the storm? Will she be granted the life she deserves? What I Thought: I really enjoyed this book. Nice to read about older couples. Off to find book 2!

Book: Double or Die

Summary: Before the name became a legend. Before the boy became a man. Kidnap. Violence. Explosions. Murder. In a north London cemetery a professor is kidnapped at gunpoint. A suspicious letter crammed with cryptic clues arrives at Eton. To decipher the deadly mystery, James Bond must take a series of dangerous gambles. Once the code is cracked, he has just 48 hours to save the professor from the dark forces that threaten to destroy them both. And, if the professor can't escape, it's not only his future under threat. It's the rest of the world's . . . What I Thought: Loved this one. Sucked in from the start.

Book: Just One Wish

Summary: Alice has always been a trailblazer as a scientist, activist and mother. She knew her choices would involve sacrifices, but now, on the eve of her eightieth birthday, she's beginning to wonder if she's sacrificed too much. Alice's daughter, Sappho, rebelled against her unconventional upbringing, choosing to marry young and embrace life as a homemaker, but her status as a domestic goddess has recently taken a surprising turn. Ged has always been the peacemaker between her grandmother and mother. A tenacious journalist, she knows what she wants in life and love, yet when everything in her world starts falling apart, she begins to question whether she really knows anyone at all. At a crossroads in each of their lives, Alice, Sappho and Ged embark on a celebratory trip together, but instead of bringing them closer, the holiday sparks life-changing consequences and lifts the lid on a fifty-year-old secret. Can Ged rescue her family if their story is built on a betrayal? What I Thought: Wow – what a ripper read. Highly recommend this book.

Book: The Good Woman of Renmark

Summary: 1895, Renmark, South Australia. Maggie O'Rourke has always had a hard head. No man was going to tie her down to a life of babies and domestic slavery, even if that man was as good (and as annoyingly attractive) as Sam Taylor. Maggie is happily earning her own way as a maid in a house on the Murray River when disaster strikes. Forced to defend herself and a friend from assault by an evil man, she flees downriver on a paddle steamer. With death at her heels, Maggie begins to realise that a man like Sam might be just who she wants in her hour of need. As for Sam, well, Maggie has always been what he wants. The further Maggie runs, the more she discovers there are some things she cannot escape... What I Thought: Really enjoyable. Love the Murray River. Love fierce independent women too.

Book: The Ruin

Summary: Galway 1993 - Young Garda Cormac Reilly is called to a scene he will never forget. Two silent, neglected children - fifteen-year-old Maude and five-year-old Jack - are waiting for him at a crumbling country house. Upstairs, their mother lies dead. Twenty years later, a body surfaces in the icy black waters of the River Corrib. At first it looks like an open-and-shut case, but then doubt is cast on the investigation's findings - and the integrity of the police. Cormac is thrown back into the cold case that has haunted him his entire career - what links the two deaths, two decades apart? As he navigates his way through police politics and the ghosts of the past, Detective Reilly uncovers shocking secrets and finds himself questioning who among his colleagues he can trust. What really did happen in that house where he first met Maude and Jack? The Ruin draws us deep into the dark heart of Ireland and asks who will protect you when the authorities can't - or won't. What I Thought: Loved this! Great flawed characters. Ripping read. Bring on book 2.

Book: The Roadhouse

Summary: When aspiring actress Charlie Carver learns that her cousin Annabelle has died, she immediately leaves Melbourne to fly home to the remote family roadhouse east of Alice Springs. It has been years since her last visit and her relationship with her mother, Molly, is strained but Charlie is determined to patch up their differences. The reunion, however, is interrupted when Molly suffers a heart attack. With her mother airlifted out for life-saving surgery, Charlie is left to take the reins of the struggling family business, alongside friends old and new, including the captivating local stockman Mike. The authorities declare Annabelle to have taken her own life, but when a woman’s body turns up at an abandoned mine site, Charlie begins to wonder what else is being covered up, and why. Beginning a search for the truth, a perilous bush chase unfolds that threatens her own life, causing Charlie to wonder whether she ever knew Annabelle at all… What I Thought: Another fab McGinnis book. Just loving her books.

Book: The Ultimate Truth (Travis Delaney Investigates)

Summary: When Travis Delaney's parents die in a car crash, Travis is devastated. In a bid to pull himself out of his grief, he starts to look into the last case they were investigating at the private investigation agency they ran. What starts as a minor distraction soon becomes a sinister, unbelievable mystery - and Travis is determined to solve it. Why were his parents looking for a missing boy when the boy's family says he isn't missing? Where is the boy himself? And why would a man who is in surveillance photos taken by Travis's parents turn up at their funeral? As Travis searches for answers, he starts to have the chilling realization that the question he should be asking is the one he most wants to avoid: Was the accident that killed his parents really what it seemed? What I Thought: Really enjoyed this – new series added to the list!

Book: Ruthless (Special Forces Cadets)

Summary: The ghettos of Colombia are crawling with street kids. They have nothing, and are forced into lives of crime in order to get enough to eat. Their life expectancies are short, not least because the Colombian authorities allow paramilitaries to shoot them like rats. But it's with the street kids of Colombia that the cadets must become embedded. Some of these kids have been recruited by the Colombian cartels. The cartels are causing untold misery, both in Colombia and on the streets of the UK. The cadets must befriend the cartel kids in the hope that they will lead them into the heart of the drug lords' empire. But when you head into the lion's den, you must expect to be bitten. The cartel chiefs are the most ruthless people in the world, and they do not take kindly to the infiltration of their secret, violent world . . . What I Thought: Another great book in the series. Enjoying these.

Book: Pearl in a Cage

Summary: On a balmy midsummer's evening in 1923, a young woman - foreign, dishevelled and heavily pregnant - is found unconscious just off the railway tracks in the tiny logging community of Woody Creek. The town midwife, Gertrude Foote, is roused from her bed when the woman is brought to her door. Try as she might, Gertrude is unable to save her - but the baby lives. When no relatives come forth to claim the infant, Gertrude's daughter Amber - who has recently lost a son in childbirth - and her husband Norman take the child in. In the ensuing weeks, Norman becomes convinced that God has sent the baby to their door, and in an act of reckless compassion, he names the baby Jennifer and registers her in place of his son. Loved by some but scorned by more - including her stepmother and stepsister who resent the interloper - Jenny survives her childhood and grows into an exquisite and talented young woman. But who were her parents? Why does she so strongly resemble an old photograph of Gertrude's philandering husband? And will she one day fulfil her potential? What I Thought: Brilliant. A few too many characters and a bit long winded but gosh Dettman does the dark side of small town life well.

Book: Lacey

Summary: Nine months later... Lacey Jerome had always fought her attraction to sexy police officer Cameron James, but one crazy night, she let her hair down and fell into bed with him. Their night together turned more passionate, more soul-scorching than she'd imagined it could be, but mixed messages from Cameron had her fleeing the scene. Now, she's back in Wirralong with the memories of their one-night stand etched into her mind and a mission to reconnect with the man who made her lose her head in the most delicious manner. Cameron never forgot Lacey -- and not for lack of trying. He has his own restrictive code, but somehow his thoughts always manage to wander to the newly returned beauty. He has questions and Lacey knows all the answers. What I Thought: Easy read. Felt a bit disjointed but still enjoyed.

Book: Conspiracy 365 - February

Summary: Cal’s old life ended as soon as the deadly 365-day countdown began. So far he’s been attacked by sharks, blamed for a vicious assault on his family, kidnapped by two criminal gangs, and left to drown in a fast-filling oil tank. He’s a hunted fugitive who’ll do anything to survive. But is Cal desperate enough to befriend a traitor with killer connections? Or risk returning to the scene of his attempted murder? Should he meet with a mysterious informant, when it could be a set-up? What I Thought: Enjoyed this – binged in a night. Shame book 3 never arrived at the Library in time for lockdown so now I have to wait.

Book: The Farm at Peppertree Crossing

Summary: An unexpected inheritance, a traumatic past and a family whose secrets are kept by the town. After a fractured childhood spent in foster homes, city-girl Roni has convinced herself that she has no need of anyone - other than her not-as-tough-as-he-looks rescued street cat, Scritches, and her unborn baby, who she's determined will feel all the love she's been denied. Despite facing a bleak future, Roni distrusts the news of a bequest from an unknown aunt, Marian Nelson. But, out of options, she and Scritches leave Sydney behind, bound for the 800-acre property on the edge of the wheat fields of South Australia. However, this is no simple inheritance: Marian seeks to control her legacy from beyond the grave by setting tasks that Roni must complete before she can claim the property and a life that could change her future. With everything at stake, Roni must learn to trust in the truth of Marian's most important lesson: everyone deserves love. What I Thought: Absolutely loved this book. Sucked in from the start. I think it would have been good to delve a bit deeper on some of the issues the characters had faced in their past but overall loved it. New author added to the list.

Book: Blood Fever (Young Bond)

Summary: James Bond has discovered danger. Now it’s come looking for him. An Eton boy’s family disappears at sea. James uncovers a shadowy society operating in a hidden corner of the school. And far from England, in the bandit-infested interior of Sardinia, a sinister Italian count has built himself a mountain fortress. Is there a connection? Young James Bond is about to find out – and face a lethal group of villains beneath the burning Mediterranean sun.

What I Thought: This one was a bit slow through the middle but I still enjoyed it. Good little series.