Behind A Closed Door by J.D. Barker

EXCERPT: . . . the app played its little triple chime and flashed a new message on her screen:
Wow, you’re on a roll! As a Bronze member you can unlock special features currently in beta and not available to members of lesser stature. Would you like to unlock those features now?
Abby read the message and realised this was the first time it asked her a question and actually gave her he ability to answer Yes or No. Usually, there was only a single ok button. Maybe that was one of the glitches they’d fixed with yesterday’s patch. She tapped Yes.
The app closed, and a small hourglass appeared on her screen as it downloaded some type of update. When the hourglass vanished, the app’s logo appeared with v1.1 in the bottom corner.
Would you like to try a Sugar or a Spice?
The font was slightly different, but otherwise everything looked the same. Abby had been sitting with her feet curled up under her on the chair, and her legs had fallen asleep. She stretched out beneath her desk, let out a yawn, and clicked on Sugar.
Would you kill a total stranger to save your partner’s life?

ABOUT ‘BEHIND A CLOSED DOOR’: Would you kill a total stranger to save someone you love?

Sugar & Spice is the latest app craze taking the world by storm, but for Abby and Brendan Hollander, downloading it leads to a dangerous game of life and death. When the app assigns them a series of increasingly taboo tasks, they soon find themselves caught up in a twisted web of seduction and violence.

MY THOUGHTS: Question: Do you ever read fully the terms and conditions of the apps you download? I don’t. Or rather, I didn’t. But after reading Behind a Closed Door, I many never download another app. In fact, I may even downgrade to a non-smart phone. J.D Barker has scared the living bejesus out of me!

I have often commented to friends that if you search for something online, you are later bombarded with information and products that you have researched. This happens to all of us. But what about when you are simply talking about something? – no online searches, no mentions or likes – just a purely verbal conversation between you and whoever. Increasingly often, this subject/item pops up on your feed. Is your technology listening to you? My honest opinion? HELL YES!

J.D. Barker has taken this premise one step further in this chilling thriller. A seemingly innocuous app that controls the lives of the characters. An app that promises to enhance your life, put the zing back in your struggling/flagging love life. An app that promises to reward you . . . just follow the prompts. How bad can it be? You can always uninstall the app – can’t you?

I have loved everything I have read by this author, but all his previous novels pale in comparison to Beyond A Closed Door. This is one wild, but totally believable ride. And because it is completely plausible, possible, it is all that more scary.

For those of you who may be put off by the mention of erotica – don’t be. It’s really quite tame – definitely no Fifty Shades of Grey (thank goodness), and one heck of a lot better written!

Several hours after having finished reading, my heart is still pounding wildly. I am looking sideways at the smart TV. Feeling grateful I have never selected the option to connect the fridge to the internet, and I never purchased an Alexa. No robot vacuum cleaner. My car with all the bells and whistles? Nah, sorry, but I can’t give up my heated seats. NOT FOR ANYTHING!

The best read of my 2024 reading year. Devious, diabolical and very, very frightening.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

#BEHINDACLOSEDDOOR #NetGalley

THE AUTHOR: A note from J.D.
As a child I was always told the dark could not hurt me, that the shadows creeping in the corners of my room were nothing more than just that, shadows. The sounds nothing more than the settling of our old home, creaking as it found comfort in the earth only to move again when it became restless, if ever so slightly. I would never sleep without closing the closet door, oh no; the door had to be shut tight. The darkness lurking inside needed to be held at bay, the whispers silenced. Rest would only come after I checked under the bed at least twice and quickly wrapped myself in the safety of the sheets (which no monster could penetrate), pulling them tight over my head.

I would never go down to the basement.

Never.

I had seen enough movies to know better, I had read enough stories to know what happens to little boys who wandered off into dark, dismal places alone. And there were stories, so many stories.

Reading was my sanctuary, a place where I could disappear for hours at a time, lost in the pages of a good book. It didn’t take long before I felt the urge to create my own.

I first began to write as a child, spinning tales of ghosts and gremlins, mystical places and people. For most of us, that’s where it begins—as children we have such wonderful imaginations, some of us have simply found it hard to grow up. I’ve spent countless hours trying to explain to friends and family why I enjoy it, why I would rather lock myself in a quiet little room and put pen to paper for hours at a time than throw around a baseball or simply watch television. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes I want to do just that, sometimes I wish for it, but even then the need to write is always there in the back of my mind, the characters are impatiently tapping their feet, waiting their turn, wanting to be heard. I wake in the middle of the night and reach for the pad beside my bed, sometimes scrawling page after page of their words, their lives. Then they’re quiet, if only for a little while. To stop would mean madness, or even worse—the calm, numbing sanity I see in others as they slip through the day without purpose. They don’t know what it’s like, they don’t understand. Something as simple as a pencil can open the door to a new world, can create life or experience death. Writing can take you to places you’ve never been, introduce you to people you’ve never met, take you back to when you first saw those shadows in your room, when you first heard the sounds mumbling ever so softly from your closet, and it can show you what uttered them. It can scare the hell out of you, and that’s when you know it’s good.

Barker resides in coastal New Hampshire with his wife, Dayna, and their daughter, Ember.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Hampton Creek Press, IBPA, via NetGalley for providing a digital ARC of Behind A Closed Door by J.D. Barker for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

With Winter Comes Darkness by Robbi Neal

EXCERPT: Wednesday, 4 June 1975 – The Darkest Day

The Peugeot doesn’t stand a chance when the Mercedes livestock truck carrying 150 unhappy sheep ploughs into it on the back road to Creswick. It is the fourth day of June 1975, the fourth day of winter and darkness falls by 5.30. Pippa, who is just six years old and loves nothing more than her Ballerina Barbie (though Deluxe Curl Barbie comes a close second), has chosen to perch on the edge of the back seat, right in the middle so she has a better view out the front windscreen because she isn’t quite tall enough to see out the side windows. But her brother Max, who is seven, just won’t stop the rib-digging and the hair-pulling, and when she complains her dad, Liam, says, ‘Don’t tease your sister, Max,’ and Max just keeps going, so finally she turns to punch him. She clenches her fist hard and she swings her arm out and right at that moment, before her fist even has the chance to connect with Max’s cheek, the truck lands on them.

ABOUT ‘WITH WINTER COMES DARKNESS’: A terrible accident burns down a family’s life on the same day a murder is committed. From the ashes of these acts comes revelation, darkness, and the truth. Psychological suspense and profound family drama meet in this heartrending and original Australian novel.

1975, Ballarat Alice is happy in her world and in return for her happiness the world is good to her. She has everything she needs – a lovely house and children, and a devoted husband. Even though her journalism job doesn’t pay much, she doesn’t have to worry about the bills. All is well with her world until a terrible accident rips a child from her, a profound betrayal is uncovered, and things fall apart.

On the same day Alice’s world collapses, a man is found brutally murdered on respected teacher Ellery’s farm. Ellery can’t remember what happened but there is blood on his clothes, and he is arrested.

Neither Alice nor Ellery realise that their paths in life are about to intertwine and a desperate bargain is about to be made. A bargain that could save or destroy them in their quest to draw some light and fathom the darkness that surrounds them.

MY THOUGHTS: With Winter Comes Darkness is not a book to be rushed through. The writing is intricate, richly detailed, quietly powerful and almost poetic at times. There were instances I had to close the covers and walk away just to breathe, to get away from the anguish that oozes from the pages. At times I felt my heart was breaking for Max, who stops talking, and for Alice, whose whole world has imploded, and yes, even (maybe especially) for Ellery, awaiting trial for murder.

Lena, Alice’s mother, and Maggie, Liam’s mother, are wonderful supplementary characters; each of whom expresses their love in different ways and each of whom has hidden depths. Bruce would have to get the award for the world’s most supportive and understanding boss. I fell in, then out, of love with Claudia very rapidly, and the less said about Liam the better. Detective Rush is another character with hidden depths. Every character in this book is so well drawn that they could walk off the page and into real life.

This is a book filled with drama, tragedy and love; a mother’s love for her child (several times over); the tragedy of losing a child; the drama of a marriage going down the drain. And then there is Ellery. Enigmatic, mysterious Ellery on remand for murder, who fascinates Alice and gives her life focus. Ellery is the character who really stood out for me. Ellery and Max, each of whom is carrying a massive burden, a secret that is crippling them.

This is a subtly written story, one that will tear at your heartstrings. I defy anyone to read this without shedding a tear or two. It is beautiful and tragic. It is a classic in the making.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

#WithWinterComesDarkness #NetGalley

THE AUTHOR: She has lived in country Victoria, Australia, for most of her life. When Robbi isn’t writing, she is painting, or reading or hanging out with her family and friends, all of whom she adores. She loves procrasti-cooking, especially when thinking about the next chapter in her writing. She also loves cheese, any cheese, all cheese and lemon gin or dirty martinis, the blues, and more cheese.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Harlequin Australia, HQ & MIRA, via NetGalley for providing a digital ARC of With Winter Comes Darkness by Robbi Neal for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

Red River Road written by Anna Downes and narrated by Maddy Withington

EXCERPT: ‘Hi everyone! I’m Phoebe and I’m a travel addict and van-lifer. I’m about to take me, myself and I off on the adventure of a lifetime – the big lap of Australia. Only two more sleeps to go. And before you ask, no I’m not scared. The first thing people say when I tell them I’m travelling alone is “Be careful”. Don’t even get me started on my parents’ response. But the world is full of magic, and solo travel offers way more rewards than risks. It’s just that the bad stories get told way more often than the good. . . .’

ABOUT ‘RED RIVER ROAD’: Katy Sweeney is determined to find her sister. A year earlier, just three weeks into a solo vanlife trip, free-spirited Phoebe vanished without a trace on Western Australia’s remote and achingly beautiful Coral Coast. With no witnesses, no leads, and no DNA evidence, the case has gone cold. But Katy refuses to give up.

Using Phoebe’s social media accounts as a map, Katy starts to retrace her steps, searching for the clues that the police have missed. Was Phoebe being followed? Who had she met along the way, and what danger did they pose? Was she as happy as her sun-bleached, lens-flared photos seem to suggest?

Then Katy’s path collides with that of Beth, a young woman on the run from her own dark past—and very recent present. And as Katy realizes that Beth might be her best and only chance of finding the truth, the two women form an uneasy alliance to venture forth into increasingly wild territory to find out what really happened to Phoebe in this breathtaking but maybe deadly place, and how her fate connects them all.

MY THOUGHTS: Red River Road, brilliantly written by Anna Downes and superbly narrated by Maddy Withington, blew me away. Tense, twisty, atmospheric and addictive are just a few of the superlatives I could use to describe this. I held my breath so often during the narrative, it’s a wonder I didn’t black out!

When I started, my first thoughts were ‘FFS! Not another alcoholic, unreliable narrator!’ But I’m pleased to report that’s not how it panned out.

The narrative is related from three POV: Katy, Beth and a 15-year-old boy, Wyatt, whose mother is also missing. All three of these main characters come across as slightly flaky and unreliable at times. Not constantly, just at times. The tension starts pretty much straight away and never completely disappears. If Anna Downes aim is to stop women travelling on their own, she has definitely succeeded with me.

There are a lot of threads to this plot which are slowly woven together to present the full picture, which turned out to be something I had never envisaged. Not even remotely imagined. There is some pretty heavy subject matter, but very little of it graphically described, including sexual assault, mental health issues, and stalking – both physically and on social media. There are some excellent and diverting red herrings, and lots of lies and secrets.

There is a general air of creepiness – who to trust? Anyone? No one? That man with the soulful eyes, reading a book? Those two women? The person I’m travelling with? Damn, I felt unsafe just reading this and I am no shrinking violet. Much is made of local legends, myths and reports of missing women. Just how can someone and their van just disappear off the face of the earth? Well, it turns out it’s quite easy . . .

What sealed the five-star rating for me was that final line in the book. Superbly chilling!

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

#RedRiverRoad #NetGalley

THE AUTHOR: ANNA DOWNES was born and raised in Sheffield, UK, but now lives just north of Sydney, Australia with her husband and two children. She worked as an actress before turning her attention to writing.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to W.F. Howes via NetGalley for providing an audio ARC of Red River Road written by Anna Downes and narrated by Maddy Withington for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

Has Anyone Seen Charlotte Salter? by Nicci French

EXCERPT: Thirty years ago in a village in East Anglia where the land is swallowed up by mudflats and marshes and a hard wind blows in from the sea, a woman went missing.
It was midwinter, sleety and dark, but Christmas was coming. There were festive lights in the high street, decorated trees in the windows, smoke curling from the chimneys of the houses. And in a barn on the edge of the village, people were gathering for a party.
But one person never arrived, and life was changed forever in that ordinary little village. Her disappearance was the start of a chain of terrible events that for more than three decades blighted the lives of two families.
This is a story of dark secrets that were buried a life-time ago, but which never lost their power, and of the grip that past has upon the present.
It is the story of the people whose lives unravelled from that winter day: sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, partners and friends.
It is the story of a woman. She is a wife, a mother, a confidante. She is impulsive and warm-hearted and full of life. when people describe her, they use words like ‘radiant’, ‘vital’, ‘generous’, ‘optimistic’. She is a woman of appetites: she loves food, red wine, long hot baths. She loves dancing. Walking in all weathers. Jigsaw puzzles. Gossip. Weepy films. Nice clothes. Crumpets. Marmalade. Chance encounters. Peonies and sweet peas. Candles, Mangy dogs. Lost causes.
She loves life. She loves people. Above all, she loves her four children.
He name is Charlotte Salter.

He looked up.
‘Does that seem all right?’
‘It was fine. More than fine. It was good.’
‘Then it’s a wrap.’

ABOUT ‘HAS ANYONE SEEN CHARLOTTE SALTER?’: 1990
When beautiful and vivacious Charlotte Salter fails to turn up to her husband Alec’s fiftieth birthday party, her children are worried, but Alec is not.

As the days pass, Etty, Niall, Paul and Ollie all struggle to come to terms with their mother’s disappearance. How can anyone vanish without a trace?

NOW
Etty returns home after years away to help move her father into a care home. Now in his eighties, Alec has dementia and often mistakes his daughter for her mother.

Etty is a changed woman from the trouble-free girl she was when Charlie was still around – all the Salter children have spent decades running and hiding from their mother’s disappearance.

But when their childhood friends, Greg and Morgan Ackerley, decide to do a podcast about Charlie’s disappearance, it seems like the town’s buried secrets – and the Salters’ – might finally come to light.

After all this time, will they finally find out what really happened to Charlotte Salter?

MY THOUGHTS: If you are looking for a great character-based mystery, pick this up!

It’s hard to beat the French duo – Nicci Gerard and Sean French – when it comes to creating an enticing atmosphere and relatable mesmerizing characters.

Has Anyone Seen Charlotte Salter is a slow-burn; it is quietly absorbing and addictive. I put everything else aside to immerse myself in this. I felt Etty’s pain as her fears for her mother were brushed aside, disregarded. Everyone else just seems to get on with their lives; but Etty’s true north has disappeared. She is devastated and struggles to cope.

But while it may appear that everyone else just gets on with their lives; it is not true. Paul, already a victim of depression, flounders even further, falls into an even deeper chasm. Niall, the eldest, falls back into the arms of the girl he broke up with on the day of the party and remains in the family business which he had been planning to leave. Ollie continues on his booze and drug filled way. And Alec? He really is a reprehensible character. He blusters and bombasts and continues on his adulterous way.

And so the family drifts, untethered and apart, for thirty odd years until two catalysts occur: Alec needs to be put into full-time care, and Morgan and Greg Ackerley announce their intention to make a podcast about the disappearance of Charlotte Salter, the woman their father is said to have murdered; the woman he supposedly killed himself over.

Has Anyone Seen Charlotte Salter is written in three distinct parts – 1990 the party and its aftermath; 2022 Etty and Ollie return home to help clear out their father’s house, and Morgan announces his intention to make a podcast on Charlie’s disappearance with the aid of his brother Greg; 2022 with a further death involving the Salters, DI Maud O’Connor from London is brought in to investigate.

Let the fun begin . . . and it does. Maud is a fresh pair of eyes and resented by the local force – in fact some of them are downright hostile toward her. They are obstructive and even rude. Lazy and slapdash, something Maud won’t tolerate. Maud is appalled by the way they failed to fully investigate Charlotte Salter’s disappearance, taking the easy way out, tying it to Duncan Ackerley’s apparent suicide to wrap it all up – quick and easy. But something doesn’t sit right with Maud – she is sure that all three deaths are linked and brings in her own reinforcements.

I loved this book. I loved the atmosphere Nicci French created – the pain, the grief, the bewilderment, the lost souls, the devastation of not one, but two families. The plot is cleverly constructed, linear, and contains some red herrings, plausible and well-constructed.

And did I solve the mystery? – No, but I loved every moment.

The Nicci French duo never fails to please me and Has Anyone Seen Charlotte Salter is right up there with the best of their work.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

#HasAnyoneSeenCharlotteSalter? #WaitomoDistrictLibrary

If I Should Lose You by Natasha Lester

Don’t let the cover fool you – this is a challenging book, written with gloves off!

EXCERPT: Louisa laughs. ‘So you just need me to tell you it’s okay to do it. To tell you that you’re not abandoning your sick child in her hour of need.’
I laugh too. ‘Something like that.’ Then I stop laughing and say, ‘I just want something more than damaged bodies and shitty nappies and squabbles about never being home in time for dinner. I want something fine. Like . . . I don’t know . . .’ I scrabble around in a mind that has fallen out of the habit of such discussion. ‘Like falling in love. That’s what the exhibition should be about.’
‘Sounds like you’ve thought about it too much to say no.’
I realise Louisa is right. As usual. And then it slips out. ‘The exhibition’s a joint one. With Jack Darcy’s paintings of Alix as well.’
Louisa pauses and then her words almost shock me. ‘That’s a love story too, Camille.’
‘How can you be so generous?’ I blurt. ‘Dan was your brother.’
‘Dan was dead, Camille. And Alix grieved too much. Until Jack came along. She needed him. Because she had you and you can’t raise a child with grief.’
I wonder if that is true. If I am raising my own children with grief, an insidious grief that is all the more dangerous for being unsaid. Because it is for a loss that hasn’t yet happened, a loss that might not happen. A loss that we have simply been threatened with, ever since Addie was born. And grief over another loss, one I have never quite understood. That of my mother.

ABOUT ‘IF I SHOULD LOSE YOU’: Camille work as a transplant nurse, counselling families through heart-rending decisions. At home, her own daughter Addie is critically ill.

When an invitation to curate an exhibition arrives from artist Jack Darcy, her late mother’s lover, Camille is plunged into unresolved questions about her childhood and her mother’s life.

As Addie gets sicker, Camille wonders how far she will go to save her child – and how much of herself she can give when she has everything to lose.

MY THOUGHTS: If I Should Lose You is an emotionally challenging read. My heart feels like it has been pummeled, twisted and bent out of shape. I am exhausted, shattered, and battered, but content.

I could not string together coherent thoughts when I finished If I Should Lose You. It has taken almost 48 hours for me to come to the point where I can actually write about this heart-rending reading experience.

Organ donation and the arts – not two subjects I have ever come across linked before. Yet, here they are, in a sensitively written book about the complexities of organ donation, of caring for a child who needs an organ donation to survive, of grief, of hope, of love. The art tells a story of passionate love; of one woman and two men. It is not only unashamedly beautiful and poignant – it also serves a purpose.

This wasn’t a book that I devoured quickly; it was a read I lingered over, reading, thinking. What would I do? Would I behave any differently? The severe illness of a child, constant near-death experiences, puts an incredible strain on a relationship; even more so when there is another child to be considered. There is still money to be earned, bills to be paid, the detritus of daily life to be attended to. And always, in the back of one’s mind, the thought, ‘What if, while I’m not there, she dies . . .’

In direct contrast to the beautiful and poignant story of Alix’s two loves, the story of Camille and her family is written with a raw and brutal honesty.

This is the story of two generations of one family, the medical diagnoses that tore them apart and the art that tells at least part of the story. But will it be enough to repair the damage?

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

#IfIShouldLoseYou @FremantlePress

THE AUTHOR: Natasha Lester lives in Perth, Western Australia with her 3 children and loves fashion history, practising the art of fashion illustration, collecting vintage fashion, travelling and, of course, books.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Fremantle Press for providing an ARC of the 2024 edition of If I Should Lose You by Natasha Lester for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own opinions.

The Grazier’s Son by Cathryn Hein

EXCERPT: In the end, the grave wasn’t hard to find. It lay in the shadow of the tallest, most ostentatious monument in the cemetery, as dark, plain and flat as its neighbour was lofty, light and gaudy. The slab sported a single ugly embellishment – a coarse brown block erupting from its polished granite surface. where the epitaph should have read ‘Rest in Peace’ someone had stuck a clumsily engraved hunk of brick over ‘Peace’ to make the epitaph read ‘Rest in Hell’.

ABOUT ‘THE GRAZIER’S SON’: When taking up an unexpected inheritance with an unhappy past, newcomer Stirling is daunted to find a town set against him. Except, perhaps, for one sassy, big-hearted woman, who is willing to give him a chance to prove he belongs. Pitch-perfect rural romance from popular Australian author Cathryn Hein.

When helicopter pilot Stirling Hawley travels to Grassmoor in Victoria’s lush Western District to claim an inheritance, he doesn’t expect to face a town that hates him.

Nor does he anticipate being saved from near-death by glamorous vintage clothing designer Darcy Sloane. Or that she’ll take a personal interest in his recovery. But Grassmoor and Westwind, the historic mansion Stirling inherited from the father he never knew, prove full of surprises.

The more Stirling digs into his father’s life, the more uneasy he becomes. Behind Dougal Kildare’s respectable stock agent and farmer veneer was a man of secrets. While the fraud that devastated the community and led to Dougal’s tragic death is one, there are others. And such things never stay buried forever…

As Stirling’s suspicions about Dougal’s death grow, danger creeps ever closer. Until it’s not only Stirling’s life in peril but the woman he’s come to love.

MY THOUGHTS: Cathryn Hein ripped my heart to shreds not once, but twice. Beautifully written, The Grazier’s Son is the perfect combination of romance and Australian Outback mystery/crime thriller.

I had all the emotions reading this. Not only is the plot superbly tight, but the characters captivated my heart. I felt Stirling’s pain, and his joy; Darcy’s passion and exuberance – if you love stories about strong women, you’ll love Darcy; she’s strong and soft all in one! The supporting characters of Toby, Gav, Lissette and Shiloh all have distinct personalities and clear roles to play. Everyone needs a friend like Lissette!

Small towns like Grassmoor have their pluses and negatives – everyone knows everyone’s business and they all stick together. In this case they shun Stirling, not that they know him, but for his father’s crime. And it seems that, even for all of Darcy’s defiance in standing up to them, not even she is able to sway their stance. Rumors abound and strange things happen at the homestead.

There is plenty of action, including in the bedroom – but don’t worry it’s all closed door.

I loved this book, my first by this author. It won’t be my last. I felt very emotional while reading The Grazier’s Son. I choked up in places, my eyes glistening with tears, and was tense with fingernails digging into my palms in others. I enjoyed the sensual, sensitive treatment of the love scenes and cried freely twice as the author ripped my heart to shreds.

The perfect read.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

#TheGraziersSon #NetGalley

THE AUTHOR: A South Australian country girl by birth, Cathryn loves nothing more than a rugged rural hero who’s as good with his heart as he is with his hands, which is probably why she writes them! Her romances are warm and emotional, and feature themes that don’t flinch from the tougher side of life but are often happily tempered by the antics of naughty animals. Her aim is to make you smile, sigh, and perhaps sniffle a little, but most of all feel wonderful.
Cathryn lives in Newcastle, Australia with her partner of many years, Jim. When she’s not writing, she plays golf (ineptly), cooks (well), and in football season barracks (rowdily) for her beloved Sydney Swans AFL team.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Harlequin Australia, HQ & MIRA, via NetGalley for providing a digital ARC of The Grazier’s Son for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

Thorn on the Rose (Woody Creek #2) by Joy Dettman

EXCERPT: ‘You just wrote the perfect story,’ she said. ‘Born beside a railway line, raised in a railway house by the stationmaster and his mad wife, and so the heroine grew to adulthood with her unwed mother’s morals and her father’s lack of conscience – and I’ve already written the ending.’
‘You’ve got strength enough to write any ending that you want to write, darlin’.’
‘All done,’ Jenny said. ‘It’s out of my hands – gone to the publishers.’

ABOUT ‘THORN ON THE ROSE’: It is 1939 and Jenny Morrison, distraught and just fifteen years of age, has fled the tiny logging community of Woody Creek for a new life in the big smoke.

But four months later she is back – wiser, with an expensive new wardrobe, and bearing another dark secret…

She takes refuge with Gertrude, her dependable granny and Woody Creek’s indomitable midwife, and settles into a routine in the ever-expanding and chaotic household.

But can she ever put the trauma of her past behind her and realise her dream of becoming a famous singer? Or is she doomed to follow in the footsteps of her tragic and mysterious mother?

MY THOUGHTS: I loved the first in this Woody Creek series, Pearl in a Cage, but Thorn on the Rose leaves that in the dust. I was swept away by Jenny’s story. My heart broke at the misfortunes that befell her, and those she brought on herself. It seems that Jenny just can’t win a trick.

There is a richly drawn cast of characters: Gertrude, who Jenny calls ‘Granny’, the area midwife now in her seventies but still providing refuge to Jenny, Elsie and their families, still being chased after by Vern Hooper (definitely not being wooed!); Jenny, whom the father that ‘raised’ her, and I use that term loosely, once described as . . . a golden songbird, hatched into a nest of grey sparrows . . . a classical portrait, framed in gold and hung in a gallery of fools.’; Jim, Vern Hooper’s only son and heir, who falls in love with Jenny, and unwittingly starts a feud and a seemingly endless legal battle; Amber, Gertrude’s daughter and ‘mother’ to Jenny, who incessantly teeter on the edge of insanity; and Sissy, Jenny’s ‘sister’, an ugly natured woman who hates Jenny with a vengeance.

Thorn on A Rose is largely set against the background of WWII, and Dettman’s descriptions of life at that time, in both the city and the country are well researched and realistic.

This series is addictive. It is beautifully written; full of mystery, misery, joy, humor and characters that remain with me long after I have closed the covers.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

#ThornontheRose @JoyDettman

THE AUTHOR: Joy Dettman was born in country Victoria and spent her early years in towns on either side of the Murray River. She sees herself as a wife, mother and grandmother, who steals time from her family to satisfy her obsessive need to write.

Joy was not always a wife, mother and grandmother. She can recall her early obsession with newspaper cartoons. They were her picture books. A newspaper shoutline allowed her to break the code of reading prior to entering a school room, thus addicting her for life to the printed word.

Woody Creek originated as a novel, in the singular, but its characters too long buried, would not be contained. It has grown into a series of seven.

I own my copy of Thorn on a Rose by Joy Dettman.

Inventor Adventure by Selma Benkiran

EXCERPT: . . . this summer was going to be epic.
‘We’re going to the rainforest for a month!’ his dad announced.
Excitement bubbled inside Lilo as he imagined himself hiking through vibrant forests. He could already hear the chirps of exotic birds.
THE DILEMA
‘But my plants!’ A sudden worry hit him. ‘Who will water them?’

ABOUT ‘INVENTOR ADVENTURE’: When Lilo realizes that his plants won’t be watered while he is on vacation, his inventive spirit takes over. He will simply invent a machine that will water them for him.

He attempts several experiments but encounters obstacles. Each setback holds an important science lesson that will bring him closer to his goal. More importantly, each setback offers a precious life lesson laying the building blocks for resilience, determination, and inner trust – qualities that many adults wish they learned sooner in life.

Younger readers (6) can embark with Lilo for thrilling experiments and unexpected twists turning ‘uh-oh’ into ‘aha!’ moments.Older children (7-8) can witness Lilo’s growth as an inventor, taking in precious life Overcoming overwhelm and perfectionism, daring to fail, nurturing inner trust, and much more.More mature children (9+) will unveil the profound meaning of the self-watering journey. Lilo’s invention becomes a metaphor for our own path of self-nurturing. The story beautifully illustrates that to care for anything in life, one must take care of their own well-being.Each page sparks valuable conversations about science and life. It is a great prompt for discussions between teachers or parents and children.

MY THOUGHTS: Really, the synopsis says it all.

I was enchanted as I read the meticulously illustrated Inventor Adventure. It encourages children to think for themselves, face problems head on, not be afraid to fail or to try again.

I gave this to my seven-year-old grandson to read and he loved it. I asked him what he liked best about the book, and he replied that it’s okay to give up for a while on a problem; to go away and think and come back to it. And my seventeen-year-old grandson agreed, saying that it shows other ways to face up to problems other than abandoning them and destroying any work done in a temper and that it is important to realise that things don’t have to be perfect all the time.

We voted unanimously on five stars for Inventor Adventure and are pleased that Lilo had a great time in the rainforest.

#InventorAdventure

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THE AUTHOR: Selma is a recovering perfectionist. After a career in Engineering and Finance and dabbling with inventions, Selma became caught in the vortex of her three kids’ voracious appetite for learning and endless creativity and set out to guide them through life’s inevitable challenges to fuel their fiery passion.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to author Selma Benkiran for providing a PDF of Inventor Adventure for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely the opinions of myself and my two grandsons.

Red Dirt Home by Renae Black

EXCERPT: Paige’s voice kept playing in his mind, eating at him. Do the right thing, Jackson. The right thing. What even was the right thing? He rolled his eyes. This was the answer she wanted him to give – coming home. So, it must be the right thing.
Right?

ABOUT ‘RED DIRT HOME’: To move forward, she’ll have to face the past.

Paige Bennett is fulfilling her childhood dream of working and living on the land as a station hand on Whitetail Ridge. Getting her hands dirty, riding horses, working with cattle and kicking up red dust. Life can’t get much better. Or so she thinks, until a devastating act of violent betrayal leaves her unemployed, homeless and broken.

A fight with his father drove Jackson Brady off Karilga, his family’s cattle station in the Queensland outback. Now he’s made a life for himself away from the land, joining a band and settling into the city. When the girl he’s always had his eye on shows up with news from back home, he’s faced with a difficult go home where he’s needed or stay where he’s wanted.

Winding up on Karilga Station, Paige is a shadow of the person she once was. Desperate to forget what happened to her, she considers leaving her beloved channel country. But things aren’t so easily forgotten in the outback. When fate gives her no option but to trust again, will she find love as well? Or at least a safe place to land?

Jackson knows he’s never been more to Paige than a country larrikin who only takes the beer at the end of the day seriously – a sentiment closely echoed by his father. Can Jackson prove himself to his father and become the man Paige needs him to be? Or will it all crumble in the red dirt of the outback?

MY THOUGHTS: Wow! I wasn’t expecting a novel as powerful as this! I thought I was getting an Australian outback romance – and I did, but it was so very much more. Renae Black exercised all my emotions from laughter to tears and everything in between.

The author has written a content warning at the very beginning of the book as the book is written in the spirit of the #metoo movement. Her inspiration for Paige’s character came from the many women the author has worked with in her role as a social worker; women who have experienced ‘horrific trauma in their lives’ but have moved forward to a brighter future. ‘Paige is a fictional character, not based on any one of them, but she captures a piece of all of them.’ Red Dirt Home also contains a sexual assault which, while not depicted on the page, may be distressing to some readers because of the lead-up to the event and the emotional journey that follows. (ABRIDGED).

Renae Black has conveyed the shame and the fear that stops victims from reporting their assault to the police and how having someone who believes in them helps them move forward. All during this part of the book, I was choked up. I couldn’t bear to put down my Kindle because I just had to know that there was going to be a positive outcome for Paige, despite the fact that she was keeping herself distanced from everyone, even pushing away her friends.

The impact of the assault on Paige’s life was devastating. She started second-guessing herself, blaming herself and lost all confidence. She shut herself off from everyone; isolating herself, scared that people would judge her as, indeed, some did.

Red Dirt Home is a powerfully emotional read. It is beautifully written and kept me engrossed throughout. It is not a dark book, but one that has plenty to offer, describing life on an outback cattle station, the supportive relationships that are formed, so necessary when living in such isolated conditions. There is a wonderful romance and plenty of heartwarming moments.

If you are looking for a book with a little romance but a lot of heart, this is it. Kudos to the author for tackling a difficult subject head on in an empathetic, inspiring and constructive way.

Although this is the second book in a series, it is easily read as a stand-alone. This was my first book by this author but I will definitely be reading more from her.

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#RedDirtHome #NetGalley

THE AUTHOR: My family stretches back to at least three generations of farmers on both my mum and my dad’s side. I spent my formative years, growing up on a property north of Wagga Wagga, NSW that bred cattle and hosted the odd ostrich sale. My childhood was littered with animals – working and house dogs, the odd run in with a brown snake or two, an injured cockatoo, a long neck turtle and later a cockatiel named Harry who called everyone “Gorgeous”. That’s only a handful!

I strongly believe that farm life, and small town living gets under your skin and never actually leaves you. (Source: renaeblack.com)

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Harlequin Australia, HQ & MIRA, via NetGalley for providing a digital ARC of Red Dirt Home by Renae Black for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

Don’t Forget Me by Rea Frey

EXCERPT: . . . his voice faded before he inhaled sharply, choking on his own spit. ‘Is that a body?’
I nodded, curt. ‘I saw it when I was rowing. It was just . . . there. Floating.’
He looked from me to the lake and back to me again. ‘Are you okay? That must have been terrifying, especially after everything you’ve been through these last few months.’
I swallowed the last part of that sentence, burying it with all the other trauma, and focused on what was at stake now, in the moment. Suddenly, I whipped back to the lake. ‘Ralph, if there’s a body in our lake, then that means someone put it there.’ Though it wasn’t a question, he nodded, seeming to make an instantaneous judgement.
‘Maybe, but we have to figure out the facts first.’
This couldn’t have been an accidental drowning. Not when the body was wrapped up like that. I thought of Cottage Grove’s obsession with true crime. There were thriller book clubs and ‘whodunnit’ crime nights, where we ‘solved’ cold murder cases in under three hours. We called ourselves the Murderlings. At first, I’d been hesitant to join, but once I solved my first case, I was hooked. Now with a murder in our own backyard, they were going to have a field day with this.

ABOUT ‘DON’T FORGET ME’: When a body is presumed to be her missing husband’s, a woman must unravel the secrets of her own past to clear her name, find the truth, and put her conscience to rest once and for all.

All Ruby wanted was a fresh start. But after an early retirement and a relocation to a tight-knit community with her husband, Tom, and her daughter, Lily, her new beginning takes a turn.

First her troubled daughter and then her husband disappear without a trace. Unsure how to cope, grief-ridden Ruby turns to her neighborhood friends to find a way forward with new hobbies, including a murder club where they try to solve cold cases.

But just as unexpectedly as her family vanished, a body floats to the surface of the nearby lake.

And everyone is sure the body belongs to Tom…everyone except Ruby.

Determined to find out what happened to her family once and for all, Ruby digs into her neighbors’ lives, and her own, only to uncover secrets that raise more questions than they answer. And the biggest question of all—why doesn’t she recognize the body?

MY THOUGHTS: Rea Frey has done it again! This is the second (out of three) five-star book I have read by this author. Taut, twisty and surprising.

Told in alternating timelines of ‘NOW’ and “THEN’ with snippets from a community online chat thread interspersed, Don’t Forget Me is full of secrets slowly being exposed, along with a good helping of domestic abuse, childhood trauma, a murder or three and some missing persons. I recommend you go into this cold, suspend your belief and just enjoy the fast-paced and riveting ride. Oh yes, and trust no one!

Don’t Forget Me has an ending I never saw coming. It is deliciously chilling, but not as chilling as the very last line – which sent a shiver up my spine.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

#DontForgetMe #NetGalley

THE AUTHOR: I never thought I would become an author.
Growing up, I believed the false story that writing was a hobby; it wasn’t a job. But I’ve always liked a challenge.
Known as The Book Doula, Rea also helps other writers birth their books into the world.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Thomas & Mercer via NetGalley for providing a digital ARC of Don’t Forget Me by Rea Frey for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.