October kind of flew by in a blink and I got a little, well okay A LOT, behind. I ended up writing 4 reviews in one day to try and get caught up.
Today, instead of reading the last book and trying to get that reviewed I’m working on book club lists for November. I can only imagine how quick that month is going to go on the slippery slide into the Christmas season.
November sees us sending massive thanks to Harlequin for supplying three of our books, and Harper Collins and Allen & Unwin.
There’s a mix of genres and majority are authors we have read for book club previously; which is always enough to excite me.
Child of Africa – T.M. Clark
Harlequin – HQ Fiction – Adult
After his recent tour in Afghanistan, ex-British marine Joss Brennan faces a new life as a double amputee. All he wants is to be left alone to complete his rehabilitation and forget about his calling to be a frontline commando. Returning home to his safari lodge on the banks of Lake Kariba, Zimbabwe, he joins his old friend Chief Bongani in returning the lodge to its former glory and improving his people’s lives.
Peta de Longe is a big game veterinarian and no stranger to hard decisions. Working in the messy political society that is Zimbabwe, she is engaged in a constant struggle to save the national parks, and their wildlife. When she nearly drives over Joss at the Beit Bridge, the reunion isn’t joyous. Joss let down her dying sister eighteen months before. After she uncovers the terrible ordeal that kept him away, she discovers that Joss could be the key to the love she’s been missing. Together with Chief Bongani, the ragtag family begin creating harmony for the Binga Safari area.
Too soon they discover that the power held by Chief Bongani’s brother, Tichawana, a corrupt and vicious businessman with close ties to government, is dangerous and inescapable. When Tichawana makes a deadly play for Bongani’s chieftainship, Joss must find the strength within to fight again. But to prevail is Joss going to need to let go of his dream to return to the front line? Is it perhaps people much closer to home who need a commando…?
Moment of Truth – Mandy Magro
Harlequin – Mira – Adult
The past she can’t remember just won’t let her go …
Alexis Brown was thirteen when her parents were killed, but her memory of anything that happened that night was lost when she hit her head. The police labelled it a murder-suicide, but Alexis has grown up believing her loving father could never have killed her mother. So when, seventeen years later, Alexis receives an anonymous note telling her the police were wrong and her parents were both murdered she’s determined to return to Blue Ridge and find out the truth.
Inheriting his grandfather’s horse training farm after Charlie is diagnosed with dementia, Ethan King faces hard work to resuscitate the failing Diamond Acres. The farm has been in decline since the violent acts at the cottage created such a scandal.
When Alexis arrives at the newly renovated cottage, hoping to awaken her lost memories. She can’t help but notice how strong and handsome her childhood friend has become. But she’s not here for love, as soon as the truth is uncovered she has to return to her life, and falling for Ethan would only leave her with a broken heart.
For Ethan getting to know the resilient woman that Alexis has blossomed into leaves his world upside down. But as they spend the days together and with their mutual love for horses, it doesn’t take long for Alexis and Ethan to discover their friendship is much more than they’d first thought … But will it all be threatened by a shocking secret from all those years ago?
The Treatment – C.L. Taylor
Harlequin – Young Adult HQ – YA
“You have to help me. We’re not being reformed. We’re being brainwashed.”
All sixteen year old Drew Finch wants is to be left alone. She’s not interested in spending time with her mum and stepdad and when her disruptive fifteen year old brother Mason is expelled from school for the third time and sent to a residential reform academy she’s almost relieved.
Everything changes when she’s followed home from school by the mysterious Dr Cobey, who claims to have a message from Mason. There is something sinister about the ‘treatment’ he is undergoing. The school is changing people.
Determined to help her brother, Drew must infiltrate the Academy and unearth its deepest, darkest secrets.
Before it’s too late.
Facing The Flame – Jackie French
HarperCollins Children’s Books – will appeal to teens and adults
There have been fires before, but not like this. Heartbreaking and powerful, FACING THE FLAME is a story of the triumph of courage and community, and a love for the land so deep that not even bushfire can erode it.
Gibber’s Creek, 1978
As grass dries and the hot wind howls, Gibber’s Creek will burn.
But if you love your country, you will fight for it. Lu Borgino has been recently blinded, but she battles flames to save a racehorse, even though her dreams of being Australia’s first professional female jockey have been destroyed.
Scarlett O’Hara risks her hard-won life at medical school, and the new love of Alex Romanov, to save a child.
Flinty McAlpine draws on the local knowledge of tens of thousands of years to protect her valley.
And Jed Kelly must escape not just bushfire, but the man who plots to kill her with it’s power.
Suddenly One Summer – Fleur McDonald
Allen & Unwin – Adult
In the tradition of Red Dust, Suddenly One Summer is yet another classic rural romance novel by leading author, Fleur McDonald.
When Brianna Donahue was three years old, her mother mysteriously disappeared while farming in Merriwell Bay, Western Australia. Her body has never been found. Brianna works the same land with her father Russell, while almost single-handedly raising her two children as her husband Caleb works as a fly-in fly-out criminal lawyer in Perth.
One scorching summer’s morning, her son Trent goes missing and, while frantically searching for him, Brianna must come to terms with the fact that her marriage has large cracks in it.
Over two thousand kilometres away in South Australia, Detective Dave Burrows receives a phone call reporting stolen sheep from an elderly farmer. When he and his partner Jack arrive at the farm, it’s clear that Guy has early signs of dementia. Following a conversation with his wife Kim, Dave becomes intrigued with Guy’s family history. Was there a sister, or was there not? No one seems to know.
So how will Dave’s investigation impact Brianna’s world? While battling the threat of bushfires back in Merriwell Bay, Brianna is faced with challenges that test her relationships with those she loves most. Suspenseful and incendiary, Suddenly One Summer is an intriguing and heartfelt story of the unlikely connections of life on the land.
A huge thanks goes out to the publishers without whom we could not offer such great reads. Harlequin, HarperCollins, and Allen and Unwin we are so grateful for the support you show us, we couldn’t do it without you.
If you aren’t yet a member of the Beauty and Lace Club there is still time to join, head over to the signup page and take a look: yoursay.beautyandlace.net.
Keep an eye out for the reviews to start coming in! Good luck and happy reading!
I devour books, vampires and supernatural creatures are my genre of choice but over the past couple of years, I have broadened my horizons considerably. In a nutshell – I love to write! I love interacting with a diverse range of artists to bring you interviews. Perhaps we were perfect before – I LOVE WORDS!
Another brilliant listing with, I believe. something for everyone. Lovely to possibly catch up with authors who have become familiar through my association with Beauty and Lace. Off to do my email! Thanks, Michelle, Anna and the publishers.
Some wonderful titles this month. So hard to chose. May have to just pull some numbers out of a hat. :))