Special Delivery by Australian author Leesa Ronald is a delightful and hilarious romantic fiction tale.
Poppy McKellar finds herself moving back to her country hometown, Orange in Central West, NSW. Her life in Sydney has abruptly ended when she finds herself pregnant and her relationship of nine years with Patrick ends. Leaving the job she loves, and her best friend hundreds of kilometres away, she can only find comfort in knowing her parents will be close by.
Apart from her parents, Poppy has no support network and wonders how she will navigate her way through single motherhood, especially when she keeps having crisis after crisis. Enter James, the annoying “Ken doll in scrubs” midwife who Poppy keeps having awkward encounters with around town and hopes to never run into again. When it is time for her baby to arrive, Poppy is shocked to see him at her delivery.
Once discharged from hospital Poppy runs into James on her daily walk with baby girl Maeve. As their walks become frequent, she gets to know James and her opinion of him changes. As she navigates her growing attraction towards him does he feel the same way?
From the chaotic opening scene, you are hooked. The author expertly blends humour, mishaps, and the complexities of unexpected connections into a heartwarming narrative. The writing is smooth, paying attention to detail, allowing the reader to feel fully immersed in the scenes. The pace is steady and stays constant from start to finish.
There is a striking balance when it comes to character, setting, and plot. Ronald possesses the skill to develop characters with depth and authenticity. Quirky dialogue enables readers to fall in love with the characters, making them relatable and very likeable.
Poppy’s character is down-to-earth with spunk and independence but also shows vulnerability in her current situation. I like how she opened up after the birth and her transformation from a person thinking she had to do it all alone to someone willing to accept help was admirable.
Although at first James seemed uptight and a stickler for the rules, his patience, and kindness really shined through. His admirable strength of character and appealing nature make him a superbly lovable hero.
The supporting cast of characters is a great fit especially Poppy’s best friend Dani who pulls no punches, her vivacious Mum Chrissie, and next-door neighbour Mary who is very crafty in her ways.
The cover is so vibrant with its large type, layers of colour, and cute characters.
As a debut novel, Special Delivery is not only a romp through mishaps and misadventures but also a reflection on resilience, friendship, romance, and the unpredictability of life’s challenges. The author navigates these themes with light-heartedness and optimism, ensuring the novel remains a feel-good read. It will leave you smiling and eagerly anticipating Leesa Ronald’s next literary offering.
This book is a must-read for fans of romantic comedies who enjoy a blend of humour, heart, and memorable characters.
A selection of our Beauty and Lace Club members are reading Special Delivery by Leesa Ronald. You can read their comments below, or add your own review.
My love of books started at a very young age. My mum has always been a reader and encouraged me to read, buying me endless book from classic fairy tales advancing to the world of Enid Blyton, CS Lewis, Louisa May Alcott, Kathryn Kenny, Carolyn Keene, Francine Pascal. In my adult years the list of authors is endless and every room in my house is filled with books.
One of my favourite novels is Narnia which has always has a special place in my heart. I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes in 1978 and when I was given this book to read it let me escape to another world where I felt like I was in the book with all the characters, it wasfun and exciting to escape from reality and eased the ups and downs of the disease at such a young age.
In books nothing is impossible and there is endless potential and hundreds of places to explore or being taken to places that are only made up from the authors’ great minds, the past and future to navigate, characters lives you step into taking you on an emotional rollercoaster ride or being scared out of your wits. I can experience things that I can’t in real life because they’re not possible or real. It challenges my perspective and mindset expanding my worldview.
I find joy, comfort and peace with books, many people may not get it, but I know bookworms like me truly understand. Reading makes my heart happy.
Thank you Beauty and Lace for the opportunity to read Special Delivery by Leesa Ronald.
This was a great,easy read drama.
Poppy is pregnant and single.
She moves back to her home town of Orange to be closer to her family.
She meets James her midwife, he is infuriating and obnoxious.
But James stirs feelings inside Poppy, are they just friends or can something else be happening?
A well written story with lots of laughs out loud moments and totally relatable!!
Highly recommend ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
From the first page, I found myself smiling, giggling and totally relating to what the character Poppy was dealing with.
Poppy’s character has moved back to her home place of Orange where her parents live.
Poppy is pregnant and her boyfriend refuses to accept the baby and wants her to get rid of it as a baby was not in their plans at this time. There were other things that he had planned.
Her best friend Dani is a scream, but she lives further away but they are constantly on the phone all the time. Their special gestures to each other when they speak on the phone was very funny every time it was used.
There are so many interesting characters in the storyline that it’s not hard to like them all, bar Patrick the ex.
We follow the storyline of Poppy who is pregnant, needs a midwife who comes in the form of a male called James who she just does not like from the moment she meets him. Feeling is mutual with his feelings for Poppy but he just seems to pop up throughout the storyline.
There is a character called Mary who is in her 80s and lives next door to Poppy. She is such a beautiful character and someone that you would love to live next door to. Caring and lovable and looks after you in so many ways.
As you read you know that eventually Poppy and James get together but how and when and sometimes, does it actually happen?
This storyline has its ups and downs, twist and turns and definitely a page turner from the moment you start reading. I found it to be a very warming, fun book to read.
Thank you got Beauty & Lace and Allen & Unwin for this very enjoyable book to read. It really made me giggle majority of the time and smile to myself thinking, gee I did that myself so could totally relate to Poppys before and after pregnancy.
Such a delightful rom-com! We get to know the very pregnant Poppy who returns to her hometown and begins her journey as a single Mum. As a mother, the story’s so relatable as she navigates the early days of motherhood where everything is so new and uncertain.
Set in the small town of Orange, Australia, there’s a fabulous range of supporting characters including a male mid-wife. I liked the humour, and messages about the bond between friends and between mother and daughter.
So easy to read and quite heart-warming. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who likes a good romance or needs a pick-me-up. I can guarantee it will make you smile.
Thank you to Beauty & Lace and Allen & Unwin for the opportunity to read this fun book.
Thank you Beauty and Lace for the opportunity to read Leesa Ronald’s Special
Delivery – what a delightful read that anyone who has had a baby can relate to. Poppy returns home to rural NSW pregnant and alone she meets her midwife James in less than ideal circumstances and from then on we are taken on their journey as their paths continue to cross.
This was a thoroughly enjoyable read and totally relatable to the whole being a first time mum and how we cope or don’t at times.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Single, returning to her childhood town and heavily pregnant, car parking bays unavailable and she was running late for her gyne/obs appointment. Frustrated, she decides that in her condition, surely that should permit her using the only available bay, designated for parents with prams. Little did she think that someone would object – he was so rude, judgemental.
Turn the clock forward, her labor started and her midwife is unavailable, a replacement is needed as she is past the point of no return. In comes rude and judgemental… James, could this day get any worse?? At least at the end she has her daughter.
Living in a small town has its advantages, and disadvantages… Avoiding James became a challenge, especially when he turned up on her doorstep – post-partum assessment, groan.
Written well, you can feel the angst of Poppy and read the undertones insinuated in the story. Just when you hope for a zig, the story has a small zag. Nothing is simple, straight forward or as Poppy had planned.
Thank you Beauty and Lace for the fun adventure and giggles of “Special Delivery”. It was an uplifting read with some reality within the romance.
Special Delivery is Leesa Ronald’s first book and it’s a corker!
Poppy moves back to her home town, pregnant, jobless and single, she’s hit rock bottom and only has herself to depend on, she definitely doesn’t need her pesky midwife James showing up all the time, she hates him after all.
As their paths continue to cross they form a truce and a friendship starts to form, will it lead to something more?
An easy to read book that was engaging with lovable (and hatable) characters, it made me laugh and cry and had me cheering for Poppy and James!
I look forward to more of Leesas books!
Thanks Beauty and Lace and Allen & Unwin for the copy to read and review.
Thank you, Beauty & Lace, for allowing me to read and review ‘Special Delivery by Leesa Ronald’.
Poppy finds herself in her old hometown, very pregnant and alone, being let down by her boyfriend of 9 years. Fortunately, Poppy has her mum, a great neighbour, and friends willing to help her along the journey of single motherhood.
Her first meetings with James, a midwife, leave Poppy feeling infuriated and embarrassed. However, through various encounters and misadventures, love slowly blooms amongst the laughter of daily life, as Poppy navigates her way through new motherhood.
This is a great, easy-to-read romantic comedy, filled with relatable characters. Thank you ‘Beauty & Lace Bookclub’ for the opportunity to read ‘Special Delivery by Leesa Ronald’.
Thank you, Beauty and Lace, and Allen & Unwin for the opportunity to read and review ‘Special Delivery’ by Leesa Ronald. WOW I was Not Expecting Leesa’s debut novel to hit a hole-in-one. This was such an unexpected romantic romp on the golf course loop.
The depiction of how Leesa has shaped the characters and true-to-life complexities, I could not get enough of Poppy, her baby daughter Maeve and the man of the hour James. I loved the gal pal relationship between PARPEE! and DARNEE! the love / hate relationship between Poppy and her mum, and Poppy’s dad always playing the role of Switzerland and never taking sides. Equally I loathed self-centered Peter Pan (Patrick) Poppy’s ex who repeatedly failed to make the grade in daddy grad school.
Poppy is happy and nestled into the arms of her hometown of Orange, the village atmosphere where Poppy enjoys a cup of tea on the verandah with her neighbour Mary, everyone knows everyone, the local coffee shop knows just how you like your coffee, and you routinely bump into friends you went to university with.
I loved Poppy’s get back up attitude, some days run more smoothly than others, some days Poppy struggles to get out of bed, sleep deprived, sodden Weet Bix decorating her shoulder, but Poppy gives everything she’s got to Maeve, her number one priority and I thoroughly enjoyed going along for the ride.
Special Delivery by Leesa Ronald is her first novel and is a really relatable and I found the characters unforgettable.
Poppy is heavily pregnant, jobless and moves back to her hometown and feels so alone and wondering what the future holds for her.
Her best friend lives hundreds of kilometres away and her ex partner refuses to have anything to do with her and doesn’t answer her calls. Poppy does have her mum, the old lady Mary next door who befriends her and they share many a cuppa and talk. James the midwife who helped her through the birth just seems to keep popping up when she is out and about but Poppy is not sure what to make of him, but then starts to think she may have misjudged James and a real friendship starts to develop and she wonders where this will lead.
She has many ups and downs, stumbles and happy times as she goes through motherhood with Maeve but will James be a part of it all?