⭐️4.5 Stars⭐️ Skull River is the first book I’ve read by Pip Fioretti and wow it’s such a fantastic historical rural mystery/crime read, I will definit⭐️4.5 Stars⭐️ Skull River is the first book I’ve read by Pip Fioretti and wow it’s such a fantastic historical rural mystery/crime read, I will definitely be reading the first book Bone Lands which also features the same protagonist August Hawkins.
It’s not a good first day on the job in a new town when you’re ambushed by a hidden shooter and your junior officer is killed right next to you as well as your horse and to top it off your police station is burnt to the ground.
Set in 1912, Australia, August Hawkins is a mounted trooper assigned to a fading gold town named Colley in NSW to oversee a number of rural police stations. August is a fascinating character, he is suffering PTSD as a Boer War veteran.
The story felt like an Australian western, it was so informative learning about Australia in that time period and I loved it, the characters, scenery and plot were excellent, I highly recommend.
Publication Day 2025 Publisher Affirm Press
Thank you to the fabulous team Affirm Press for a copy of the book...more
⭐️3.5 Stars⭐️ Unbury the Dead by Fiona Hardy is a fun-filled and entertaining crime/mystery with attitude and a dollop of violence on the side.
This cri⭐️3.5 Stars⭐️ Unbury the Dead by Fiona Hardy is a fun-filled and entertaining crime/mystery with attitude and a dollop of violence on the side.
This crime debut features two formidable young women, Teddy and Alice who can be hired and relied upon to clean up and fix any mess with no questions asked. The women are morally grey characters and petty criminals.
Teddy’s latest assignment is to search for a missing teenager and Alice is driving one of Australia’s richest in his coffin to his designated resting place before anyone knows he died. I did love the settings of Melbourne and the Victorian countryside.
These women work well together, they make a fabulous duo with great dynamics. A wonderful debut, looking forward to see what’s next for this author.
Publication Day 25 February 2025 Publisher Affirm Press
Thank you to the fabulous team Affirm Press for a copy of the book & matching bookmark....more
⭐️5 Stars⭐️ Barren Cape by Michelle Prak You’ll become so immersed in this book you’ll forget you’re reading, I flew through it! I absolutely loved this⭐️5 Stars⭐️ Barren Cape by Michelle Prak You’ll become so immersed in this book you’ll forget you’re reading, I flew through it! I absolutely loved this somewhat disturbing and suspense packed thriller.
Welcome to Barren Cape an abandoned and uncompleted luxury resort set on the Fleurieu Peninsula in South Australia. It’s the perfect accomodation for someone who is left homeless with little choice of finding suitable accomodation in Australia’s worst rental housing crisis.
Mac and Erika were evicted from their rental accommodation and were finding it extremely difficult to find somewhere else to rent. Erika has gone back to live with her parents but Mac is struggling and tired of couch surfing.
When Mac finds the fenced off and abandoned building at Barren Cape she burrows under the fence and makes one of the rooms her temporary home, it’s the perfect place to hide out but is it a refuge or is there something sinister going on?
The shocking turns and twists will have you on the edge of your seat! Perfect for thriller fans and those that love a fast read! I want to read more by this talented South Aussie author.
Publication Date 02 April 2025 Publisher Simon & Schuster Australia
Thanks heaps to the amazing team Simon & Schuster Australia for a copy of the book....more
⭐️4 Stars⭐️ Swept Away by Beth O'Leary is a bingeable survival drama and more than a rom com, it features two likeable characters, Zeke and Lexi who ar⭐️4 Stars⭐️ Swept Away by Beth O'Leary is a bingeable survival drama and more than a rom com, it features two likeable characters, Zeke and Lexi who are stranded on a houseboat, swept out to sea.
After a one night stand on the houseboat and a harrowing adventure on the ocean will there be a romance and will they both survive?
Swept away is beautifully written, I felt the couples moments of fear and hope, the story is full of heart and suspense and there’s an unexpected twist.
Get swept away with this fun, adventurous and forced proximity lost at sea romance.
Publication Date 01 April 2025 Publisher Imprint Quercus
Thank you so much to the wonderful team Hachette Australia for a copy of the book.
⭐️4.5 Stars⭐️ Wow what an incredible and inspiring story of courage and hope, The Mademoiselle Alliance by Natasha Lester is a must read, I couldn’t pu⭐️4.5 Stars⭐️ Wow what an incredible and inspiring story of courage and hope, The Mademoiselle Alliance by Natasha Lester is a must read, I couldn’t put this novel down.
Young Marie-Madeleine, a journalist, rally car driver and pilot was the only woman ever to lead the largest resistance network (Alliance) during WWII in France and an unsung hero. This novel is inspired by the true story of Marie-Madeleine Fourcade (1909-1989).
The sacrifices this mother of two young children made are beyond belief, there was imminent danger around every corner as she become top of the Gestapo’s most wanted.
The research that has gone into this work is impeccable. I’m so grateful that authors like Natasha bring these unsung hero stories to life.
I admired Marie-Madeleine’s character and her leadership, my other favourite characters in the book were Leon and Lucien. The scene with the smuggled mailbag was unbelievable, now there’s determination! A beautifully written tale that’s so much more than a war story.
Now I’m going to google this heroine!
Thank you to the lovely team Hachette Australia for an ARC copy of the book....more
⭐️3.5 Stars⭐️ The Body Next Door by Zane Lovitt is a cozy murder mystery with a very Aussie flavour and set in a suburban Melbourne neighbourhood cul d⭐️3.5 Stars⭐️ The Body Next Door by Zane Lovitt is a cozy murder mystery with a very Aussie flavour and set in a suburban Melbourne neighbourhood cul de sac. It’s a lighthearted and sometimes witty read that kept me guessing.
Jamie has moved back to the family home in Carnation Way after a marriage split and to care for his father Bruce who is struggling with dementia. Claire is a lively florist also living on the same street and has gone missing.
The street has a bad past, a young boy was found murdered under one of the houses thirteen years earlier. Secrets are unwrapped, is Jamie’s father Bruce hiding something? Jamie is keen to solve the mystery of Claire’s disappearance, is it connected to the boys murder years ago? What do the carnations mean?
I felt heartbroken for Bruce and the way his illness affected him and Jamie.
Publication Day 04 March 2025 Publisher Text Publishing
Thank you to the fabulous team Text Publishing for a copy of the book....more
After being dumped by her fiancé, Kitty Landers boards a plane from Australia to France in her pale pink wedding dress.
Kitty heads to Grasse the perfume capital of the world for a chance to start over and here she will focus on learning to make perfume by the best, her passion has always been to create perfume.
In Grasse she meets two handsome millionaires from famous perfume houses, she tells herself she won’t fall in love again!
Will Kitty mend her broken heart and find love?
An enjoyable read and a fantastic series, I can’t wait for the next one!
Publication Date 21 February 2025 Publisher Indie Author
Thank you so much @leannelovegroveauthor for sending me a copy of the book....more
⭐️5 Stars⭐️ See How They Fall by Rachel Paris is an exceptionally fast paced crime thriller where all is not what it seems. I was hooked from the start⭐️5 Stars⭐️ See How They Fall by Rachel Paris is an exceptionally fast paced crime thriller where all is not what it seems. I was hooked from the start and loved the way it kept me guessing. I can’t believe this is Rachels� first novel!
The story features a powerfully rich family, it’s absolutely suspenseful and the characters are outstanding.
Everything implodes following a family dinner at the lavish family estate where they have all got together for the long weekend. There’s a family tragedy involving one of the female members and a young child.
Our narrators are Mei the detective on the case and Syke Turner who has married into the wealthy Turner family.
Rachel Paris is an author to watch out for, loved the book!
Publication Date 26 March 2025 Publisher Hachette Australia
Thank you so much Hachette Autralia for a copy of the book. ...more
⭐️4.5 Stars⭐️ The Heirloom by The Heirloom is a beautifully told story and extremely well written plus it kept me up all night. I found the story reall⭐️4.5 Stars⭐️ The Heirloom by The Heirloom is a beautifully told story and extremely well written plus it kept me up all night. I found the story really intriguing especially the themes of ancestry, witchcraft, seeing into the future and old traditions of using herbs to cure ailments.
Told in dual timelines - 2024, meet Mia who lives in Australia, she is shocked to learn she’s received an inheritance from her grandmother Henrietta in England whom she has never known. Why didn’t her grandmother leave the inheritance to Mia’s mother?
Mia an artist and barista travels to Sussex, England from Australia to meet the probate genealogist, Reid and claim her inheritance, here she learns many secrets about the generations of women in her family. She also learns why her mother left England never to return.
1821 - Philadeplhia Boadle, a milliner, mother and wife is accused of witchcraft and her husbands murder, can she prove her innocence? Her brother in law is calling her a murderer and the village is turning against her.
I highly recommend to readers who love a good mystery with a touch of witchcraft, folklore, ancestry and history from the past.
Publication Date 14 January 2025 Publisher Hachette Australia
Thank you so much to the lovely @juliebrooks_books for sending me a copy of this beautiful book....more
⭐️4.5 Stars⭐️ The Rule by author Bronwyn Eley is book one in a duology and is out now and what an absolute addictive page turner it is!
A fast moving ⭐️4.5 Stars⭐️ The Rule by author Bronwyn Eley is book one in a duology and is out now and what an absolute addictive page turner it is!
A fast moving tale of magic, assassins, secret identity, found family, a love triangle and political intrigue. The characters, the plot and the scenery are amazing!
Meet Zinha an assassin, born and raised by the Baleful. When The King plans to invade Maetora, Zinha is sent on a dangerous assignment, competing to be chosen as the Heir’s consort so the King can put his takeover plan into action.
You will not want to miss this one, believe me!
Now it’s going to be difficult waiting for the next book, I can’t wait to see where it goes!
Publication Date 04 March 2025 Publisher Pantera Press
Thank you so much Pantera Press for a copy of this gorgeous book....more
⭐️5 Stars⭐️ The Vipers by Katy Hays What a cracking and dark read! Set in Capri, be ready to be transported to this magical Italian Island. I absolutely⭐️5 Stars⭐️ The Vipers by Katy Hays What a cracking and dark read! Set in Capri, be ready to be transported to this magical Italian Island. I absolutely loved this book, so much mystery and delicious intrigue and what a fantastic plot. I enjoyed the dual timelines and the ending was brilliant.
The story revisits the mysterious death of playwright Sarah Lingate when her body is found below the cliffs in Capri, and her death is ruled an accident. Thirty years later Sarah’s death is still a mystery and her daughter Helen returns with her wealthy family and Lorna, her uncle’s assistant.
The Lingate family are controlling and Helen wonders whether one of the members of her family is the murderer. The characters are greedy, unsettling and sinister.
An investigation into Sarah’s death is reopened and there’s nothing more deadly than a controlling family with secrets. Long hidden secrets are about to surface. Clever twists I never saw coming.
Themes of familial loyalty, generational trauma and deception.
Publication Day 27th March Publisher Imprint Bantam
Thank you so much to the wonderful team Penguin Books Australia for a copy of the book. ...more
⭐️4.5 Stars⭐️ I was so excited to receive copy of Myrren's Gift, I’m a big fan of Fiona McIntosh and I’ve read many of her historical and crime fiction⭐️4.5 Stars⭐️ I was so excited to receive copy of Myrren's Gift, I’m a big fan of Fiona McIntosh and I’ve read many of her historical and crime fiction books but have never read any of her fantasy books until now and I found it captivating.
This is a re-release of the Quickening series with a beautiful new cover and it’s out now. There are four books in the series.
Myreen’s Gift is an entertaining dark fantasy combining royalty, magic, witchcraft, adventure, violence, mystery and action, I found it engaging and couldn’t put it down. I did feel some Game of Thrones vibes.
When young Wyl Thirsk, new commander of the Morgravian army is forced to watch the torture of a young girl accused of witchcraft he shows compassion to Myrren and unwittingly earns a gift from the dying girl that will change his life in a unique way.
Crown Prince Celimus of Morgravia is cruel and devious and hates Wyl, he sees Wyl as an obstacle to his cruel plans once his father dies and he’s King.
The main characters are well crafted. I found Fynch a young boy Wyl befriends one of my favourite characters along with the male lead.
The ending shocked me as I was really enjoying a particular character who obviously won’t be in the next book, but I did have a hunch. I would love to explore this series further as I loved it.
Publication Date 04 March 2025 Publisher Imprint Penguin
Thank you so much Penguin Books Australia for a copy of the book....more
⭐️4 Stars⭐️ Best, First and Last by Amy T. Matthews This delightfully charming family relationship drama features three generations of women who gather ⭐️4 Stars⭐️ Best, First and Last by Amy T. Matthews This delightfully charming family relationship drama features three generations of women who gather together (reluctantly) for a vacation in Peru and a hike on the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu to celebrates Bonnie’s 70th. Best, First and Last is a story that will warm your heart and make you smile, it’s gorgeous.
We have our main characters, matriarch Grandmother Bonnie Jenkins, grieving her deceased and third husband Junior who has accompanied her on the trip in a small wooden box. Daughter Sandra is a social worker and going through a divorce with her womanising husband. Granddaughter Heather is miserable, works from home and has just broken up with her boyfriend.
The banter and wit between these ladies was fabulous and fun and there was lots of bickering. I loved the back stories and long-held secrets that came pouring out once they got to the fabulous setting of Peru. I also enjoyed the brewing romance for one of the trio with Owen.
Publication Day 05 March 2025 Publisher Simon & Schuster Australia
A huge thanks to Simon & Schuster Australia for a copy of the book and promo pack....more
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