for my third book review

I am now officially half way through my Australia Women Writers Reading Challenge!!
This is book 3 of 6 and once again a country romance novel.

Image Source

I had never heard of Barbara Hannay before but saw this in my local Big W store, read the blurb and was immediately intrigued, and it was on sale (I'm not going to lie). Barbara lives in Far North Queensland and the book is set in Queensland which I think also drew me to it, like I could actually know the people that she was writing about as the places she wrote about were so familiar to me.

"There must be some mistake" Zoe tells her Mother "You and Dad can't both be O blood type"

"Why not?" her mother asks, "Because two O parents can't make a B baby."

And that was how Zoe found out her father was not really her father... Even her Mother hadn't thought it possible that the handsome farmer from Far North Queensland whom she'd had a fling with could be Zoe's father but the blood tests don't lie. Zoe, a chef running her own catering business in inner city Brisbane, immediately starts to research he biological father who runs a large cattle station in the Gulf and before she knows it she has applied for a job to be their new camp cook, sworn to secrecy by her mother.

Out on the muster at Mullinjim, Zoe meets brooding cattleman Mac McKinnon. Every instinct tells Mac that Zoe is hiding something, and as the pressure to reveal her mother's secret builds, Zoe fears she must confide in him or burst.

Another book that kept me turning the pages because, despite predicting correctly how the story was going to end, I wasn't sure how it was going to get there and I was not disappointed.

This book also produced one of my favourite lines from a book that I've read in a long time:

"I've spent my life drifting with the currents, rather than steering my own course"

Love that line and it really resonates with me at the moment!

If you want to check out my previous reviews click below:

An Outback Life - by Mary Groves

Poppy's Dilemma - by Karly Lane

Linking up this review with Essentially Jess for IBOT and at the Australian Women Writers webpage

Am also keen to get some suggestions for my next book, something a little different perhaps?

for my third book review..

In case you missed it, I am doing a reading challenge this year. I have joined with many other reading lovers to complete the 2014 Australian Women Writers Challenge, where we read, review and promote stories written by Australian Authors.

I am on track to have 6 books read for the year as I have just finished my third book before the 6 month mark!

Keeping with my little theme of country romance stories the third book was Nowhere Else by Fiona McCallum. It is her second book but the first that I had read.

Nicola Harvey seems to have the world at her feet - she's at the top of her profession, part of Australian television's celebrity A-list, has a wealthy, successful fiance and a beautiful warehouse conversion in Adelaide.

So in 'typical' romance novel style, the girl who seems to have it all, is not particularly happy and when life throws her a few curve balls she finds herself somewhere completely unexpected but truly finding herself.

When Nicola arrives in the tiny town of Nowhere Else, it's nothing like she expected: there's no spa in town, the locals are tight-lipped and she senses it's not just the drought that is making the town nervous. So why has her boss sent her out here? 

The deeper Nicola digs into the town history, the more she realises this was not a mistake and it could actually help unlock the mystery to her own past.

There were so many twists and turns in this story that it really kept me guessing and turning the pages. There were surprises and questions as you travel the journey with Nicola but in the end I found it a little far-fetched and predictable. Having said that Fiona does have a good way with words that makes you want to keep reading.

My other book reviews are for:
1. An Outback Life by Mary Groves
2. Poppy's Dilemma by Karly Lane

Linking this book review up with Essentially Jess for IBOT!

for my second book review...

I can't believe that we are only half way through February and I have finished my second book! If I keep this up I am going to SMASH my reading challenge..

I saw this book at Big W before Christmas and as Mum had asked for books I thought she would enjoy it, my sister obviously thought the same thing as she bought her the same book! 

The second book is Poppy's Dilemma by Karly Lane.

Image Source

'Poppy Abbott seems to have it all. Bright, successful and attractive, she lives in a beautiful apartment with sweeping views of Sydney. However since the recent death of her beloved Grandmother, Poppy's been struggling to come to terms with her grief.'

A major error in judgement sees Poppy leave Sydney suddenly and head for the small town of Warrial, where her Grandmother used to live, to go through her stuff and clean out her house. Poppy uncovers an old journal in amongst her Grandmother's things with the name 'Maggie Abbott' written on it. Poppy becomes consumed by the story of Maggie's life as she writes about her love for her soldier boyfriend during the First World War.

The story flips between today with Poppy and the past with Maggie and I usually don't like that but in this case it seems to work. Of course, while Poppy is on this journey she finds herself questioning everything she thought she knew about life and love and it's pretty predictable what is going to happen for her in about the tenth chapter but it is the storyline of Maggie that kept me turning the pages.

It was also interesting to read in the Author's notes at the end of the book that a lot of the events described in the book about the First World War, were in fact based on real events.

This 312 page country romance novel was certainly an easy read, albeit somewhat predictable, that I did enjoy.

You can read my first book review here..

Linking this review up with Essentially Jess for IBOT and at the Australian Women Writers Challenge Page