Tag: Australian Author

Meet me at the station if you think there's any future for us. And here she was.

Book Review | These Long Shadows by Jennifer Mistmorgan

Two years ago, when Katie was pregnant, alone and afraid. Jonathan Ables—Jonty—offered to marry her to protect her reputation and so she’d receive his service pension given he was unlikely to survive the war.

(As an aside, I hadn’t realised what horrifically low chances rear-gunners had of surviving the war. That put some aspects of my family history into perspective.)

Despite several near-misses, Jonty survives the war. But his relationship with his wife is non-existent and they are living with her family, which isn’t exactly conducive to having a private conversation, let alone establishing a lasting relationship. Then there are their own personal challenges they have to deal with—Katie and her family, and Jonty and his only surviving relative.

These Long Shadows is a moving story of faith and reconciliation.

Katie and Jonty both have difficult paths to tread before they can reach their happy-ever-after ending. It’s an emotional story, but restrained in a very British way.

These Long Shadows was a wonderful conclusion to the Victory’s Wings series, and those who have read the earlier books in the series will especially enjoy seeing Maggie and Grace again, along with their now-husbands.

Recommended for fans of historical romance.

Thanks to the author for providing a free ebook for review.

About Jennifer Mistmorgan

Jennifer MistmorganAward-winning Australian author Jennifer Mistmorgan sometimes feels like she was born in the wrong era. So she writes romantic historical fiction set in the 1940s, against the backdrop of WWII and its aftermath. She infuses her sweet romances with wartime drama, gentle faith and a dash of intrigue. She lives in Canberra with her family and a wonky-eared West Highland terrier.

Find Jennifer Mistmorgan online at:

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About These Long Shadows

How do they rebuild a marriage that wasn’t real in the first place? 

London, 1945: Two years ago, Jonty Ables married Katie Baines to save her and her unborn baby from shame. But now the war is all but over, the baby is gone and they must work out where their shaky marriage fits into lives irrevocably changed by war.

Clinging to the memory of a time before all happiness evaporated, Katie works hard during the day as a seamstress. At night she comes home to a tiny terrace on a bomb-scarred street, crammed with her extended family and their problems. Years of estrangement sit between her and her recently demobilised husband. She’s not even sure she loves him. So why is she so crushed that he calls out another woman’s name in his sleep?

Jonty is determined to honor the vows he made no matter how many ghosts plague him. But with such separate lives, his wife is more of a stranger than ever. When Katie’s friend goes missing, Jonty seizes the opportunity to help her find him just so they have reason to talk. But the war casts long shadows over their efforts, and fighting for their future might just be the hardest battle of them all.

Find These Long Shadows online at:

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Don’t forget to click here to check out my Amazon shop for my top picks in Christian fiction!

First Line Friday

First Line Friday #382 | These Long Shadows by Jennifer Mistmorgan

It’s First Line Friday! That means it’s time to pick up the nearest book and quote the first line. I’m quoting from These Long Shadows by Australian author Jennifer Mistmorgan, the third book in her On Victory’s Wings series.

Here’s the first line from the Chapter One:

The restaurant swam around her, but at least the nausea had eased enough for her to be out of bed.

What’s the book nearest you, and what’s the first line?

 

About These Long Shadows

How do they rebuild a marriage that wasn’t real in the first place? 

London, 1945: Two years ago, Jonty Ables married Katie Baines to save her and her unborn baby from shame. But now the war is all but over, the baby is gone and they must work out where their shaky marriage fits into lives irrevocably changed by war.

Clinging to the memory of a time before all happiness evaporated, Katie works hard during the day as a seamstress. At night she comes home to a tiny terrace on a bomb-scarred street, crammed with her extended family and their problems. Years of estrangement sit between her and her recently demobilised husband. She’s not even sure she loves him. So why is she so crushed that he calls out another woman’s name in his sleep?

Jonty is determined to honor the vows he made no matter how many ghosts plague him. But with such separate lives, his wife is more of a stranger than ever. When Katie’s friend goes missing, Jonty seizes the opportunity to help her find him just so they have reason to talk. But the war casts long shadows over their efforts, and fighting for their future might just be the hardest battle of them all.

Find These Long Shadows online at:

Amazon | BookBub | Goodreads

Click here to check out what my fabulous fellow FirstLineFriday bloggers are sharing today.

And you can click here to check out my previous FirstLineFriday posts.

Share your first line in the comments, and happy reading!

Don’t forget to click here to check out my Amazon shop for my top picks in Christian fiction!

First Line Friday

First Line Friday #378 | Only You Can Love Me (Trinity Lakes 15) by Carolyn Miller

It’s First Line Friday! That means it’s time to pick up the nearest book and quote the first line. I’m quoting from Only You Can Love Me by Carolyn Miller, which is the 15th book in the Trinity Lakes Romance series, and which releases next week. Here’s the first line from the Chapter One:

Valentine’s Day. Was any day on the calendar tougher for a single newly crowned twenty-eight year-old gal than February fourteen?

What’s the book nearest you, and what’s the first line?

 

About Only You Can Love Me

Wanted: someone hardworking, honest, humble, with a sense of humor, who can appreciate the simple things in life. Who loves God, loves family, and loves animals. Genuine seekers only.

Only You Can Love Me by Carolyn MillerDr. Jess Martin–Doc Martin to her local community–might be used to solving the veterinary problems of rural south east Washington, but she can’t solve the problems of her lonely heart. When a dating app specializing in rural connections comes her way she figures she’s got nothing left to lose. Especially when she’s already lost the only guy who had touched her heart, who has made it clear his future lies in Silicon Valley and not in Trinity Lakes. It’s time to let go of the past, once and for all.

Cooper Reilly never pictured himself as finding his future or contentment on a ranch. His heart has always hankered for the finer things of life. But when a corporate reshuffle sees him kicked to the kerb, he finds himself right back where he started. And right back to trying to convince a certain pretty vet to give him a second chance. But she’s not playing, convinced she’s found her Dream Match already. But there’s something she doesn’t know…

Can these two friends look past previous mistakes and find a future? And what does a hunky fireman have to say about a perfect Dream Match?

Find Only You Can Love Me online at:

Amazon | BookBub | Goodreads

Click here to check out what my fabulous fellow FirstLineFriday bloggers are sharing today.

And you can click here to check out my previous FirstLineFriday posts.

Share your first line in the comments, and happy reading!

Don’t forget to click here to check out my Amazon shop for my top picks in Christian fiction!

Stop Press!

I’ve just found out that Carolyn Miller’s first two Trinity Lakes books are onl sale for 99 cents each! Click below to buy …

Love Somebody Like You (Trinity Lakes #5)

Only You Can Love Me (Trinity Lakes #9)

First Line Friday

First Line Friday #374 | The Island Girls by Rachel Sweasey

It’s First Line Friday! That means it’s time to pick up the nearest book and quote the first line. Today I’m quoting from The Island Girls by Australian author Rachel Sweasey, a sweet dual timeline historical novel set in Poole, Dorset.

Here’s the first line from the Chapter One:

The eerie calm that had settled over the Nieuwe Maas river in the last few hours was now a deathly silence.

What’s the book nearest you, and what’s the first line?

 

About The Island Girls

1941: For the townspeople of Poole on the Dorset coast, the war feels like it’s right on their doorstep. And with more and more men leaving to fight, one fisherman’s daughter is determined to do whatever she can to help. Peggy volunteers to use her skills on the water to work with the flying boats alongside the RAF based in the harbour. But when she is asked to undertake a special mission, she will have to make a terrible choice – between her duty to her country and her only chance of happiness.

1998: Rebekah has travelled halfway around the world to take up a role on Brownsea Island. This tiny island off the coast of England is a treasure trove of natural wonder, but it still carries the scars of fighting. And when Rebekah discovers a lost letter from the war, hidden all this time, she becomes determined to deliver it, fifty years later.

But the idyllic Dorset harbour hides many more secrets, and Rebekah’s search for the truth will change her life in ways she never imagined possible…

Find The Island Girls online at:

Amazon | BookBub | Goodreads

Click here to check out what my fabulous fellow FirstLineFriday bloggers are sharing today.

And you can click here to check out my previous FirstLineFriday posts.

Share your first line in the comments, and happy reading!

Don’t forget to click here to check out my Amazon shop for my top picks in Christian fiction!

There are gifts of all shapes and sizes. And none of them are lesser, not matter what you might believe.

Book Review | Memoria (Nightingale #3) by JJ Fischer

Memoria is the third book in JJ Fischer’s excellent Nightingale trilogy, following Calor and Lumen (click to read my earlier reviews).

This is definitely a series you want to read in order, and you’ll probably enjoy them all the more if you’re able to read them back-to-back, rather than having to wait a year between books (as I did). It’s also a series you might want to read in paperback so you can refer to the map and see where Sephone, Dorian, and their companions are travelling from and to.

The trilogy is a fantasy retelling of Hans Christian Andersen’s story of the Nightingale … which I’d never heard of before reading Calor, and which I still haven’t read because I didn’t want spoilers.

It’s also a trilogy with strong Christian allegorical undertones, particularly in the second and third books. Allegory can be difficult. I’ve read stories where the allegory was so strong that it felt like it had pushed the plot aside. The allegory in Memoria and the rest of the Nightingale series is more like the allegory in the Tales of Narnia—it’s there, but you’re not going to enjoy the story any less because you don’t pick up that Aslan is a Jesus figure.

So to the story …

Caldera is a kingdom divided, and one where some people have unusual gifts. Sephone can alter memories–she can give people memories of things they haven’t experienced, or she can remove unwanted memories. But this gift comes at a cost for her and for the people she touches, and using her gift further is going to kill her.

Dorian is a nobleman haunted by memories of his dead wife and daughter.

He wants Sephone to remove the memories but she has refused because of the effect it will have on both of them (not least, because Dorian’s memories have made him the man he is today), and because she is not powerful enough to remove the memories permanently. Dorian sought an artifact called the Reliquary to solve that problem, but now realises the only lasting solution is to use the Reliquary to give his remaining years to Sephone. Sephone, of course, is against that idea.

So begins their final journey with their faithful companions. They learn nothing is as it seems, and sometimes when we get what we think we want, we discover we had wanted the wrong thing.

As the third book in an epic Young Adult fantasy trilogy, Memoria ticks all the boxes.

It has friends and enemies, and characters who could be either. It has twists and turns, battles and betrayals, some of which were expected (well, there always has to be a final battle between good and evil),and some of which were not (which is what makes a fantasy great).

One of the advantages of fantasy as a genre is the fact that most great fantasies include a spiritual thread as part of the fantasy world. Memoria is no exception, as it brings to fulfilment the faith element, which has a definite Christian theme for those with eyes to see. For those who don’t, Memoria is simply a ripping edge-of-the-seat adventure story that does a great job of balancing the plot and the characters, and keeping the focus on the two main characters: Sephone and Dorian.

Young adult (or adult) readers looking or a strong fantasy series which reinforces Christian principles and offers deep insights into the human condition will enjoy Memoria.

But do read the series from the beginning.

Thanks to Enclave Publishing for providing a free ebook for review.

About J J Fischer

J. J. Fischer’s writing dream began with the anthology of zoo animals she painstakingly wrote and illustrated at age five, to rather limited acclaim. Thankfully, her writing (but not her drawing) has improved since then. She is a clinically-trained psychologist but no, she cannot read your mind. When she isn’t killing defenseless house plants, pretending she can play the piano, eating peanut butter out of the jar, or memorizing funny film quotes, she and her husband David are attempting to prevent their warring pet chickens from forming factions and re-enacting Divergent. Honestly, it’s a miracle she finds the time to write any books.

Find J J Fischer online at:

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About Memoria

Would you save a life if you knew it would destroy another?

In the deeply divided world of Caldera, nothing is as it seems. Taken captive by a faceless enemy, Sephone Winter fights to reclaim her soul as her gift spirals out of control and the deadly poison coursing through her veins begins to exact its terrible vengeance.

Meanwhile, Dorian and Cass are forced into an uneasy alliance in order to find the woman they both love . . . a woman who has all but vanished from the face of the earth, along with the Reliquary. Finding her becomes impossible as the identity of their greatest adversary continues to elude them.

When Caldera’s past catches up with the trio’s future, Sephone, Dorian, and Cass are forced to make decisions that threaten everything and everyone they care about. Each of them is offered a chance to sacrifice their own happiness for the sake of the other—but will they take it? And what will it cost them in the end?

The Nightingale Trilogy is a fantasy transformation of Hans Christian Andersen’s beloved 1843 tale The Nightingale, with echoes of the myths of Hades and Persephone.

Find Memoria online at:

Amazon | BookBub | Goodreads

Don’t forget to click here to check out my Amazon shop for my top picks in Christian fiction!

 

My name is Sephone Winter. I am a slave, but one day I will be free.

Book Review | Lumen (Nightingale #2) by JJ Fischer

Lumen is the second book in JJ Fischer’s Nightingale trilogy, based on the Hans Christian Anderson story (which I’ve never read, which means the entire story is new to me).

I read and enjoyed the first book, Calor, which introduced us to Sephone, a slave with a gift for changing (and healing) people’s memories. Calor shows her meeting a ragtag group of characters, who she falls in with as they search for a rumoured Reliquary that will help Dorian forget his past, and perhaps heal their broken world.

Calor introduced Sephone’s strange world – and the people with their strange gifts – gradually.

Lumen, as the second book, can’t and doesn’t. Instead, we’re immediately introduced to Sephone, Dorian, Cass, Bear, Bas, and Jewel, a wolf who seems to have strange powers of her own. It’s a lot to take in.

As Dorian leads the travellers through the land in his search for the Reliquary, we meet other characters. Lots of other characters. There is also a lot of politics which I found hard to follow the first time I read Lumen, and no easier when I re-read it.

It could be that I found it difficult because it’s more than a year since I read Calor, because I’m not normally an epic fantasy reader, or because I don’t know the source story (I’ve considered reading it, but that might give the plot away, and I don’t want that).

Maybe this is a series best read back-to-back (which means now is a great time to start reading).

Lumen is well-written with a fascinating premise (a world with people with strange gifts), and the story has some clear Christian images, like life beginning in a Garden (with a capital G), a mysterious group called the Three, and a possible saviour figure. I am definitely engaged in the story.

While I found parts of the story confusing, with too many characters and too much politics, this isn’t the first trilogy I’ve read where the second story was weaker than the first. The end did leave me wanting to read the final book to see how the story ends. Memoria releases in December, and I’m looking forward to it.

Recommended for young adult fantasy fans, especially those who like to see the Christian links in the story.

Thanks to Enclave Publishing and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.

About J J Fischer

J. J. Fischer’s writing dream began with the anthology of zoo animals she painstakingly wrote and illustrated at age five, to rather limited acclaim. Thankfully, her writing (but not her drawing) has improved since then. She is a clinically-trained psychologist but no, she cannot read your mind. When she isn’t killing defenseless house plants, pretending she can play the piano, eating peanut butter out of the jar, or memorizing funny film quotes, she and her husband David are attempting to prevent their warring pet chickens from forming factions and re-enacting Divergent. Honestly, it’s a miracle she finds the time to write any books.

Find J J Fischer online at:

Website | Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest | Twitter

About Lumen

What if erasing the past cost more than you were willing to pay?

Having narrowly escaped their enemies, Sephone, Dorian, and Cass continue their search for the elusive Silvertongue, the only one with knowledge of the Reliquary’s whereabouts. But time is running out for Sephone, and with Dorian accused of high treason, the quest takes on a new urgency.

As secrets from each of their pasts drive a wedge between them, Sephone invests all her hopes in finding her homeland, Lethe—where her family may yet be alive. But nothing about Lethe is as she expects, and disappointment, betrayal, and danger await her at every turn.

When the truth about the Reliquary’s curse comes to light, the fragile bonds between the unlikely companions are tested like never before. Meanwhile, Dorian faces a terrible choice: to save the life of one who is beginning to mean more to him than the past he’s so desperate to forget, or to save his beloved Caldera from dangers outside and within.

Find Lumen online at:

Amazon | BookBub | Goodreads

Don’t forget to click here to check out my Amazon shop for my top picks in Christian fiction!

First Line Friday

First Line Friday #355 | Lumen (Nightingale #2) by JJ Fischer

It’s First Line Friday! That means it’s time to pick up the nearest book and quote the first line. I’m quoting from Lumen, the second book in JJ Fischer’s Nightingale trilogy.

Here’s the first line from the Chapter One:

It was early morning, and I stood on a beach of broken glass.

What’s the book nearest you, and what’s the first line?

 

About Lumen

What if erasing the past cost more than you were willing to pay?

Having narrowly escaped their enemies, Sephone, Dorian, and Cass continue their search for the elusive Silvertongue, the only one with knowledge of the Reliquary’s whereabouts. But time is running out for Sephone, and with Dorian accused of high treason, the quest takes on a new urgency.

As secrets from each of their pasts drive a wedge between them, Sephone invests all her hopes in finding her homeland, Lethe—where her family may yet be alive. But nothing about Lethe is as she expects, and disappointment, betrayal, and danger await her at every turn.

When the truth about the Reliquary’s curse comes to light, the fragile bonds between the unlikely companions are tested like never before. Meanwhile, Dorian faces a terrible choice: to save the life of one who is beginning to mean more to him than the past he’s so desperate to forget, or to save his beloved Caldera from dangers outside and within.

Find Lumen online at:

Amazon | BookBub | Goodreads

Click here to check out what my fabulous fellow FirstLineFriday bloggers are sharing today.

And you can click here to check out my previous FirstLineFriday posts.

Share your first line in the comments, and happy reading!

Don’t forget to click here to check out my Amazon shop for my top picks in Christian fiction!

Truth lurked in the shadows. If only I could find the light.

Book Review | Dead Ahead (Ruthless the Killer #1) by Susan J Bruce

Dead Ahead is the first book in The Ruthless the Killer Mystery series.

I thought the series name was a typo when I first saw it, but it’s not: Ruth Smythe’s unfortunate nickname is Ruthless the Killer. It’s inaccurate (as she—and we—will learn). But, as Ruth says, logic rarely stands a chance against the ghosts of the past.

Ruth has returned to Australia from the USA to the stone cottage she has recently inherited from her father. She’s looking for peace and quiet, but events get in the way: she’s barely moved in before someone is murdered in her barn. And things basically go downhill from there.

Dead Ahead is the first book in what promises to be an enjoyable cozy mystery series. Sure, it has the inevitable “problem” of all cozy mystery series: the unrealistic ratio of murderers (and victims) to regular people (is there anyone still alive in Midsomer?). But let’s be honest—that’s why we read cozy mysteries.

Dead Ahead has everything cozy mystery readers want.

A small town setting, complete with quirky townsfolk. A slow-burn not-there-yet promise of romance between Ruth and the local hunk. The ex-girlfriend. A whole cast of characters who could have motive for murder (or who could be future victims).

And it’s got the plucky and likeable amateur sleuth who may or may not solve the mystery (because to tell you would be a spoiler),but who certainly gets involved to the point she annoys the real investigators.

The story is set in Australia, and the setting definitely adds to the story. Dead Ahead does use Australian spelling and vocabulary, and the “Aussie lingo” defined at the beginning. The lingo isn’t forced into the story in a cliche stone-the-crows way, but in a way that reads as authentic to the characters and which doesn’t distract from the story.

Overall, Dead Ahead is an enjoyable read, recommended for cozy mystery fans.

Thanks to the author for providing a free ebook for review.

About Susan J Bruce

Susan J Bruce

Susan J Bruce is a former veterinarian turned award-winning author, professional copywriter and animal artist. Susan’s veterinary background invades her writing and animals run, fly, or crawl into nearly all of her tales. When Susan’s writing group challenged her to write a story that didn’t mention any animals—she failed! Susan lives in sunny South Australia with her husband, Marc, and their furred and feathered family. This currently includes a fat tortoiseshell cat, a rescue cockatiel, and an irrepressible ShiChi (Shih Tzu x Chihuahua) who thinks her mission in life is to stop Susan writing.

Running Scared is Susan’s first novel and was awarded the 2018 Caleb Prize for an unpublished manuscript.

Find Susan J Bruce online at:

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About Dead Ahead

A deliciously twisty Aussie cozy mystery with a side of rom-com!

Ruth is desperate for a fresh start, but a body in her shed, an inconvenient romantic attraction, and a secret childhood reputation as a ‘harbinger of death’ get in the way.

As they do…

Murder and mayhem mingle with matters of the heart as Ruth soon discovers the town holds buried secrets and scandals—some of which may even involve her own late father.

But when a close friend goes missing, and the police fear the worst, all Ruth can think about is unravelling the mystery and finding her friend.

Can Ruth solve the crime in time to save her friend? Will she succeed or will bad luck be the death of her?

Dead Ahead has slow-burn romance, heaps of heart, murder and mayhem, small town vibes, friends who care, a grumpy cat and a mysterious meta plot. The final HEA of the romantic subplot will be at the end of the series—but there will be lots of fun in-between.

Find Dead Ahead online at:

Amazon | BookBub | Goodreads

Don’t forget to click here to check out my Amazon shop for my top picks in Christian fiction!

First Line Friday

First Line Friday #349 | Dead Ahead (Ruthless #1) by Susan J Bruce

It’s First Line Friday! That means it’s time to pick up the nearest book and quote the first line. I’m quoting from Dead Ahead by Australian author Susan J Bruce, which is the first book in her new mystery-meets-rom com series, Ruthless the Killer.

Here’s the first line from the Chapter One:

It’s never easy to make a fresh start with a reputation like mine, especially when you believe your own bad press.

What’s the book nearest you, and what’s the first line?

 

About Dead Ahead

A deliciously twisty Aussie cozy mystery with a side of rom-com!

Ruth is desperate for a fresh start, but a body in her shed, an inconvenient romantic attraction, and a secret childhood reputation as a ‘harbinger of death’ get in the way.

As they do…

Murder and mayhem mingle with matters of the heart as Ruth soon discovers the town holds buried secrets and scandals—some of which may even involve her own late father.

But when a close friend goes missing, and the police fear the worst, all Ruth can think about is unravelling the mystery and finding her friend.

Can Ruth solve the crime in time to save her friend? Will she succeed or will bad luck be the death of her?

Dead Ahead has slow-burn romance, heaps of heart, murder and mayhem, small town vibes, friends who care, a grumpy cat and a mysterious meta plot. The final HEA of the romantic subplot will be at the end of the series—but there will be lots of fun in-between.

Find Dead Ahead online at:

Amazon | BookBub | Goodreads

Click here to check out what my fabulous fellow FirstLineFriday bloggers are sharing today.

And you can click here to check out my previous FirstLineFriday posts.

Share your first line in the comments, and happy reading!

Don’t forget to click here to check out my Amazon shop for my top picks in Christian fiction!

Bookish Question #336 | What is the most recent book you read in a single day?

Because of You by Australian author Hannah Currie, which I recently reviewed (click here to read my review).

It’s an enjoyable story of a teenage girl who goes to Thailand on a short-term missions trip, and what she learns about herself and God during the trip. Some of the scenes are based on Hannah’s own mission trip to Thailand, and I particularly enjoyed those scenes.

I hadn’t planned to read the whole book in a single day (do we ever?), but I found it hard to put down.

What about you? What’s the most recent book you’ve read in a single day?