The Writing Class

 The Writing Class

Esther Campion

Reviewed by Helen

This is a heart-warming story filled with so many emotions as a group of people join together for a writing class at the local library, this group all come from different backgrounds and some have some major problems but together maybe they can find what they need.

Vivian Molloy has been happily married for over thirty years to Dave, when they retire early, Vivian, doing this for the man she loves because covid has changed his job so much she does love teaching at the high school but when after they attend a choir concert on the Gold Coast he abandons her. Life changes dramatically for her, when she is offered the chance to teach a writing class to adults at the local library although hesitant she takes it on.

Marilyn loves reading and often pops into the library to borrow books her home life is not always good, partner, mother and grandmother reading takes her away from life for a while, when the librarian Cathy invites her to write reviews and then attend the writing class she is very hesitant but with a push from a friend she takes on the class.

Sienna a young single mother is doing her best to create a new life for her and her nine month old daughter but escaping her past is not easy for her, her spirit has been broken will she find it again joining in with this class?

Oscar a divorced man father of one, is in Tasmania house sitting for his sister Oscar lives in Melbourne but has no job now and he wants to be able to better his writing skills to apply for jobs will he succeed?

There are other students in the class who also add to this beautiful story as they all get to know each other they encourage and support each other in so many ways seeing them all build confidence and make decisions and what’s more become friends was so uplifting. I loved getting to know the characters, I was turning the pages and cheering them on. I do highly recommend this one, MS Campion has taken some issues and handled them so well and yes some of it was a bit tough but written so well, many thanks for a story that will stay with me for a long time to come.

My thanks to Hachette AU and Netgalley for my copy to read and review.

5 stars

November 27, 2024 by Hachette Australia

Price to Pay

 Price to Pay

Phillipe Duval #2

J. Mary Masters

Reviewed by Helen

Book two in this series and it finishes this series really well, this is a well written book that takes in a lot of life within this family, Phillipe Duval has been bequeathed a fortune that means big changes in his life, giving up his medical position and spending a lot of time in America but what will happen with his personal life?

When he turned his back on the beautiful Karen Clark all those years ago and married his first love Julia the mother of his daughter, Pippa he never forgot her and when she arrives back in his life and this time ensures that he will marry her life changes again for him with the imminent end to his marriage to Julia this of course causes pain to Julia and Pippa and he feels it deeply.

Arriving in America Phillipe throws everything into running the foundation he has set up in his late mother’s name, he hires a beautiful young woman Arabella to run it and also includes his nephew Walter in working for the foundation, he is again pulled toward the lure of a beautiful woman even though he is about to be married again, but Arabella needs his help on a personal level but are they just friends or more?

This is a story that digs deep into Phillipe Duval’s life, he is a man of privilege these days a long way from his beginnings but he is also very caring about the people around him and does what he can to help, he loves his daughter and wants what is best for her always. Can a man really love three woman at once and what is to happen with the family business in the future will there be secrets that tear them all apart?

I thoroughly enjoyed this one and I do highly recommend it to any reader who loves a family saga filled with emotion and lots of turmoil, from Australia to America the settings are wonderful as are the characters who also add so much to this story, this story is set in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s mostly and times were very different back then, I would recommend that you read First Born Son first to get a feel for this family.

My thanks to the author for my digital copy to read and review.

4 stars

November 15, 2024 by PMA Books

Head for the Hills

 Head for the Hills

Tricia Stringer

Reviewed by Helen

I am a big fan of MS Stinger’s stories and this one was another fabulous one, book number seventeen and I do hope there are many more to come, this one is set in the Adelaide Hills a beautiful area of South Australia and we get to know Margot and her sister Roslyn and their families and their lives in the small town of Jesserton, a close knit community but when their neighbor and close friend Gunter dies the town is turned upside down.

Roslyn is stunned when Gunter names her in his will to help with planning a charity to help when his property is sold but she must keep it to herself to save problems, the big problem is that Margot wants to buy the property, expressions of interest are asked for and Margot’s husband Dennis puts in a bid, the winning bid is from a well know hotel developer and Margot and many of the town are outraged about this, Margot for one does not want a hotel on her fence line, for Roslyn the money that could be used to help with charity could be very important.

When Roslyn meets Amber a young single pregnant woman at the doctors Roslyn steps in to help and offers her a place to stay in her cottage on her property this is not looked favourably on by her sister Margot who has had a run in with Amber already in town a couple of days before but soon Roslyn has decided what charity she wants to spend the donated money from Gunter on but getting it all worked out while keeping it to herself just before Christmas is causing many upsets with the family.

The hotel causes a divide in the community and Margot decides to run for Mayor and do her best to stop the construction, but her relationship with the Roslyn is falling apart and also with her business partner in the small café they run in town, will the town ever get back to the closeness they had before all of this happened?

I very much enjoyed this story, fabulous characters and setting, I was not a fan of Margot’s although a loving mother and wife she was very outspoken but I did very much like Roslyn and Amber and I do highly recommend this one to any reader who wants a story that will keep you turning the pages, a fabulous read that I loved, thank you for another wonderful story.

My thanks to Harlequin HQ and Netgalley for my copy to read and review.

5 stars

October 1, 2024 by HQ Fiction

The Cottage at Rosella Cove

 The Cottage at Rosella Cove

Sandie Docker

Reviewed by Helen

I have had this one sitting on my TBR pile for way too long, finally I picked it up and wow what a gorgeous story of love, hope and new beginnings, Sandie Docker has created a story that is so very moving, emotional and a must read, I savoured every word as I got to know Nicole, Ivy, Charlie and the wonderful residents of Rosella cove, come along and meet them all if you have not already read this fabulous book.

Nicole an author, thought life was wonderful living in the city with her fiancé Mark, until it wasn’t she soon realized that she had to get away and soon, finding a place to go was a bit harder soon she had found a place free rent on a small cottage provided she did some renovations while there a lease for six months, desperate to get away even though she had not ever done any renovation she took it.

She was stunned at the condition of the cottage on her arrival but determined to get it done, when she comes across a beautiful hand carved box filled with letters from the past, reading them she uncovers the life of Ivy during World War 2 she instantly feels close to Ivy and learns about her life and the love of her life as well as what life was like in Rosella Cove years before.

Charlie the resident hermit lives in the boatshed which is part of Rosella Cottage, soon Nicole is making friends with this man they play scrabble and Nicole wants to find out more can she get him to open up, for Charlie, is Nicole the person who will finally help him make some amends for the mistakes he made all those years ago?

Nicole settles into this small town like she has never before soon making true friends with Mandy and her family and Danny, is there a chance that soon after all of Nicole’s heartbreak that she could find love and true happiness in this beautiful town?

This is a must read story that had me smiling, shedding tears and cheering them on, I am sorry it took me so long to read it but I have now read all of MS Docker’s books and was not disappointed with any of them, Many thanks for another gorgeous story that I will remember for a long time to come.

5 stars

January 8, 2019 by Penguin eBooks

Not Your Child

 Not Your Child

Sheila Norton

Reviewed by Helen

This is a great story about motherhood, friendship and trust, Gemma and her two year old daughter Poppy are awaiting news from Jack her partner and Poppy’s father to send for them to make their move to Australia, when she gets a message on Instagram from Jack’s brother to let her know that would not be happening that he had another partner now and that he will never be found and don’t try and contact me.

This came as a big shock to Gemma who was at work, she immediately makes her way to the bathroom where she has a meltdown, understandably so but there is someone else there and she offers comfort and soon they are becoming fast friends and Crystal loves Poppy, Crystal offers to help out with Poppy and soon Poppy seems to love Crystal as much as she loves her own mother, should Gemma be worried, her parents think so they do not trust Crystal at all.

Is it just jealousy or should Gemma really be worried and when people at the park are thinking that Crystal is Poppy’s mother Gemma is really getting concerned and feeling that Crystal who has become her best friend is holding something back.

This one had me thinking so many different scenarios while reading and I am not sure that I would have been as understanding as Gemma and the twist at the end well that was something I did not expect at all. Recommend for any reader of a good woman’s fiction story, this one has lots of different emotions running through it.

My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher Boldwood Books for my copy to read and revie

4 stars

September 23, 2024 by Boldwood Books

The Venice Hotel

 The Venice Hotel

Tess Woods

Reviewed by Helen

I loved this one so much, it grabbed me from page one and I fell into the story as I visited Venice and met four woman, woman who had issues that were playing on their minds, problems that had to be sorted, will they get there? Come along and meet these woman and the other fabulous characters and a sinking Venice, this story has everything that is sure to keep the reader turning the pages.

Signora Loretta Bianchi is the owner of Hotel II Cuore a boutique Hotel in the heart of Venice, she is also a famed and popular cook, married to Alberto for thirty years and the mother of twins Rocco and Marina, but when someone from her past arrives in Venice during the twelve Days of Christmas Loretta must make a decision, will it be the right one?

Sophie is Australian and writes for a Foodie Magazine and is on assignment for the famous restaurant at the hotel but when she arrives there is mayhem and she steps in to help rather than return home, she does not want to be with her mother over Christmas this year, but her time in Venice not only brings to light the dangerous water levels of the town it also is opening her heart to handsome Rocco but he comes with problem that she may not cope with.

Elena’s world in sinking just like Venice as she returns to her hometown from Australia where she is living with her Australian Doctor Christian for her Papa’s funeral, she has made a big decision she must run, leave her husband, but what will it cost her and others to do so?

Gayle is on holiday from America with her husband Mike she is a grandmother and very religious, but there are problems with her family back home and she is stressed but then her caring heart may put them in danger, how will things turn out for Gayle and her family?

This story not only takes in the problems Venice is having but it brings together these four woman and shows what they can do when they open up to each other, the strength to help one another when times are hard, this is a brilliant story and one that I highly recommend. I loved visiting Venice and meeting these woman and getting to know the city, the food, the descriptions took me there from my armchair, a must read.

Thank you Tess Woods for such an awesome story, so many emotions, tears and smiles from this reader, I can’t praise it enough.

My thanks to Penguin Random House AU and Netgalley for my copy to read and review.

5 stars

September 3, 2024 by Penguin eBooks

A Mother's Betrayal

 A Mother's Betrayal

Louise Guy

Reviewed by Helen

This is a brilliant story about family, trust and life, it had me turning the pages and feeling very much a part of the Hudson family and their lives come along and meet them all Julia, Mike, Arabella (Ari) who is a high flying lawyer Florence (Flo) who is a nurse, Gigi (Julia’s Mother) and Kayden, you will not be sorry to have picked this one up.

Julia Hudson is married to Mike has twin girls and a grandson and she has everything under control she works as a neuroscientist, she spends one week in Canberra and one week in Melbourne and her work is very secretive and the family are very used to that after all she has had this job for thirty years, but when she is wheeled into the ER department that Flo works in after a car accident in a critical condition this family is turned upside down.

While their mother is in a coma they discover that she has a secret, a second life that the family are stunned is an understatement after all their mother has always preached the value of integrity and honesty and then young Kayden becomes ill another secret is revealed that will tear the twins apart in the most dreadful of ways.

When they discover their mother’s journals reading through them makes the girls think that they never had any control over their lives at all this family is falling apart because it seems that their mother has been so manipulating and controlling for so long, will she live and be able to answer the many questions the family have for her?

I loved this one from start to finish and highly recommend it, Louise Guy never disappoints me with one of her fabulous stories her words bring to life the people we get to know as we turn the pages and truly this one is totally awesome, what a story so many things could happen in this one, it has lots of emotions and had me feeling them all, yes a must read.

My thanks to the publisher Boldwood and Netgalley for my copy to read and review.

5 stars

September 12, 2024 by Boldwood Books Ltd