Review: Out of the Blue by Penelope Janu

 Out of the Blue by Penelope Janu is a romance novel with added depth. The themes of PTSD and environmental issues add weight to this emotional and thought-provoking story.

I was excited to learn that Kit Thorsen's brother, Seb, is a main character in Out of the Blue. I loved Kit and Mackenzie's story in The Summerfield Saddler. Kit was fiery and kind-hearted in equal measures and I was keen to see how his brother would be portrayed. Those Norwegian men!! Anyway I digress. As you can see I still haven't gotten over Kit. 😍

Flick suffered debilitating PTSD after witnessing a plane crash and Penelope Janu portrays the limiting affects of this disorder and how it can seriously narrow a person's life choices.

Flick is selected to take part in a mission to investigate the environmental implications of an increasing human population in Antarctica.

Flick is a bird specialist (ornithologist) and I enjoyed all the information on different birds, which I found quite interesting.

Sebastien Thorsen is everything you want for a love interest, broody, mysterious, kind, patient and handsome.

I always find a first person narration hard going and large amounts of dialogue drag the story for me. So this did affect my enjoyment of the book.

I liked the mention of characters from previous books and their connection to this story.

My rating 3 / 5 ⭐⭐⭐

Publisher: HQ Fiction

Publication date: 26th May 2026

Genre: Contemporary Fiction / Romance

Pages: 416

RRP: AU$34.99 (trade paperback)

Source: Courtesy of the publisher

#outoftheblue #penelopejanu #australianauthor #ausbookbloggers #contemporaryfiction #harlequinaustralia #romance 

Book Giveaway: Loving Lizzie March + Victoria

 Late again this month! 

For my September giveaway I've gone back into the archives and found two books that were released in 2021 and 2017.

I have two crime novels lined up for next month.

This month's giveaway is for a paperback copy of Loving Lizzie March and a paperback copy of Victoria. One is a contemporary romance the other is an historical fiction. Both books are great reads. Plus lots of extra reading themed goodies.

Loving Lizzie March by Susannah Hardy

About the book:

Life is not going to plan for failed fashion designer Lizzie March, until she finds herself pregnant to super-hot bad boy Jake Wheeler.

Convinced that he's The One, all she has to do is make him realise that she is The One for him!

But is it possible she's been looking for love in all the wrong places? Maybe everything she has ever wanted is right under her very own stilettos.

Victoria by Daisy Goodwin

About the book:

In 1837, less than a month after her eighteenth birthday, Alexandrina Victoria – sheltered, small in stature, and female – became Queen of Great Britain and Ireland. Many thought it was preposterous: Alexandrina — Drina to her family — had always been tightly controlled by her mother and her household, and was surely too unprepossessing to hold the throne. Yet from the moment William IV died, the young Queen startled everyone: abandoning her hated first name in favor of Victoria; insisting, for the first time in her life, on sleeping in a room apart from her mother; resolute about meeting with her ministers alone.

One of those ministers, Lord Melbourne, became Victoria’s private secretary. Perhaps he might have become more than that, except everyone argued she was destined to marry her cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. But Victoria had met Albert as a child and found him stiff and critical: surely the last man she would want for a husband….

Drawing on Victoria’s diaries as well as her own brilliant gifts for history and drama, Daisy Goodwin, author of the bestselling novels The American Heiress and The Fortune Hunter as well as creator and writer of the new PBS/Masterpiece drama Victoria, brings the young queen even more richly to life in this magnificent novel.

GIVEAWAY

Enter via the form below to win a paperback copies of Loving Lizzie March & Victoria. The giveaway is open to Australian addresses only and entries close at 6pm AEST on 30th September 2026.

Review: High Protein 100+ fuss-free recipes by Faye James

Packed with over 100 fuss-free recipes and seven weeks of meal plans with weekly shopping lists High Protein 100+ fuss-free recipes is your complete guide to balanced protein-fuelled living.

Faye James is an Accredited Nutritionist and leading voice in nutrition, wellness and women's health.

"When we begin to eat the right kinds of protein we feel fuller for longer. We gain lean muscle and shed stubborn fat. Our bones get stronger, our cravings disappear, and our moods finally stabilize." - Faye James High Protein 100+

Faye James answers our most pressing questions about protein. How much protein do we need? What are the best sources of protein? What is the role of protein in menopause? The signs your not getting enough.

The book is set out in seven weeks of meal plans. With the current week's meal plan set out and on the adjoining page is a full shopping list. All you will need to make every recipe that week. Many ingredients will already be in your pantry. Following is each recipe with a full colour photo on the opposite page.

Each week's meal plan has breakfast, lunch, snacks and dinner. Simple, delicious meals. Most recipes serve two with some serving 4 and used for two meals; a dinner then the next day's lunch.

Every recipe has serving size, preparation time, calories, carbs, protein and fat content. The recipes can be easily adjusted to suit your requirements and taste. I would need to adjust spice levels.

Looking through the recipes there were only a handful of ingredients that I hadn't come across before and on checking a large local supermarket online all were available except one item which you would need to buy from a delicatessen.

High Protein 100+ fuss-free recipes is a recipe book I guarantee you will use every day. There is an array of flavour on the menu and recipes packed with protein to keep your body fit and healthy. Don't forget desserts and snacks. It's all included in this protein packed recipe book.

 

Pork, Ginger and Green Onion Patties 

Slow Cooker Honey Teriyaki Chicken & Rice - 

My rating 5 / 5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Publisher: New Holland Publishers

Publication date: 26th April 2026

Genre: Non Fiction / Cookbook

Pages: 244

RRP: AU$29.99 (paperback)

Source: Courtesy of the publisher

#highprotein100recipes #cookbook #sciencebackednutrition #weeklymealplans #australianauthor 

Review: The Paris Bookshop for the Broken Hearted by Rebecca Raisin

 I simply loved every minute of reading The Paris Bookshop for the Broken-Hearted.

Rebecca Raisin has delivered a heart-warming story filled with likeable characters and a main setting of a magical bookshop that brings together lonely hearts. What's not to love!!

CoCo Chevallier is back home in Paris, with thirteen year-old Eloise in tow, after her partner, in love and business, destroyed their business and left her almost penniless. As CoCo tries to rebuild her life, and placate a temperamental teenager, she comes across the Bookshop for the Broken-Hearted and its eccentric and intuitive owner, Valerie.

I loved all the bookish talk and how the bookshop brought people with all different personalities together through a book club.

Rebecca Raisin includes just enough French words to give that true Parisian feel to the story. Words that are easily recognisable to even this non French speaker.

It was also a pleasant surprise to have Anais from Christmas at the Little Paris Hotel (which I reviewed on Goodreads) drop into the story. It's always nice to revisit characters from previous books.

I loved the inclusion of the delicacies and sights of Paris. Rebecca Raisin is the queen of armchair travel. And I thoroughly enjoyed my time spent in Paris.

And of course there is a love interest, but it's a stormy start and a few road bumps to maneuver before their happy ending.

This sweet enemies to lovers RomCom, with its beautiful setting, fun characters and little mysteries, is a must for romance readers.

My rating 5 / 5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 

Publisher: Boldwood Books

Publication date: 3rd February 2025

Genre: Romance / Romantic Comedy

Pages: 314

Source: Courtesy of the publisher via Netgalley

#theparisbookshopforthebrokenhearted #rebeccaraisin #australianauthor #romcom #sweetromanceread #bookssetinparis #romance #ireadromance #ausbookbloggers

Review: The Paradise Resort by Tricia Stringer

I always enjoy Tricia Stringer's books and The Paradise Resort was no exception. 

The Paradise Resort is a wonderfully immersive story. Tricia Stringer focuses on the work involved in running a resort. There are a few small mysteries running through the story which keep the pages turning.

The story opens with Beatrice needing a holiday after her recent surgery. She wants somewhere warm where she can rest and recuperate. She flies to The Bon Beach Resort on the remote Kimberley. She knows the owner of the resort so she is given executive treatment.

At the resort we meet Kathleen who has recently started work there and Nelda, who has been resort manager since it opened.

I really enjoyed getting the different perspectives of the three women. Kathleen has anxiety issues and is trying to be more forthright whilst Nelda is pressured with work and trying to keep employees safe.

Stringer has a few little mysteries running through the plot and to mention most of them would be spoilers however one mystery, that caused Nelda no end of stress, was that there was a spy for a potential buyer of the resort amongst the guests.

Set on the remote Kimberley Coast of WA Stringer showcases the importance of the Royal Flying Doctor Service in remote areas, as they are called to a suspected heart attack, a premature labour and a car crash.
I loved that Kathleen and Omar from The Road Trip were main characters in this story and I loved how they supported and encouraged each other. It is not necessary to have read The Road Trip as there is plenty of back story included.

In The Paradise Resort we see the other side of resort living, not as a guest but through the eyes of the staff. We learn how much work it is to keep everyone happy, the obnoxious guests and the mishaps.

I enjoyed this story with likeable characters and a feel good ending after a bit of tension between the characters.

The Paradise Resort is an immersive feel good read about found family and resort living.

My rating 4 / 5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Publisher: HQ Fiction

Publication date: 29th September 2026

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Pages: 464

RRP: AU$34.99 (trade paperback)

Source: Uncorrected proof through HQ Insiders

Other books I've read by Tricia Stringer

TABLE FOR EIGHT

KEEPING UP APPEARANCES

BIRDS OF A FEATHER

BACK ON TRACK

HEAD FOR THE HILLS

THE ROAD TRIP

#theparadiseresort #triciastringerauthor #contempoaryfiction #feelgoodfiction #australianauthor #ausbookbloggers #hqinsiders #bookreview #arcreview

Review: Little F*ckers by Ryan Martin

This is not a book about perfect parenting. It's about embracing the glorious messiness of family life and celebrating the win of getting through another day, humour intact. 

Little F*ckers is not a book to be read cover to cover but more to jump to the chapters that cover your current parenting struggles.

Ryan Martin gives advice on many different challenges, scenarios and solutions. He uses humour as a great leveler and many scenarios and solutions come from his own life experiences as a parent.

There are sections on communication, helicopter parenting, building resilience, setting reasonable boundaries, technology and much more.

I found the section on building gratitude in your children the most interesting and liked that even with the author this was a bit hit and miss however even when you don't think you're getting through to your teen they will say or do something that will show you they are listening and taking it in.

The chapters jump around from toddlers to teens. I would have liked the book to be presented more in chronological age order making it easier for parents to navigate.

I found Little F*ckers to have some good content with practical advice that appears to be easy to put into practice. Ryan Martin adds plenty of humour and his own fails which prevents the book from coming across as preachy.

There is also advice to parents to lead by example.

"Your child doesn't need you to be infallible or to pretend you've got everything figured out. They need you to show them what it looks like to be human, to take responsibility when you mess up, and to bounce back with humility and grace rather than defensiveness and excuses." Ryan Martin - Little F*ckers.

There is an extensive index in the back allowing the reader to look up a situation and go straight to the relevant pages.

I think the takeaway from Little F*ckers is to put down that phone, connect with your children and have some fun. You will make mistakes but remember to celebrate the wins.

My rating 4 / 5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Publisher: Macmillan Australia

Publication date: 26th May 2026

Genre: Non Fiction / Parenting

Pages: 425

RRP: AU$36.99 (trade paperback)

Source: Courtesy of the publisher

#parentingbooks #nonfiction #ryanmartin #parentingwithhumour #parentingadvice #australianauthor #ausbookbloggers

Review: A Single Witness by Christine Balint

It takes seven women to make a single witness. - Venetian Proverb

A Single Witness is the evocative and moving story of Anna Maria's battle to be heard in a male dominated world. Set in the mid 1700's, in a small rural town outside of Venice, A Single Witness is a fictional tale based on a true story. 

Christine Balint has extensively researched the area and the time period, even visiting the small town itself and perusing original documents from the Venetian archives, to bring Anna Maria and her story to life.

Thirteen-year-old Anna Maria lives with her grandmother and father in the small mountain village of Piovene. She is terrified of her violent, alcoholic father and tries to keep out of his way by making herself invisible to him. However she is only a slight girl and when he gets her alone he sexually assaults her.

Terrified that this will be her life going forward, Anna Maria first approaches the local priest, who is meant to protect his parishioners.  The church and the local priest had a huge standing in these small communities and he was the one people looked to to solve disputes and be the moral guardian of the village. However, he rejects her claims. 

She then tells an older trusted friend who also doesn't want to be involved and turns her away. Even her Grandmother doesn't, or doesn't want to, believe her.

The immense amount of courage it would take to tell someone what is happening to her is daunting. Everyone is afraid of her violent, criminal father. Anna Maria never gives up. Whilst she has a voice she is determined to be heard and after walking 29 kilometers she confronts the Council of Ten in Venice. Her claims can now not be ignored but it isn't an easy road and those she loves are telling her to say she lied.

"You can't do this!" Nonna continues, her soft voice firm, 'Things happen to women, but they don't talk about it. Things might be unpleasant or inconvenient but a woman puts up with them. Who do you think you are, talking to the Justice about such things? What will they think of us? We are respectable people. We go to church every Sunday. You must tell them it's not true, Anna Maria. Go back to Vicenza. Tell them you were lying." - A Single Witness

Christine Balint has included conversations and everyday activities that are honed from her imagination and research. However the basis of the story is in fact true.

I found A Single Witness to be a thought-provoking read. I was in awe of Anna Maria's courage when everyone was against her and the villagers were quick to place blame on the victim. I am sure many girls/women would have, and did, suffer in silence.

Although this is a harrowing story Balint writes beautifully descriptive scenes on general life, farming practices, everyday household work, clothing and the community of the era, all which were fascinating to read.

A Single Witness is unflinching, powerful, haunting, poignant and thought provoking. A must read for historical fiction enthusiasts.

My rating 5 / 5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Publisher: Spinifex Press

Publication date: 4th may 2026

Genre: Historical Fiction

Pages: 324

RRP: AU$34.95 (paperback)

Source: Courtesy of the publisher

#asinglewitness #historicalfiction #christinebalint #bookssetin1700 #historicalvenice #australianauthor #ausbookbloggers