Book Review: Summer at Kangaroo Ridge by Nicole Hurley-Moore

Summer at Kangaroo Ridge 

by

Nicole Hurley-Moore

 

Hiding secrets will always take its toll

 

Publisher: Allen & Unwin

 

Publication date: 1st March 2022

 

Genre: Contemporary Fiction / Rural Romance

 

Pages: 272

 

RRP: $29.99AUD

 

Format read: Paperback

 

Source: Courtesy of the publisher 

My review of Summer at Kangaroo Ridge

 

It's been a long time since I've read a Nicole Hurley-Moore novel and reading Summer at Kangaroo Ridge brought back all the reasons I love her stories.

 

For the last eight years, since the tragic death of their parents, Tamara, her twin Sebastian and their aunt Maddie have been working to save the family farm, keep the family together and looking after their three younger siblings.

 

Right from the opening chapter I was immediately intrigued, Tam was in a secret relationship that she was sure Seb wouldn't approve of and although the two were twins a past trauma was causing unresolved conflict between them.  

 

Summer at Kangaroo Ridge has all the country feels; beautiful descriptive scenery, a small town location where people look after each other, a close knit family at the core of the story and a sweet romance.

 

Told through a dual timeline it was compelling reading and I enjoyed following the story as Tam and Seb, with the help of family and friends, tried to come to terms with their feelings of guilt.

 

I loved all the wedding preparation and decorating as Tam and Maddie converted the farm to a wedding reception venue.

Summer at Kangaroo Ridge is filled with charming, likeable characters. I enjoyed the relationship between Tam and younger brother Lix, he was her confidant and wise beyond his years. Tam's rocky romance had me eager to keep reading, following her highs and lows. 

 

Summer at Kangaroo Ridge is a heartwarming story brimming with country charm and a dash of mystery and drama.

Nicole Hurley-Moore doesn't disappoint with her latest novel about family, country life and forgiveness.

My rating 5 / 5  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

About the author

 

Nicole Hurley-Moore grew up in Melbourne and has travelled extensively, whilst living her life through the romance of books. Nicole is a full-time writer who lives in the Central Highlands of Victoria with her family, where they live in the peaceful surrounds of a semi-rural town. She is the author of the immensely popular novels McKellan's Run, Hartley's Grange, Country Roads, White Gum Creek, Lawson's Bend, The McCalister Legacy and Summer at Kangaroo Ridge.  

 

Book Review & Giveaway: A Stone's Throw Away by Karly Lane

 A Stone's Throw Away

by

Karly Lane

Poignant, heart-warming and suspenseful....

Publisher: Allen & Unwin

Publication date: 3rd May 2022

 

Genre: Rural Crime 

 

Pages: 368

 

RRP: $29.99AUD

 

Format read: Paperback

 

Source: Courtesy of the publisher

 

My review

 

Investigative Journalist Pip Davenport moves to her uncle's quiet, country property to overcome a case of writers block. She is writing a book on her last assignment which ended in a prominent politician going to prison.

 

When a cold-case in the area is reopened Pip can't help but be pulled into the mystery. The town is tight-lipped and Pip feels there is more to this case than first appears.

 

The introduction of two potential love interests for Pip adds a touch of romance to this tension filled crime novel. I must admit to having a sneaky look forward to see who Pip would connect with. 

Pip is a strong, determined character. She is suffering a severe case of PTSD but when her journalistic instincts kick in she is fearless and doesn't balk at ruffling a few feathers.

 

Karly Lane has delivered a wonderfully immersive novel with visually pleasing descriptions, a highly engaging plot, gripping suspense and compelling twists.

 

A Stone's Throw Away is a story of courage, resilience and a passion for the truth. 

 

My rating  5 / 5   ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

 

 

 

Click the cover image to read my reviews of Karly's book. 

   

GIVEAWAY:

 

Thanks to the generosity of Allen & Unwin I have one paperback copy to giveaway to one lucky reader. (Australian addresses only)

Entry is via the form below. Entries close at Midnight on Friday 21st may 2022.

 

This giveaway is now closed and the winner was announced HERE

Book Review: A Family of Strangers by Fiona Lowe

A Family of Strangers

by

Fiona Lowe 

 

How can you know so little about those you love?

 

Publisher: Harlequin Australia

 

Imprint: HQ Fiction

 

Publication date: 2nd march 2022

 

Genre: Contemporary fiction

 

Pages: 544

 

RRP: $32.99AUD

 

Format read: Paperback

 

Source: Courtesy of the publisher

 

My review

 

In A Family of Strangers Fiona Lowe brings together three women, who would not normally mix, and has them supporting each other and solving problems together.

Set in the small seaside community of Rookery Cove, Tasmania, Brenda is trying to get back on her feet after the death of her husband. She is hoping to connect with her daughter Courtney. Their relationship has always been fragile. Encouraged by her friend Marilyn, Brenda joins the Rookery Cove choir.

 

Stephanie and husband Henry have come to the Cove to start a new life, a more relaxed way of living, with their young son and Henry's 12 year old daughter Zoe. But Steph finds herself doing the lion's share of the parenting and starts to resent Henry and his daughter. She joins the local choir for some me time.

 

Addy is back at the Cove to renovate her late parent's home. Meanwhile she is taking on large amounts of work and the pressure has her turning to alcohol as a release. When new friend, Steph, asks her to join the choir she is torn between friendship and old ghosts.

 

This is such a big book, I tend to shy away from anything over 400 pages because I easily get bored with the characters. However, I was totally immersed in the story of these characters. I loved them all and genuinely cared about their lives.

I am amazed how Fiona Lowe can include a diverse amount of topics that are relevant to women and the story does not sound at all contrived. (I don't think I did a single eye roll).

Some themes included are; alcohol abuse, helicopter parenting, step parenting, relationships after a partner's death, bullying, misogyny in the work place, shaming by social media and infertility.

 

I love the idea of a choir as the glue for the friendships. It's a hobby that is all inclusive and not bound by gender or age.

Each woman has her demons that need to be overcome and I loved the way they supported each other even when they weren't at their best. Forgiveness, acceptance and support are key themes throughout and Fiona Lowe shows how our decisions can impact on family and relationships.

 

Fiona Lowe is a counsellor herself and I like how therapists and counsellors have a sort of ghost appearance in her novels. Their value in society is sometimes overlooked. 

 

My rating  5 / 5  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

 

About the author

 

For more about Fiona Lowe see my author interviews:

 

 https://theburgeoningbookshelf.blogspot.com/2022/03/author-interview-fiona-lowe.html

https://theburgeoningbookshelf.blogspot.com/2019/02/author-interview-fiona-lowe.html 

 

 

 

 

Book Review: Charlotte Pass by Lee Christine

 Charlotte Pass

by

Lee Christine

A shocking discovery deep in the Snowy Mountains. A killer who will do anything to keep secrets buried.

 

 

Publisher: Allen & Unwin

 

Publication date: 4th February 2020

 

Series: Alpine #1

 

Genre: Crime / Thriller

 

Pages: 320

 

RRP: $29.99 AUD

 

Format read: Uncorrected proof paperback

 

Source: courtesy of the publisher

 

My review

 

When human bones are discovered, by ski patroller Vanessa Bell, near an abandoned chair lift at Charlotte Pass a cold case is reopened and Pierce Ryder is taken off the case of finding murder suspect Gavin Hutton and appointed head of this investigation.

 

I have already read book 2 in this series and i loved reading the story of how Vanessa and Pierce met. There is a very subtle romance weaving through this crime thriller. Lee Christine has written each of the books so they stand alone well.

 

In Charlotte Pass we are introduced to DS Pierce Ryder and his partner DC Mitchell Flowers. I loved the way this partnership grew and solidified as the story progressed. Ryder meets up with an old friend, retired Detective Lewicki, who worked a missing persons case in the area in 1964. Both are convinced the bones are the missing women and they must determine if she was murdered or died from exposure.

 

The suspense builds in this atmospheric mystery as ski patroller Vanessa Bell finds her own life in grave danger. As the ski lodged is closed down and everyone is interviewed it becomes clear that many of the villagers have something to hide.

 

I thoroughly enjoyed this fast paced read. I was hooked from the prologue and found it hard to put down. The characters are well written and realistic and I liked that the passages on Ryder's past didn't take away from the story but gave the reader a little insight into why he comes across as harsh.

 

The added details of the hazards encountered in the skiing industry and the harsh conditions was intriguing to this reader who has never visited the area.

 

Atmospheric, suspenseful and impossible to put down, Charlotte Pass is a must read for thriller fans.

 

My rating 5 / 5  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

 

About the author

 

In 2009, former corporate trainer Lee Chrsitine decided to turn her writing hobby into a serious day job. Charlotte Pass is her first crime novel. She lives in Newcastle, NSW, with her husband and her Irish Wheaten Terrier.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Click on image to read my review

 

 

Book Review: The Fossil Hunter by Tea Cooper

 The Fossil Hunter

by

Tea Cooper

 

A rare fossil, an unsolved mystery, a trail into the past....

 

Publisher: Harlequin Australia

 

Imprint: HQ Fiction

 

Publication date: 27th October 2021

 

Genre: Historical Fiction

 

Pages: 384

 

RRP: $32.99 AUD

 

Format read: Paperback

 

Source: Courtesy of the publisher

 

About the book

 

Wollombi, The Hunter Valley 1847

The last thing Mellie Vale remembers before the fever takes her is running through the bush as a monster chases her - but no one believes her story. In a bid to curb Mellie's overactive imagination, her benefactors send her to visit a family friend, Anthea Winstanley. Anthea is an amateur paleontologist with a dream. She is convinced she will one day find proof the great sea dragons - the ichthyosaur and the plesiosaur - swam in the vast inland sea that millions of years ago covered her property at Bow Wow Gorge, and soon Mellie shares that dream for she loves fossil hunting too...

1919
When Penelope Jane Martindale arrives home from the battlefields of World War 1 with the intention of making her peace with her father and commemorating the death of her two younger brothers in the trenches, her reception is not as she had hoped. Looking for distraction, she finds a connection between a fossil at London's Natural History museum and her brothers which leads her to Bow Wow Gorge. But the gorge has a sinister reputation - 70 years ago people disappeared. So when PJ uncovers some unexpected remains, it seems as if the past is reaching into the present and she becomes determined to discover what really happened all that time ago...

 

My review

 

It was such a lovely coincidence that I picked up The Fossil Hunter to read after I had just returned from a weekend in Wollombi. This made the setting so easy to picture even though i had seen it over 100 years after the book is set I feel nothing much has really changed in this small town.

 

The Fossil Hunter is a dual time-line narrative with both time-lines (1847 &  1919) set in the past.

Tea Cooper's main characters are women interested in paleontology which was regarded as a strange pastime and was even cause for many rumours to morph and grow as the years passed.

 

I enjoyed how Cooper made paleontology interesting and even a little exciting. It is something I had never really thought about before.

What starts as an intriguing story of paleontology and finding fossils and possibly dinosaur bones soon turns to a compelling mystery.

 

There are times when we find questions in the second timeline which are yet to be played out in the first. I found myself eagerly reading not willing to put the book down until the final twist as Cooper adds elements of mystery and intrigue to the story. 

 

The Fossil Hunter is another fabulous read from Tea Cooper. Compelling, interesting and wonderfully immersive.

 

My rating 4.5 / 5  ⭐⭐⭐⭐½

 
 

 

About the author

 

Tea Cooper writes Australian contemporary and historical fiction. In a past life she was a teacher, a journalist and a farmer. These days she haunts museums and indulges her passion for storytelling.

 

https://www.teacooperauthor.com/ 

 

 

 

Challenges Entered: Australian Women Writers Challenge AWW2021

 

                                   Aussie Author Challenge #Aussieauthor21

                                   

                                   Historical Fiction Challenge 

 

 

Book Review: Birds of a Feather by Tricia Stringer

 Birds of a Feather

by

Tricia Stringer

 

As one door closes another one opens

 

Publisher: Harlequin Australia

 

Imprint: HQ Fiction

 

Publication date: 29th September 2021

 

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

 

Pages: 352

 

RRP: $ 32.99AUD 

Format read: Paperback

Source: Courtesy of the publisher

About the book

Eve has been a partner in a Wallaby Bay fishing fleet as long as she can remember. Now they want her to sell - but what would her life be without work? She lives alone, her role on the town committee has been spiked by malicious gossip and she is incapacitated after surgery. For the first time in her life she feels weak, vulnerable - old.

When her troubled god-daughter Julia arrives at Wallaby Bay, she seems to offer Eve a reprieve from her own concerns. But there is no such thing as plain sailing. Eve has another house guest, the abrasive Lucy, who is helping her recuperate and does not look kindly on Julia's desire for Eve's attention.

But Lucy, too, has demons to battle and as each woman struggles to overcome their loss of place in the world, they start to realise that there may be more that holds them together, than keeps them apart.

 

My review

 

Tricia Stringer once again manages to deliver a heartfelt story with characters that readers will resonate with. Their problems and concerns are highly relatable and dealt with in a manner that is believable as the navigate the areas of friendship, family, ageing and companionship.

Julia who has retained a close friendship with her mother's best friend Eve, after her mother has passed away returns home to Wallaby Bay when her life falls into a rut and she feels she needs a bit of a break. She naturally turns to Eve as she is like a second mother.

Eve is recovering from shoulder surgery and has employed ex-nurse Lucy to oversee her recuperation. Here the three women are brought together and as they work through a rocky start an unlikely friendship evolves.

Stringer explores themes of women in male dominated industries, forced retirement and its mental effects, mother guilt, small town gossip, coping as a single parent with a FIFO partner and on a smaller scale how the evolving Covid pandemic affected different people.

The three women were all abrupt and disgruntled, at a crossroads in their life, at the start of the book and I liked the dynamics of the characters and how they were being frostily polite to each other.  I enjoyed their growth as they embraced a new optimism and purpose. Each supporting and encouraging the other.

Tricia Stringer reinvents the meaning of family as Eve, Julia and Lucy navigate the ups and downs of life.

My rating 5 / 5  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

About the author

 

Tricia Stringer is a bestselling and award-winning author. Among others, her books include commercial fiction titles Table For Eight, The Model Wife and The Family Inheritance, the rural romances A Chance of Stormy Weather and Come Rain or Shine and historical sagas Heart of the Country, Dust on the Horizon and Jewel in the North. Tricia grew up on a farm in country South Australia and has spent most of her life in rural communities. She now lives in the beautiful Copper Coast region, often exploring Australia's diverse communities and landscapes, and shares this passion for the country and its people through her stories.

 

 

Challenges Entered: Australian Women Writers Challenge AWW2021

 

                                   Aussie Author Challenge #Aussieauthor21

 

 

Book Review Blog Tour: The Safe Place by L. A. Larkin

 The Safe Place

by

L. A.  Larkin

Publisher: Bookouture

 

Publication date: 9th November 2021

 

Genre: Crime Thriller

 

Pages: 394

 

Price: $1.99AUD (Kindle price @12/11/21) 

 

Format read: eBook

 

Source: Courtesy of the publisher

 

About the book

 

Her heart pounds at the sound of footsteps outside her cabin in the woods. The snap of a twig tells her someone is close by. As she treads lightly towards the back door, she says a silent prayer—don’t let him find me…
 

Ever since Jessie Lewis reported her boyfriend, fire chief and local hero, for beating her, she’s been an outcast from the small town of Eagle Falls. And when someone sets fire to a house in the woods, killing the entire Troyer family, the locals turn on her again, taking her very public argument with Paul Troyer as proof that she lit the match.
 

Devastated that anyone could think her capable of murder, Jessie turns to Ruth. New in town, and an ex-FBI agent, Ruth could be the exact person Jessie needs to smoke out the murderer. But can she trust her with her life?
 

Days later, another house linked to Jessie is set ablaze. Combing the ashes for answers, she catches sight of an inscription she hasn’t seen since her childhood—since she lost someone very close to her. Is the killer is coming for her next?
 

As local wildfires take hold of the town and everyone is evacuated, Jessie knows she must put herself in unthinkable danger to catch the killer. And when she does, will she have the strength to take them down first?

 

My review

 

L.A. Larkin has delivered an adrenaline pumping small-town crime thriller fuelled by lies and secrets.

 

After being ostracised by the local community Jessie Lewis moves to a small cabin in the woods outside her home town of Eagle Falls. When a family of four is killed in a fire lit by an arsonist the town turns on Jessie once again.

Ex-FBI agent Ruth Sullivan has moved with her young family to her husband's home town of Eagle Falls. She is struggling with the damaging effects of a bomb blast plus PTSD induced nightmares. Ruth is finding it hard to fit into this tight knit community.

 

Ruth and Jessie, almost a generation apart in age, were alike in many ways. Both were strong determined women trying to escape their past. The two women immediately clicked and when Jessie found herself in trouble she turned to Ruth for help. Jessie is determined to clear her name and uncover a corrupt sheriff, long held secrets, a murderer and an arsonist.

 

Larkin has created a small-town community filled with domineering, manipulative and misogynistic men. The story includes themes of domestic abuse, victim blaming and gaslighting.  

 

The scenes of the house fires were horrifyingly real and as the story progresses the number of likely suspects mounts.

The suspense was rife, I was on the edge of my seat, it took all of my reserve not to read ahead to see what happened next.

 

The Safe Place is fast paced, action packed and suspense filled making it a novel not to be missed. 

 

I really enjoyed Larkin's previous novels Devour and Prey but she has outdone herself with The Safe Place! 

 

My rating 5 / 5  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

 

About the author

 

L.A. Larkin’s crime-thrillers have won her fans all over the world. Described as a superb ‘chiller thriller’ writer by Marie Claire magazine and praised by Lee Child, Louisa likes to write stories with lots of plot twists and characters that surprise. She feels very privileged to be able to brainstorm her story ideas with friends in the police and the FBI.

 

 

Website: https://lalarkin.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LALarkinAuthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/lalarkinauthor

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/la_larkin_author/ 

 

 

 

 

 

Book Review & Giveaway: The Curlew's Eye by Karen Manton

The Curlew's Eye

by

Karen Manton 

 

Publisher: Allen & Unwin

 

Publication date: 14th September 2021

 

Genre: Contemporary Fiction / Mystery

 

Pages: 352

 

RRP: $32.99AUD

 

Format read: Uncorrected Paperback

 

Source: Courtesy of the publisher

 

About the book

 

Greta's partner Joel grew up with five brothers and a sister in a feisty household on an isolated NT property. But he doesn't talk about those days-not the deaths of his sister and mother, nor the origin of the scars that snake around his body.

Now, many years later, he returns with Greta and their three young boys to prepare the place for sale. The boys are quick to settle in, and Joel seems preoccupied with work, but Greta has a growing sense of unease, struggling in the build-up's oppressive heat and living in the shadow of the old, burned-out family home. She knows she's a stranger in this uncanny place, with its eerie and alluring landscape, hostile neighbour, and a toxic dam whose clear waters belie its poison. And then there's the mysterious girl living rough whom Greta tries to befriend.

Determined to make sense of it all, Greta is drawn into Joel's unspoken past and confronted by her own. Before long the curlew's haunting cry will call her to face the secrets she and Joel can no longer outrun.  

My review

Greta, Joel and their three sons lead a nomadic life moving from town to town wherever Joel finds work. When he gets a job repairing the shack on his childhood property Greta is looking forward to learning more about Joel and his family.

As they settle into the area and meet other residents Greta can feel the pull of the place. It calls to her and the history of the area seeps into her being.

 

Karen Manton's prose are eerie and haunting. She uses short, sharp sentences that hold within themselves a hint of impending menace.

Single page chapters from the past are dotted throughout revealing a malevolent presence that once lurked.

 

I liked how Karen Manton set the novel in the modern day however there was only brief mentions of mobile phones and email. The three young boys ran around the bush collecting things, fishing and amusing themselves. They were happy, outgoing, friendly boys despite living a nomadic life.

Greta and Joel are slowly being destroyed by secrets held within them and secrets held from them.

Everything is brought to life in this gothic style tale of secrets kept hidden. The vegetation, trees, bird-life are all watching, judging.

Water and its alluring beauty and danger is a large presence running through the novel. The poison lake at the property holds secrets within its depths and the ocean of Greta's childhood holds memories of despair and loss.

Karen Manton has expressed this foreboding style of narration with an expertise that makes it look effortless. The gloom, despair and horror as it built to the climax did however overwhelm me. The Curlew's Eye is a highly emotional read.

My rating 4 / 5  ⭐⭐⭐⭐

About the author

Karen Manton lives in Darwin and Batchelor in the Northern Territory, with her husband, two sons, and their two dogs and a turtle. She has short stories published in various anthologies. The Curlew's Eye is her first novel.

 

Giveaway 

I  have one copy of The Curlew's Eye to give away to one lucky reader. Entries close at Midnight on 14th November 2021. (Australian addresses only)

 

This giveaway is closed - The winner was announced here

Book Review & Giveaway: Deception Creek by Fleur McDonald

 Deception Creek

by

Fleur McDonald

 

When secrets from the past threaten, loyalties are questioned

 

 Publisher: Allen & Unwin

 

Publication date: 2nd November 2021

 

Series: Detective Dave Burrows 

 

Genre: Rural crime

 

Pages: 376

 

RRP: $ 29.99AU

 

Format read: Paperback

 

Source: Courtesy of the publisher

 

About the book

 

Emma Cameron, a recently divorced farmer and a local in Barker, runs Deception Creek, the farm that three generations of her family have owned before her. Every day Emma pushes herself hard on the land, hoping to make ten-year-old memories of a terrible car accident disappear. And now there are more recent nightmares of an ex-husband who refuses to understand how much the farm means to Emma.

When criminal Joel Hammond is released from jail and heads home to Barker, Detective Dave Burrows and his officer Senior Sergeant Jack Higgins are on high alert. Joel has a long and sorry history with many of the townsfolk and they are not keen to see him home to stay.

Not all of the Barker locals want to see Joel run out of town though. Some even harbour doubts about Joel's conviction. The town finds itself split down the middle, families pitted against each other with devastating outcomes.

 

My review

 

I simply can't get enough of Detective Dave Burrows! This series is one I will definitely keep on my shelf to read again.

 

Joel Hammond is back in town after nine years in prison. His parents have passed away and Barker is the only home he knows. Joel wants a quiet  life but the residents of barker have long memories and a penchant for bearing grudges.

 

Emma having recently celebrated her divorce thinks it may be time to start dating again when an old friend, she shared a tragedy with in the past, comes to visit and clearly shows his interest in her and the farm.

 

Deception Creek is another suspense filled rural crime novel. Characters I have come to know and love reappear in this story and I gained a little more insight into their personalities.

 

Zara the investigative journalist and girlfriend of police officer Jack Higgins again has a major roll in this novel as she works along side Dave and Jack.

Fleur McDonald again features PTSD and the importance of counseling. Through Joel, who is still professing his innocence, we see the difficulty to adjust to everyday lofe after being in prison.

Dave Burrows is always cool and calm, keeping his feelers out for any trouble but never taking sides or judging anyone.

The mysteries start to build as an accidental death 29 years ago is questioned.

McDonald includes themes of white collar crime, online blackmail and long held secrets, mixing these with everyday farming techniques to give her books a true Australian flavour.

Fleur McDonald knows how to add mystery into every element of the story leaving her readers eagerly turning the pages.

 

My rating  5 / 5  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

 

About the author

After growing up on a farm near Orroroo in South Australia, Fleur McDonald’s first job was jillarooing in the outback. She has been involved in agriculture all her life, including helping manage a 8000-acre station for twenty years. Today she and her two children, along with a Jack Russell and her energetic kelpie, Jack, live in Esperance, Western Australia, 

 

Giveaway

 

Thanks to Allen & Unwin I have one paperback copy of Deception Creek to giveaway to one lucky entrant. Australian addresses only.

 

This giveaway is closed - the winner was announced here

 

 

Book Review: The Last of the Apple Blossom by Mary-Lou Stephens

The Last of the Apple Blossom

by

Mary-Lou Stephens 

 

Deep in the Huon Valley - two orchards, two women and the secret that binds them.

 

 

Publisher: Harlequin Enterprises Australia

 

Imprint: HQ Fiction

 

Publication date: 28th July 2021

 

Genre: Historical Fiction

 

Pages: 464

 

Format read: Uncorrected Paperback 

Source: Courtesy of the publisher

 

About the book

 

February, 1967. Walls of flame reduce much of Tasmania to ash.

 

Young schoolteacher Catherine Turner rushes to the Huon Valley to find her family's apple orchard destroyed, her childhood home in ruins  and her brother dead. Despite her father's declaration that a woman will never run the orchard, Catherine resolves to rebuild the family business.

 

After five sons, Catherine's friend and neighbour, Annie Pearson, is overjoyed by the birth of a much longed-for daughter. As Annie and her husband Dave work to repair the damage to their orchard, Dave's friend Mark pitches in, despite the fact that Annie wants him gone. Mark has moved his family to the valley to escape his life in Melbourne, but his wife has disappeared leaving chaos in her wake and their young son Charlie in Mark's care.

 

Catherine becomes fond of Charlie, whose strange upbringing has left him shy and withdrawn. However, the growing friendship between Mark and Catherine not only scanadlises the small community but threatens a secret Annie is desperate to keep hidden.

 

My review

 

The Last of the Apple Blossom opens with the devastating fires of 1967 in Tasmania's Houn Valley.

Mary-Lou Stephens immediately plunges her reader into the fear, heat and danger that surrounds a bush fire.

 

Catherine returns home to find the family apple orchard burnt to the ground and her brother dead. Catherine is a girl before her time. She has no interest in marriage and children, her big dream has always been to run the family orchard. But the sixties were still a time of subjugation for women and there was no way her father was going to let her run the orchard. Women worked in the packing shed.

I loved Catherine's  passion for the orchard and I could see that it caused a great rift between her and her father and bitter words were flung around. Catherine showed a real maturity and mostly let the hurtful comments bounce off her.

 

Catherine's neighbours Annie and Dave are busy with their six young children and their orchard. Dave has good friend Mark helping out on the orchard. Mark is enjoying the quite country atmosphere in contrast to his usual busy life.

 

I enjoyed the vivid descriptions of the apple orchards and the day to day lives of the owners. The hustle and bustle of the children and the hectic picking and packing season was well portrayed. It came across as grueling work but you could also see how satisfying it was to finish a good crop. A successful apple season is totally reliant on so many outside influences such as fire, drought, farmyard accidents, transportation and waterside strikes. The story spans a large time period and over time we see the need to diversify and evolve to keep up with changing markets

 

There are a couple of love interests introduced for Catherine. The fun loving Tim and the dark and broody Mark add a light romance element to the story.

 

The Last of the Apple Blossom is a story of passion for the land, heartbreak, perseverance, secrets, lies, family, love and longing. The characters travel a rocky road to forgiveness and healing. 

 

My rating  5 / 5   ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

 

About the author

 

Photo credit: Goodreads

Mary-Lou Stephens was born in Tasmania, studied acting at The Victorian College of the Arts and played in bands in Melbourne, Hobart and Sydney. Eventually she got a proper job - in radio, where she was a presenter and music director, first with commercial radio and then with the ABC.

She received rave reviews for her memoir Sex, Drugs and Meditation (2013), the true story of how meditation changed her life, saved her job and helped her find a husband.

Mary-Lou has worked and played all over Australia and now lives on the Sunshine Coast with her husband and a hive of native bees.  

 

 

Challenges Entered: Australian Women Writers Challenge AWW2021

 

                                   Aussie Author Challenge #Aussieauthor21

                                  

                                   Historical Fiction Challenge