Book Review: Broken Bones by Angela Marsons

Broken Bones

by

Angela Marsons

Publisher: Bookouture
Publication date: 3rd November 2017
Series: D.I. Kim Stone #7
Genre: Crime / Mystery
Pages: 366
Format read: eBook
Source: Courtesy of the publisher via Netgalley 

The murder of a young prostitute and a baby found abandoned on the same winter night signals the start of a disturbing investigation for Detective Kim Stone – one which brings her face to face with someone from her own horrific childhood.

As three more sex workers are murdered in quick succession, each death more violent than the last, Kim and her team realise that the initial killing was no one-off frenzied attack, but a twisted serial killer preying on the vulnerable.

At the same time, the search begins for the desperate woman who left her newborn baby at the station – but what looks like a tragic abandonment turns even more sinister when a case of modern slavery is uncovered.

The two investigations bring the team into a terrifying world of human exploitation and cruelty – and a showdown that puts Kim’s life at risk as shocking secrets from her own past come to light. 

A young prostitute is found murdered. A baby is left outside the police station, abandoned by its mother. Broken Bones, the seventh D.I. Kim Stone novel, runs along a dual plot line.

Kim splits the team up with Dawson and Stacey covering the abandoned baby case. Stacey is ready to come out from behind the desk, after a previous trauma, and prove herself in the field.

Stone and Bryant are partnered on the murder case. I loved their natural banter and ribbing and how their personalities complement each other. Kim, headstrong and impulsive matches well with Bryant’s calm manner.

Broken Bones has themes of manipulation and abuse. The abandoned baby case brings us face to face with illegal immigrants. How they are used for cheap labour and what they have to endure for a chance at a new life.

The murder of the prostitute is handled with compassion. A story of online grooming and coercion, Marsons goes behind the act to show us vulnerable girls and how they become entrapped.

We are reminded occasionally of Kim’s past, fully explained in previous books, which keeps the reader on track as to why Kim is like she is. Her motivation.

Broken Bones is a gripping and utterly addictive serial killer thriller. I was hooked from the start.

                      🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 

My rating  5/5

 

Angela is the author of the Kim Stone Crime series. She discovered a love of writing at Primary School when a short piece on the rocks and the sea gained her the only merit point she ever got.
Angela wrote the stories that burned inside and then stored them safely in a desk drawer.
After much urging from her partner she began to enter short story competitions in Writer's News resulting in a win and three short listed entries.
She used the Amazon KDP program to publish two of her earlier works before concentrating on her true passion - Crime. 

 
 

Book Review: Maggie's Going Nowhere by Rose Hartley #BRPreview

Maggie's Going Nowhere

by

Rose Hartley

Publisher: Penguin Books Australia 
Imprint: Michael Joseph
Publication date: 7th January 2020
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Pages: 352
RRP: $32.99 AU
Format read: uncorrected paperback
Source: Courtesy of the publisher via Better Reading

Maggie Cotton’s life is a hot mess.

In one day, she’s dumped by her boyfriend, disinherited by her mum, and kicked off the three-year degree course she’d stretched to a decade. And that was before she received the letter saying she owed the government $70,000.

But that’s no reason to grow up, is it?

With a decrepit 1960s caravan to call home, Maggie has to prove to her mother she can survive without a safety net, stop her loyal best friend Jen from marrying a scumbag, and convince her sexy workmate Rueben that she’s not a walking disaster. For someone who’s spent her life avoiding hard work, she sure can move mountains when she’s got a little motivation – just don’t ask her to move the caravan.

In Maggie’s Going Nowhere Hartley has taken a character that would normally be unlikeable and given her endearing qualities.

Maggie doesn’t like to conform to societal standards. She has been living off her mother, her boyfriend and Centrelink for the past ten years whilst she idles her way through what should be a three year Uni course.

When she gets kicked out by her boyfriend and kicked off her Uni course she is disinherited by her mother until she can prove that she is capable of supporting herself. I loved her mother’s tough love and Maggie was so funny trying to weasel a meal out of her mum without letting on she had no money to buy food.

Maggie is a brazen no hoper but it is hard not to love her. She knows how to laugh at herself and doesn’t take life too seriously. She is assertive and always speaks her mind assuming her friends would prefer the truth no matter how objectionable. She says she doesn’t care what people think of her but deep down we can see that she does.

I thoroughly enjoyed Maggie's Going Nowhere. There are plenty of laugh-out-loud moments as Maggie fumbles her way through this belated coming-of-age story. 

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

My rating   5/5

 This review is part of the Book Lover Book Review Aussie author challenge

and book #37 in the Australian Women Writers challenge

photo credit: Goodreads

    

Rose Hartley is a graduate of the Clarion Writers’ Workshop. She lives in Adelaide with her cat, Doris, and her 1962 caravan, Cecil. Maggie's Going Nowhere is her first novel.

Wrap up of my 2019 challenges - let's see how I went!

It's that time of year when we look back over our challenge pledges and see how we went.

You can read my 2019 sign up post here 

My first one was the Book Lover Book Review Aussie Author Challenge. 

 
I signed up for Kangaroo level:
4 x female authors, 4 x Male authors, 4 x New to me authors, 3 x genres.
My completed challenge was:
38 x Female authors, 5 x Male authors, 26 x New to me authors, 8 x Genres. With a total of 43 books read.

I was happy with the results here but I definitely need to increase my male Aussie authors in 2020.

You can see the full list of books here

Next up was the Australian Women Writers Challenge. 

I nominated to read and review 30 books for this challenge.
My completed challenge was 38 books read and reviewed.

You can see the full list of books here

A new challenge for me this year was the Ginger Mum and Company A - Z challenge.

Read a book for every letter of the alphabet. I managed to read 23 of the 26 letters.
Check here to see which books I read and what letters I missed. 

Another new to me challenge was the Book Bingo challenge hosted by Theresa Smith Writes , Mrs B’s Book Reviews and The Book Muse.
 
I was a slightly worried about this one but I did manage to finish the whole bingo card of 30 books. You can read my wrap up post here
 
My final challenge was the Aussie Readers Group (on Goodreads) annual colour challenge. Read 2 books each with covers of 6 different colours. 
You can see the books and covers I chose here 

Well that's a wrap for 2019. Some challenges I will be sticking with in 2020 and some I will be dropping but I am sure I will pick up a couple more.
Look out for my 2020 challenge sign up post coming soon. 

 

 

Book Review: Last Bridge Before Home by Lily Malone

Last Bridge Before Home

by

Lily Malone

Publisher: Harper Collins Harlequin Australia 
Imprint: Mira
Series: Chalk Hill #3
Genre: Contemporary Fiction / Romantic Suspense
Publication date: 16th December 2019
Pages: 384
RRP: $29.99 AU
Format read: Trade paperback
Source: Courtesy of the publisher

For Jaydah Tully, the country town of Chalk Hill has never felt like home. Home is a place to feel loved. Home is a place to feel safe. Jaydah's home life is dark in ways the close-knit community could never imagine.
Jaydah knows that the man she loves has never understood her need for secrets. Brix is a Honeychurch, she's a Tully - her family are Chalk Hill's black sheep. It's better for everyone if Brix stays away.
But Brix is a one-woman man, and when he returns to his home town to help his brother, the first person he sees is Jaydah. Independent. Private. Proud. When things are good between them they are really really good but all too soon they're back in the old patterns, caught in the same argument: Her father. Her family. Her life that doesn't include him.
Underneath her tough exterior, Jaydah is drowning. She has one chance to change everything. Is she brave enough to take the risk and let Brix in? Or will her father keep them apart forever?

Last bridge before Home is the third book in the Chalk Hill trilogy. Each book focuses on one of the three Honeychurch brothers but read perfectly as stand alone.

Set in the fictional Western Australian rural town of Chalk Hill. A town were everyone knows everyone else’s business but have no idea what really goes on behind closed doors, especially when it involves the reclusive Tully family, the black sheep of the town.

Lily Malone has written a heart-breaking end to her Chalk Hill series. Braxton (Brix) has always been in love with Jaydah but she won’t commit to a long term relationship. Jaydah has a dark secret that she can never reveal but can she open up to Brix to save her family?

Through Jaydah’s family Malone explores domestic abuse and it’s hold on the abused. Another theme throughout the novel is the rights of a person with a mental disability and caring for a person with special needs. The importance of Family Services and the wonderful and extensive work they do for families is also highlighted during the story.

I found Last Bridge Before Home to be quite confronting. The tension was palpable and the characters were real. The Honeychurch family were welcoming and accommodating. Nothing was too much trouble and they were all happy to help Jaydah even though they had problems of their own.

I love the way Malone gave us a family of three sons and showed how a mother’s connection to her sons can be just as warm and deep as with daughters, with all the boys gathering around their mother in her time of need.

The story ends with a bang as we find out Jaydah isn’t the only one holding secrets!

Last Bridge Before Home is heart-breaking, tear inducing and hope imbued.

 

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

 My rating  5/5

This review is part of the Book Lover Book Review Aussie author challenge

and book #38 in the Australian Women Writers challenge

 

photo credit: Goodreads

 Lily Malone trained as a journalist and worked in newspapers before becoming editor of Australia's largest wine industry trade publisher. After the birth of her two boys, she discovered writing romantic stories set in Australia's vineyards was much more fun than writing about diseases of grapevines or the latest French clone. Lily is based in Cowaramup, Western Australia.

 

 

 

Merry Christmas - 2019

Wishing all my followers a fabulous Christmas.

I would like to thank everyone for their support during 2019 and wishing you much love, happiness and five star reads in 2020.

 

Winners in my Mega Summer Giveaway announced - 2019

A big thank you to everyone who entered my Mega Summer Giveaway. I had an amazing number of entries.  The giveaway closed on 15th December and the winners were randomly selected (using Random org) from all entries. 

 

 Congratulations to.....

 

DonnaRae who won a copy of The Breeding Season

 

 

Sharah McConville who won copies of The Diabolic & The Empress

Renee Hermansen who won a copy of Akin

Bronze Toes who won the set of children's first chapter books

The winners have been notified and the books are on their way.

Please see my Giveaway tab for more chances to win great books.   

Book Bingo 2019 end of year wrap up #BookBingo

Book Bingo is a reading challenge hosted by Theresa Smith Writes , Mrs B’s Book Reviews and The Book Muse. Over the course of the year each participant was required to read 30 books relating to the squares on the bingo card. I had a lot of fun trying to find books that were already on my TBR that fit into each category. I didn't want to buy new books if I could help it.
The year started off fairly easy with so many categories to choose from but I knew there were a few I would struggle with such as nonfiction, author over 65 and book written more than 10 years ago. Quite often it was not a matter of not having a book to read but finding time to read the books. Anyway I did manage to finish the full card and I am very pleased with myself.
Below is the full list of books read for the challenge.

Book with a red cover - The Ex
Beloved classic - Brer Rabbit Again
Novel that has 500 pages or more - The Butterfly Room
Novella no more than 150 pages - Christmas With the Boss
Prize winning  book - Exit West
Book by an author with same initials as you - Victoria James - Christmas with the Sheriff
Non Fiction book about an event - Renia's Diary
Fictional biography about a woman in history - Making Trouble - Tongued with Fire
Memior about a non-famous person - Wish You Were Here
Book written by an Australian woman more than 10 years ago - Odd One Out
Themes of Science Fiction - Rogue
Themes of culture - Tidelands
Themes of Justice - In a Great Southern Land
Themes of Inequality - The Librarian of Auschwitz
Themes of Fantasy The Ruin of Kings 
A book with a place in the title - The Cinema at Starlight Creek
A book set in the Australian outback - Home at Last
Book set on the Australian coast - Sixty Seconds
Book set in the Australian mountains - The Pink Snowman
Set in an exotic location: The Christmas Lights
Written by an Australian man -  The Secrets She Keeps
Written by an Australian Woman - The Wrong Callahan
Written by an author under 35 -  Baby
Written by an author over 65 - The Invention of Wings 
Written by an author you've never read before: Louis & Louise
Literary Fiction -  Bridge of Clay
Crime -  Death of an Old Girl
Historical - The Glovemaker
Romance -  The Secret Son's Homecoming
Comedy - Our Stop

I will definitely be joining in again for 2020 and I urge everyone to join in next year. There are really no hard and fast rules and sometimes the categories are open to your interpretation making this a fun relaxed challenge.  

#BookBingo2019