Monday 24 June 2019

Mailbox Monday - June 24th


Mailbox Monday is a meme started by Marcia of To Be Continued. Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week. It now has a permanent home at the Mailbox Monday blog. Head over and check out other books received during the last week.


Happy Monday!

A fairly quite week here last week. The temperatures plummeted this week making it feel much more like winter with the mornings and evenings quite cold now, but we are lucky that it is mild and sunny during the day. I found I sunny spot outside today and enjoyed some reading time until the clouds rolled in and forced me back inside.
Our large local, second hand, charity book sale was on during the last weekend and it was hard but I refrained from attending as my daughter reminded me repeatedly that I don't need more books.
I didn't completely go without buying more books as Big Sky Publishing had an unmissable online sale where I purchased some children's books at crazy prices.

We went out for dinner as a family for my son's birthday to a local club and then back home for cake. ( and I forgot to take a photo).

Books  received during the past week.

 


Received from the publisher for review:

The Chain by Adrian McKinty
Publication Date: 9th July 2019

You just dropped off your child at the bus stop.
A panicked stranger calls your phone.
Your child has been kidnapped.
The stranger then explains that their child has also been kidnapped, by a completely different stranger.
The only way to get your child back is to kidnap another child - within 24 hours.
Your child will be released only when the next victim's parents kidnap yet another child.
And most importantly, the stranger explains, if you don't kidnap a child, or if the next parents don't kidnap a child, your child will be murdered.

You are now part of The Chain.

Making Trouble: Tongued With Fire by Sue Ingleton
Publication date: 1st August 2019

In the winter of 1875, two rebellious spirits travel from England to Australia. Harriet Rowell (age 22) and Alice Moon (age 18) were champion swimmers in a time when women didn’t go into the sea; and they were in love in a time when many women were in love with each other but held such love secretly. Harriet and Alice took on the world at a dangerous time for women’s freedom of expression, but their love ended when Alice moved to Sydney to become a writer.

Before Harriet can get over her grief from the breakup, tragedy strikes; Alice is found dead in her bed at thirty-seven. Suspicions rest upon the powerful, chauvinistic scientist, John McGarvie Smith, with whom Alice had been working in her newfound capacity as a journalist. This book seeks to uncover the truth of Alice’s death and seek justice.


My Purchases:

The Pink Snowman by Alan Horsfield
Publication date: 5th April 2017

It's snowing in the Blue Mountains and Krystal is bored....but not for long.
After a disastrous attempt to build a snowman, Krystal and her friend Jasper find themselves with a puzzling problem.

Not only has their snowman come to life, now he's turning pink, and he's not happy about it!

Can the friends solve the mystery of the talking snowman's strawberry shade? 

Chicken Little by Oakley Graham
Publication date: 5th May 2017

Chicken Little thinks the sky is falling and sets off on a mission to tell the king.

A classic story about learning to think for yourself.




The Silent Owl by Clemency Pearce
Publication date: 5th August 2016

In the great, old hollow oak, lived an owl, who never spoke.

In the deep, dark forest lives a silent owl.
The forest animals are worried about Owl, but he has a few surprises up his sleeve!


 Sweet as Sugar by Oakley Graham
Publication date: 5th August 2017

The time has come for a young sugar glider to leave home. She tried to be brave, kissed her mummy on the cheek, and scampered on her way.

Follow Sugar in this original tale about learning to be happy with who you are.


 

What Books did your postman deliver, or you downloaded, this week?

Post a link to your Mailbox Monday or simply list your books in the comments below.
 
 
 
 
 

Saturday 22 June 2019

Book Bingo - Round 13 #BookBingo



Book Bingo is a reading challenge hosted by Theresa Smith Writes , Mrs B’s Book Reviews and The Book Muse. Every second Saturday, book bingo participants reveal which bingo category they have read and what book they chose. 

This week I have chosen the category 'Novella no more than 150 pages'







Novella no more than 150 pages.

Christmas with the Boss by Annie Seaton 130 pages

There was a time when I wouldn't bother reading a novella thinking that it would be impossible to achieve any true character development or storyline in such a short book. Authors everywhere have since proved me wrong time and time again and I don't shy away from novellas anymore. I have come to enjoy them and search them out.

Christmas With the Boss is set on the New South Wales  Mid North Coast, I place I know well, which made the story even more engaging.

You can read my full review of Christmas With the Boss  here





#BookBingo2019




  

Friday 21 June 2019

Book Club Book Review: Mr Right Now by Karly Lane

Mr Right Now
By
Karly Lane

Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Publication date: 1st may 2019
Series: The Callahans of Stringybark Creek #2
Pages:  312
Format read: paperback
Source: Courtesy of the publisher via Beauty & Lace book club



Griffin Callahan and Olivia Dawson were inseparable. Everyone in town knew it. But when Griff went off to Ag College, Liv told him it was over and fled her family's farm to study law. Griff had never understood her reasons but eventually accepted that first loves don't last. Until now.

Currently back on the farm to help her twin brother with the harvest, Liv is the same gorgeous, laughing, hazel-eyed girl he'd always loved. Yet Griff can sense a difference, an uncertainty playing beneath the surface that wasn't there before.

Amidst crossed wires, drunken declarations, and families on a mission, will Griff and Liv finally have a second chance? Or will the old saying - If you love someone set them free - become their reality?





Mr Right Now is another delightful, easy read from one of my favourite authors, Karly Lane. When I say easy I don’t mean superficial. Lane’s stories have depth and explore many themes that are relevant to relationships in all forms, siblings, parent/adult child, friends and lovers.

Olivia Dawson, city girl and high flying lawyer, returns home to her family’s property to help out after her father has a near fatal accident. She sees this as a temporary thing; the country life isn’t for her. But when she sees ex-boyfriend and neighbour Griffin Callahan the old spark is still there and they soon slip back into a relationship. A relationship fraught with anxiety, misunderstandings and heartbreak.

I love the Callahans! On the surface they are the perfect family. There is mum and dad, community stalwarts, plus two sons and two daughters, all seemingly supporting each other, but under the surface they have problems, some major drama, just like all ordinary families.

Lane explores father/son relationships and the old-ways versus the new-ways, farming accidents, diversity on the land, droughts, storms, community support, family and friendships.

The banter between the characters was fun and authentic, whether it was between friends or siblings it came across as realistic.

A shocking secret will be revealed and the Callahan family’s foundations will take a substantial knock.

I simply can’t wait for book 3. I don’t think Lavinia Callahan can sweep this under the mat as easily as the Linc – Griffin incident “accident”.

This review first appeared on the Beauty & Lace book club.
 
This is book #2 in the series. You can read my review of book #1  The Wrong Callahan here
 
 
 
                           🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

My rating  5/5     





*this review is part of the Book Lover Book Review Aussie author challenge
and book #23 in the Australian Women Writers challenge
 
 
 
Karly Lane lives on the beautiful Mid North Coast of NSW in Australia. A certified small town girl, she is most happy in a little town where everyone knows who your grand parents were. She writes women’s fiction – everything from romantic suspense to family sagas and life in rural Australia. She has romantic suspense titles published under Karlene Blakemore-Mowle and her latest release, Third Time Lucky is available now.