Book Review: An Ordinary Life by Amanda Prowse

An Ordinary Life

by

Amanda Prowse

 

 

Publisher: Lake Union Publishing

Publication date: 9th February 2021

Genre: Historical Fiction / WWII

Pages: 396

Format read: eBook

Source: Courtesy of the publisher via Netgalley

 

About the book

 

Christmas Eve, 2019. Ninety-four-year-old Molly lies in her hospital bed. A stroke and a fall may have broken her body—but her mind is alive with memories.

London, 1940s. Molly is a bright young woman, determined to help the war effort and keep her head up despite it all. Life becomes brighter when she meets and falls in love with a man who makes her forget everything with one dance. But then war forces her to make an unforgettable sacrifice, and when she’s brought to her knees by a daring undercover mission with the French Resistance, only her sister knows the secret weighing heavily on Molly’s heart.

Now, lying in her hospital bed, Molly can’t escape the memories of what she lost all those years ago. But she is not as alone as she thinks.

Will she be able to find peace—and finally understand that what seemed to be an ordinary life was anything but?

 

My review

 

I love reading anything that is set during WWII and Amanda Prowse hasn't disappointed in this family drama centred around a young woman who made great sacrifices and risked her life to help end the war.

 

The story opens with Molly aged 94 suffering from a stroke and a fall that lands her in hospital unable to communicate, although her mind is perfectly clear. Molly is desperate to tell her story.

 

From here we go back to 1943, London and an 18 year old Molly. She is an amazing, strong woman and very intelligent. She is fluent in German and works for The Ministry of Information as a senior translator translating propaganda posters and transcripts intercepted from the enemy. We follow Molly's extraordinary life through the ups and downs of love, friendships and family in a time of war.

 

Amanda Prowse portrays how the war had changed the trajectory of many lives and how women slotted into jobs usually allocated to men. The story also shows the societal restrictions of the time concerning reputation and appearances. Molly falls in love fast and hard, as many did during this time of uncertainty. When he is sent off to fight she spends many hours thinking of her love and praying for his safe return whilst she continues with her life and doing what she can to end this war and bring her loved one home.

 

With themes of PTSD, spies, societal expectations and family, Amanda Prowse has written a beautifully described story that is filled with love, danger, tension, sacrifice and heartbreak.

 

I thoroughly enjoyed this compelling Historical Fiction.

 

4/5  ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 

 

About the author

 

Photo: Goodreads

 
Amanda Prowse was a management consultant for ten years before realising that she was born to write. Amanda lives in the West Country with her husband and their two teenage sons.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Challenges entered: Historical Fiction Challenge #HistFic2021 

 

 

I have a giveaway currently running and you can enter HERE

 

 

 

Book Review: The Good, the Bad and the Backstory by Melissa Minery

The Good, the Bad and the Backstory

by

Melissa Minery

Illustrated by Stephanie Hider

 A Unique Story that Presents a Timeline of Events in the Day of the Life of Five Middle-School Students

 

Publisher: Boys Town Press 

Publication date: 9th March 2021

Genre: Middle Grade

Pages: 172

Price: $10.12AUD for kindle

Format read: eBook

Source: Courtesy of the publisher via Smith Publicity

 

About the book

  

This story presents a timeline of events from sunup to sundown, in a day in the life of five seventh graders - Ashley, Kenisha, Taara, Ryan and Andrew.

As they walk the hallways, attend class and navigate the dreaded lunchroom, they experience all the messiness of middle school - the fragile friendships, the peer pressure, the fickle social hierarchy and the relationship drama. Issues at home and interactions at school influence how they relate to one another, their classmates and their teachers throughout the day.

 My review

 

The Good the Bad and the Backstory follows five year 7 students through an entire day from waking in the morning, through the ups and downs of the school day, to back to bed that night. The story is told from all the characters’ perspectives giving the reader a rounded view of every situation.

Melissa Minery has written an entertaining story that includes messages of self-esteem, family relationships, courage, forgiveness, empathy and resilience.

The five pre-teens, Ashley, Kenisha, Ryan, Andrew and Taara, all have different backgrounds and family dynamics and through these characters Minery shows how upbringing and family circumstances can affect a child’s actions.

 

The children have their tiffs but come together to talk about their feelings and also reach out an arm of friendship putting aside the fear of rejection.

The school counsellor has an important role in this story and I liked the way the children stopped and thought about the lessons from the counsellor and how they could use these lessons in the situations they found themselves in.

 

The Good, the Bad and the Backstory brings up everyday events that children will encounter in the school environment, bullying, jealousies, rumours and feelings of anxiety and offers effective solutions by encouraging children to voice their feelings, own up to their mistakes, offer forgiveness to others and have compassion.

 

This book will be a valuable teaching tool perfect for classroom discussions about the different families, the situations that arose for the children and the coping skills and strategies they used to handle them.

 

Each chapter is headed by a full page cute greyscale pencil drawing depicting a scene from that chapter.

 

5/5  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 

 

Recommended for ages 9 -13 years

 

About the author

 

 Melissa Minery is a Certified School Counselor in New Hampshire. She has worked at the elementary-to-high school levels and as a career Counselor with young adult's. She's always doing something to "grow her brain" and loves going on adventures with her family and hiking in the white mountains. This is her first published work. 

 

 

Friday Freebie Mega Book Giveaway

 As a thank you to my subscribers I have a subscriber only giveaway.

 Enter for as many books as you like. All books are paperback format. This giveaway will not be posted elsewhere. Australian addresses only. Entries close midnight on 15th April 2021.

Click on the book covers to read more about them.

Enter via the form below:

 

This giveaway is now closed and the winners were announced HERE

Cover Reveal: Bound by M J Stevens

 Bound 

by

M. J. Stevens

 

The Guardians #1

 

 Bound was originally published in 2014 and has now been revised and given a whole new look. Edition 2 is due to be released on 30th April 2021.

 

 
About the book

After stopping to help a mysterious stranger who was shot and left to die, Mellea Wendorn is swept into the world of the Guardians: the enchanted rulers of Selestia. To be shielded from the paranoid and tyrannic former Lord Guardian, she must agree to a future partnership with Successor Leo.

Mellea is disillusioned by their arrogance. Leo doubts if he can handle her independent spirit.

In the throes of despair, she finds hope in books defining the Guardian’s secret history, newfound friends and her own strength.

When a dangerous, timeworn enemy emerges from the shadows, the Guardians must do their duty. But if Mellea agrees to become a Guardian, will her head be on the chopping block?

"ALWAYS READ THE FINE PRINT."

 

My review

 

I loved the original version when I read it back in 2014. Below is my original review.

 

Mellea is a typical 17 year old. Unhappy with the way her life is going, it's boring, everyday is the same. She would like to one day meet a member of the Guardians,the ruling family of Selestia. But her parents forbid her from even reading about them in the newspaper.
On her way home from work one afternoon Mellea meets Leo the second son of the Guardians. He had just been shot at and wounded by strange people all dressed in black. Mellea stays with Leo until his people come to get him. When Leo's sentry's arrive he tells them that he chooses Mellea as his bride and she is taken back to the tower. Mellea must now learn the ways of the Guardians. Mellea's father hates the Guardians and Mellea fights against them as much as she can until she finally decides she cannot escape her fate and starts to learn the history of the Guardians. There is more to this family than meets the eye.But the MECHS have been planning for 60 years to bring the Guardian's rule to an end and Mellea must finally decide where her allegiance lies.

This is an amazing debut novel expertly written with her target audience of teenage girls 16+ in mind. You instantly form a bond with Mellea she lays her feelings and thoughts out and seems so vulnerable yet she has this tough veneer. She's feisty and speaks her mind yet she has an innocence about her, from her parents being so overprotective. All the characters were likeable and there was just enough of their personality revealed to connect with the reader but not overshadow the two main characters (Mellea and Leo). Science fiction, suspense and a touch of romance all perfectly combined.
I was about 40 pages to the end of the book and I started thinking there is not enough pages to wrap up this story. Then it hit me of course this is book one. I don't think I can wait for book two!! I really need to know whats going to happen next......

 

About the author

 

I’m M.J. I have one foot on the ground and one foot firmly planted on Selestia or another world currently under construction!

I’m a self-published indie author from Brisbane, Australia.

I love writing—in fact, I do it as a career as well as trying to be an author on the side. You know what they say, "Job by day, author by… whatever time I have left."

I also enjoy dogs; especially looking at them saying, “Hey look a dog!”. I'm head over heels for my wonderful boyfriend (Mr Libra) my growing collection of succulents, taking photos of my adorable li'l nephew, and chilling with music.

 

 

 

 

Book Review: The Bushranger's Wife by Cheryl Adnams

 The Bushranger's Wife

by

Cheryl Adnams

 

How do you tame a wild colonial boy? With an even wilder colonial girl.

 

Publisher: Harlequin Australia 

Imprint: Mira AU

Publication date: 6th January 2021

Genre: Historical romance

Pages: 352

RRP: $29.99AUD

Format read: Paperback

Source: Courtesy of the publisher via Beauty & Lace Book Club

 

About the book

 

Central Highlands of Victoria 1861

Jack the Devil's reputation precedes him. The most notorious bushranger on the Central Highlands, nothing throws him off his game-until he holds up Prudence Stanforth and her grandmother. Jack can't help but be captivated by the feisty Pru and her lack of fear in the face of danger.

Weeks later, Pru crosses paths with the respectable businessman Jack Fairweather, and it's not long before she recognises him as the bushranger who stole her favourite necklace. His price for the locket's return is a kiss-a kiss that ignites sparks in them both.

When Pru discovers her grandmother has been keeping a devastating secret, running away with Jack the Devil is the perfect escape for her broken heart. The dangerous nature of his less than salubrious occupation is a poetic contradiction to her sheltered upbringing, and only fuels their passion.

But as life becomes more complicated, will the return of dark elements from Jack's past ruin their chance at happiness?

 

My review

  

Cheryl Adnams goes beyond the stories of the bushrangers of colonial Australia to the women that love them. What type of woman would marry a bushranger, a criminal?

Prudence has moved from England to Australia with her grandmother Lady Deidre Stanforth. When they are held up by a bushranger, introducing himself as Jack the Devil, on their very first day in Victoria rather than be afraid Prudence is thrilled by the excitement and adventure this new land held.

Jack Fairweather businessman and closet bushranger, Jack the Devil, loves his carefree life and the thrill of the heist. He vows he will never settle down. But after holding up the carriage of Prudence and Lady Stanforth he can’t get the young woman out of his mind.

It’s 1861 and girls are brought up to be subservient and dutiful. Prudence knows this and has done her best to comply but she sees her move to Australia as a last chance to run wild and spread her wings until she must settle into the marriage of a grandmother approved suitor.

"She hoped she'd have some time as a free woman to explore her new country, before she was sold off.............as a wife and baby maker."

I loved Prudence’s character. She was wild, rebellious, full of life and could be persuasive, even quite devious when she wanted something.. She was intelligent and inquisitive and was well read. She was raised to be delicate and dainty but her true nature was to be fierce and determined. The more she tasted freedom the more she wanted. She was a young woman before her time.

Jack was the most delectable anti-hero. Handsome, charming and a true gentleman. Even though he was a bushranger and thus a criminal his cheeky, easy going manner made it easy to look past this. He was the perfect fit for Pru.

The Bushranger’s Wife is a story filled with passion, danger, adventure and the true power of love. It is fast paced and heartwarming, flirty and sensual. It has all the elements of a perfect romance read.

This was my first book by Cheryl Adnams and I am now eager to read some of Cheryl’s backlist.   

 

5/5   ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

 

This review first appeared on the Beauty & Lace website 

 

About the author

 

Photo credit Goodreads

Cheryl Adnams lives in Adelaide, South Australia. She has published four Australian rural romance novels and this is her second Australian historical novel. Cheryl has a diploma in Freelance Travel Writing and Photography, has lived and worked in the United States and Canada, and spent two years with a tour company in Switzerland and Austria. Her favourite writing retreats include Positano on the Amalfi Coast and Port Willunga Beach just south of Adelaide. When she's not writing, Cheryl is still creating in her  busy full-time job as a learning designer.

 

 

 

 

 

 Challenges entered:  Australian Women Writers Challenge #AWW2021

                                 Aussie Author Challenge #AussieAuthor21

                                 Historical Fiction Challenge #HistFic2021 

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Book Review: Traffic by Robin Gregory

Traffic 

by

Robin Gregory

 

A Sandi Kent Mystery 

 

Publisher: Clan Destine Press

Publication date: 1st December 2020

Series: Sandi Kent Mystery #1 

Genre: Crime / Mystery

Pages: 234

RRP: $29.99AUD

Format read: Paperback

Source: Courtesy of the publisher

 

About the book

 

Melbourne Private Investigator, Sandi Kent, has her hopes for an easy December dashed when two complicated cases crash into her lap.

Sandi is hired by her volatile ex-girlfriend to rescue a young South Korean woman from an illegal brothel. And then - in a curiously parallel case - is engaged by a lawyer friend seeking defence angles for a Colombian immigrant charged with murdering a sex worker.

As Sandi juggles the demands of her clients, she becomes embroiled in the city's seamy underworld of human trafficking, drugs and murder.

And soon more lives, including her own, are at risk.  

My review:

Traffic is the first book in Robin Gregory's PI Sandi Kent series. Sandi is a fledgling private investigator and supplements her meagre earnings from investigative work by teaching swimming to children.

Sandi is hired for two separate jobs both concerning sex workers. She is hired by her ex-girlfriend, defence lawyer Maria, to interview her client Ricardo who is accused of murdering a sex-worker, and find out more about his background. The second case, where she is hired by another ex, Cassy, who is based at The Fair Sex Coalition, is to help a trafficked sex-worker escape from the people who hold her. But first she needs to find out where she is held.

The idea of two different cases both involving sex-workers landing with Sandi at the same time was a little hard to believe but that minor point aside the story was fast moving and filled with believable danger.

I really warmed to Sandi. We get a fair bit of her personal life and she has had a rough time in the love department. She tries much too hard to please and I feel her girlfriends seem to abuse her loyalty.

The investigations were well executed both in a narrative way and in an investigative way. Sandi doesn't baulk at putting herself in danger to get the information she needs.

I loved Sandi's best friend Stewart. He is also not having much luck with love as his boyfriend is cheating on him but he can't let go. Stewart is always there for Sandi coming to her rescue when needed and getting her out of some sticky situations. 

Robin Gregory exposes the hidden horror of sex-trafficking and the plight of the girls that are lured to Australia under false pretences, then once there are kept under lock and key and have no means of escape.

Set in Melbourne, Australia, Gregory depicts the fickle Melbourne weather with accuracy as we tour the seedy side of metro Melbourne. Each scene is vividly described and it was like having a movie running through my mind as I read.

Robin Gregory has given her readers a character that is vulnerable, courageous and raw. I am looking forward to the next book in the PI Sandi Kent series and I'm hoping Stewart will also make an appearance. 

 

4/5   ⭐⭐⭐⭐

About the author

Photo credit Goodreads

Robin has worked as a social worker in community health, the family violence sector, and with victims of crime. her day job gives her deep understanding of crime and exploitation; her fiction enables her to solve it.

Apart from a teenage stint in North Queensland, Robin has always lived in Melbourne and loves the city's diversity and many subcultures. Her many overseas travels have involved picking coffee beans for the Nicaraguan revolution, and trekking the Inca trail in Peru.

 Robin lives with her long-term partner and an unpredictable black cat in inner-city Melbourne, where she is currently working on the second Sandi Kent mystery. 

 

Challenges entered:  Australian Women Writers Challenge #AWW2021

                                 Aussie Author Challenge #AussieAuthor21

                                 Cloak and Dagger Challenge
                                 Aussie Crime Month  #SouthernCrossCrime2021

 

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Winner of The Paris Affair announced

Once again I would like to thank everyone who entered my giveaway for a copy of The Paris Affair The giveaway closed on the 19th March and the winner was randomly selected (using Random org) from all correct entries. 

Congratulations to........   Helen S.

 The winner has been notified and has seven days to provide a mailing address.

Please look under the giveaway tab for more chances to win great books.