One of the very best things a book can do is make me laugh a lot, swoon a little, set my tummy rumbling and fan the flames of wanderlust, all from the comfort of my lounge room, and I’m delighted to say, the gorgeous new release Duck á l’Orange for Breakfast did all these things and more! This novel is the print debut for Sydney author Karina May, and I’ve been seeing window displays and social media posts all over the place since its release with Pan Macmillan last month. Readers will have a ball with the quirky main character …
FABULOUS FICTION with Stella Quinn & guest Dakota Harrison
Welcome to Fabulous Fiction, which celebrates books so good, you just want to hug them when you’re done reading. It’s August. It’s conference month. And yes… you’re getting this blog a teensy bit later than its scheduled delivery date, so sorry. Can I blame it on jetlag? (It’s a thing, right, even with a two-hour time difference?) But anyhoo, without further ado, let’s get the drums rolling for August author of the month, RWA’s own Dakota Harrison. Laugh. Cry. Love. That’s the head’s up Dakota gives us on her website of what she’s packing into her stories. There’s some interesting …
Kiss and Tell | Stella Quinn
Brimming with warmth and humour, Stella Quinn’s new rural romance, A Town Like Clarence, roped me in from the prologue and kept me smiling throughout. There’s so much to love about Kirsty and Joey’s story, from the town committee who spends just as much time planning a community event as they do on project ‘Find Farmer Joey A Wife’, to the restoration of a vintage aeroplane with special significance for pilot Kirsty. Sassy eight-year-old Amy, also deserves a special mention (and quite possibly her own story) and although I’m not usually a poetry fan, I was delighted by the bush …
FABULOUS FICTION with Stella Quinn & guest Maya Linnell
Welcome to Fabulous Fiction, which celebrates books so good, you just want to hug them when you’re done reading. From country show baking to raising orphaned lambs, bestselling author Maya Linnell writes about the life she lives and loves. A keen bookworm, wannabe flower farmer and former rural journalist, Maya also hosts a monthly online show called Library Lovers, for the digital app Libby OverDrive. She lives in rural Victoria with a menagerie of animals, sweeping gardens, three young bookworms and the odd tiger snake or three. For those of us in the RWA community, we have been on the …
Kiss and Tell | Sasha Wasley
This month’s Kiss & Tell guest is West Australian writer, Sasha Wasley. The author of three rural romances in the ‘Daughters of the Outback’ series, plus two stand-alone fiction titles, Sasha is also on the cusp of releasing a children’s book for middle grade readers under a pen name Ash Harrier. Her 2021 release Spring Clean for the Peach Queen was one of my favourite reads of 2021 and I’m excited to get stuck into her newest release, A Caravan Like a Canary. RWA members heading to the 2022 conference will also have a chance to meet Sasha in person …
FABULOUS FICTION with Stella Quinn & guest Rachel Armstrong
Welcome to Fabulous Fiction, which celebrates books so good, you just want to hug them when you’re done reading. I am so pleased to welcome Rachel Armstrong to the blog. Those of us who have been members of RWA for some time will all know Rachel – by name if not in person – as she is often to be found represented at Awards Night. She signs her emails off with the tagline “Love Stories of Every Kind”, she’s into ribbon gymnastics, and her BFF Jacob is often to be seen on her social media feed, recognisable by his handsome …
Kiss and Tell | Lee Christine
Living by the ocean, far, far away from the ski fields, makes Lee Christine’s snow crime books quite the escapist treat. Dead Horse Gap is mostly from the perspective of undercover detective Nerida Sterling and Detective Mitch Flowers, a well-loved character from Lee’s previous stories. There’s a suspected murder, a long-held family feud, questionable alibis and of course the beautiful alpine backdrop. Readers will enjoy cameo appearances from Christine’s previous characters, and after the cracking finish to Dead Horse Gap, they’ll be eagerly anticipating the change in direction for characters in the next novel. The author has turned her love …
FABULOUS FICTION with Stella Quinn & guest Kat Chant
Welcome to Fabulous Fiction, which celebrates books so good, you want to hug them when you’re done reading. I am so pleased to welcome Kat Chant to the blog. Kat is a long-term member of Romance Writers Australia, a winner of the Valerie Parv Award, and she has been a volunteer co-ordinator of the VPA award. She is an Aussie who followed her heart abroad and now makes her home in Ireland with her family. Kat briefly mentions in her bio that besides being a writer she is also fond of baking and as Kat and I are social media …
Kiss and Tell | Kay Kerr
Being a YA novel, this book was ripped out of my hands the moment it arrived in my postbox, with my tween daughter devouring Social Queue and proclaiming it ‘amazing’ before I’d even got a look in! The novel follows 18-year-old writer Zoe Kelly as she embarks on an internship with an online media company. Just like I did, readers will find themselves cheering for Zoe as she writes about her search for romance. Told from a first-person perspective, the story gives a sharp and sometimes confronting insight into autism. Told with plenty of heart and humour, Social Queue was …
Kiss and Tell | Nicky Pellegrino
To Italy, With Love was one of my favourite romance novels for the year. There’s so much to make you smile, from the dazzling Italian setting and plethora of food to the charming characters and the subplot to rejuvenate a dying town. Readers will fall in love with hardworking and loyal, Sarah-Jane, who plans a trip around Italy to mend her broken heart. Unlike Sarah-Jane, local lady, Assunta, has her feet and her family firmly rooted in the small village of Montenello. At least she thinks so… I liked how these two sharply contrasting characters forged a firm friendship. Nicky’s …