Shiver by Karen Robards

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Genre - Romance, Suspense


Samantha Jones is a young mother earning a living driving a tow truck and picking up repossessions in one of the seediest parts of town. She is picking up a new BMW and finds someone in the boot who has been shot and beaten. This person is Danny Panterro under the alias Marcos, who is working undercover for the FBI and found himself near death’s door until Samantha collected his car.


They are running for their lives from a drug running mob who want to kill Danny and anyone who stands in his way. They escape with Samantha’s son Tyler and are put into protective custody. Is this all? They are found out and once again on the run.

A good read with the mob style cruelty in the mix.


---- Reviewed by Judy, Rowville Bookchat

Shadow Woman by Linda Howard

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Genre - Romance, Suspense


Intriguing storyline with a few twists and is a book you can’t put down.

Lizette Henry wakes up one morning and wonders who she is. First she is jolted with a blinding headache and then very sick. Each time she starts to think, her illness progresses. She does not recognize herself in the mirror, and upon looking at her hairline and faceline she finds tiny scarring.


Who is she and what is her past. She can only recall 3 years ago and has lost 2 years of her life. Lizette works out if she thinks too much, then this ‘illness’ advances; she is able to control after a time and feels she is being watched. Deep inside she knows she is not the woman in the mirror.

Suddenly, events come to her which she finds herself being ‘hunted’ and has to leave everything behind. Nowhere to go and wondering how she is still been followed. She bumps into a ‘hunk’ of a man who leaves her weak-kneed at the pharmacist where she is getting urgent supplies, and unbeknown to her, this man as she knows as X is in fact trying to protect her. From whom and where can she go? On the run until the very end with more than one person after her life and that of X who is called Xavier.


---- Reviewed by Judy, Rowville Bookchat

Destined to Fly by Indigo Bloome

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Genre - Romance


The author has lived and worked in both Australia and UK and recently moved to Tasmania. General fiction and a read that does keep you wondering and spellbound.


The main character Alexandra Blake has a rare blood condition that is wanted by the head of a well-known Pharmaceutical giant who will stop at nothing to have Alex for her experiments Alexandra together with her 2 children and love of her life (her husband Quinn) escape to the African jungle where she is to find a Sharman to help her with perhaps changing her blood type.


This is not the case and her travels into the unknown mentally and physically leads her into the world of her past involving changes to the mind, and exploring her sexuality to great lengths wondering if it is true or not.

---- Reviewed by Judy, Rowville Bookchat

Full Disclosure by Dee Henderson

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Genre - Romance, Suspense

Ann Silver who is a Mid Western Investigator, being a rather enigmatic character is a down to roots cop to the core.  However, she is also very talented in writing several published books, painting and able to assist the FBI with insight to that of a more lateral thinker.

She is approached by the FBI to assist cases in the worst of the worst and becomes involved with one of the heads of the FBI which throws her life in a turmoil; also involving the Vice President of the USA.

This books glances over the murders and delves into the lives at the top of the ladder with the FBI and Government, and keeps the reader wanting to finish the book for the final outcome.  Excellent storyline and a book that should not be missed, with plenty of dramas, including romance  to entice the reader.


---- Reviewed by Judy, Rowville Bookchat

Sweet Talk by Julie Garwood

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Genre - Romance, Suspense


This is classified as a romance, but belies the fact that it ends up with a storyline involving the FBI and fraud on its highest level. The main characters are Olivia McKenzie and FBI agent Grayson Kincaid. Olivia’s estranged family are out to get her trust account and Olivia wants her father put behind bars for ripping off clients sophisticated Ponzi schemes. However, the novel starts with the stories of 4 young girls each having a life-threatening disease and whose parents no longer wish to be with them.

Once past reading the first chapters on the 4 girls, then the books creates more interest with more depth in the storyline. A book to be read in its entirety.


---- Reviewed by Judy, Rowville

Grace Williams Says it Loud by Emma Henderson

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Genre - General Fiction, Romance

What a wonderful book! Grace Williams, born in the 1940s with cerebral palsy lives in London with her parents, her brother and sister. At age 12 she is placed in The Briars which will be her new home for many years. It is here that she meets Daniel - a boy with no arms who also suffers from epilepsy - and who tells the most wonderful stories. This is a love story, but not like any other I have read before. Just wonderful!!

---- Reviewed by Judy, Rowville

Lovesong by Alex Miller

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Genre - Romance

This is a truly lovely story. Set mainly in Paris, but not the part of Paris we read about most often. This is set in the part of Paris where immigrants live and work. An Australian man meets a Tunisian woman in her aunt's cafe. When the aunt dies, they take over the running of the cafe. As deeply in love as they are, they are both deeply disappointed. He misses his home, she longs for the baby she seems fated to never have. Their story is told to an almost retired popular author who then must decide what he is going to do with it.

---- Reviewed by Judy, Rowville

Jane Austen ruined my life by Beth Pattillo

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Genre - Fiction


I’m not a fan of the many Austen sequels, prequels & other novels cashing in on the popularity of one of my favourite authors. This novel is an exception as it uses Austen’s life & work in an intriguing way. Emma Grant is an American academic. Her life is falling apart. Her husband has been unfaithful & she’s lost her job due to an unfounded allegation of plagiarism. Emma has been contacted by Mrs Parrot, a mysterious woman who hints that she has access to over a thousand unpublished letters by Jane Austen. Emma sees publishing the letters as a way of regaining her academic reputation. So, she goes to England to meet Mrs Parrot. Emma is sent on a series of journeys to places associated with Jane – Bath, Lyme, Winchester - & must pass tests at each place to be allowed to read more of the letters & discover more about the secret at the heart of Austen’s life. Emma also meets up with Adam, an old friend who is also in London doing research. Is his interest in Emma altruistic or is he chasing the same prize? The plot has a few holes in it, but Emma is an engaging character & a tour of Jane Austen’s England is always a pleasant way to spend an afternoon.

---- Reviewed by Lyn, Headquarters

Love letters by Katie Fforde

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Genre - Romance


Shy Laura is about to lose her dream job in a bookshop where she’s been responsible for organizing successful author events & bookclubs. She finds herself agreeing to help run a new literary festival at the stately home of Fenella & Rupert. When she reveals her admiration for the writing of reclusive Irish novelist, Dermot Flynn, she finds herself on the way to Ireland to convince him to appear at the festival. This is a lovely romantic comedy about first love, literature & friendship. Dermot is an engagingly scruffy, sexy hero & there’s a lot of humour in Laura & Dermot’s growing relationship.

---- Reviewed by Lyn, Headquarters

A Winter's tale by Trisha Ashley

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Genre - Romance

Sophy Winter unexpectedly inherits her grandfather’s crumbling stately home, Winter’s End. Along with the house, she inherits an eccentric family & a lot of debt. Sophy’s charming but shady cousin Jack thought he would inherit & sets about alternately trying to persuade Sophy to sell the estate to him at a knockdown price or marry him so they can live there happily ever after. Another distraction is gorgeous gardener, Seth, who plans to restore the Elizabethan gardens & doesn’t seem to have eyes for anything else. Then there’s the rumour that Shakespeare spent his lost years at Winter’s End & the discovery of a manuscript in the Bard’s hand. The grand opening of the house & garden to the public is the grand finale to this lovely romantic comedy.

---- Reviewed Lyn, Headquarters

Vision in White by Nora Roberts

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Genre - Romance

This is book one of the Bride Quartet by prolific writer Nora Roberts. Childhood friends, Mackenzie, Parker, Laurel and Emmaline enjoyed playing Wedding day when they were eight years old and now they are all grown up and have created a successful wedding planning business called Vows. Set in the beautiful Brown Estate where they also all live together, this novel is full of flowers, food and friends. Unfortunately these four women are yet to discover their own true love. Mac is the main character in this book and she is the wedding photographer who has to fight the demons of her parent’s failed marriage when she finds herself falling for Carter Maguire. A light and entertaining read.

---- Reviewed by Sue, Knox

The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks

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Genre - Romance


I had seen the movie & loved it, usually the book is better. In this instance the book is soooo much better. It's compelling even though I know the story. It was a beautifully written love story, you can only imagine that the author knew these people. Nicholas Sparks has a way of making you believe that his stories are true & that anything in life is possible if you have love.

I would recommend this book to anyone & look forward to the day my daughters are old enough to read it & enjoy it as I did.

---- Reviewed by Kim, Guest

Crossed wires by Rosy Thornton

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Genre - Romance


Peter Kendrick is a Cambridge lecturer, a widower with twin daughters. When he narrowly avoids running over the neighbour’s cat but doesn’t avoid a tree stump, he rings his insurance company & finds himself talking to Mina Hepponstall, a single mother living in Sheffield. There’s an immediate connection between these two lonely souls &, after Mina rings Peter at home to reassure him about his no-claim bonus, they become friends over several Sunday-night phone calls. This is a lovely, gentle romance, with the story moving between Peter’s life with his daughters, neighbours, research student & dog, & Mina’s worries over her younger sister, Jess & her daughter Sal’s lack of friends. The details of family life are beautifully observed, with lots of humour & just a hint of tragedy. A perfect Sunday afternoon read.

---- Reviewed by Lyn, Headquarters

Star gazing by Linda Gillard

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Genre - Romance

This is a wonderful romantic novel with an unusual heroine. Marianne has been blind since birth. Tragically widowed in her 20s when her husband was killed in the Piper Alpha oil rig explosion, she now lives in Edinburgh with her sister Louisa, a novelist who writes Scottish Gothic vampire romance. Now in her 40s, Marianne is lonely but determined not to admit it, spiky, prickly & resistant to help or pity. One night, she arrives home in the snow & loses her door key. A man appears, helps her find her key, they have a brief conversation about Puccini, and he disappears. Keir Harvey lives on Skye, and as he gets to know Marianne, he becomes determined to take her to Skye and “show” her the stars. As a sighted person, I can’t judge how accurate Linda Gillard’s portrayal of blindness from the inside is, but, as a reader, I was totally convinced. Keir is a heart-stoppingly attractive hero, and Marianne is so stroppy, you just have to love her & want this relationship to last. It’s unusual in romantic fiction to have a heroine who exasperates the reader as much as Marianne does, but, the book is all the better for it. There are more than enough bland heroines out there. Marianne is real & the journey she takes with Keir is a delight. Edinburgh & Skye in winter are gorgeous settings for the story, and Louisa & her Goth assistant, Garth, provide some lighter moments. This is a fantastic romance with real characters. I read it in one afternoon, unputdownable.

---- Reviewed by Lyn, Headquarters

Wedding season by Katie Fforde

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Genre - Romance

This book is gorgeous romantic froth & I loved it. How does Fforde manage to make her heroines real women, juggling jobs, families, relationships, and yet, her men are pure fantasy figures? Still single & straight in their 30s, bruised by love but not bitter, kind, helpful & sexy all at the same time. Sarah is a wedding planner who doesn't believe in romance; Elsa, a dressmaker who needs some self confidence; and Bron, a hairdresser with a boorish boyfriend who wants to make some changes in her life. When a Hollywood celebrity hires Sarah to plan her perfect wedding, Sarah is eager to take up the challenge, with help from Elsa & Bron. Then, her younger sister, Lily, announces that her wedding is planned for the same day, and could Sarah help her plan the perfect wedding with no budget at all? Throw into the mix three lovely men – Hugo, the photographer who reminds Sarah of a miserable love affair; Lawrence, the best man at a wedding where Elsa steps in as bridesmaid at the last minute; and James, a gardener with a bruised heart who lives next door to Bron – and you have all the ingredients for a lovely romance.

---- Reviewed by Lyn, Headquarters

Hearts and minds by Rosy Thornton

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James Rycarte is the first man to be appointed as Head of St Radegund’s, a woman’s college at Cambridge. He not only has to cope with the chintzy furnishings in the Masters Lodging left behind by the retiring Dame Emily, but with the polite hostility of several members of the Senior Common Room. Martha Pearce has been Senior Tutor for 10 years and her term is coming to an end. Martha’s personal and professional life is at a crossroads but her commitment to the College is paramount. When a friend of James offers a substantial donation to the College with the unspoken proviso that his daughter will be admitted as a student, the battle lines between academic integrity and financial necessity (the library is sinking into the fens and needs urgent work) are drawn. This is a fascinating novel about academic politics, student unrest with lots of human interest and a budding romance or two as well.

---- Reviewed by Lyn, Headquarters