JESS JUST READS

A BOOK REVIEW BLOG

Fool Me Once by Karly Lane

Farmer Georgie Henderson manages a cattle property in the New England region of New South Wales, but her dream has always been to buy back her family farm, Tamban.

When an unlikely meeting with Michael Delacourt at a rowdy B&S Ball sends them on a whirlwind romance, Georgie can’t believe it’s possible for life to be this good. For the first time ever, her dream of buying back Tamban takes a backseat to her happiness.

But her world shatters when she discovers the shocking secret Michael has been trying to keep from her.

Can Michael convince her they still have a future? And after having her heart so thoroughly broken, can Georgie ever trust anyone again?

Karly Lane’s Fool Me Once is rural romance fiction, set in remote New South Wales and exploring one woman’s journey to buy back her family farm.

At its core, Fool Me Once explores the concept of family and how that can be different for every person. Family is the father Georgie has lost, and who she desperately misses. Family is also her best friend Shannon, and her close bond with Harry and Matt, who she trusts and respects greatly.

Fool Me Once also showcases the importance of women in management roles (particularly within farming). Georgie is strong-willed and determined, and working to carve a career for herself in a male-dominated industry.

Rural romance has the ability to immerse you in another world, where communities rally together, loyalty within friendship and family are key, and the prospect of building a life on the land with someone else is exciting and enthralling.

“Georgie let out a long breath. How did he shake her carefully erected defences and common sense with just a look? She’d had her share of romances, but nothing serious and few that ever went anywhere other than the occasional movie or dinner.”

The setting will transport readers to the dusty, hot outback where lives are vastly different to our own. This is one of the biggest strengths in the novel, capturing the isolated and secluded Australian bush, but also illustrating that close bond that farmers share with their land and their select family & friends.

Georgie is relatable and readers will find sympathy in Georgie’s plight, and her determination to run a farm by herself and one day buy back her family farm.

Because its fiction, many romance fans will adore the methods that Michael goes to in order to win Georgie back, although personally I found him arrogant. He’s forceful at times, a little over-the-top with his emotions, and in real life I’m not sure how his actions would actually be received by a woman.

“He’d pondered what to do with the information for the past two days. The right thing would be to tell Georgie and get it out in the open. That’s what he’d decided to do, face to face, which was why he hadn’t waited until the weekend to come out.”

Stylistically, the book is written in third person but switches perspective between Georgie and Michael.

The intimate third person perspective allows us to see all sides of the story, and gain a deeper understanding for each character. We come to understand Georgie’s driven nature, her passion for the land, her vulnerability, and her gentle soul. We also witness Michael’s inner turmoil, his intense love for Georgie, and his determination to fix his past mistakes.

Fool Me Once demonstrates an appropriate balance between prose and dialogue, not bogging us down too much with exposition or description. Karly moves through some scenes at lightning speed, and it always felt appropriate for the story. The novel itself spans quite a long time period, and Karly manages the transition through time effortlessly.

“She smiled a sad smile and Georgie thought about the photos of the woman Harry used to have on the fireplace mantle. She hadn’t known Vera — she’d died more than thirty years ago — but she felt as though she had.”

Admittedly, as a first-time reader of Karly’s work, I found the story a little slow to start — the tension and pacing picked up as soon as Michael’s secret was out in the open, and since his secret is mentioned in the blurb I thought it could’ve been revealed a little earlier in the book to really propel us into the story sooner.

Additionally, the secret wedding in Hawaii felt a little unrealistic and unnecessary. Did it need to happen? If you take it out, the story could still function as the same. Michael still could’ve desperately tried to reunite with Georgie.

Seductive and satisfying, Fool Me Once is recommended for romance readers. There’s a lot of sex mentioned in the book — and deliberately corny pick-up lines — but I think young readers will also enjoy this. 16+

Thank you to the publisher for mailing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Fool Me Once
Karly Lane
May 2020
Allen & Unwin Book Publishers

The Hidden Beach by Karen Swan

In the oldest part of Stockholm, Bell Everhurst is working as a nanny for an affluent family. Hanna and Max Von Greyerz are parents to 7 year-old Linus, and 5-year old twins Ellinor and Tilde, and Bell has been with the family for over two years.

One early Spring morning, as she’s rushing out to take the children to school, she answers the phone – and everything changes. A woman from a clinic she’s never heard of asks her to pass on the message that Hanna’s husband is awake.

Bell is confused. She clearly just saw Max walking out of the house a few minutes earlier, but the woman mentioned Hanna by name…

When she gets hold of her employer, the truth is revealed: Hanna’s first husband fell into a coma seven years earlier, following a terrible accident. He has been in a Persistent Minimally Conscious State since and there was very little hope of further improvement. But now he’s awake. And life is going to change for them all.

Karen Swan’s latest release, The Hidden Beach, is a sweeping story about heartbreak, family, and starting fresh.

Young nanny Bell Everhurst finds herself spending the summer along the gorgeous Swedish coast, working with a family who are going through a dysfunctional time. Linus’ real father has woken up from a seven-year coma, and its disrupting the entire family. Soon, Bell is caught in the middle of the nasty battle between Linus and his bitter, angry father.

“Bell felt the silence expand as they each recovered. Away from the distraction of the confusion and chaos in that room, in the calm of this corridor, it was filled with something heavy — something that had been said and couldn’t be unsaid. She felt a rush of anger that Hanna had allowed this to happen.”

Setting is always one of the strongest parts of Karen’s novels, and in The Hidden Beach, the story is set amongst the beautiful archipelagos of the Swedish coast. The novel breathes ‘summer holiday’, and Karen takes us on a journey through coastal cliffs, secluded beaches, waterfront parties, yachts and mansions overlooking the ocean. Readers will get swept up in this tale of romance and mystery.

Stylistically, Karen’s novels always contain a lot of prose and description. Some readers will like this, some won’t. I don’t mind all the explanation because it helps establish setting and situation, but at times it does feel like it’s bogging you down a little.

“But the room remained empty and still. Vacated. Long ago abandoned. To reach for otherwise was a futile exercise in hope over experience, because if Life had taught him anything, it was that anything could happen. That fate was capricious and cruel. And no one could be trusted.”

Perfect to read by the beach or on an airplane, The Hidden Beach is an engrossing tale that will sweep you up and transport you on a journey.

There are moments of warmth throughout the story, and heart. Bell truly cares for the family she works for, and tries her best to help Linus through this difficult time in his life.

Bell also finds romance of her own in the story, and whilst it may not be the perfect beginnings of a relationship, Bell handles the situation with maturity and consideration. She’s a strong protagonist, and one that many readers will like.

“The stood for a moment taking in the scene, looking for friends’ faces and deciding where to stand. A fiddlers’ group was playing, smorgasbords were set out on tables around the edges, young and old were talking and laughing…Bell scanned the crowd looking Hanna and Max.”

Admittedly, a couple of things struck me as unrealistic. The main one is that Linus — who is supposed to be 10 years old — often reads too wise for his age. He’s quite observant for his age, and understands what is happening between his mother and his two fathers. Every time Linus said something that didn’t quite fit his age, it was incredibly jolting and takes the reader away from the story.

Another element that I found a little hard to accept was how quick the story wrapped up. The pacing of the novel is measured and quite slow, but the climax of the story and the resulting final couple of chapters felt really rushed and therefore underdeveloped..

Recommended for fans of romance and family sages.

Thank you to the publisher for mailing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Hidden Beach
Karen Swan
May 2020
Pan Macmillan Publishers

Pretending by Holly Bourne

He said he was looking for a ‘partner in crime’ which everyone knows is shorthand for ‘a woman who isn’t real’.

April is kind, pretty, and relatively normal – yet she can’t seem to get past date five. Every time she thinks she’s found someone to trust, they reveal themselves to be awful, leaving her heartbroken. And angry.

If only April could be more like Gretel.

Gretel is exactly what men want – she’s a Regular Everyday Manic Pixie Dream Girl Next Door With No Problems. The problem is, Gretel isn’t real. And April is now claiming to be her.

As soon as April starts ‘being’ Gretel, dating becomes much more fun – especially once she reels in the unsuspecting Joshua.

Finally, April is the one in control, but can she control her own feelings? And as she and Joshua grow closer, how long will she be able to keep pretending?

Holly Bourne’s Pretending is contemporary fiction about online dating and the risks you take when you pursue a new relationship with someone — the book explores themes of identity, self-worth, but also trauma and grief.

April struggles with who she has to ‘be’ in order for a guy to like her and want to progress past date number five. Being herself certainly isn’t working, so she takes on this fake ‘Gretel’ persona to see if new guy Joshua will last longer than the guys before him.

Pretending explores online dating for women, and illustrates the truth can be twisted when you meet someone digitally. There are certainly some heavy moments throughout the book, but Holly also weaves in a lot of humour and heart — Pretending is an emotional rollercoaster worth reading.

“Joshua wants me there at seven. So Gretel should turn up at around seven fifteen. I wonder if he wants us to have sex before, or after, dinner. I’d rather before, if I’m being honest with you. I still don’t understand how anyone can be in the mood with a full, swollen stomach digesting a hunk of beef or whatever it is he’s going to cook to impress me.”

Pretending explores sexual violence within relationships, and how boundaries can be blurred in the midst of a loving relationship. Boyfriends can cross a line when it comes to sex, leaving their girlfriend hurt and confused and unsure of what has happened.

Rape and the unprocessed trauma of sexual assault is a major thread in the book; I’m surprised how the blurb of the book completely hides this. April previously dated a guy who raped her twice, and she is still finding it difficult to process it. She didn’t realise it was sexual assault until some time after the incidents, and now she works at a charity organisation where she comes into contact with women all the time who have gone through the same thing she has and are incredibly confused about what they’ve experienced.

April feels like her role at the charity helps women who have experienced what she experienced, but at the same time, it means she is constantly reminded about what happened to her and she feels anxious and uneasy most of the time.

When April is with men, memories from those nights will come back to her and she finds it difficult to confide in other people about how she’s feeling. Under the surface, she has a lot of anger and rage about men that threatens to come to the surface at any moment.

This book may encourage female readers to acknowledge if they’ve ever had an experience like April’s that perhaps they haven’t really processed yet. It’s a really confronting experience, but moulded within a contemporary romance novel.

“What if revenge is good? Do we ever allow ourselves to ask that question? What if turning the other cheek is not the answer? Because I’ll tell you what. I’ve lived my whole life as a girl and I’ve turned so many goddamned cheeks I’m surprised I have any skin left on my face. And yet it’s never once made me feel better. Not like how I feel when I think about Gretel.”

April and her roommate Meghan have pretty solid characterisation — I feel like we’ve all known someone with their personalities in our lives. Their ‘voices’ are also incredibly different, and Holly is able to craft such vivid characters but also portray them to be completely seperate from one another.

April and Meghan are both vulnerable in different ways, and female readers will sympathise. Joshua doesn’t always feel believable or ‘real’ as a man on the dating scene, but he’s a welcome addition to the core cast of characters.

“We launch into mutually drunken conversation, becoming one of those pissed couples you see, standing outside a pub on a summer’s evening, leaning in a bit too much to hear what the other is saying. He asks me about my plans for the summer, and I say I’m saving up for Africa.”

Admittedly, the premise of the book is a little absurd and predictable. How is she going to weave her way out of this relationship when she’s been telling the guy a fake name? How will he explain it to his friends? How awkward is this entire situation!

Readers will find similarities in April — some more than others — but she can also be quite insufferable. She can be a bit tiresome and she doesn’t really think ahead. For example, she spends the majority of the book dating a guy who thinks she’s called Gretel. She invites him to be her +1 at a wedding, and naturally, it left me wondering how she could possibly go the entire evening without something calling her April and giving away her secret? Spoiler alert: many people call her April and her secret is ruined.

Additionally, I did find the book to be a bit ‘preachy’ at times. The messages in the book are already very clear, and I think readers will take a lot away from the story. But there were times where it felt like April was ‘teaching’ the reader and it wasn’t necessary. It made me feel like I was ‘supposed’ to feel a certain way, and I wanted to come to my own conclusions about the situation. I don’t think this is a book for reluctant readers.

Recommended for contemporary romance readers. At over 400 pages, it’s an unexpectedly emotional and heavy novel, but at its core it holds some really valuable messages for readers.

Thank you to the publisher for mailing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Pretending
Holly Bourne
April 2020
Hachette Book Publishers

The Lost Jewels by Kirsty Manning

In the summer of 1912, a workman’s pickaxe strikes through the floor of an old tenement house in Cheapside, London, uncovering a cache of unimaginably valuable treasure that quickly disappears again.

Present day. When respected jewellery historian, Kate Kirby, receives a call about the Cheapside jewels, she knows she’s on the brink of the experience of a lifetime.

As Kate peels back layers of concealment and deception, she is forced to explore long-buried secrets concerning Essie, her great-grandmother, and her life in Edwardian London. Soon, Kate’s past and present threaten to collide and the truths about her family lie waiting to be revealed.

Inspired by a true story, Kirsty Manning’s The Lost Jewels is a historical fiction novel that weaves a charming, fascinating tale about London’s Cheapside Hoard — one of the most famous and most mysterious collection of jewels in the world, dug up in 1912 with very little information about the jewels’ origins.

Structurally, The Lost Jewels resembles most historical fiction. The POV switches between past and present. In 1912 London, we meet the loyal, compassionate, devoted daughter and sister Esther Murphy. She cares for her siblings because their mother is in no sober state to manage the household. They’re poor, but they love each other and Esther does all that she can for her siblings. Without meaning to, Esther and her brother are swept up in an extraordinary discovery of jewels found beneath a London street.

In present day, respected American historian Dr Kate Murphy investigates the Cheapside Jewels and slowly finds out more about the history of the collection.

For a small amount of time, we’re also transported back to the early 1600s in India, Persia and London to find out more about the origin of the jewellery collection and how these jewels ended up abandoned beneath the London ground.

“The jewels were discovered the same day Essie Murphy fell in love. She had her brother to thank for both, of course — though in the years to come she’d often wonder which one came first. A buried bucket of jewels. A man with emerald eyes.”

The Lost Jewels explores themes of family, obligation and expectations, but also love, desire, sacrifice and betrayal. A lot is expected of Essie Murphy, and she places an incredible amount of pressure on herself to keep her family afloat. She adores her brother and her sisters — she’s a multi-layered protagonist. She’s caring and considerate, but she’s also a little naive and too trusting. She always sees the best in people, and sometimes she puts her faith in other people too quickly.

Esther and Kate have very distinct voices. Kate is intelligent, headstrong and confident. Like Esther, she’s a romantic, but she’s experienced hardship in her life. She’s going through a divorce and hasn’t been able to emotionally recover from the death of her child. On her journey to uncover the truth about the Cheapside Hoard, Kate meets photographer Marcus and her life changes in more ways than one.

“The diamond was table-cut and clear. Kate used her eyepiece to scan the stone for variations. Flaws. Nowadays a diamond could be filled and baked, then sent off for certification that they were perfect; the rough would be brilliant-cut to throw sparkle around the room.”

Engrossing, captivating and compelling, The Lost Jewels is a tale that travels. Kate ventures from London to India, Sri Lanka and Paris to uncover the secret histories of these jewels.

Kirsty captures the locations with incredible description and vivid imagery. In a way, the settings felt like characters themselves because Kirsty had woven them into the story with incredible significance.

It’s clear how much research went into the writing of this book, not just in capturing the settings but in bringing to life the jewels and the characterisation of Kate. Every time jewellery is described or studied, the prose is evocative. The sentences paint such a gorgeous picture of the jewels, drawing the reader in and helping them imagine what our characters are seeing.

Kate is incredibly knowledgable about jewellery — she’s considered to be one of the best historians. She’s wise and intelligent, but she also learns quick. I can’t begin to imagine the time it took for Kirsty to research what was required for not only Kate’s character, but the entire premise of the novel.

“The button was a double-layered flower: a rose fashioned from gold, with just the faintest traces of blue and white paint. At the centre of the flower and dotted along the petals were blue, red and white stones. Were they precious stones, or coloured paste? Each of the inner circles also had gold indents, as if there was more to come.”

A modern day treasure hunt, The Lost Jewels is for fans of historical fiction, romance and sweeping sagas that investigate inter-generational secrets. The readership for this novel skews female.

Thank you to the publisher for mailing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Lost Jewels
Kirsty Manning
April 2020
Allen and Unwin Book Publishers

The Paris Secret by Natasha Lester


England, 1939 Talented pilot Skye Penrose joins the British war effort where she encounters her estranged sister, Liberty, and childhood soulmate Nicholas Crawford, now engaged to enigmatic Frenchwoman Margaux Jourdan.

Paris, 1947 Designer Christian Dior unveils his extravagant first collection to a world weary of war and grief. He names his debut fragrance, Miss Dior, in tribute to his sister, Catherine, who worked for the French Resistance.

Present day Australian fashion conservator Kat Jourdan discovers a secret wardrobe filled with priceless Dior gowns in her grandmother’s vacant cottage. As she delves into the mystery, Kat begins to doubt everything she thought she knew about her beloved grandmother.

An unspeakable betrayal will entwine all of their fates.

The Paris Secret by Natasha Lester is another historical fiction novel mostly set during World War II, this time introducing us to three incredible women whose lives are forever changed and bound by secrets.

The dominant storyline is the one set in 1939, where we meet sisters Skye and Liberty Penrose, Skye’s childhood friend Nicholas Crawford, and his fiancé Margaux Jourdan. We do briefly move between two other storylines — 1947 where Margaux is a model for fashion designer Christian Dior, and present day 2012, where Margaux’s granddaughter Kate starts to uncover all of her grandmother’s secrets during World War II — but every time we’re transported back to 1939, Skye’s storyline maintains for almost 100 pages.

Natasha always crafts characters who are engaging and interesting, drawing the reader in with their depth and their likability. Normally, I wouldn’t think Air Transport Auxiliary would be interesting enough to want to read about it, but Natasha bring us a multi-layered core cast of characters, and you can’t help but feel swept up in the storyline.

“Tonight’s mission was named Operation Peaceful; some wag at HQ obviously had a sense of humour. The operation was a double: he and O’Farrell would each fly a Lysander carrying one SOE agent and six hundred pounds of cargo — Sten guns, money, radios, pamphlets — to a tiny field in France and land on a flare path just one hundred and fifty yards long and lit by only four pocket torches.”

Having read most of Natasha’s previous novels, I noticed a vast difference in how she captured Skye and Liberty’s backstory in this latest book. More time was given to their past and their childhood, so by the time the pacing picked up and we were in the middle of World War II, you felt more understanding of the characters. I definitely felt like more attention was given to the characters, allowing the reader a closer connection with them as the chapters progressed.

The writing is polished and tight, but also emotional and full of character. Natasha always writes such realistic dialogue, gorgeous prose, and she always illustrates fantastic female characters and really engrossing romances. Sitting at almost 450 pages, this is one of Natasha’s lengthier works but it’s worth every page.

“What she’d seen on Margaux’s face after the bloodlessness passed was a terror so stark Kat never wanted to see it again. If was as if her grandmother had witnessed death itself, as if the dark angel had reached for Margaux with outstretched arms.”

Personally, Skye’s story was my favourite. She’s intelligent, confident and ballsy, and she fights for what she believes in. She’s estranged from her sister Liberty, who is malicious, conniving and manipulative, and she’s in love with her childhood friend Nicholas Crawford. He happens to be engaged to the mysterious but bold Frenchwoman Margaux Jourdan, and Skye feels torn by her feelings for Nicholas.

All of them work together in Air Transport, supporting the RAF during the war. Skye was part of a small group of women who transported planes around the UK. It was a stressful, trying time, with a lot of pain, death, and uncertainty. Skye was a pioneer for women in the British Auxiliary, and so there’s definitely a lot of feminist undertones in the novel. Women weren’t considered to be as talented or as valuable as men, and Skye worked to change that. She paved the way for female pilots.

“A Dior gown so sensational would certainly be featured in any book on the fashion house, would have been displayed proudly by any museum, would be almost as well known as the Bar Suit. But, as far as Kat was aware, nobody knew anything of this beautiful blue dress. Why?”

Sometimes, it did feel like the 1947 storyline wasn’t quite a natural fit in the novel. It was the glue between 1939 and 2012, but it felt a bit forced into the plot. There certainly wasn’t that much time dedicated to that POV in the novel, but it was a way for granddaughter Kat Jourdan to discover her grandmother’s hidden secrets. I wonder if there was a way to just have 1939 and 2012.

Recommended for fans of historical fiction, romance, and sweeping family sagas that span across generations.

Thank you to the publisher for mailing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Paris Secret
Natasha Lester
April 2020
Hachette Book Publishers