book editor, bibliophile + word nerd
Done With Men is a fun-filled Indian romantic comedy/romance that’s an easy read and one which I can see heading to the big screen one day. Think Bridget Jones’s Diary, only set on the beach in Goa. Quite apt that the book was released on Valentine’s Day 2014 (apologies this is an old review only just ...
Courtesy Allen & Unwin Deservedly shortlisted for the Prime Minister's Literary Awards 2010, Lovesong by Alex Miller is a beautiful book celebrating the complexities of love. Miller wrote the book in two years for no other reason than his own pleasure and describes the final result as being more complicated that he first set out for it to be. There are stories ...
I met Kristan Higgins when she was visiting Australia last month for the Romance Readers of Australia Convention. Loved her wit and charm so thought I should read one of her books. Also loved that and have to say Kristan’s humour comes through loud and strong in her heroine Faith Holland, an imperfect young woman ...
A tongue-in-cheek take on the whole 50 Shades wave but much more fun and much better writing. This is a great introduction to Australian rural fiction with a twist of the erotic - 12 short stories with titles like Truck Wash and The Crutching. A hoot. Great to see all kinds of lovers featured ...
Man Drought is a great outback romance set in the heart of West Australia's wheatbelt where there are often two kinds of drought - not enough rain and not enough women. Loved Rachael Johns characters, setting and idea that sometimes life offers you a chance to love again when your heart has been broken. My rating: ★★★★
Courtesy of Text Publishing First published in 1999 and re-release in 2010, Madeleine St John’s final novel is the tale of three friends locked in a love triangle with no easy way out. Setting of A Stairway to Paradise Although born in Sydney, St John spent much of her adult life in London, in particularly Notting Hill, and it is here amongst the ...
Courtesy of Penguin Inspired by the legendary music of Glenn Miller and the big band jazz of the 1940s, In the Mood by Laura Bloom tackles love and life in post-war Sydney. In the Mood The novel opens in 1946 with Robert Brooker returning home from the battlefields of New Guinea to a wife he hasn’t see for ...
What a hoot this British classic is! First published in 1932, I can’t believe it has taken me so long to discover. If you love things like the “Vicar of Dibley” then you will love this novel. First published in 1932, Cold Comfort Farm is a tongue-in-cheek portrayal of a city girl’s visit to her quirky ...
The Hours of the Night by Sue Gee is one of those novels that can take a while to get into but stays with you long after the final page. Set in the beautiful countryside on the border of Wales and England, it is the story of eccentric poet Gillian Traherne and her strained and awkward ...
Those who treasure a beautiful love story will pick up this novel by Helen Simonson and never want it to end. Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand has been called, amongst other things, a romance for wrinklies; but it so much more. It contains everything one could want in a novel: love; death; compassion and greed; an unlikely yet ...
I am an Australian freelance editor, proofreader and blogger with extensive experience working with books, magazines, newspapers, websites, social media and academic journals.
