Imagine a dare is born out of a college-nemesis/complicated past feelings relationship, that results in two bestselling writers crafting stories from genres they despise. The winner has to poach their novel to publishers, get the biggest book deal and the highest paying advance.
Enter January and Gus.
January has just made the worst discovery of her life. After her Dad’s recent passing, a letter he left her explained that he had been in love with another woman and had built a life with her all in a small beach town. January is confused as he was always the most loving father and their connection was strong. He has left the house that he shared in his double life to January. Not only is she thrown for six but her writing jué jué is off and the timeline on her next book is closing in.
Gus has never forgotten the frustratingly talented writer from college who never failed to make every writing assignment into a happy ending. He much prefers to research for years, uncover and pull apart the pieces of people that we sometimes never see. Seeing January in the house next door on the summer evening of his birthday was not what he had on his Bingo card for this year. But will it turn out to be his, and her, best year of writing yet?
Aaron is an award-winning novelist attempting to escape his home time that holds complicated and tightly woven memories for his high school friend group. Covering for one another back then wasn’t a big ask, but in the present it could mean the crumble of the entire life he’s built.
When human remains are discovered in a forest on the edge of Aaron’s hometown, he knows that the protected secrets that haunt him are finally coming to an end.
Back then, Aaron’s best friend had a very different home life to his own. Full of displayed love and hidden violence. Moving from past to present in this story, we learn about the prolonged abusive actions that occurred and the climactic accident that changed the future for all the boys involved. With the setting of this mystery being a small town, the community is also fighting for the answers that they never received. Aaron’s return home brings more questions than answers to the surface, and the layered complexities unravel quickly.
Christian White’s books never fail to keep me on the edge of my seat, as his compelling writing is mostly seen through tv scripts but truly, his novels are pure Australian Crime Fiction magic!
Teddy Anderson is her small town’s so-called ‘good time girl’, who is guaranteed to always be the life of the party and draws the attention of most people in a room with her suede fringe jacket and skin-tight jeans.
Yet underneath the social glow of many eyes, Teddy is a hard worker, a carer for her chronically ill father and will always be there to support her best friend Emmy Ryder, along with her family.
So when Emmy calls Teddy in a pickle, she decides the positive outweighs the negative because it’s only for the summer – right.?
Within 24 hours, Teddy is a stay-in nanny for Emmy’s niece and living with the one Ryder family member she’s never seen eye to eye with – Angus Ryder.
Angus is a single dad, a cattleman and the over protector for all his family members. One thing he knows for certain is that being around Teddy Anderson is much easier when they’re throwing cutting words and displaying their utmost mutual distaste to one another. Now having her in his home, spending quality and helpful time with his daughter, Angus is forced to see a different side, a softer side, of Teddy unravelling. She’s getting under his skin, but not in the way she did before.
Lost and Lassoed is number 3 in the Rebel Blue Bell series. Teddy and Angus’ story is the classic enemies to lovers trope that has you devouring paragraphs and pages in no time!
Australian movie star and heartthrob, Ethan James has a problem. He is filming a new movie that is expected to rocket launch his career but his dog Harry cannot cope with the time he constantly needs to spend on set without him. He is in desperate need of a dog sitter.
Hazel is in the process of escaping her everyday life and trying to hide from her career as a chef, after an embarrassing and upending experience over the quality of her food. She’s looking for a job that won’t involve her interacting with self centred humans but rather an energetic, playful and affectionate furry kind.
When approached to become the dog sitter for a mysterious and private individual, paying quite a healthy sum of money and in town for a limited amount of time, Hazel jumps at the opportunity. But little did she know, she was signing up for daily interactions with Australia’s hottest movie star and his beloved pet.
Hazel and Ethan push each other’s buttons, test the limits of their working relationship and reveal slithers of their personalities’ to each other from behind self-conscious walls. Slowly, their trust in each other builds but when their individual goals start being met, can they work through them as a duo? Or will it be the end of this short-term contract?
Something I don’t find readers talking about online or in person often enough, is the cost of book buying and keeping up with the latest bookish trends.
Reading can be an expensive hobby and honestly, when working in the bookstore that was a real deterrent for many people coming in. Paying $30+ for a book that you may or may not enjoy is an absolute gamble and for some, that’s a big chunk of your play money for the week. I know for me, it certainly was and is, as I budget according to my needs and saving goals.
Therefore, I thought it was time I shared my personal tips and tricks to reading on a monthly budget of just $15 AUD. Let’s jump in:
👜 VISIT YOUR LOCAL LIBRARY w/ A TOTE BAG
Do I need to say more than the words FREE, FREE and FREE!
Most libraries that you walk into cost you $0 to sign up and start borrowing books that day. Plus, it’s usually free to use their internet and their internal searching platforms to narrow down if they have the books you’re looking for.
Additionally, I’m lucky that my local library (which I’m certain many others function this way as well) allows you to make ‘orders’. For example, if there is a book you’re after and it’s not on the shelf or in their title listings’ – you can order it – FOR FREE! The library will then purchase it out of their next lot of available funding and notify you when it comes in. I mean, you literally have just signed up for FREE, ordered a book for FREE and will read the books you’re desperate to get your hands on for FREE.
+ the reason I suggest taking a tote bag, is that it makes your library experience feel like a book buying experience. So if you’re that kinda girly like me, find your biggest and fav tote bag for the trip!
📲 BORROWBOX, LIBBY, HOOPLA & MORE
In Australia, we’re lucky enough that our libraries have connected online borrowing platforms such as BorrowBox, Libby and Hoopla, that allow you to borrow up to 6x e-books and 6x audiobooks (+ movies and magazines) at one time for FREE. These apps are downloadable and/or accessible on your phone, laptop, iPad or tablet AND Kobo’s.
Each app has a variety of different titles, therefore if you’re a veracious reader and tech savvy, in one month you could have two books borrowed from each library app and potentially have a total of 5-6 books to read. That’s more than a book a week for FREE.
These apps do require you to be a member of your local or regional library but as we discovered above, it costs $0 to sign up and takes less than 10 minutes in person or online.
✅ KINDLE DAILY DEALS & KINDLE BOOK DEALS
Did you know that Amazon Kindle have a variety of new release, popular books or books in series on sale for $4.99 or less – daily?
If you’re a Kindle reader like me and tend to pick up your e-reader once/twice per month for a new read, something I always do before jumping into a new book is check the Kindle shop (which if you’re on your Kindle is this shopping trolley icon 🛒) to see what the Kindle Daily Deals are. I’ve picked up trending romance books, crime fiction and mystery books, as well as book club reads for $4.99, $2.99 or even $0.99.
Kindle Book Deals is another section that has over 50 e-book titles on sale from $9.99 or less. This section holds even MORE trending books and is the place to be if you’re wanting a brand new release instantly at your fingertips. The titles in this section update every month as far as I can see and hold such a great diverse range of reading material.
So there you have it, my top 3 tips for reading on a savvy $15 monthly budget 💸
If you mixed all of these tips together, you could even budget for $10 per month, having bought just 1x Kindle e-book for $9.99 + borrowed 2x e-books and 1x audiobook on BorrowBox, + borrow 3x physical books from your local library. That’s 7 books in total 😮 The savvy budget reading options are endless!
I hope some of these tips come in handy for you and that you have a go at trying them for yourself!
If you enjoyed this and would like more reading on a budget tips, comment below ⬇️ 💬
I feel like this Sunday has been the first in a long time where I have completely absorbed myself in books and reading for majority of the day, and it’s been an incredible feelings!
It’s an overcast, windy and cold day here so Peach and I have decided that a weather induced morning and afternoon in bed and under the covers was called for.
I’ve had quite a big work week and reading week before landing here with ‘Nectar of the Wicked’ by Ella Fields.
I started ‘The Mystery Writer’ by lovely friend Sulari Gentill last weekend and took every spare moment I could this week to keep reading as it was so captivating, twisty and turny that I just knew the ending would not disappoint.
‘The Mystery Writer’ is a story about Theo and her journey to becoming a bestselling novelist but it’s not as straightforward as one might assume. I’m working on a full review of this novel which you’ll be able to read on here very soon 👀
I’ve also devoured an indie romance for a friend as their Beta reader. Beta reading is when an author sends you a close to finished copy of their book/chapters/synopsis and you’re generally reading to provide feedback on questions they provide or for me, I usually provide feedback on flow as a reader, moments I really enjoyed or moments I found confusing. It’s not an editing gig persay, it’s more seen as a vibe check. I really enjoy doing this for books in genres I know I enjoy, with plots I know are my jam and authors I have read from previously. So more info on this one coming soon 😉
And now we’re here with ‘Nectar of the Wicked’ by Ella Fields! The first few chapters of this book had me hesitant but after the first 45-50 pages, I’ve been hooked and I know I’ll be spending the remainder of my day cozied up with this novel. As a reader, be aware that this book was placed in the Erotica section of the bookstore as our main character (at this point in time) is involved in adult/escort work. But don’t let that deter you! I do think this plot is going to become even more interesting as it’s fantasy elements are a nice mix. Ella is also Australia, which I LOVE to see and read 🌶✅
What are you reading this Sunday and what’s a new book recommendation you have for me?
It’s with a strong mixture of unexplainable joy, pride and exhaustion that I write this post. Our very first Riverina Readers Festival is complete and I felt it was really important to write down how I’m feeling and my experiences as something to look back on and also as way of sharing the feelings underneath the surface with those who read this little book blog and attended our festival.
I’ve learnt throughout this epic process of planning, managing and delivering such a large-scale event that it is quite difficult to put into words how you feel, as the mixture of emotions are still churning inside after 2 days from the Festivals completion.
There has been tidal waves of stress and nervous anticipation in hoping those in attendance feel the love and dedication gone into building this event; overwhelming joy when you’re in the thick of seeing the event run through its schedule effortlessly; buzzing excitement and a high of happiness and disbelief when you’re finished; pride and gratitude when you read feedback forms that pour with happiness and eagerness to see what’s next; awe when people stop you or chase after you on the day to tell you how much they feel like they’ve found a community and made new connections; passion when authors congratulate you and your team on the high quality of each and every aspect of the festival and go away recommending your festival to those near and far in their world; joy when you look back and see all the incredible people who made this happen and continue to be there for the future of this project.
This has been one of the biggest moments in my career/ life/ dreams. And my few tears at the end of this day came through to show people that. Building this vision, finding a supportive and valuable team with their own individual talents and passions, planning this festival and bringing it to our community has been unforgettable. I cannot wait to keep this going, say ‘yes’ to opportunities and watch it grow.
You know when you come across a book that in every spare moment you have, whether it be in your morning tea break or when you sit down on the couch in your comfies after work, or right when you go to bed – that you’re thinking about and wanting to read?
THIS BOOK will have you hooked the moment you meet Weston Ryder!
Swift and Saddled is my first country/western romance and my gosh, talk about steamy! I didn’t even know this sub-genre was making such a come up in the romance world but I’m telling you, the hype is worth it.
Ada is an interior designer heading out to Wyoming, employed to refirbish a massive guest house on a family run ranch. The communicator on the other end of this big project has been Weston Ryder.
Before Ada even gets to the ranch to start on the project, she meets a cowboy at the local pub. (Here in Australia, I have to admit that actually using the term cowboy is a little cringe HOWEVER, it does fit the American context and the western culture that surrounds this book). Ada and this cowboy have a steamy connection that finished all too quickly that evening. Little does Ada know, that cowboy is her employee and she’s about to come head to head with him tomorrow morning!
Weston Ryder is an absolute SWEETHEART of a main love interest. Not only does he put his families needs before his own, but he truely just wanted to takes care Ada and wholeheartedly respects Ada and her past.
The connection that builds between these two characters over the months of the project, their slow and steady unravelling of personal vices and traits, as well as their slow burn desire makes this the perfect romance book in my opinion.
+ it’s an all connected small town romance series! We’re talking the brother and sister of Weston also have their own books and I’m so keen to start reading them this month too!
I devoured Swift and Saddled in a matter of 3 days and it’s an absolute 5 star read for me in 2024 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Mel Reviews Her Books 