Wow, it’s already time for us to discuss November’s challenge to read a book set in a foreign (to you) country!
For my challenge, I selected two books set in Australia.
My mainstream read was Whispers at Wongan Creek by Jaunita Kees which is set in rural Australia. Now I confess I love a hero who is raising a child on his own so lead protagonist Travis Bailey really stole my heart since he is trying to win permanent custody of his orphaned niece. Now to add to his appeal, this gruff farmer is also VERY protective of his elderly neighbor who is in the early stages of dementia. Social worker Heather Penney finds herself falling for Travis but she has a very good reason for her no relationship policy. Throw in a bit of a suspenseful mystery about what really happened to Travis’s sister and you have a truly captivating story. I’m definitely planning to read the next book in the series, Secrets at Wongan Creek.
My other challenge read is also set in Australia and it is a gay contemporary romance by one of my favorite authors, Renae Kaye. The Blinding Light is an absolutely wonderful love story between Jake Manning, a feisty man with a heart of gold and his demanding and rather socially awkward boss, Patrick Stanford. This fun story never glosses over the real life issues that Patrick, who is blind, must deal with but this aspect of the storyline is handled in a matter-of-fact manner and some light humor. Jake might be just a little too good to be true, but this never detracts from this family-oriented man’s appeal. The romance between Jake and Patrick is incredibly heartwarming and I confess I was a little sad when the novel ended since I liked them both so much. I am hoping to catch a glimpse of them again when I read the next book in The Tav series, You Are the Reason, which stars Jake’s manwhore friend, Davo.
Now it’s your turn! Did you complete your challenge? Did you like the book you chose?
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Read about this month’s challenge HERE.
Rustic Melody, Nic Starr
I was a bit disappointed in this one. I enjoyed the Aussie setting and their dialogues. But I am not a big fan of character driven only stories, always feel I am waiting for something to happen.
Overall it wasn’t bad, just not really my cup of tea (or maybe wrong time to read it). My big beef was the over detail, especially at the start, for example when showering I can extrapolate some issues so I don’t need to see him opening the shower gel, squeezing onto the sponge etc.
Glad you enjoyed Blinding Light.
And The Dry sounds good so I will definitely be gett8ng that!
I know what you mean about going too in depth about the unimportant details. Too bad the editing wasn’t just a little bit tighter.
I hope you like The Dry as much as I did-mys husband also really enjoyed it (he’s a tough reader to please lol)! I’m excited to be reviewing the next book in the Aaron Falk series, Force of Nature. My review for Force of Nature will post Feb. 5th.