Review: The Last Illusion of Paige White

Title: The Last Illusion of Paige White 

Author: Vanessa McCausland

Publisher: 4th December 2024 by HarperCollins Australia 

Pages: 319 pages

Genre: Contemporary Fiction, mystery 

Synopsis:

Two women. A tragedy on the lake. And secrets beneath the surface ... The lyrical, haunting new novel from the author of The Beautiful Words

Paige White kayaked across the lake each morning at dawn. Someone was watching her. Many someones watched her online. But was anyone with her the day her body was discovered?

Paige has always lived a picture-perfect life, documented closely on her social media. The world she has curated exudes an old-fashioned, wholesome lifestyle. Her page is littered with lakeside breakfasts with her daughter, sunny afternoons in the family van, and romantic picnics with her husband. So when she posts an ominous, brooding image and is shortly after discovered drowned, everyone immediately wonders - suicide or foul play?

Jane Masters was one of Paige's childhood best friends, who left her behind to pursue a bigger life in Sydney. When Paige's death makes national news, Jane, a journalist, reluctantly travels home. Struggling with the morality of covering her friend's death, Jane will confront the town she left behind and the dark undercurrents that she's always known run underneath.

My Thoughts

I  have read and enjoyed all Vanessa’s books and was thrilled to read her latest offering, The Last Illusion of Paige White. This is an exceptionally haunting and lyrical tale as only Vanessa can write as she proves, yet again, that she is a skilful writer capable of creating truly atmospheric stories with locations that will draw readers in. 

Set in two timelines (which Vanessa handles seamlessly) a mystery slowly unfolds. This is a book with a number of themes such as families, small towns, grief, religion, bullying, marriages, infidelity and more. However, at its heart this is a very compelling read about the impact of social media - our illusions about it and how the lines may become blurred concerning online and reality living. Vanessa frames the story in such a way that will give readers pause for some serious considerations of their own and others use of this medium. 

"But are any of us really showing the world our true selves?

Are any of us who we say, who we think, we are? Maybe we're

all capable of much more, or less, than we realise." 

I am such a fan of Vanessa’s work and she is an auto buy author for me. Her books are not only atmospherically consuming but the themes she tackles are paramount and powerful. If you have never read any of Vanessa’s books before, I highly recommend you immerse yourself not only in a place of beauty but also in a well paced mystery that impacts all social media users in today’s day and age. 

"It's as though I'm trapped in my own Instagram photo.The one with the most likes ... everything reduced to tiny little squares, compartmentalised. It's what I spent a good chunk of my life doing - trying to put neat parameters around myself. Whatever I was trying to do didn't work.”

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.

 

Review:The Night on the Darling River

Title: The Night on the Darling River

Author: Darry Fraser

Publisher: 4 December 2024 by Harlequin Australia, HQ & MIRA

Pages: 300 pages

Genre: General Fiction (Adult) | Historical Fiction | Romance

Synopsis:

Amid the rising flood waters and shearers' strike violence, can one brave woman reclaim her future? From an Australian bestselling author comes a riveting historical adventure about one woman's journey from a life of isolation to one of love and acceptance.


1894, Echuca, Victoria

Tess Hawthorn is a woman on the run from her abusive husband. All she has to do is get on the riverboat Victor and she will be free.

But with tensions at an all-time high between unionist shearers and Scabs, Tess isn't the only person trying to board a boat under the cover of night. When a brawl erupts between the union and non-union men, Tess is mistaken for a fellow Scab and in the chaos pulled aboard the PS Rodney - the same boat heading up the Darling River that her husband was bound for.

The last person Bram Kempster expects to see on board is Tess Hawthorn, the girl he's loved from afar since they were young. But he can't afford to get distracted, not when he's on an urgent trip to Renmark. Tess didn't want him back then and, if her haughty behaviour is anything to go by, she certainly doesn't want him now.

But childhood hurts are the least of their problems. The continent is a tinderbox of violence and bloodshed waiting to ignite, and at home the Murray River is rising fast. Can they overcome their past in time to work together and survive?

My Thoughts 

In a time when Aussie authors are making their mark in historical dramas, Darry has done a fabulous job with wonderful storytelling, putting herself right up there with the best in these Australian colonial sagas. Her latest offering is no different - drama and adventures in the outback, with colourful characters and an engagingly dynamic storyline. 

I always gain so much from reading one of Darry’s books. On this occasion, she returns to her true love the Murray-Darling basin and I could not be happier. The factual focus on this occasion is a major flood that occurred in 1894 around the same time that the PS Rodney departed Echuca for its fated last journey. Add into this a dangerous shearers strike and some truly frightening domestic violence and this is a much darker and violent story that Darry has to share. The cast of characters are strong and believable and I appreciated the various POVs. 

If you like to escape to a time long gone, a time when women attempted to exert some form of independence, all with a dash of mystery and romance, then this will be the book for you. Life wasn’t easy for women who were often regarded as male property and I admired the many strengths of the lead character, Tess Hawthorn. I highly recommend you sample one of Darry’s true to life historical dramas. 

‘Since that night on the Darling River, everything about the person she’d become during her marriage had to change.’

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.

Review: The Golden Thread

Title: The Golden Thread

Author: Tea Cooper

Publisher: 30th October 2024 by Harlequin Australia, HQ & MIRA

Pages: 352 pages

Genre:  Historical Fiction

Rating: 4 cups

Synopsis:

When eighteen-year-old Constance Montague wakes one Wednesday she expects the day to unfold like any other. Breakfast with her grandmother Nell and her mother Faith, a meeting in Maitland with the ladies of the Benevolent Society, perhaps a gentle stroll along the banks of the Hunter River. But this Wednesday is different. Nell has vanished.

Concerned, Connie determines to track Nell down and follows a lead to Old Government House in Parramatta, now a boarding house. There, to her astonishment she finds her grandmother holding court.

When Nell introduces her (under a false name!) to a varied cast of colourful guests, including a frail but observant old lady, a travelling salesmen, a bearded lothario, a clever articled clerk, a lively seamstress and an enigmatic housekeeper who is connected with Nell's past, Connie begins to realise that her grandmother is not who she seems. Nell is looking for something and following a thread stitched long ago, a thread that leads from some missing gold, to a golden dress and the attic of Government House and as the story unravels so do the secrets of the past, secrets that surface into the present to threaten not just Nell, but Connie too.

My Thoughts

Tea Cooper always presents outstanding Australian historical fiction and her latest, The Golden Thread, is no exception. I have enjoyed all of Tea’s previous works as they have proven to be consistently engaging and masterfully crafted tales of mystery and intrigue. 

The Golden Thread once again entertains readers with strong female leads. I just adored Nell and how she works together with her granddaughter to unfold the mystery. There is a golden yellow dress, created in the mid-eighteenth century in London (now abandoned in an attic) that is the inspiration for this story. Tea is so clever at taking a piece of history and forming a fictional tale around it. So be sure to read her notes at the end of the book in which she tells the story of the ‘golden’ dress, explaining not only its history but also the provenance regarding pieces from history that feature in this book.

This is a clever story that will have you working to organise all the plot puzzle pieces that have been masterfully crafted by Tea. I was captivated by not only the determination of the two women, but also a strong cast of secondary characters. Congratulations Tea on once again producing a masterfully crafted tale of mystery and intrigue that will see the reader journeying side by side with Nell and Connie as they both respectively work to uncover the truth.

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.

Review: The Starlets

Title:The Starlets

Author: Lee Kelly & Jennifer Thorne

Publisher: 12th November 2024 by Harper Muse

Pages: 384 pages

Genre: General Fiction (Adult) | Historical Fiction | Mystery & Thrillers

Rating: 4 cups

Synopsis:

Real life is turning out to be stranger than a script for the silver screen.

Vivienne Rhodes thinks she’s finally landed her break playing Helen in Apex Pictures’ big-budget Troy epic, A Thousand Ships, an anticipated blockbuster meant to resurrect the failing studio. Naturally, she’s devastated when she arrives on the remote Italian island of Tavalli and finds herself cast as Cassandra—while her nemesis, the fiancée-stealing Lottie Lawrence, America’s supposed “sweetheart,” is headlining instead.

The tension on set, though, turns deadly when the ladies discover that members of the crew are using the production as a front for something decidedly illegal—and that they are willing to kill to keep their dealings under wraps. When the two women find themselves on the run and holding key evidence, Vivienne and Lottie frantically agree to work together to deliver the proof to Interpol, hoping to protect both their lives and their careers.

Staying one step ahead of corrupt cops and looming mobsters, the arch rivals flee across the seas. Their journey leads them into Monaco’s casinos, Grace Kelly’s palace, on a road trip through the Alps—even onto another film set, before a final showdown on Tavalli, where the lives of the entire cast and crew hang in the balance. Vivienne and Lottie finally have the chance to be real heroines—to save the day, the film, maybe even each other—but only if they can first figure out how to share the spotlight.

My Thoughts

A story set in the 1950s involving glamorous movie stars would be enough to entice me. However, when you also include movie worthy baddies versus goodies pursuit throughout Europe - from Mediterranean islands, to Monaco, to the Alps - then all is set for a romping read. 

The Starlets is a fun, fast paced story in the style of an old Hollywood movie where two female leads go from enemies to friends in order to solve the mystery.  An old fashioned movie set with a good murder mystery thrown in is a sure fire winner in my view. The authors so cleverly achieved a balance between old Hollywood celebrity drama, to daring Mafia pursuits, to old fashioned comedy! They certainly captured the ‘feel’ from this era. It reads like a movie playing out in your mind's eye. 

This is more than a historical fiction story. It is a classic adventure story  of two women coming together as the drama unfolds. The Starlets is  glamour, action and suspense all rolled into one. If this is your vibe then get ready for a fun and entertaining read. 

‘Movies are the closest thing we have to magic. Every problem, complication, disaster solved in an hour and a half. Every hero deserving of love and redemption.’

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.

 

Review: The Secret Christmas Bookshop

Title:The Secret Christmas Bookshop 

Author: Cressida McLaughlin

Publisher: 24th October 2024 by HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction

Pages: 380 pages

Genre: General Fiction (Adult) | Romance

Rating: 4 cups

Synopsis:

In a beautiful seaside village, where enormous blue skies and golden sand dunes stretch into forever, somebody is opening an unexpected gift…

When an anonymous parcel turns up at the shop where Sophie works, she’s surprised to find a beautifully bound classic novel, one that eerily seems to chime with her own story.

Enigmatic Harry lives in a crumbling manor house, spending solitary days patching up leaks in the roof. The subject of unwelcome gossip in the village since his return from London, he prefers to keep to himself.

As Christmas draws near and the gifting season arrives, Sophie attempts to get to the bottom of her mysterious parcel. Finding herself being drawn into Harry’s orbit, they are both about to learn that good stories can take on a life of their own …

My Thoughts

I enjoyed books from  Cressida’s Cornish Cream Tea series so it was inevitable that I would jump at the chance to read another of hers that contains a bookshop during the  Christmas period! This is a light and enjoyable read with a little romance and mystery set in a quaint English village. 

‘I’m seizing the moment,’ Harry said. ‘Not waiting for things to be perfect, but making the most of right now. Someone taught me that recently.’

There is a wonderful cast of characters from this small village that come together to prepare for Christmas. It is fun, however, Cressida delves a little deeper into themes of finding a home and the importance of family and community. I love how the gifted copy of Jane Eyre that Sophie mysteriously receives and reads, reflects both Jane and Sophie’s story with the latter drawing inspiration from this classic. 

‘I’m going to take chances and be braver. I’m going to live, rather than exist.’

So make yourself a nice cuppa and settle in for all the festive community feels! This is a tale about finding out where you belong in a beautiful village by the sea.

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.