(courtesy Harper Collins Publishers Australia) There are romantic comedies, and then there are ROMANTIC COMEDIES (and, no, the demarcation does not lie in using all-caps alone). The greater difference, and one readily apparent in the superlative effort that is Just One Taste by Lizzy Dent, is the way in which Continue Reading
Books
Book review: The Nameless Restaurant (Hidden Dishes #1) by Tao Wong
(courtesy Starlit Publishing) When is a restaurant far more than eating (hopefully) great food in a public setting? When it takes places at The Nameless Restaurant, the eponymous establishment in Tao Wong’s arrestingly involving novella which takes us to a mysterious place which offers far more than just very good Continue Reading
Book review: The Fog by Brooke Hardwick
(courtesy Simon & Schuster Australia) The Fog was provided as a digital ARC ahead of its release on 4 September in Australia. The slow creep of horror that accompanies gothic thrillers is one of the reasons this particular genre is so widely read. There is something strangely enticing about reading Continue Reading
Book review: Lucky Day by Beth Morrey
(courtesy Harper Collins Publishers Australia) What a liberating read Lucky Day by Beth Morrey is! All of us, to greater or lesser extent, live ourselves constrained by a host of weird little social paradigms, spoken or unspoken rules by which we are allowed to act, speak or react, and while Continue Reading
Book review: Ghost of the Neon God by T. R. Napper
(courtesy NewSouth Books) There is something magnificently enthralling about bearing witness to a talented author conjuring up an entire near-future world from the ground up in just 110 tautly-written pages. From nothing, we are led with brutal vivacity and a readily identifiable broken humanity into a dystopian world where civilisation Continue Reading
Book review: The Excitements by C. J. Wray
(courtesy Hachette Australia) Dancing deftly between the whimsical and the emotional weighty is a tricky thing to pull off in any novel. Tip too far either way, and the now-lesser part of the story feels pointless, a drag on a narrative that clearly wants to go one way in particular Continue Reading
UPCOMING READS: Two Kings by Holden Sheppard coming from Pantera Press
(courtesy official Holden Sheppard Twitter/X account) SNAPSHOTTwo Kings is a gritty and heartfelt gay coming-of-age story, set in the world of FIFO workers and tradies in Western Australia. Giacomo Brolo, aka Jack, is a mess, consumed by a self-loathing all too common for closeted men who have grown up in Continue Reading
‘Tis the season book preview: 12 Tropes of Christmas: an anthology of festive romcom stories
(courtesy Fantastic Fiction) A dozen ways to fall in love this Christmas! 12 authors, 12 tropes, 12 romance stories. Whatever your trope, you’ll find a romantic story in this anthology to keep you happy. Enemies to lovers, best friend’s brother, friends to lovers, married one, twice shy, and runaway groom/ Continue Reading
What makes things so Wicked? New featurette pulls back the curtain …
(courtesy IMP Awards) SNAPSHOTWicked, the untold story of the witches of Oz, stars Emmy, Grammy, Tony winning powerhouse Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba, a young woman, misunderstood because of her unusual green skin, who has yet to discover her true power, and Grammy-winning, multi-platinum recording artist and global superstar Ariana Grande Continue Reading
#ChristmasInJuly book review: A White Christmas on Winter St. by Sue Moorcroft
(courtesy Harper Collins Publishers Australia) If you read a few Christmas-themed books, you will be well acquainted with the recurrent themes of this most festive of genres. At least one member of the couple at the centre of the story must be emotionally broken or traumatised and in need of Continue Reading