AusRomToday Weekly Reads – 4th August 2014

Introducing a new AusRomToday weekly feature, the AusRomToday Weekly Reads.

Each week, I’ll be sharing the books that I’m reading for the week with reviews to come on Sunday evenings.

This week, I’m reading:

Before Nightfall
Rachel Amphlett

“If they move you, they will kill you.”

Kate Foster is quick to forget the advice from a pre-deployment hostage survival course once she’s catapulted into a new job in Eastern Europe, despite the good-looking instructor. But a simple day’s task in Istanbul six months later goes horribly wrong.

Trapped and alone, her only hope of survival is the man who trained her – ex-FBI Hostage Rescue Specialist, Finn Scott.

For Finn, it’s his worst nightmare. Kate was the one person he almost let into his heart. Haunted by memories of a failed hostage rescue, he is thrust into a situation beyond his control. Now, against a sinister adversary whose ambitions will split apart Eastern Europe, Finn must overcome his demons to prevent an international catastrophe.

And avoid losing Kate forever.

Amazon

AusRomToday review of Before Nightfall:
Wow. Just, wow!

Before Nightfall is meticulously researched and detailed and executed with all the adrenaline, thrills and spills, and gusto of a Hollywood blockbuster. If the action of this plotline doesn’t get your pulse racing, nothing will!

Fast paced, action packed and detail-conscious without interrupting the flow of the story with strongly developed and quickly likeable characters, Before Nightfall is hands-down my favourite book of 2014. Reminiscent of master story-teller, Sidney Sheldon, Rachel Amphlett is an author to watch. 

 

 

Deep Diving
Cate Ellink

Samantha is celebrating her newly retired status from competitive triathlons with a diving holiday in her favourite place in the world: Australia’s Lord Howe Island. But all divers need a buddy, and Sam can’t dive solo. A chance meeting with rugby league superstar Cooper Sterling in the dive shop seems serendipitous. Sam can’t wait to have a partner who might be able to keep up with her.

It soon becomes evident that Cooper and Sam are compatible both in and out of the water, and things gets seriously sexy. But Sam is disinclined to be another football groupie, and Cooper has been burned before. So the rules are clear: a holiday fling, no strings attached, and they part as friends at the end.

But as the final days of their time together come to a close and a life apart becomes a reality, Sam and Cooper start to question their decision. Is this holiday fling really the finish line or can Sam and Cooper turn their friendly competition into more than sizzling sex?

Escape Publishing (Copy received from NetGalley)

AusRomToday review of Deep Diving:
Deep Diving is truly enjoyable sweet contemporary romance novel from Cate Ellink. The central characters, Samantha (a recently retired triathlete) and Cooper (a hunky footballer) are easily likeable and combined with a gorgeous Lord Howe Island backdrop (which Ellink beautifully weaves into the story), Deep Diving was a story that I finished in one sitting. It was refreshing to read from the first-person point-of-view of Samantha, and I think that too made for an easy and enjoyable read. Looking forward to more from Cate Ellink!

 

Driving in Neutral
Sandra Antonelli

Levelheaded Olivia Regen walks away from her car-racing career and the wreckage of a bad marriage to take on new work that’s far removed from the twists of racetrack. Her new life is about control, calm and the good friends that she adores.

But her first task on her very first day involves getting up close and too personal with her claustrophobic boss, alone in a broken elevator. Her unconventional solution for restoring his equilibrium shocks them both and leaves Olivia shaken.

Determined to stick to her plan, Olivia drives headlong into work and planning her best friend’s wedding, leaving no room for kissing, elevators, or workplace relationships. But Emerson is not one to be out-manoeuvred. Can he convince Olivia that her fear of falling in love again is just another kind of claustrophobia – one that is destined to leave them both lonely?

Escape Publishing (Copy recieved from NetGalley)

AusRomToday review of Driving in Neutral:
I started reading Driving in Neutral with a to-do-list that spanned 2 a4 pages telling myself I’d read a chapter then get back to my work. Do you think that happened? Nope. Once I started there was no way to put this one down and I must confess to devouring the entire book in one sitting (thanks Sandra!). As always with Sandra’s writing it’s fun, flirty and sassy—much the same as the central character, Olivia. Fun and refreshing to read and I highly recommend reading Driving in Neutral!

 

 

Beyond Coincidence
Jacquie Underdown

In 2008, 250 Australian and British soldiers are uncovered in a mass grave in Fromelles, France, lost since the Great War. One soldier, bearing wounds of war so deep it scarred his soul, cannot be laid to rest just yet.

When Lucy bumps into the achingly sad soldier during a trip to France, she doesn’t, at first glance, realise what he is – a ghost who desperately needs her help. Lucy can’t turn away from someone who needs her, even someone non-corporeal, and they travel back together to Australia in search of answers and, hopefully, some peace.

This chance meeting and unexplainable relationship sets into motion a chain-reaction of delicate coincidences that affect the intertwined lives of family, friends, and lovers in unexpected, beautiful ways.

Escape Publishing (Copy received from NetGalley)

 

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