Chocolate Shoes and Wedding Blues ~ Trisha Ashley

"When Tansy Poole inherits a run-down shoe shop tucked away in the village of Sticklepond, 'Cinderella's Slippers' is born - providing the footwear to make any fairytale wedding come true.

Carrying everything a bride would want to walk down the aisle in, Tansy's shop soon expands to carry shoe-themed wedding favours, bridesmaid gifts and even delicious chocolate shoes. It's the dream destination for any shoe-lover!

If only everything in her personal life could be as heavenly - but with a fiancé trying to make her fit into a size 8 wedding dress, not to mention the recent discovery of disturbing family revelations, Tansy takes refuge in the shop's success.

But one man isn't thrilled by the stream of customers hot-footing it to Cinderella's Slippers. Actor Ivo Hawksley, resident of the cottage next to the shop, is troubled by a dark secret in his past and has come to Sticklepond to nurse his own broken heart.

However, Ivo realises that he and Tansy have a link in their past and soon, they both find out how secrets shared can make a very strong bond indeed."

Interesting story set in England - the romance growing, tug of love with step sisters playing absolutely the ugliest and relations throwing red herrings into every situation.

Robyn S.

Belly Dancing for Beginners ~ Liz Byrski

"Gayle and Sonya are complete opposites: one reserved and cautious, the other confident and outspoken. But their very different lives will converge when they impulsively join a belly dancing class. Marissa, their teacher, is sixty, sexy, and very much her own person, and as Gayle and Sonya learn about the origins and meaning of the dance, much more than their muscle tone beGayle and Sonya are complete opposites: one reserved and cautious, the other confident and outspoken. But their very different lives will converge when they impulsively join a belly dancing class. Marissa, their teacher, is sixty, sexy, and very much her own person, and as Gayle and Sonya learn about the origins and meaning of the dance, much more than their muscle tone begins to change.

Belly Dancing for Beginners is the third novel by British-born Australian author, Liz Byrski."

Loved it as usual.

Robyn S.

In the Company of Strangers ~ Liz Byrski

"Ruby and Cat's friendship was forged on an English dockside over sixty years ago when, both fearful, they boarded a ship bound for Australia. It was a friendship that was supposed to last a lifetime but when news of Cat's death reaches Ruby back in London, it comes after a painful estrangement.

Declan has also drifted away from Cat, but he is forced back to his aunt's lavender farm, Benson's Reach, when he learns that he and Ruby are co-beneficiaries.

As these two very different people come together in Margaret River they must learn to trust each other and to deal with the staff and guests. Can the legacy of Benson's Reach triumph over the hurt of the past? Or is Cat's duty-laden legacy simply too much for Ruby and Declan to keep alive. Written in the style of a family drama, though the characters are unrelated but their paths all cross at one central point- Benson's Reach in the Margaret River, Western Australia. Benson's Reach is a rundown property that produces lavender products and rent out cottages to tourists. Declan and Ruby have inherited co-partnership of the lavender farm and lodging at Benson's Reach following the death of the owner, Catherine.

Ruby is about 70 years old and has a complex history and friendship with Catherine, after her death she leaves London and returns to the place that stores many hurtful memories.

Declan, Catherine's nephew is middle aged- awkward, nervous and indecisive. He's a little lost by the bequest and so jumps at the opportunity for his old friend, Alice to join him at the farm to provide him with some strength to cope with the circumstances. Alice, recently released from prison is ashamed of her past and trying to overcome the pain she caused her family.

Lesley is the first tourist to arrive at Benson's Reach while it's new owners are finding their feet. She leaves behind her home in Perth, including her newly retired husband who she feels stifled by. Lesley finds herself attracted to Declan, ten years her junior. There's also young Todd who's 15 and has been abandoned by his mum and trying to find his place at Benson's Reach though his insecurities interfere with trying to make it a home."

This was a lovely story,  loved every page.

Robyn S.

12 Edmondstone Street ~ David Malouf

"Beginning with his childhood home, David Malouf moves on to show other landmarks in his life, and the way places and things create our private worlds. Written with humour and uncompromising intelligence, 12 Edmondstone Street is an unforgettable portrait of one man's life".  

I read this because I love his writing but found it pretty difficult to take his first nation reference to Aboriginals.  I know it was written in a different time but it grated too much with me.

Robyn S.

Before I go to sleep ~ S J Watson

"'As I sleep, my mind will erase everything I did today. I will wake up tomorrow as I did this morning. Thinking I'm still a child. Thinking I have a whole lifetime of choice ahead of me ...' Memories define us. So what if you lost yours every time you went to sleep? Your name, your identity, your past, even the people you love—all forgotten overnight. And the one person you trust may only be telling you half the story. Welcome to Christine's life".

Loved this story it was drawn out but pretty obvious to the outcome before the reveal. Coming as a movie with Nicole and Colin will be seeing it.

Robyn S.

Apartment 255 ~ Bunty Avieson

"Someone is watching her… looks can kill. Sarah and Ginny have been best friends since school. Then Sarah meets Tom. Her career takes off. She and Tom move into a stunning inner-city apartment. But Ginny has not been so lucky. She wanted Tom, but she didn't get him. She wants... what Sarah has. Ginny moves into an apartment overlooking Sarah and Tom's. She starts watching them. Then she does something more than just watch... .  Strange people do strange things pretty shocking treatment of someone who helped you survive your own life."

Read by Robyn S

The Shelter is a novella by the independent writer James Everington in the style of Stephen King's The Body which resonated with me in the fact that it is about a group of children (in this case four boys) getting up to no good during a school summer holiday.  Set in England, it brought back memories of those long six week holidays, with not much to do except going exploring with friends.  It is something we probably don't let our children do today but, without Foxtel, Apple, X-box or PC's, our options for entertainment back when I was a teenager in the late 70's and early 80's lay in the outdoors.

The story of The Shelter is related by a thirteen year old Alan Dean who, with his best friend Duncan and two older boys that he knows from school, goes in search of an old air raid shelter that supposedly lies outside of their village.  When they get there it's location seems a bit bizarre with the shelter being located in the far corner of a field, the atmosphere changes too with the incessant buzzing of wasps and a feeling of rising anger that threatens to overwhelm the boys themselves.

Driven by excitement and fear, and wondering if this is the resting place of Martin, a local schoolboy whose disappearance has dominated the news reports lately, they open the metal lid that covers the entrance to the shelter.  Everything appears normal until a simple prank leaves Alan in a terrifying situation and open to a supernatural event.  But did it really happen?  

As children we are ready to accept the unknown, and in a state of heightened terror we can imagine any amount of horrors.  Yet for all those nights of being too afraid to look under the bed, or in the closet or at that bundle of clothes thrown on the chair that looks like something unimaginable.......... did any harm ever come to us?  This then brings doubt and cynicism into the mind of the adult, and the realisation that there never was anything there at all. This is the thought that the older Alan will ponder as he reviews the events of that summer.

The writing style does need some polishing, and the idea itself of using a group of bored children to propel the story along isn't all that original - just read Stephen King and Dan Simmons - but I found that I really liked it because of the memories that it stirred up for me and I almost (almost mind you) felt a pang for a genuine English Summer.

Read by Maxine