The Strawberry Patch Pancake House (#4) by Laurie Gilmore

29 Sep 2026 Leave a comment

by Amy in 1 Star, Audiobook, Romance Tags: , , , , , , ,

Published: 13 March 2025 (print)/ 13 March 2025 (audio) Goodreads badge
Publisher: HarperCollins/HarperCollins
Pages: 384/9 hrs and 3 mins
Narrator: Regina Reagan
Format: Audiobook
Genre: Romance
★ – 1.5 Stars

As a renowned chef, single-dad Archer never planned on moving to a small town, let alone running a pancake restaurant. But Dream Harbor needs a new chef, and Archer needs a community to help raise his daughter, Olive.

Iris has never managed to hold down a job for more than a few months. So when Mayor Kelly suggests Archer is looking for a nanny, and Iris might be available, she shudders at the thought. But in need of money she reluctantly agrees.

As Archer and Iris get used to their new roles, is it possible that they might have more in common than they first thought, or is Olive just determined to play match-maker…

This is definitely the last book of this series I’ll be reading. I wanted to stop about 10% of the way through but I decided the finish, if only to see it got as bad and as stupid as I thought. I had been committed to finishing the series, branching out my reading – especially in the romance department – but I might need to be more selective in the future.

From the start it’s like the romances where a completely single, clueless man is suddenly a father. If the choices are a grandmother who has been in the kid’s life or a random stranger why not make the random man take over? Why would you leave your kid with a short fling and not an actual relative or friend you know? You have no knowledge of what kind of father he’ll be? At least it happens right away so you know what you’re getting into with this romance. It even references the single dad tropes which felt too on the nose.

Archer is definitely the one with a chip on his shoulder. He creates the tension because he doesn’t want to be there and it is affecting everyone around him. He almost terminates Iris’ job because he can’t keep it in his pants. At least Iris calls the guy out for his behaviour. I didn’t quite mind he changed his tune. Realising his work/life balance needed adjusting was reasonable, doing a 180 on everything he ever wanted in his life is not.

After having an issue with a three year age gap in a previous book, now we have to contend with there being an issue of only one bathroom and the fact their rooms are across the hall from one another. Did they need a wider gap between their rooms? Have these people never lived in a regular sized house where one bathroom is the norm? Did one of them need to live in the backyard? Clearly these people need one floor and one bathroom for each member of the household. “Bathing in the same room” is not an issue. Unless you are doing it together, this is not a thing reasonable people think about.

Thank god we had the mystery of the pancakes to sustain us. Unlike the other books where there was no mystery despite the claim, the battle to get the recipe right was actually in the plot, actually a part of the plot, and actually had a satisfying conclusion. It is the only reason I kept going, even if I was going at 4x speed by the end and skipping chunks by the final hour or two.

The explicit scenes are minimal unlike previous books. The majority of the book is the two characters trying to avoid sleeping with each other out of professional ethics and the child, so that at least allowed more plot to be written. Didn’t stop the character thoughts though. Perpetually horny which felt over the top and unrealistic, especially as it was constantly mentioned.

The characters have no depth. It’s all surface level explained on the page stuff. It’s hard to believe a story that had real character depth in book one could have something so bland and unappealing in subsequent books. If each book if capable of being read individually, heaven help those who don’t know the backstories of these characters because without knowing about the mayor and the friends from previous books it’s all useless because they are names only. You have no idea who these people are.

Overall it was boring. It was nothing. I hated how Iris completely changes what she wants to get the happily ever after ending. Liking Olive, as Iris said frequently, was different to wanting her own kids and wanting to be pregnant. Skip to the final pages and boom, change of heart. It went against everything the book built up.

Without being too disparaging (I am trying to be reasonable), I can see why it’s a tiktok book/series. It is simple, easy, full of sexy scenes and easy to digest characters. But the lack of real plot and substance makes it lacking. They are the same simple formula over and over and while at the start it looked like there would be variety in the locations and the characters, Gilmore has given up as the series goes on as the characters become less dimensional and fulfilled. They are driven by their emotions and that is the only real development they get.

Despite my plan to continue with the series this is a big nope for me. I am out. They had been getting progressively worse reads as they went on and I have enough on my TBR I want to read than finishing a series I only started because of a pretty book cover and the (deceitful) lure of a cosy town mystery.

You can purchase The Strawberry Patch Pancake House via the following

QBD |  Dymocks | Booktopia

Wordery |  Blackwell’s | Angus & Robertson

Fishpond | Amazon | Amazon Aust | Audible

Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake (#1) by Alexis Hall

24 Sep 2026 Leave a comment

by Amy in 5 Stars, Audiobook, LGBTQIA, Romance Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Published: 18 May 2021 (print)/ 18 May 2021 (audio) Goodreads badge
Publisher: Forever/Little, Brown Audio
Pages: 435/11 hrs and 22 mins
Narrator: Fiona Hardingham
Format: Audiobook
Genre: Romance
★   ★   ★   ★   ★ – 5 Stars

Following the recipe is the key to a successful bake. Rosaline Palmer has always lived by those rules—well, except for when she dropped out of college to raise her daughter, Amelie. Now, with a paycheque as useful as greaseproof paper and a house crumbling faster than biscuits in tea, she’s teetering on the edge of financial disaster. But where there’s a whisk there’s a way…and Rosaline has just landed a spot on the nation’s most beloved baking show.

Winning the prize money would give her daughter the life she deserves—and Rosaline is determined to stick to the instructions. However, more than collapsing trifles stand between Rosaline and sweet, sweet victory. Suave, well-educated, and parent-approved Alain Pope knows all the right moves to sweep her off her feet, but it’s shy electrician Harry Dobson who makes Rosaline question her long-held beliefs—about herself, her family, and her desires.

Rosaline fears falling for Harry is a guaranteed recipe for disaster. Yet as the competition—and the ovens—heat up, Rosaline starts to realize the most delicious bakes come from the heart.

I love a book that is floating around the idea of a not quite Bake Off show but very similar to Bake Off. Of course this isn’t trying to be The Great British Bake Off, but it doesn’t matter because it’s a set up so well known it’s the cosy world of reality baking, meeting new people, and making tarts and biscuits that you fall in love with.

What I liked about this one compared to the teen baking show book is you get to have a realistic look at the TV production side. It felt like you were there behind the scenes with the cameras and the realities of reshoots, production reminders, and the weekly competition. There’s all the joy of ovens and timers and bad batches to relish in as well as interactions with other competitors.

Other behind the scenes moments were interesting too and there is a lot of character focus away from baking. I loved watching Rosaline grow as the weeks progressed and Hall weaves these moments in easily but notably. I also thought the romance aspect was really well done. I loved the meet cute and the connection, but I also loved the slow realisations and developments as more time is spent with the competitors on and off the set.

In a way I enjoyed how adult it was. There are children to think about, there are leery old men, adult responsibilities and relationships to consider. Not to mention interfering parents and navigating new friendships which is also great. Even though Rosaline is young there is more in your life after your twenties and seeing an adult novel tackle family, life, making new friends, nerves and trying new things without being a serious literary tome is fantastic. It is as funny and light-hearted as all Hall’s books are but also doesn’t shy away from real events, emotional moments or adult situations and feelings.

It’s a fun book about life and passions and baking which is all anybody could ask for in a book really. Easily already in my top five of the year. The queer aspect wasn’t front and centre but it was notable. Rosaline’s bisexuality is a part of her present and her history but so is her family, her baking, and other parts of her life. The balance of character and plot was great, the critical points were great, and the development of the characters felt wholesome without being too sweet and certainly not without issue.

Hardingham does a fantastic job as narrator. I was never taken out of the story and each character was unique and had their own voice throughout the story. The humour and emotion shines through and easily made the 12 hour read fly by.

This is the first in the series and while the others don’t follow Rosaline it is still a great world I am keen to keep reading about.

You can purchase Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake via the following

QBD |  Booktopia

Wordery |  Blackwell’s | Angus & Robertson

Fishpond | Amazon | Amazon Aust | Audible

Don’t Read the Comments by Eric Smith

15 Sep 2026 Leave a comment

by Amy in 3 Stars, Audiobook, Young Adult Tags: , , , , ,

Published: 28 January 2020 (print)/28 January 2020 (audio) Goodreads badge
Publisher: Inkyard Press/HarperAudio
Pages: 368/8 hrs and 32 mins
Narrator: Richa Shukla Moorjani and Sunil Malhotra
Format: Audiobook
Genre: Contemporary Young Adult
★   ★   ★ – 3.75 Stars

Divya Sharma is a queen. Or she is when she’s playing Reclaim the Sun, the year’s hottest online game. Divya–better known as popular streaming gamer D1V–regularly leads her #AngstArmada on quests through the game’s vast and gorgeous virtual universe. But for Divya, this is more than just a game. Out in the real world, she’s trading her rising-star status for sponsorships to help her struggling single mum pay the rent.

 Gaming is basically Aaron Jericho’s entire life. Much to his mother’s frustration, Aaron has zero interest in becoming a doctor like her and spends his free time writing games for a local developer. At least he can escape into Reclaim the Sun–and with a trillion worlds to explore, disappearing should be easy. But to his surprise, he somehow ends up on the same remote planet as celebrity gamer D1V.

 At home, Divya and Aaron grapple with their problems alone, but in the game, they have each other to face infinite new worlds … and the growing legion of trolls populating them. Soon the virtual harassment seeps into reality when a group called the Vox Populi begin launching real-world doxxing campaigns, threatening Aaron’s dreams and Divya’s actual life. The online trolls think they can drive her out of the game, but everything and everyone Divya cares about is on the line…

 And she isn’t going down without a fight.

This was a curious read because it was interesting, underwhelming, and good. I enjoyed some bits a lot, while other bits could have been fleshed out more. I didn’t need it to be an in-depth gaming book, but I think the mystery and the tension build up could have been better, though the underwhelming revelations are reflections of real life too in that sometimes things aren’t as dire as you think, and money moves the world.

I know this is tech stuff doesn’t mean anything if you don’t know gaming or computers, but I appreciated that they address having the right ports and connection compatibilities. Aaron creating his computer from old parts, and Divya getting new stuff from developers don’t always mean they’ll align. Aaron being a casual gamer is also great. His plan to just roam around in the game, happy to be killed and start from scratch over while still exploring the game as much as the hard pressed gamer, even those more intense players than Divya. It showed a great other side of gaming where there is a scale of people who play these games, each with their own reasons.

I am not one to follow streamers, but I have a glancing understanding of at least two streamers and seeing their interactions with their followers on streams and how they promote and interact was a lot how Divya does, so I appreciate that community side being reflected. Smith demonstrated really well that it’s about supporting fans and them enjoying your videos as much as you simply playing a game. I liked Laura’s shut down of why anyone would watch streamers with the “why would anyone watch sport?” It’s often forgotten that watching someone play a game is as enjoyable and entertaining as watching sport. Even for those with no interest in playing, but also those who are looking to get into the field. It’s interactive, fun, and if you perhaps can’t afford a game or haven’t got the right system, you can still engage in the community.

I know the detective is meant to be the one officer who is trying to stand up for the trolling and harassment, but the fact anyone is trying to do anything was interesting. So often in real life no one does, and the dozens of articles being written about the incidents in the book vs actual consequences is very reflective of real life. Everyone will slightly reword the same article, post the same video, discuss the same issue, but nothing will happen. No one gets banned, no one gets arrested. I feel at a certain level you could trace a few of these people, but again, it depends what actual resources are being put towards it. I think this is Smith’s ideal world where there is actually interest in stopping the doxing and bullying that happens to women gamers in real life.

Aaron’s naivety is interesting. I liked that even he who gets his own kind of racism, is still unaware of the misogyny and hate directed towards Divya. It’s a good choice to have him be unaware than try and defend it, or play it down. Smith never makes him a villain either for not being aware, it’s a different world than he’s used to and once he learns he wants to help as best he can.

These parts are good. Aaron as a character is a teeny bit annoying, his whole thing about his dad was weird. But I liked how he can have an argument with his mum, out rightly tell her to stop pushing him into a career he doesn’t want and everything, and yet they don’t let it ruin their relationship. She accepts it but still continues, and he apologises but doesn’t change his mind. It might be a cultural thing or a nice realistic part of the teen experience where things are said but mums are still mums and teenage outbursts aren’t a thing to get worked up over.

I love that Aaron, who has a non-subtle saviour complex, doesn’t need to do anything, even when he tries to “save” Divya she’s already in the process of saving herself. Smith uses the story to call out Aaron’s behaviour, even has other characters call it out, but there’s no malice. In different circumstances it might be sweet, albeit patronising, but it doesn’t come across as creepy, just misguided.

The whole book isn’t entirely about the harassment. I loved reading about the gameplay experience, exploring this mythical game and how the interaction works with other players. It’s not Ready Player One or Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow – there isn’t a full break down of the history of gaming, nor do character spend their time discussing old gaming systems and favourite games. It’s a story accessible to anyone even if they don’t know about video games. But it a great reflection of the role videos game play, how they are both equalisers but also dividers in terms of accessibility, and the different experiences they have.

You can purchase Don’t Read the Comments via the following

QBD |  Wordery |  Blackwell’s | Angus & Robertson

Fishpond | Amazon | Amazon Aust

Where You’ll Find Us by Jen St Jude

01 Sep 2026 Leave a comment

by Amy in 5 Stars, Audiobook, Fantasy, LGBTQIA, Young Adult Tags: , , , , , , ,

Published: 2 June 2026 (print)/2 June 2026 (audio) Goodreads badge
Publisher: Bloomsbury YA/Bloomsbury YA
Pages: 384/6 hrs and 6 mins
Narrator: Allegra Verzella
Format: Audiobook
Genre: Young Adult Magical Realism
★   ★   ★   ★   ★ – 5 Stars

Calla Quick has no future. At least, that’s how it feels. Her parents disowned her via text message, and now she can’t afford to go to an all-women’s college with her girlfriend Ramona like they planned. But Calla wonders if maybe that’s for the best—because even though Calla told Ramona her parents disowned her because they found out she’s gay, the truth is, Calla has been questioning whether she’s a girl at all.

Calla wishes she had more time to figure everything out, and one night, her wish is seemingly granted. When Calla and Ramona stumble upon a mysterious farmhouse the woods, they meet five teens who claim they’ve lived there for decades. The land, which they call Amaranth, acts as a safe haven for queer kids throughout history—a place free of hate, free of violence, free of time itself. Here, Calla can be Cal, and they feel instantly accepted. They don’t have to worry about the future because at Amaranth, it will never come—until one night when the clock strikes twelve.

Now under a literal ticking clock, the housemates must find a way to stop time again or face going back to their harsh realities, but as Cal learns everyone’s story, they begin to wonder what queer people lose when their history is lost to time.

I love this book. It is a wonderful example of honesty and truth with a happy ending without ignoring reality. I got a lot of Royals vibes from this but I think that came only from the magic, timeless, mysterious, somehow alive building that catered to everyone’s needs. Not a loop exactly just time standing still.

There is a lot of potential to make the harsh realities of queer people through history better. But that isn’t the point of the house. This is a refuge, a safe haven for people to be themselves, find themselves, and work out who they are. Once they solve that they are transported back into the world they left, whatever that was.

St Jude had every chance to make these characters suffer through their hard lives – they escaped hard lives after all. There was nothing stopping them being thrown back into that prison or that relationship and have it end in tragedy even if they did die standing on their feet knowing who they are. I will not give anything away, but I do want to mention that there isn’t a ‘bury your gays’ moment. They suffer yes, but they survive. And while it is a small spoiler, I think it is important and a good thing to know going in because what they endure is hard and it reflects the lives of queers through history as they conform, are imprisoned, beaten, and are harassed for trying to exist. But they survive. It never felt unrealistic to have these endings. Someone had to survive their experiences against the odds and I think the experiences in the house helped that along.

St Jude has taken great care in how they write characters regarding pronouns and identity plus the switch between internal thoughts and public perception, and how it switches is very well done. There is a note about historical references at the start but even then there is respect to the characters and the wording of sentences carries a lot of respect while implying meaning so readers know what is happening.

Cal and Ramona are good characters and good together. I understood Cal’s internal fears and why she couldn’t say anything about her feelings. It isn’t blown out of proportion and her own uncertainty is evident. I appreciated how St Jude turns expectations on your head while never feeling outlandish either. It just isn’t the common expectation which makes conflicts and interactions refreshing.

I loved all of the characters. They are a range of personality types and being stuck in a house together forever Verzella is a great narrator and really distinguishes these characters;  you get each unique voice coming through and that brings full personalities as well.

I loved the historical ranges of characters and the different eras. It was interesting to see what stays the same and what changes for queer youth and society. There is a natural discussion about the evolution of language and I liked seeing modern terminology and understanding trying to be applied to those from different eras. While you can’t always fit historical experiences into modern contexts, I liked that these characters helped each other understand their feelings that they may not have known were fully there aside from their own sense of self.

Queer representation aside, I really like the magical element and the unexpected chaos of time suddenly moving forward as an interesting conundrum for these eternal timeless people. The house rules and the laws of magic St Jude has developed make sense and the otherness of Amaranth is mysterious enough but solid in that you never need any further explanations.

This is my second St Jude book and while I really enjoyed This is How It Ends, this one is better. I loved the depth this story had which you don’t realise right away with so many characters. But it never felt big and grand but it is. It’s quietly powerful and quietly about strength and belief and being yourself, whoever that is. The safety of the house is a paradise in a way and a prison in another but the way it’s navigated after Cal’s arrival is about celebrating living.

You can purchase where You’ll Find Us via the following

QBD |  Dymocks | Booktopia

Wordery |  Blackwell’s | Angus & Robertson

Fishpond | Amazon | Amazon Aust

Scarlett and the Model Man (#6) by Cathryn Hein

27 Aug 2026 Leave a comment

by Amy in 2 Stars, Audiobook, Australian Women Writers, Levenham Love Story, Novella, Romance Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Published: 24 March 2020 (print)/1st April 2025 (audio) Goodreads badge
Publisher: Self Published/Bolinda Audio
Pages: 178/4 hrs and 41 mins
Narrator: Elizabeth Brennan
Format: Audiobook
Genre: Romance
★   ★ – 2.5 Stars

He might be the perfect model, but is he the right man for Scarlett?

When up-and-coming artist Scarlett Ash discovers the perfect model in small-town Levenham, she can’t believe her luck. Her creativity abandoned her months ago and with her move to London to take up a prestigious residency fast approaching, she’s desperate for a muse to bring it back.

Surfing dairy farmer Sam Greenwood is delivering milk when a gorgeous girl accosts him. Charmed by her invitation to model for a painting, Sam wants to say no. While Scarlett might be stunning, she’s arty-farty weird, and he’s flat out with his growing dairy business. Somehow, though, he can’t resist.

As Scarlett struggles to find her way with her new work, Sam becomes determined to help. Scarlett is smart, talented and sympathetic to the unremitting toil of dairy farming, and they’re both healing from failed relationships. Soon burgeoning friendship blossoms into so much more.

Knowing that London beckons and her time in Levenham is short, Scarlett resists the lure of love. She has no plans to return to Levenham, and big-hearted Sam deserves more than a brief fling followed by a quick goodbye. Except as their affair deepens, how can she leave the man who’s not only given her back her passion but her heart?

This was an interesting book, a lot more character based than plot compared to the others. It was only a five hour audio but I stopped and started a lot. I don’t know whether there wasn’t enough plot to grab me or I wasn’t as into Sam and Scarlett’s relationship to keep my attention but I found myself tuning in and out a lot as I listened.

Like I’ve found with a lot of the men in this series, they are all a bit sexist and leery in this book too, which might be what the women are all interested in, but the fact Sam wasn’t was a refreshing change.

All the characters we’ve met before come back in roles of various sizes and it is a great way to track timelines and see how the community interacts. One thing I’d’ve loved was an explanation about the vagueness from Eddie, things like information about the painting or the issue with Chrissy – I may have missed something either in this book or the last but it did stand out.

Reading the novellas back to back was like a fun novel. Some of the later books hark back to the first book of course, which also gives a great sense of time passing but no real requirement for a set reading order as you get all the information and context in each novella. Some books were better than others, but I enjoyed how there were hints in one story about the next one. It was a great way to introduce us to new characters without making them feel like they’d come from nowhere.

Having the previous characters make an appearance was nice and helped to bring me back into the story. I didn’t not like the concept of Sam and Scarlett, it was sweet and as I say, Sam was much nicer than the other men, but it wasn’t enough to elevate my enjoyment.

Overall I enjoyed this series and while this final one wasn’t my favourite I enjoyed the journey of reading about these characters’ lives and the different interactions, relationships, and community life. From reading the novel Rocking Horse Hill it was a great way to keep the community alive and I enjoyed seeing the ongoing repercussions and story from that first book into these fun little stories. If there was ever going to be another book in the Levenham series I wouldn’t hesitate to pick it up and see what adventures these characters are up to now. But until then, this final book is a great wrap up of the series and the adventures of this town. Hein has made a nice community with sweet romances to go along with it.

You can purchase Scarlett and the Model Man via the following

Wordery |  Blackwell’s | Angus & Robertson

Fishpond | Amazon | Amazon Aust | Audible | Author

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