Escape to New Zealand
- At January 31, 2019
- By Roxanne Snopek
- In Rox Reads
- 0
I’ve always wanted to escape to New Zealand
(This won’t happen until 2023, stay tuned!)
There’s nothing like escaping to warmer climes during the deep, dark days of winter. Alas, we took holidays in November, so any escape I manage now will come through the pages of a book. The Escape to New Zealand series by Author Rosalind James been entertaining me recently, mostly because the audio versions are narrated by the talented Claire Bocking. Her ability to do a Kiwi accent is amazing!
The are 12 books in the series, at least, and it’s available in a few combinations as well, I believe. These two were my favorites. I highly recommend the audio books!
Audie nominee, Best Romance Audiobook, 2015
Everyone needs to be rescued sometimes.
Everyone but Hannah Montgomery, that is. She just needs a vacation. Three weeks in New Zealand to sort out her life, figure out what she wants, seems just right. Oh, and to relax. She should definitely put that on the agenda. She certainly isn’t looking for a sexy fling with a professional rugby player, no matter how attractive he is. Hannah doesn’t do casual. But maybe just this once …
As much as he’s shared with Hannah, Drew Callahan has kept one very big secret: that he’s the captain of the All Blacks, New Zealand’s international rugby team, not to mention the best-known rugby player on earth. And learning the truth, now that she’s back home again, has made Hannah warier than ever. Drew knows that she’s right for him. But how can he convince her to let down her guard enough to explore what they could have together?
Just This Once: Escape to New Zealand Book One
For teacher Jenna McKnight, nothing spells “heartbreak” like finding her husband with somebody else–in her bed. It’s clearly time to reinvent herself. A new body, a new city, and a new job later, she’s done just that. The beautiful Auckland villa isn’t really her home, though. Finn Douglas and his kids aren’t really her family, however much she wishes they were. And playing house can be a dangerous game.
Rugby star Finn Douglas is just looking for a temporary nanny and housekeeper. Not a girlfriend, and definitely not a wife. He can’t resist Jenna’s cooking, it’s true. Who knew he’d have so much trouble resisting her? He wants to do what’s right for his kids. But waiting is so hard …
Just For Now (Escape to New Zealand Book 3)
And here’s the box-set containing the first three books, including Just Good Friends (Escape to New Zealand Book 2)
I never imagined I’d be interested in reading (listening) to stories about rugby players but the New Zealand setting, the Maori culture and the steamy stories surprised me. Now, if I ever visit, I’ll be sure to go when the All Blacks are playing!
The second volume contains books 4-6 and looks great, too.
Roxanne Reads
Roxanne reads… oh yes, she does!
I joined the Goodreads Reading Challenge this year and set myself a goal to read 200 books. Actually, I clicked that number accidentally, then looked at it, shrugged and thought, “Maybe,” and left it. It probably won’t happen. Or, more likely, I’ll read them but forget to record them. But now I want to try.
Anyway, I want to tell you about the winners I’ve landed on so far this year. The first, by a landslide, is The Humans: A Novel by Matt Haig. It’s weird and wacky and entirely hilarious. It’s also profoundly moving, perceptive and thought-provoking. Read it.
When an extra-terrestrial visitor arrives on Earth, his first impressions of the human species are less than positive. Taking the form of Professor Andrew Martin, a prominent mathematician at Cambridge University, the visitor is eager to complete the gruesome task assigned him and hurry home to his own utopian planet, where everyone is omniscient and immortal.
He is disgusted by the way humans look, what they eat, their capacity for murder and war, and is equally baffled by the concepts of love and family. But as time goes on, he starts to realize there may be more to this strange species than he had thought. Disguised as Martin, he drinks wine, reads poetry, develops an ear for rock music, and a taste for peanut butter. Slowly, unexpectedly, he forges bonds with Martin’s family. He begins to see hope and beauty in the humans’ imperfection, and begins to question the very mission that brought him there.
Praised by The New York Times as a “novelist of great seriousness and talent,” author Matt Haig delivers an unlikely story about human nature and the joy found in the messiness of life on Earth. The Humans is a funny, compulsively readable tale that playfully and movingly explores the ultimate subject—ourselves.
The Orphan’s Tale: A Novel by Pam Jenoff. A very interesting WWII story, set against the unusual backdrop of the circus world.
A powerful novel of friendship set in a traveling circus during World War II, The Orphan’s Tale introduces two extraordinary women and their harrowing stories of sacrifice and survival
Sixteen-year-old Noa has been cast out in disgrace after becoming pregnant by a Nazi soldier and being forced to give up her baby. She lives above a small rail station, which she cleans in order to earn her keep… When Noa discovers a boxcar containing dozens of Jewish infants bound for a concentration camp, she is reminded of the child that was taken from her. And in a moment that will change the course of her life, she snatches one of the babies and flees into the snowy night.
Noa finds refuge with a German circus, but she must learn the flying trapeze act so she can blend in undetected, spurning the resentment of the lead aerialist, Astrid. At first rivals, Noa and Astrid soon forge a powerful bond. But as the facade that protects them proves increasingly tenuous, Noa and Astrid must decide whether their friendship is enough to save one another—or if the secrets that burn between them will destroy everything.
Waiting On You (The Blue Heron Series) by Kristan Higgins. This a comfort re-read for me. The whole series just makes me happy, which I often need this time of year. So, thank you, Ms. Higgins!
Is your first love worth a second chance…?
Colleen O’Rourke is in love with love…just not when it comes to herself. Most nights, she can be found behind the bar at the Manningsport, New York, tavern she owns with her twin brother, doling out romantic advice to the lovelorn, mixing martinis and staying more or less happily single. See, ten years ago, Lucas Campbell broke her heart…an experience Colleen doesn’t want to have again, thanks. Since then, she’s been happy with a fling here and there, some elite-level flirting and playing matchmaker to her friends.
But a family emergency has brought Lucas back to town, handsome as ever and still the only man who’s ever been able to crack her defenses. Seems like maybe they’ve got some unfinished business waiting for them—but to find out, Colleen has to let her guard down, or risk losing a second chance with the only man she’s ever loved.
I’m adding this one too, even though I finished it last year. It’s on sale right now and a tremendous read. Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows: A Novel by Balli Kaur Jaswal is a “lively, sexy, and thought-provoking East-meets-West story about community, friendship, and women’s lives at all ages.”
Every woman has a secret life . . .
Nikki lives in cosmopolitan West London, where she tends bar at the local pub. The daughter of Indian immigrants, she’s spent most of her twenty-odd years distancing herself from the traditional Sikh community of her childhood, preferring a more independent (that is, Western) life. When her father’s death leaves the family financially strapped, Nikki, a law school dropout, impulsively takes a job teaching a “creative writing” course at the community center in the beating heart of London’s close-knit Punjabi community.
Because of a miscommunication, the proper Sikh widows who show up are expecting to learn basic English literacy, not the art of short-story writing. When one of the widows finds a book of sexy stories in English and shares it with the class, Nikki realizes that beneath their white dupattas, her students have a wealth of fantasies and memories. Eager to liberate these modest women, she teaches them how to express their untold stories, unleashing creativity of the most unexpected—and exciting—kind.
As more women are drawn to the class, Nikki warns her students to keep their work secret from the Brotherhood, a group of highly conservative young men who have appointed themselves the community’s “moral police.” But when the widows’ gossip offers shocking insights into the death of a young wife—a modern woman like Nikki—and some of the class erotica is shared among friends, it sparks a scandal that threatens them all.
What about you? Read anything great lately?
Rox Reads: Jill Shalvis, Jeannie Moon and Liane Moriarty
Rox reads… oh yes: Jill Shalvis, Jeannie Moon, and Liane Moriarty
Some great grabs for you today. Hope you find something you like here!
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The talented Jill Shalvis has gathered all my catnip into one book in this one. Blended families, women-friendships, SISTERS, grief and recovery, a few quirky characters, including an adorable dog and an irascible cat, plus her trademark humor made this an unputdownable read for me. I hope you think so too! (Looks like it’s back to regular price of $7.99 – but totally worth it!)
After losing her sister in a devastating car accident, chef Quinn Weller is finally getting her life back on track. She appears to have it all: a loving family, a dream job in one of L.A.’s hottest eateries, and a gorgeous boyfriend dying to slip an engagement ring on her finger. So why does she feel so empty, like she’s looking for a missing piece she can’t find?
The answer comes when a lawyer tracks down Quinn and reveals a bombshell secret and a mysterious inheritance that only she can claim. This shocking revelation washes over Quinn like a tidal wave. Her whole life has been a lie.
On impulse, Quinn gives up her job, home, and boyfriend. She heads up the coast to the small hometown of Wildstone, California, which is just a few hours north, but feels worlds apart from Los Angeles. Though she doesn’t quite fit in right away, she can’t help but be drawn to the town’s simple pleasures…and the handsome, dark-haired stranger who offers friendship with no questions asked.
As Quinn settles into Wildstone, she discovers there’s another surprise in store for her. The inheritance isn’t a house or money, but rather something earthshattering, something that will make her question everything she thought she knew about herself, about her family. Now with a world of possibilities opening up to Quinn, she must decide if this new life is the one she was always meant to have—and the one that could finally give her the fulfillment she’s searched so long for.
Buy it on Amazon here: Lost and Found Sisters
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Here’s a sale item for you: I grabbed it on sale for $0.99 and it’s waiting on my Kindle right now. Jeannie Moon’s latest book looks great and it’s still on sale so move fast!
Mia DeAngelis knew it was time to make a change. Wanting to provide a better life for herself and her ten-year-old nephew, Ben, she took a chance and moved to the small town of Compass Cove. Now, the college librarian is adapting to a new job, a new town, and living with her feisty seventy-eight-year-old grandmother. Mia is determined to make it all work, hoping the coastal hamlet gives both her and Ben the sense of community, family and belonging they both want so much.
Adam Miller, a retired NFL quarterback, has come back to Compass Cove to start over after an injury puts an end to his high-octane life. Settling into the small town routine proves to be a challenge, but his job coaching at Jennings College gives him a sense of purpose, while keeping him connected to the game he loves.
There couldn’t be two people more different, yet the minute they meet, friends and family have no doubt they belong together. Now if Mia and Adam can only get out or their own way and embrace a little home town magic, they can find the happy ever after they both crave…
“A warm and lovely comfort read that will make you fall in love–not only with Mia and Adam, the endearing leads, but with the town of Comfort Cove!” — Virginia Kantra, New York Times Best Selling Author
Buy it on Amazon here: Then Came You (Compass Cove Book 1)
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And lastly, if I haven’t already recommended it, this book by BIG LITTLE LIES author Liane Moriarty really tickled my fancy. Now, I’ve loved everything I’ve read by Ms. Moriarty so far, so that wasn’t a stretch. But it’s always nice to have my expectations met and exceeded. 🙂 Also, it’s priced at $2.99 so go, run, get it now.
A “sharp and funny romantic tale” (O, the Oprah Magazine) from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Big Little Lies.
Ellen O’Farrell is a professional hypnotherapist who works out of the eccentric beachfront home she inherited from her grandparents. It’s a nice life, except for her tumultuous relationship history. She’s stoic about it, but at this point, Ellen wouldn’t mind a lasting one. When she meets Patrick, she’s optimistic. He’s attractive, single, employed, and best of all, he seems to like her back. Then comes that dreaded moment: He thinks they should have a talk.
Braced for the worst, Ellen is pleasantly surprised. It turns out that Patrick’s ex-girlfriend is stalking him. Ellen thinks, Actually, that’s kind of interesting. She’s dating someone worth stalking. She’s intrigued by the woman’s motives. In fact, she’d even love to meet her.
Ellen doesn’t know it, but she already has.
Buy it on Amazon here: The Hypnotist’s Love Story