Two True Loves by Joanne Austen Brown

 Reviewed by Nas Dean

Two True Loves by Joanne Austen Brown is a tender, emotionally rich story that pulls you in from the very first page. The characters feel wonderfully human—flawed, brave, and deeply relatable. The author weaves love, loss, and second chances into a touching narrative that stays with you long after you’ve finished reading.

If you enjoy romantic stories filled with warmth, hope, and genuine heart, this book is an absolute delight. Perfect for readers who believe love truly can come twice.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Helen's review

England 1815 and a young Eleanor Compton, daughter of a Vicar wants to marry the love of her life Viscount Alexander Darlington the war with Napoleon, after her father agrees they have a few months off love and happiness before Alex goes of to fight at Waterloo.

Eleanor discovers she is having their baby just before she finds out that Alex will not be returning, heartbroken and devastated when Alex’s best friend Miles Farley, Earl of Axton arrives vowing to keep the promise he made to Alex and that is to protect Eleanor and his unborn baby.

Miles stays close to Eleanor and Alex’s family as there is problems with one of Alex’s brothers but soon Eleanor and Miles are falling for each other should this be happening can someone love two men as much as Eleanor is doing?

A short story of heart-beak and happiness as love find its way to Eleanor again. A lovely romance and a quick read.

My thanks to the author for my digital copy to read and review.

4 stars

Abducted by the Highlander

 Abducted by the Highlander

Daughters of the Isle #3

Christina Phillips

Reviewed by Helen

What a fabulous finish to this awesome series, will Roisin MacDonald find her HEA like her two sisters have? Roisin is quiet and very close to Isolde and Freyja but they have left the Isle and having met Hugh Campbell when he came looking for his cousin, Roisin always had hoped that he would return after the friendship they started eighteen months ago but sadly that didn’t happen and now she is on her way to visit Isolde in the highlands but she doesn’t make it.

Hugh Campbell has spent the last eighteen months spying for The Earl of Argyll he leaves everything and goes undercover and becomes a mercenary but his hope of returning to the isle of Eigg to see Lady Roisin McDonald is shattered but one day he hopes to make her his. Then out of nowhere he comes across a group of bandits attacking a party of riders and rescues the woman and he finds Lady Roisin, but he must not let her know what he is doing and soon Roisin is in the rebel McGregor camp and Hugh vows to keep her safe.

Danger is strong at the moment and keeping the woman he loves safe and not opening up to her is hard but Roisin has become stronger in the last eighteen months and she will not be ordered about by anyone.

Roisin is stunned when Hugh is the one to save her and she is determined to understand why Hugh is with a group of rebels and to make him understand that she wants him but secrets don’t help their journey and of course the danger is front and centre, will they come out of this with their lives and theirs hearts united?

This is a beautiful story, Roisin is so strong and capable and Hugh what a hero I loved him and they are made for each other, I gorgeous romance that had me turning the pages cheering them on throughout and meeting up with Isolde and Freyja and their families was awesome. I do highly recommend this one, I loved it.

My thanks to Netgalley and Dragonblade Publishing Inc. for my copy to read and review

5 stars

December 2, 2025 by Dragonblade Publishing, Inc

At The Foot of the Cherry Tree

 At The Foot of the Cherry Tree

Alli Parker

Reviewed by Helen

I needed a book to finish a challenge and decided to read this one and what can I say this debut by Alli Parker is brilliant I could barely put it down, a beautifully told story based on the author’s grandparents this one takes us back to Japan as World War Two has just ended and young Aussie soldier Gordon Parker goes to be part of the occupation force and meets young Nobuko ‘Cherry’ Sakuramoto falling in love starts what appears to be never-ending battle to be together.

Gordon Parker lives in regional Victoria and has turned eighteen and his parents have just let him sign up to fight in the war but just as his training ends so does the war but Gordon is happy to go to Japan and do what he can, he is based close to Hiroshima and is part of the medic team the first rule is no fraternisations with the Japanese but he meets one of the house maids a sixteen year old young girl and soon they are falling in love.

Nobuko (Cherry) has been through so much in her short life living in Hiroshima she was there that dreadful day the bomb was dropped she lost her mother but managed to get away she is living with her father and uncle in a shack at Kure and has a close friend she calls aunty but her job at the BCOF base is all the money they receive but when she makes friends with the young Aussie soldier it soon becomes more than friends.

Their love grows against many challenges and they secretly marry the years are flying by and they are up against the military police and the rules but when Gordon is sent home he swears to get Cherry to Australia very soon but what he finds is a brick wall built by the Australian Government and their White Australia Policy, he never gives up fighting travelling back to Japan twice to meet his daughters but he will never give up on getting his family to Australia, never.

I loved this story it is heart-wrenching but beautiful to see the love that flows through so many road blocks, it is one that I do highly recommend a truly beautiful true story. Don’t miss this one.

5 stars

August 2, 2023 by HarperCollins

The Adventuress of Albany

 The Adventuress of Albany

Darry Fraser

Reviewed by Helen

Another fabulous story from such a wonderful story-teller, this one had me with the title, I knew it was going to be awesome, come along and meet the wonderful characters in this one.

Molly Bentley has lived her life as Lady Mary Brinkley in England with the father Lord Cato and aunt but when her father offers her a chance to do something that she has always wanted and that is travel and find adventure in the colonies she jumps at the chance and is loving being in Albany with her chaperone Mrs. Caldicott, her aunt but then everything changes quickly when Molly is knocked down in the street by a horse and given a letter that is threatening.

She is saved from the road and carried into a house by a Mr. Leo McRae and attended to by midwife Mrs. Sloane people she has never met before but soon Molly is learning more about why her father sent her and her aunt to Australia and there is danger everywhere. Telegrams are being sent to and from the homeland and not only by Molly, it appears that there are other people involved in all of this and Molly is determined to get the answers she wants and to know why Mr. McRae and his cousin Alistair appear to have been sent to watch over her and her aunt.

When attempts are made on their lives that take a journey across the colonies towards Victoria and Molly learns more, a secret that will change everything that Molly has known about her family, the group that is travelling together Molly, Mrs. Caldicott, Leo McRae, Alistair, and Mrs. Sloane and young Joey are staying safe but there is always a feeling of danger, will they all make it to their destination.

This is such an adventure, danger abounds and secrets are uncovered, friendships are formed and love grows through it all, it takes in the royal Prince’s visit to the colonies in 1881 which was very interesting but above all else I loved Molly and Leo and loved their adventure, after all that has happened will Molly finally get the adventure she really craved and with the man that has won her heart?

I do highly recommend this one, a true adventure.

My thanks Harlequin AU for my copy to read and review.

5 stars

November 25, 2025 by Harlequin Enterprises (Australia) Pty Ltd

The Lupin Fields

The Lupin Fields

Fantail Ridge #2

Heather Reyburn

Reviewed by Helen

Dawn Burton, was happy with her life as a hairdresser in the city of Auckland her mother is a very standoffish woman and they don’t have a close relationship she was much closer to her grandmother who she misses, but when she meets a young man, a farmer who helps her on the street soon her life will change totally.

John Simpson grew up on his family farm, Fantail Ridge and loves being a farmer, there is no other life for him he has worked hard with his parents Alice and Harry, but meeting Dawn he knows that he wants to take her home make her is wife and enjoy a life like his parents have and soon they are moving into their own home on Fantail Ridge.

Dawn does love John but this was not the life she had dreamed of living in this small home learning to drive trucks and looking after animals that she had never been fond off and the loneliness that she feels while John is working all day, making friends has never been easy for Dawn but her mother-in-law Alice is lovely and soon Dawn is settling in and her life is changing for the better, there are many ups and downs along the way, sadness and lots of happiness as well.

This is another beautiful story in this series, a beautiful setting, and wonderful characters, I loved seeing Dawn open up to another life on the farm so different from her dreams and finally making friends and the strength she shows through the tough times, this is one that I would highly recommend, Heather Reyburn is now one of my favourite authors, I look forward to the next book in the series.

5 stars

November 1, 2021 by Heather Reyburn

The War Rings by Joanne Austen Brown

 Reviewed by Nas Dean

The War Rings by Joanne Austen Brown is an emotionally gripping and beautifully written novel set during the harrowing years of Nazi Germany. From the very first chapter, the author pulls you into a world torn apart by cruelty, fear, and impossible choices—but also illuminated by extraordinary acts of bravery and love.

The story centers around a love story that becomes a powerful symbol of connection, memory, and resistance. Through the lives of characters who feel painfully real, Joanne Austen Brown captures both the brutality of the era and the quiet, stubborn hope that survived even in the darkest places.

What makes this book stand out is the author’s sensitivity and respect for the historical setting. The atrocities depicted are heartbreaking, yet never gratuitous. Instead, they underline what the characters are fighting to protect: humanity, family, and the belief that goodness can endure even when surrounded by unimaginable evil.

If you enjoy historical fiction that stays with you long after the last page, The War Rings is a must-read. It’s emotional, tense, and beautifully told—a story that honors the past while reminding us why it must never be forgotten.

Highly recommended.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The War Rings

Joanne Austen Brown

Reviewed by Helen

This is a story that is based on a true story, set in a time when Germany was changing, it is 1930 and Alida and Dieter literally run into each other and it is love at first sight, they marry and have three children but Hitler is climbing the ranks in the government and doing all he can to change things and not for the better.

Alida and Dieter both have Jewish blood running through them, Dieter is a doctor and it is getting harder for him to treat Jewish patients and Alida is getting more worried they make a decision to leave and go to England to be with Alida’s sister Marta but they all don’t make it and when Alida sees her children safe with her sister she goes back to find her husband.

What happens is a time of persecution, danger and pain, what will happen to them? And now all these years later after the war has ended it is time for Marta to tell the full story to Alida and Dieter’s children.
The truth is painful and will not be easy for some people to read, but it is a story that the author felt must be told, what the people of Germany went through even before the war started was terrible, the love that flows between Alida and Dieter was so strong and everlasting.
There is a lot of facts told throughout the book and that was very interesting, parts were hard to read but it is told with heart and care.
My thanks to the author for my digital copy to read and review.

4 stars

November 11, 2025 by Joanne Austen Brown

Christmas Joy

 Christmas Joy

Mary-Anne O'Connor

Reviewed by Helen

It is the 1st November 1889, Rye, Sussex and Joy Parker’s most favourite time of the year is coming up she loves Christmas and loves helping people however she can no matter that her family do not live the way they used after a terrible tragedy, love is still there and that is what life and happiness is all about, Joy by name, Joy by nature.

Joy works as Lady’s companion to the formidable Lady Hyacinth Montague, this doesn’t change how she feels, Lady Hyacinth treats her like a servant but she keeps going day after day and now Lady Hyacinth’s great nephew is arriving to take over his position as The Earl and the pressure is on to make the manor sparkle.

Peter arrives early and takes a wander through the village, here a young woman captures his attention not only is she beautiful but she is so caring towards the people in the village, she is someone he will never forget and hopes to meet her soon, his wishes come true when he makes his way to the manor and again he meets her this time a mishap starts the sparks flying between them.

Joy cannot believe her feelings for the new Earl this cannot be they are from different worlds but she knows before long that her heart is captured by Peter, Lady Hyacinth has a plan for Peter and soon Jointwoods Manor is brimming with high society guests, the upper class one of them being Lady Regina Hove who Joy makes friends with but it is not too hard to see that Lady Hyacinth is plotting for a marriage between Peter and Regina.

Joy is organizing the lavish Christmas ball at the manor but when the evening comes Joy decides that she cannot attend after all that has happened, but her loving family have other plans, Joy cannot understand the games the idle rich play with their hearts it just doesn’t feel right and with the scandal that seems about to happen how on earth will this all turn out, will Joy and Peter find the love and happiness they deserve or will Lady Hyacinth have her way?

This is such a beautiful story with such a gorgeous Christmas feeling throughout, the setting, the characters, and the romance of the story all go towards making this a Christmas story that I highly recommend, the joy and love is gorgeous, I loved it and if you love Christmas stories then this is the one to pick up.

My thanks to Penguin Au for my copy to read and review.

5 stars

November 4, 2025 by Penguin