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#FridayFreebie – Bluebird – Malcolm Knox

Bluebird

Malcolm Knox

Allen & Unwin Australia

ISBN: 9781760877422

RRP $32.99

 

 

Description:

‘If Winton is an aria, Knox is early Rolling Stones.’ The Guardian

A stunning new novel about longing, regret, redemption and the terrible legacy of decades of secrets buried in an Australian beachside suburb.

A house perched impossibly on a cliff overlooking the stunning, iconic Bluebird Beach. Prime real estate, yet somehow not real estate at all, The Lodge is, like those who live in it, falling apart.

Gordon Grimes has become the accidental keeper of this last relic of an endangered world. He lives in The Lodge with his wife Kelly who is trying to leave him, their son Ben who will do anything to save him, his goddaughter Lou who is hiding from her own troubles, and Leonie, the family matriarch who has trapped them here for their own good.

But Gordon has no money and is running out of time to conserve his homeland. His love for this way of life will drive him, and everyone around him, to increasingly desperate risks. In the end, what will it cost them to hang onto their past?

Acclaimed writer Malcolm Knox has written a classic Australian novel about the myths that come to define families and communities, and the lies that uphold them. It’s about a certain kind of Australia that we all recognise, and a certain kind of Australian whose currency is running out. Change is coming to Bluebird, whether they like it or not. And the secrets they’ve been keeping and the lies they’ve been telling can’t save them now.

Savage, funny, revelatory and brilliant, Bluebird exposes the hollowness of the stories told to glorify a dying culture and shows how those who seek to preserve these myths end up being crushed by them.

 

**If you would like to win a copy of Bluebird  by Malcolm Knox, in the comments tell me the title of any other book Knox has written https://www.allenandunwin.com/browse/books/fiction/Bluebird-Malcolm-Knox-9781760877422   
entries open to Australian residents , I will conduct a random draw to select 3 winners on 11/04/020   thank you Allen & Unwin**

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#FridayFreebie : Easy Gluten Free – Helen Tzouganatos

Easy Gluten Free by Helen Tzouganatos

Published by Plum

RRP $39.99,

Photography by Jeremy Simons

Description:

Discover how easy it is to cook delicious, gluten-free food for the whole family, every night of the week, with Helen Tzouganatos, host of the SBS Food series Loving Gluten Free.

Easy Gluten Free makes cooking for the family simple with more than 100 delicious recipes: enjoy favourites such as pizza, pasta and breads as well as soups, salads, hearty mains and desserts you won’t believe are gluten free!

Inside you’ll also find tips on what to keep in your pantry, on the different gluten-free flours and how to use them, as well as a guide to cooking different grains and seeds.

Recipes include: Easy Bowl & Spoon Gluten-Free Loaf; Leek & Mushroom Tart in Shortcrust Pastry; Cauliflower Pizza 3 Ways; Roasted Miso Pumpkin & Rocket Salad; Greek Horiatiki Salad; Hearty Chicken Drumstick & Vegetable Soup; Smashed Pea & Corn Fritters with Lime Avocado; Slow-cooked Beef Ragu Rigatoni; Best-ever Beef Lasagne; Crispy Salt & Pepper Squid; Sticky Pork Ribs with Tamari Honey Mustard Glaze; Molten Chocolate Puddings; Raw Mango Macadamia Cheesecake and many more.

AUTHOR INFORMATION

Helen Tzouganatos is a television presenter, passionate home cook and recipe developer, specialising in delicious gluten-free food made from scratch. Helen’s gluten-free journey started 12 years ago when she was diagnosed with coeliac disease. She began sharing her passion for simple gluten-free food in 2015 via her blog, http://www.helentzouganatos.com, and today she hosts SBS television show Loving Gluten Free. Helen lives in Sydney with her husband, Spiro, and three children, Vasili, Sofia and Ruby.

 

**I have 5 copies of this amazing cook book to giveaway. To enter, comment  which recipe you would love to make if you had a copy of this book. (Entries open to Australian residents only)  Entries close 4/9/020 winners will be randomly selected **

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#FridayFreebie House of Correction – Nicci French

 

House of Correction 

Nicci French 

Simon & Schuster

Description:

‘So,’ said Mora Piozzi, her lawyer, looking down at her laptop. ‘In brief: you are charged with the murder of Stuart Robert Rees, on December 21st, between the hours of ten-forty in the morning and half-past three o’clock in the afternoon.’

Tabitha is accused of murder. She is in prison awaiting trial.
There is a strong case against her, and she can’t remember what happened on December 21st.
She is alone, frightened and confused.
But somehow, from the confines of her cell, she needs to prove everyone wrong.

House of Correction is beautifully written, clever, shocking, twisty, so believable and utterly compelling. This is another stunningly brilliant novel to relish from Nicci French.

 

 

**Thanks to the generous people at Simon & Schuster  Australia I have one copy of this magnificent read for you to win. ( I finished reading this a couple of days ago – it’s brilliant! ) Australian residents only – answer me this in the comments- who is Nicci French? I will randomly select the winner on the 2nd of September – publication day. **

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#FridayFreebie – Wasp Season – Jennifer Scoullar

Wasp Season

Jennifer Scoullar

Pilyara Press

ISBN: 9780648308942

 

Description:

You’ll never see a wasp in the same way again …

When Beth’s marriage ends, she’s determined to build a new life in the country for herself and her children. A quiet life lived closer to nature. She thinks she’s achieved the impossible – a civilised separation, a happy home and a cordial relationship with her estranged husband, Mark. There’s even the promise of new love on the horizon. But when Mark tries to change the rules, Beth’s peaceful world is turned upside down.

Disturbingly, she also discovers that European wasps have invaded her garden. Beth’s obsession with them and their queen holds up a distorted mirror to the human drama. As the chaos in Beth’s life gathers momentum, connections between the two worlds come sharply into focus. The lives of Beth and the others are neither separate to, nor safe from, the natural world.

AUTHOR’S NOTE
In this series of Wild Australia Stories I tell tales of the people, wildlife and land that I love. But there is more to wild Australia than brumbies, dingoes, dolphins and the magnificent outback.

As a passionate conservationist and amateur naturalist, I’m interested in all aspects of nature. One thing I’ve learned is that it’s not always about the big things. Little creatures have a surprising impact on our lives. If you’re squeamish about insects, look away now. If you’re fascinated by the Australian bush and the way all creatures great and small are connected, then Beth’s story is for you.

– Praise for Wasp Season –

-There is an ironic twist to this tale, a violent and sudden twist that will leave the reader gasping. Wasp Season is a fascinating study of nature and humans.– Wendy O’Hanlon, Acres Australia

– ‘A thrilling story that describes both human and insect life in detail as they become intertwined … an unforgettable, unputdownable trip into a garden that, on the surface, seems like a quiet refuge.’ – John Morrow, World of Books and Music

– ‘Scoullar, it turns out, is a writer of documentary calibre.’ Australian Literary Review

 

** I have one copy of Wasp Season, courtesy of the author,  available to an Australian resident to win – it’s simple – in the comments name one other book Jennifer has written.  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4428836.Jennifer_Scoullar
Competition closes  8th August 2020. Good luck **
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#FridayFreebie Face Value – Ian Andrew

Face Value

Wright & Tran #1

Ian Andrew

ISBN: 978-0992464127 Trade Paperback: 314 pages Trim: 13.3 x 2.0 x 20.3 cm

Publisher: The Book Reality Experience

Published: 11 May 2015

Winner of the Publishers Weekly Booklife Prize for Fiction, FACE VALUE by Ian Andrew, is the opening salvo in the detective thriller series that follows Kara Wright and Tien Tran, veterans of UK Military Intelligence, now trying to scrape by as Private Investigators.

 

With taut writing, bone-crushing action, and a pace that never relents, this was a difficult read to put down and a worthy winner.
Mark Dawson, USA Today bestselling author.

Featuring gripping action and tight plotting, this supercharged novel keeps readers on the edge of their seats.

Publishers Weekly

 

Description:

When ex-intelligence operative Tien Tran finds civilian life lacking, she teams up with her hot-headed fellow vet Kara to become private investigators. Even with her hard-as-nails partner by her side, Tran struggles to afford the London rent on their office. The computer genius agrees to take on a well-paying case of two clients’ missing parents to keep the lights on. But when the rookie PIs learn the siblings’ father is ex-intelligence too, they suspect the questions of his disappearance may lead to sinister answers.

 

Kara Wright has no problem taking her combat skills to the streets, but her lack of empathy tends to get her in deep trouble. When she takes one counterattack too far, Wright’s aggression puts her and her partner at risk in the middle of their investigation. As they follow the case of violence and abuse to the heart of the criminal underworld, the Metropolitan Police may put a stop to their search before it starts.

Can Tran keep Wright in check long enough to close the case, or will the pair of PIs fall victim to a dark and deadly game?

 

Face Value is the gripping first book in the Wright & Tran crime thriller series. If you like electrifying action, breathless pacing, and three-dimensional characters, then you’ll love Ian Andrew’s award-winning special ops detective novel.

 

 

**This week I have 5 Ebooks of  Face Value the first book in the Wright and Tran series – a book I highly recommend. In the comments tell me which city this book is set in.  5 Winners will be randomly selected on 25 July 2020. Good luck. **

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#FridayFreebie: The Bluffs – Kyle Perry

The Bluffs

Kyle Perry

Michael Joseph

Penguin Random House 

ISBN: 9781760895679

RRP $32.99

 

Description:

At the bottom of the world, there is an island. It is a land of rugged wilderness, of ice and snow and blistering heat … They say extinct tigers still roam there. They say other things roam, too.

When a school group of teenage girls go missing in the remote wilderness of Tasmania’s Great Western Tiers, the people of Limestone Creek are immediately on alert. Not long ago, six young girls went missing in the area of those dangerous bluffs, and the legends of ‘the Hungry Man’ still haunt locals to this day.

Now, authorities can determine that the teacher, Eliza Ellis, was knocked unconscious, so someone on the mountain was up to foul play. Jordan Murphy, father of missing student Jasmine and the town’s local dealer, instantly becomes prime suspect, but Detective Con Badenhorst knows that in a town this size – with corrupt cops, small-town politics, and a teenage YouTube sensation – anyone could be hiding something, and bluffing comes second nature.

When a body is found, mauled, at the bottom of a cliff, suspicion turns to a wild animal – but that can’t explain why she, like all victims past and present, was discovered barefoot, with her shoes found nearby, laces neatly tied.

What happened up there on the bluffs? Somebody knows… unless the local legends are true…

 

 

**Today I have one copy The Bluffs to giveaway  thanks to Penguin Random House Australia  (Australian residents only) To enter in the comments let me know where this book is set. I will randomly select a winner on the 18th of July 2020**

 

##Check your emails – winner notified##

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What Did You Do This Weekend?

I had a fabulous time;a trip to Fremantle to take 3 paintings to be included in an exhibition at Studio 11 in Captains Lane. At the exhibition I won a high commendation for one of the pieces, and sold that piece too! Then had dinner out with husband and my daughter who lives in Perth – what a magical day.

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#FridayFreebie : Finding Eadie – Caroline Beecham

Finding Eadie

Caroline Beecham

Allen & Unwin Australia

ISBN: 9781760529642

 

Description:

London 1943: War and dwindling resources are taking their toll on the staff of Partridge Press. The pressure is on to create new books to distract readers from the grim realities of the war, but Partridge’s rising star, Alice Cotton, leaves abruptly and cannot be found.

Alice’s secret absence is to birth her child, and although her baby’s father remains unnamed, Alice’s mother promises to help her raise her tiny granddaughter, Eadie. Instead, she takes a shocking action.

Theo Bloom is employed by the American office of Partridge. When he is tasked with helping the British publisher overcome their challenges, Theo has his own trials to face before he can return to New York to marry his fiancee.

Inspired by real events during the Second World War, Finding Eadie is a story about the triumph of three friendships bound by hope, love, secrets and the belief that books have the power to change lives.

PRAISE FOR ELEANOR’S SECRET
‘Fans of Natasha Lester and Kate Morton will very much enjoy this new release and the dual time zones mean the book will appeal to a broader audience.’ Debbishdotcom

PRAISE FOR MAGGIE’S KITCHEN
‘Extremely engaging . . . reads like the work of a veteran storyteller.’

 

 

Thanks to the generous people at Allen & Unwin Australia I have 3 copies of Finding Eadie to giveaway to residents of Australia. It’s easy to enter – simply answer this question in the comments before 10/7/020: name the publishing company Alice worded for.  Winners will be randomly selected from all entries.  Good luck and thanks for entering.

 

 

**check your emails – winners have been notified.**