And an update from the Breathless in the Bush ladies
(Sorry in advance! This is a long one)
Normally, in January each year, the
Breathless in the Bush ladies reveal their favourite ANZ romance read of the
year.
But, let’s be serious, 2020 wasn’t a NORMAL
year.
And so, while we didn’t want to leave you
hanging without a list, we did take a slightly different approach this year –
compiling a list of the books (or not books) that got us through 2020 (and, we
do note that they are
not all Aussie or Kiwi this year).
First up, our book reviewer extraordinaire,
Miranda who, when asked which books helped her survive 2020 gave us the
following great recommendations;
I found The Great Escape
From Woodlands Nursing Home by Australian GP Joanna
Nell a terrific example of the endurance of the human spirit,
friendship, and love. This book is a story of connection in a nursing home, an
environment most people don't want to find themselves in, told with great
warmth, empathy and lovely gentle humour. It gives hope that no matter what the
circumstances, others are also going through tough times, and there is always a
kindred spirit who understands - or has an inkling - what you are going
through. Every time I think of the book, I smile. The perfect thing to read in
lockdown.
For the wonderful Breathless lady, Lynne,
she discovered the wonderful Natasha Lester and devoured all of
Natasha’s backlist. Lynne said:
I read all
her wonderful books taking me to what I have found to be a most romantic time
in history.Amongst
all the dangers and atrocities, there are incredible stories of love and
survival and Natasha has certainly recreated wonderful stories in this time
frame.
So hard to
pick a favourite but if pushed would have to say The Paris Secret which
combines a compelling romance with an intriguing mystery. Definitely a
can't put down story which I found to be case with all her books.
Lynne also
told me that as long as there are books like Natasha’s to read, lockdown can go
on forever.
Yeah, nah Lynne… I love your thinking,
but I cannot be stuck in my house FOREVER 😉
And then the fabulous historical romance
author Cassandra found solace in Amy Rose Bennett’s How to Catch a
Sinful Marquess. This story is book three in Amy Rose’s Disreputable
Debutantes series, described by the author as: a reserved debutante and a former
soldier make an unlikely but fated match as they hasten for the Isle of Skye
and, I mean, who doesn’t like disreputable debutants, soldiers and Scotland!
Cassandra said that this book was "just the
tonic I needed after finding it hard to read anything."
And
finding it hard to read ANYTHING was certainly an affliction suffered by others
in the Breathless in the Bush team. Both Jayne and Alyssa reported finding it
hard to find the energy to read with everything else happening – whether that
was writing work, work work or family and friends. Jayne did find some escape
in Tricia Stringer’s The Family Inheritance – which, she says, highlighted
the importance of family and communication. Jayne said:
One thing I really felt through Covid
was how lucky I am to have my family all living in Australia, even though I
wasn't able to see them as often as normal due to living in different states,
at least I knew they were safe and close. A few friends of mine have family
overseas and I couldn't imagine how painful it must be knowing that it could be
years until they would be able to easily visit each other in person
again.
Alyssa, on the other hand, commented
that she had found some solace in work. Working as a speech pathologist in the
day job, Alyssa noted that it was good to know she was helping, and that there was
plenty of variety coming in her front door!
And then there was Marilyn, who
struggled with romance and happily ever afters in 2020 (SHOCK! HORROR!
KIDDING!).
Finding it hard to find romances that
interested her, Marilyn turned to other genres to fill her well but (OF
COURSE!) returned to romance via a Barbara Erskine dual timeline
historical romance, Sleeper’s Castle. Marilyn LOVES time slip
stories, and said that she had been meaning to read this one for a long time as
Barbara is the QUEEN of time slips (at least according to Marilyn!). Marilyn
said:
'Two women, centuries apart. Linked in
a place haunted by its history' is the tagline that drew me in, that and the
fact that it's set in Wales (we had to cancel our third trip there in mid-2020,
and I am so missing it!). It's a haunting tale with one
heroine's story set in the 1400s, the other, a modern-day heroine.
Great characters, fabulous settings. If
only we could travel back in time...
And then, unlike many of us, who did not get
the memo until Netflix launched Bridgerton on Christmas Day, Sharon found the Julia
Quinn bandwagon early in 2020! She, of course, started at Book 1 with The Duke
and I but then read through all 8 of the Bridgerton books and followed those
with the Rokesby series. Sharon said:
I loved escaping from the worries of
the pandemic year into a world of romance, particularly Regency romance. Julia
Quinn’s characters are the sort of people I would love to know well, and her
novels are real page turners. Of course, my Regency romance year culminated
with the release of the first series of Bridgerton on December 25. I’ve watched
it twice already.
Then, last but not least, is the gorgeous
Enisa, who returned to an old fave, Nora Roberts (Queen Nora, if you please!) and
a new series, The Chronicles of the One. Enisa said:
Part fantasy, part romance, part
adventure, the series (written over 3 years just before 2020), starts in
Ireland with an event that causes the outbreak of a deadly virus that kills off
most of the world's population (an eerie echo of Covid-19). Many who survive
discover they have abilities stemming from 'magick.' This magick creates fear
and hatred in those who aren't left gifted and wars break out, threatening
humanity. It is up to one such gifted girl, and the boy who is her destiny, to
save her new people. Loved, loved, loved this series.
That the book was about a virus
pandemic that has love fighting hate drew me in. I'm a sucker for stories where
good wins against evil.
Who isn’t a sucker for good winning
against evil? Seriously? Who isn’t?
Oh, yeah. And then there’s the book
that got me through 2020.
I actually read more than I thought I
did this year, but I did tend to read in fits and starts rather than
consistently. And when I read – I binged authors and backlists. Katee Robert, Kylie
Scott, Amy Andrews, K. Bromberg and Helena Hunting all have lots of entries on
my ‘have read’ list. Yet, when I looked at my list I can’t say that any single
book got me through 2020 – it was probably a podcast that saved my sanity – the
Fated Mates podcast with Sarah Maclean and Jen Prokop (hey,
I’m writing the list, I can go off track if I want!). If you aren’t already
listening to this podcast, what are you waiting for? There are THREE seasons to
catch up on. Sarah and Jen are knowledgeable, honest and if you don’t laugh at
least five times during each show, I don’t know what’s wrong with you!
An update from Breathless in the Bush
On 19 March 2020 I (Kristine), like who knows
how many other people lucky enough to be able to do so, I started working from
home.
Since that day I’ve been into the office on less than 10
occasions (most of them actually in January 2021). Like almost everyone in the
country I’ve spent innumerable hours staring down the barrel of my laptop’s
camera, on Zoom, Skype, Teams and Facebook Messenger, ‘virtually’ talking to
all the people I’d usually be seeing face to face. I’ve been entertained by and
wanted to strangle my mother* in equal measure (we live together), I’ve missed
family dinners, Easter and Christmas gatherings, conferences, travel and
hoarded just a little toilet paper.
I even started watching Netflix (yes, I was
LATE to that party…).
Others have lost friends and family members, or have not been
able to see and spend time with loved ones, whether those loved ones were in
aged care homes, interstate, or across the world. They’ve been sick and they’ve
been scared. This virus has been serious business. Honestly, I don’t know how
many times I’ve been just a little thankful that my father passed away in
November 2019 and not November 2020 because I DO NOT KNOW how I would have said
goodbye from such a distance.
Love your family and friends peeps. From a safe distance. With masks. And hand sanitiser.
And yes, in saying all this, I recognise how lucky we have
been in Australia. Less than 1000 dead is still too many, and yet still much
better than the numbers we’re seeing in the US, UK and Europe. We’ve also had
significantly less people fall ill and, like always, we’ve recognised the
Aussie spirit – pulling together off the back of floods and fires, to manage
this virus as best we can.
But, 2020 has also invited us all to rethink our relationships
with work, families, friends, and, importantly for us Breathless in the Bush
ladies, writing. I don’t know about you but the one benefit I saw of working
from home – avoiding the commute and WRITING ALL THE WORDS, funnily did not materialise in the way I’d imagined 😉 Yes, clearly I can still procrastinate like
a boss.
So, in light of 2020, and on behalf of all the BitB clan, I’m
writing to share an announcement.
Breathless is NOT going anywhere but, at least for 2021, we
will be a little less prolific, publishing our blog every second month or so,
rather than pretty much every week. We love everyone in our community – and we
love blogging for you, but it’s just not feasible for us to keep up this pace!
We will be back later in February with our stalwart, Enisa
Haines, leading the charge. We’ll then have posts up in later in February and around mid-month in April, June, August, October and December and, last but
not least, OF COURSE, will be Miranda with her annual, and irreplaceable,
Christmas round up.
If you haven’t already read 2020’s round up, WHAT ARE YOU
WAITING FOR? IT’S HERE.
We might also pop by from time to time when we have NEWS to
share… a fabulous read, a celebration (when, finally, I’ve FINISHED a manuscript!) or
just something funny (because, frankly, we need more funny in 2021). But we
won’t be in your eyeballs every week.
We hope that you, our amazing community, understands our need
to take a little breath (tee hee, see what I did there…) and we hope
you’ll stay with us – and share with us in the comments below some of the reads
(or other things) that got you through 2020.
Kristine xx
* PS, just to be clear, I don’t REALLY want
to strangle my mother. It’s a turn of phrase… Don’t call the cops on me!
Kristine Charles writes sexy tales where coffee (and red wine) is abundant, designer shoes and handbags are cheap, chocolate has no calories and men always put the toilet seat down. Find her at www.wordsbykristinecharles.com, or on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
LOVE TO
LOVE: the Aussie romance writing, and reading community, who all pulled
together in 2020.
LOVE TO
LAUGH: At quarantine jokes… Come on, tell me these (from Fatherly) don’t elicit
at least a chuckle…
Ran out of toilet paper and started using lettuce leaves. Today was just the tip of the iceberg, tomorrow romaines to be seen.
After years of wanting to thoroughly clean my house but lacking the time, this week I discovered that wasn't the reason.
The World Health Organisation announced that dogs cannot contract COVID-19. Dogs previously held in quarantine can now be released. To be clear, WHO let the dogs out.
And yes, thank me for putting that earworm in your head. Woof!
LOVE TO LEARN: Or, at least, to sign up for learning. I’ve
signed up for MasterClass, and Babbel in the last year or so and yet… I still
procrastinate by watching reruns of The West Wing… go figure.
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