Helene Young

Return to Roseglen is a poignant story of family and ageing, sibling rivalry and entitlement, long held secrets and second chances.
I fell in love with Ivy Dunmore by page 2 and that feeling didn’t waiver throughout the book. Helene Young has written a heartfelt story filled with strong women and the most wonderful supportive men I’ve read about in a long time.
No one is perfect and Young shows through her characters that we all make mistakes but we should not let our mistakes define show more us.
Return to Roseglen will have you contemplating your own life, especially if you have ageing parents.
Young is the master of emotion as the story had my tears welling, my anger rising and at other times I was happily celebrating the triumphs along with the characters.
I would recommend Return to Roseglen to anyone who enjoys a compelling family drama. show less

I first had the pleasure of hearing Helene Young speak earlier this year, and boy, is she interesting! (Not to mention that she puts clips and pictures of great movies and lovely looking gentlemen in her Powerpoint presentations). My mother has been reading Helene avidly since her first book, and I have been neglectful in taking daughterly advice and reading her novels. Until now. Northern Heat is a gripping, action-packed novel set in the sultry climes of Far North Queensland during cyclone show more season (you know what that means, don’t you?) In between the action, there are well developed, intense storylines and the story is topped off with a sweet and steamy romance. What more could you ask for?

Set in Cooktown, the story follows two main characters, Conor and Kristy. (Some readers will recognise Conor from Helene’s previous book, Safe Harbour, but it’s not necessary to read it first. I didn’t.) Conor lives on his yacht Veritas in the harbour. He’s got a tragic past that appears rather shady to some of the other people in Cooktown, such as the police. No real job, no real ambitions…who is this man? So when a man is murdered at his front door, suspicions turn to Conor. Meanwhile, Dr Kristy Dark has escaped to Cooktown after the deaths of two members of her family to be closer to her parents. Her daughter Abby is trying to match make Conor and Kristy and sparks definitely fly between the pair. But, as Kristy’s friend Freya is trying to leave her violent husband (something Kristy knows all too well), romance takes a back seat after a minor accident causes a disproportionate reaction on Kristy’s behalf. Then Cyclone Kate decides to take in Cooktown and things turn dangerous for Kristy and Conor as they race to save Abby and Freya’s daughter Sissy. Who will win – Mother Nature, the bad guys or Kristy and Conor?

Northern Heat could be classified as romantic suspense, but I think anyone with an interest in action-packed reads should give it a go. I found it more suspense than romance and I don’t think there is a better contemporary author writing suspense than Helene Young. The cyclone scenes are wonderfully atmospheric and true to what it is like to be in the middle of such extreme weather. The build up to the finale was also taut, making me wonder if a happy ending was going to be a possibility! But it’s not just action that Helene excels at. All her characters are intricately crafted and completely different. The characters right down to the minor ones have a backstory and nuances that make them memorable. I also enjoyed how Kristy and Conor’s dark pasts were revealed in stages - just enough to understand how they were reacting to various events, but leaving me hungry to know more. The topic of domestic violence was also handled sensitively, showing the different forms through the characters but also offering hope.

I’m eager to read more books now by Helene Young now that I’ve started – I think her books would be perfect for holidays (making the travel time just fly by) or for when you can stay up late into the night reading!

Thank you to Penguin Australia for the eARC. My thoughts are 100% honest.

http://samstillreading.wordpress.com show less

With the wonderful balance of action, intrigue and romance which Helene Young always gets exactly right, Half Moon Bay is an exciting and engaging novel.

When the small community of Half Moon Bay is threatened by a corrupt Lord Mayor, international photojournalist Ellie Wilding returns to her home town determined to stop him. It doesn't take long for Ellie to uncover evidence of kick backs and blackmail but she is shocked to discover that O'Sullivan may also be complicit in a drug ring show more involving Asian casino operators, Afghani warlords, Australian ex-soldiers and the death of her older sister Nina, a journalist, three years before and half a world away.
Nick Lawson is stunned to find Ellie in the midst of the protests against the land development in Half Moon Bay. Working undercover, the ICAC operation he is managing could be compromised if Ellie recognises him as the soldier who was present in Afghanistan when her older sister Nina, a journalist, was shot and killed.
As Ellie continues to investigate the links between her sister, an old friend and the corruption in her home town, she has no idea of the danger she is in and Nick, desperate to keep her safe from harm, will have to tell her everything, except the truth.

Moving between war torn Afghanistan, a small Australian coastal town and the 'big smoke, Half Moon Bay is a fast paced, tension filled adventure. With consummate skill the author has developed a plot that is believable but not entirely predictable. I really enjoyed the way in which the story begins as if a fairly transparent case of greed but deepens into a complex web of crime involving corruption, drug running, kidnapping and murder.

Ellie is a capable, independent and strong protagonist. She is willing to fight for what she believes in and ignores attempts at threats and intimidation, but not to the point of fool hardiness. I love that Young's heroines don't take TSTL (too stupid to live) chances, and when the situation deteriorates, Ellie acts sensibly to minimise the risks to herself and others.

The romance between Ellie and Nick is complicated by a shared past that Ellie doesn't even remember. Nick however has never been able to forget the bravery and resourcefulness Ellie showed while trying desperately to save her sister's life. After failing to protect Nina in Afghanistan, Nick will do anything to ensure Ellie's safety but given his status as the 'enemy' with regards to the land deal, her general suspicion of him and his inability to share the truth of his connection to the whole mess, earning her trust could be an impossible task.

Once I began Half Moon Bay I was reluctant to put it down, caught up in it's exhilarating tale of romance and suspense. It was no less than I expected though from award winning author Helene Young. Half Moon Bay is a fantastic page turner and one I recommend you add to your must read shelf. show less

The coastline of Queensland stretches some 6973 km (or 4333 miles) and protecting it is a daunting prospect, particularly in the sparsely populated region of the far north which is vulnerable as a point for illegal entry to Australia. Coastal surveillance is a huge operation involving patrol by sea and air and Helene Young, a pilot herself, recognised it’s unique potential as a setting for Wings of Fear.

In Wings of Fear, Captain Morgan Pentland is a pilot for the Border Watch fleet in far show more north Queensland. When Customs Agent Rafe Daniels joins her crew, it becomes obvious that he has an agenda Morgan and her team are not privy to. Acting on suspicions of a leak in the fleet Rafe has Morgan under close surveillance, concerned that the information is being used to create an opportunity for terrorist activity. By the time the truth is uncovered, Morgan and Rafe have just days to thwart a plot to blow up one of the country’s busiest harbours, Circular Quay.

Balancing action, adventure, mystery and romance is something Helene Young proves she is skilled at over the length of this novel. From the first page I was captured by the mystery of the murdered man and then quickly absorbed in the adventure of patrolling Queensland’s coastline by air. By the time Morgan and her crew were shot down by a surface to air missile I was turning the pages as fast as I could.

It wasn’t only the exciting pace of the story that had me engrossed, the characters in Wings of Fear are well developed and interesting personalities. Morgan has come from a background of violence and intimidation, issues she is struggling with in her current relationship despite her best intentions to not repeat the mistakes of her mother. Intelligent and down to earth, Morgan is an admirable protagonist who is easy to relate to.
Rafe has already been the victim of a terrorist act that decimated his team and the hunt for the spy within Border Watch is both professionally and personally motivated. Though he has the traits of a fairly typical romance hero- handsome and strong with a touch of arrogance, he has a emotional depth that is appealing.
I also enjoyed the supporting characters, Laurie as the incurable flirt and Gavin, the more serious member of Morgan’s flight crew. The author is able to build tension around the identity of spy amongst them and though the clues are there, doubt keeps the reader guessing.

What particularly struck me in Wings of Fear is Young’s ability to evoke the Australian people, culture and place without resorting to cliche phrases or over the top references. I can’t tell you how rare that is, and how much it added to my enjoyment of the novel. In particular, the dialogue has a genuine Australian ‘accent’ with a cadence that is natural and familiar.

Wings of Fear heralds wonderful things to come from Helene Young with a second book, Shattered Sky released recently (to be reviewed soon) and a third to be published mid year. With a unique sense of place, engaging characters and an interesting story, Wings of Fear is an entertaining and exciting read. show less