Sasha Wasley

This story is a contemporary Australian domestic drama and rural romance set in the fictional town of Bonnievale, based on Donnybrook in Western Australia. It has also been described as uplit: books that have an emphasis or empathy and are uplifting and life-affirming.

Charlize Beste or Lottie Bentz is a small-time celebrity who returns to her country home after becoming caught up in a media scandal involving the death of a drug-affected boyfriend and a questionable photo shoot. Her passionately feminist mother almost refuses to speak to her so she moves in with the Brooker family to help out around the home and orchard. Lottie has decided to give her life a spring clean-Marie Kondo style-including decluttering, but also a resolution to stop lying and faking. As she simplifies her life things move in new directions. She develops a close connection with the aging Mrs Brooker, bonding over the famous sorting question, “Does it bring me joy?” She also begins to get to know the prickly and reserved Angus, former Peach King to her high school Peach Queen award.

I found this a pleasant light hearted read with some positive themes.… (more)

I’ve really enjoyed Sasha Wasley’s previous two books in the Daughters of the Outback series (Dear Banjo and True Blue) so I’ve been eagerly anticipating the story of the final Paterson daughter, Beth. While Dear Banjo focused on the family cattle station and True Blue looked at life in Mount Clair, Love Song primarily focuses on an Indigenous community outside the town. It’s a lovely contrast of setting and different stories about three very different sisters.

Up until now, local GP Beth has presented herself as the most serious and strict of the Paterson sisters. The oldest of the three, her role has previously been to talk sense into Free and correct the others in matters of the heart. Now that the reader gets to see into Beth’s head, it’s revealed that life is not all black and white for her. Beth is proud of the business she’s built up, as well as the strict routine of exercise and work. But there is something missing, even though she was reluctant to notice it until Charlie Campbell returned to town. Charlie was Beth’s first love and she realises that she’s had trust issues ever since. (And that nobody has ever really compared to him since). Now Charlie, a star singer, is back in town to fight against a new mine close to the community where he grew up. That makes for multiple awkward moments as Beth is the community’s doctor and equally as passionate to help. Can they get past their differences and work together? Will Charlie tell Beth what caused him to disappear?

Now you know that this story will have a happy ending, but the journey towards that is pure joy. Charlie and Beth are adults (even though they can be as stubborn as children) and their working relationship is great as they both strive to take care of toddler Pearl who has special needs. Pearl is such a cutie, with her ability to get food everywhere but her mouth and big sister Jill is the most loyal sister Pearl could hope for. Beth and Charlie support each other through their times of need, both big and small. It’s delightful to read the growing realisation of their rekindled feelings towards each other (and equally frustrating when they misread the other’s intentions!)

The inclusion of the Indigenous community Madjinbarra was sensitively done I felt, bringing to attention the needs of the community (such as regular health care) and the lack of funding / tolerance from city slickers for anything different to the bright lights. I haven’t read a romance story with an Aboriginal hero before – here’s hoping that we see a lot more after the wonderful Charlie. He’s sensitive, devoted to his family, talented and holds a candle for his first love – what more could you ask for in a hero? He is the balance Beth needs in her life, to help fill the whole in her family life after the death of her mother and to bring spontaneous joy.

So now that the Paterson girls have their happy ever afters (and the series has been optioned for television), I hope that Sasha Wasley has something great planned for readers. We need more of her inspiring fiction on our shelves!

Thank you to Penguin for the copy of this book. My review is honest.

http://samstillreading.wordpress.com… (more)

Sasha Wasley is fast becoming one of my go-to authors for stories that I’ll love. Last year, I loved Dear Banjo, a story of loss, land and ultimately love. True Blue continues on with the same setting, the fictional town of Mount Clair in the Kimberley region (far north) of Western Australia. This time, the main character is the sister of Willow Paterson, Freya (Free).

To be honest, I wasn’t the biggest fan of Free in Dear Banjo. She came across as flighty and superficial in contrast to her sisters, who were a lot more practical and grounded. Sasha Wasley has taken Free and made her into a thoughtful, sensitive heroine who has her own morals and beliefs. If they just happen to be a bit different to the other Paterson girls, so be it. I was really proud as a reader to see Free grow in this novel to someone inspiring who gains more confidence in herself. The story is set as Free gets a job as a resident artist at the local high school to help the students design and build a public artwork in town. Free is nervous and eager to do her best in contrast to the other artist Aidan. He’s cocky and not particularly interested, perhaps due to the rumour that his mother (a business magnate whose company is building a diversion dam on the local river) pulled strings to get him the job. Free is innocent, willing to believe the best in Aidan. But when she rebuffs his advances, he’s out to be as snide as possible. Free is a sensitive soul, and this causes her a lot of grief. But on the plus side, she lives next door to Finn Kelly, a local policeman who she is very interested in. Finn is trying to keep her at a safe friend’s distance and Free is confused as to why. Is it their different ideologies as she tries to save the local river? Or is it something simpler?

The more I read, the more endearing Free became to me. I’m not sure what it is about her but she invites confidence and positivity into all her interactions. It’s not Pollyanna like, but a genuine interest in other people. I found Free’s passion to help her students really lovely to read, especially in encouraging quiet student Tia to come out of her shell. I think this also helped with Free’s self-confidence too. On reading this book, I found that I had misjudged Free previously. She feels inferior to her sisters, as she knows she is different to them and the odd one out in the family. Once I understood that, it was easy to love her as a character. She’s different, sure, but that isn’t a bad thing. Being able to write all the layers of these characters and show them to the reader is a great skill of Sasha Wasley’s. The more I think about her characters, the more impressed I am with their complexity and that they are memorable. Not an easy thing to achieve, especially with rapid (and rabid!) readers like myself.

The other part of Sasha Wasley’s writing that stands out are the feelings. She conveys emotion so well that the reader experiences part of what the character is. I grinned along with Free when she was offered work by Olly and shared in her delight when her home studio was crafted. This kind of writing puts a sparkle in your day. Thank you Sasha! I also liked that Finn was more than eye candy and a policeman. Revealing his interests outside of work and sharing his family situation brought him out as a highly developed character.

I’m eagerly awaiting the story of Beth now – the oldest sister who appears a bit bossy and overbearing. I bet I’ll be eating my words once I read her story!

Thank you to Penguin for the copy of this book. My review is honest.

http://samstillreading.wordpress.com… (more)