Fiona McArthur

As the River Rises is a wonderful story of romance, resilience, and renewal from bestselling author Fiona McArthur.

If you’ve read The Farmer’s Friend, then the town of small Northern New South Wales town of Featherwood and its residents will be familiar. In that novel, the focus was on the romance of former midwife Nell, and ex-soldier, Liam, while the town itself was ravaged by the Black Summer bushfires. As the River Rises is set about a year later.

The romance in As the River Rises develops between Featherwood newcomer, Dr Hannah Rogan, and enigmatic widower, Jude Waugh, who meet when Jude brings his sick son into Hannah’s newly opened GP clinic. It’s a lovely romance, with believable chemistry, which develops reasonably slowly as befits two people whose hearts are tender. Hannah, who moved to Featherwood in part to escape the fallout of a bad relationship, is wary of rumours about Jude’s troubled past, and Jude isolated himself after the death of his wife.

Almost overshadowing the romance in As the River Rises is plenty of drama and action. In the novel, as in real life, many rural towns had barely recovered from the destruction of the 2019/2020 bushfires when they were devastated by widespread flooding. Featherwood falls victim to a torrent of water that destroys homes and infrastructure, sweeps away livestock, and threatens lives. There’s high tension as various characters find themselves in dangerous situations, and in the aftermath of the flood, there is further drama with a sudden death, and a terrifying attack. Thankfully these stresses are countered by the heartwarming community spirit on display as the characters rally to help and protect one another.

Drawing on her own familiarity with small town life, natural disasters, and rural medicine, McArthur infuses As the River Rises with genuine emotion, thrilling drama and heartfelt sincerity. A must read for fans of the contemporary rural genre.… (mer)

Rating: ★★☆☆☆ (2/5 Stars)
Title: Lacey
Author(s): Fiona McArthur
Character(s):
― Lacey Jerome: Brunette, Green Eyed
― Cameron James: ―
Setting: Wirralong, Victoria, Australia
Tag(s): Romance, Contemporary
Content Rating: ―
POV: Third Person
Smexy Level: ―
Favorite Quote(s): N/A
Overall Opinion:
After spending a passionate night that lead to an unexpected pregnancy, you would think a storyline like this would draw my attention but no no! The relationship escalated far quickly than I have anticipated and the characters were so boring. So as much as I appreciate the ARC, it comes to no surprise that I've decided to dropped this series before making half way through.

… (mer)

Reader’s familiar with The Baby Doctor, will be delighted to discover Fiona McArthur’s The Bush Telegraph features Maddy Locke, the young woman who gave birth in an abandoned storefront while hiding from her abusive boyfriend, in this lively, heartwarming and absorbing rural romance novel.

Set eleven years later, Maddy and her daughter, Bridget, have returned to the small outback town of Spinifex where Maddy, who has since earned a host of nursing qualifications, is to manage the local medical centre. Hoping to banish the ghosts of her past, and make a life for herself and Bridget among the wide open spaces, Maddy is determined to rise to the challenge of providing quality health care to the region and support the revitalisation of the struggling remote community in the memory of her late adopted mother, and former town publican, Alma.

Romance is the last thing on Maddy’s mind, her trust in men having been eroded by her disastrous relationship with Bridget’s father, but meeting attractive station owner Connor Fairhall challenges that. Though wary of the single father who seems to be the subject of disturbing rumours, and whose son, Jayden, appears set on causing trouble, Connor proves to be an unexpected temptation for Maddy. I really liked the way in which McArthur developed the relationship between the two protagonists, particularly with respect to their backgrounds, and I thought their friendship blossomed into romance, with convincing chemistry, nicely.

While the romance is integral to the plot of The Bush Telegraph, McArthur explores several important themes and issues within the story. There are characters facing various problems including alcohol addiction, financial pressures, abandonment, domestic abuse, betrayal and grief. The community itself is showing signs of neglect, with struggling businesses, vacant storefronts, and a dwindling population.

The challenges of providing medical care in a remote location like Spinifex are made clear by McArthur as she details Maddy’s varied nursing tasks in the clinic, which include providing emergency treatment to a walk-in heart attack patient and a child in diabetic crisis, setting broken bones and stitching cuts, and caring for a woman in pre-term labour. Drawing on her own experience working in remote regions as a midwife, McArthur highlights the need for remote health workers to be well resourced and capable of handling a range of situations, the importance of back-up being available in an emergency, and most dramatically, what it means when the life in your hands is your own child’s. I was so affected by one incident involving Maddy providing life-saving treatment, I found myself wiping away a tear or two.

With its engaging characters, captivating drama, and heartfelt emotion, The Bush Telegraph is a wonderful read, sure to appeal to fans of the contemporary rural genre. I think it’s her best yet.… (mer)

Fiona McArthur’s novels are always packed with emotion and drama and The Desert Midwife is no exception. Be prepared to run through a box of tissues and a block of chocolate as you indulge in this story.

Unlike McArthur’s previous novels, this is set in the red centre of Australia – think Uluru and Alice Springs. It makes for a more isolated story with fewer characters, but it’s no less fun. Ava has grown up on a station near Uluru and now works as a midwife between Alice Springs and outback communities. When she meets locum emergency department physician Zac on a plane, sparks fly. Even though the timing isn’t perfect, Ava and Zac start a relationship that was meant to be casual but becomes very serious in a short space of time. Zac even goes to meet Ava at Yulara (the small town near Uluru) after making a quick decision in town. But on the way to Uluru, the couple are in a car accident and things are turned on their head. Their relationship is back to the very start. Ava doesn’t want to intrude, but will she fight for their love?

The Desert Midwife is a story in two parts, each with a very different tone. The initial romance between Zac and Ava is fun but intense with a very positive, hopeful tone. Even if you don’t believe in love at first sight, you can’t help but get caught up in the whirlwind of their romance and put the niggles to the back of your mind. After the accident, the emotions are turned upside down and the book becomes much more serious in tone as Ava copes with the loss of her relationship but also family issues. This is when more characters are brought into the narrative, the most memorable being Ava’s mum and grandmother. Mother Stella is an interesting character with a romance of her own. It’s sweet, but I didn’t feel it got quite the page time that it deserved. Mim, Ava’s grandmother is spiky, bold and feisty. She was adorable with her wisdom and her modern ideas. As for Ava and Zac, both come across as sensible, which made the insta-romance more believable for me. Their connection is instant and powerful. It makes what happens later even more poignant.

The Desert Midwife covers other issues besides romance including drought, men’s health, indigenous culture and antenatal care in the outback. All are handled sensitively and are natural parts of the narrative. I loved reading about Uluru and the feelings both Ava and Zac experienced, it’s an incredibly spiritual place and McArthur captures the essence beautifully. Overall, the story is a dramatic but ultimately satisfying read.

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

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