Fairway to Heaven in Aussie Readers

Jan 30, 2014 Brenda rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2014-release, read-on-kindle, aussie-authors, romance, own-read, special-offer-from-author

Having organised for best friend Emma to look after her eighteen-month-old son Sebastian, Jennifer Gates cooked Jack’s favourite dinner while cleaning the house from top to bottom. Then she made her way to the Sea Breeze Golf Club where Jack taught his young students the rudimentary facts about playing golf, preparing to surprise him with the entire package – starting with herself. But the surprise back-fired when she discovered Jack getting sandy at the bottom of a bunker – and he wasn’t alone. Having organised for best friend Emma to look after her eighteen-month-old son Sebastian, Jennifer Gates cooked Jack’s favourite dinner while cleaning the house from top to bottom. Then she made her way to the Sea Breeze Golf Club where Jack taught his young students the rudimentary facts about playing golf, preparing to surprise him with the entire package – starting with herself. But the surprise back-fired when she discovered Jack getting sandy at the bottom of a bunker – and he wasn’t alone.

Distraught, she raced home and packed bags for her and Seb, taking the wine she had chilling plus the beef ragout she had cooked for their dinner - leaving Jack a note on the table – then Jenn headed to Em’s and refuge. With Jenn cuddling her young son and struggling not to cry, Em was horrified and sympathetic. Her solution, after several glasses of wine and dinner, was a sound one – she gave Jenn the keys to her parents’ beach shack down the WA coast at Geographe Bay. Jenn had spent a lot of summers there with the whole Culhane family when she was younger, and she had idolised Em’s big brother, Brayden as long as she had known him. But eight years ago he had made the decision to work in the mines – Jenn was devastated and her decisions went downhill after Brayden left, until she met Jack.

The long drive the following day was peaceful in part – Seb slept most of the way while Jenn was deep in thought, wondering what their next step would be, wondering what went wrong with Jack and her relationship – but nearing their destination, teething pain began to cause him to cry, then scream; Jenn was frazzled when she pulled up at the shack – and horrified to see Brayden’s car sitting in the driveway after Em had told her the place was currently empty.

As the hours passed and Jenn struggled with her dilemma, she discovered Brayden had problems of his own as well – but their easy friendship of the past was soon rekindled. Seb fell instantly in love with his Uncle Brayden; he was wonderful with kids as he’d been surrounded with them most of his life. Spending some hours at the beach with Seb was soothing… What would happen to her and Jack now? He wanted his girlfriend and son to return home, but was that an option? Jenn was confused, her confidence was shot to pieces… And who was that strange man?

What a wonderfully entertaining read! I thoroughly enjoyed this novel by Aussie author Lily Malone – this is my second by her, and I’ll definitely be reading more. Lily is an extremely talented writer – her characters are real, with emotions which made me react accordingly, even laughing out loud in a few places! An author who is right up there at the top of her genre, and I have no hesitation in recommending this one highly.

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Jan 27, 2014 Shelleyrae at Book'd Out rated it really liked it

Shelves: provided-by-publisher, aussie-author, arc-are

Lily Malone hits a hole in one with this engaging, and somewhat unusual, romance novel featuring friendship, intimacy and love.

When Jennifer Gates catches her pro golfer boyfriend, Jack, in the bunker with the boss's daughter, she finally has to admit that their relationship has run its course and, taking their toddler son Seb, she seeks sanctuary at the beach shack owned by her best friend's parents. But Jennifer is surprised to find Brayden Culhane already in residence, taking time out after a
Lily Malone hits a hole in one with this engaging, and somewhat unusual, romance novel featuring friendship, intimacy and love.

When Jennifer Gates catches her pro golfer boyfriend, Jack, in the bunker with the boss's daughter, she finally has to admit that their relationship has run its course and, taking their toddler son Seb, she seeks sanctuary at the beach shack owned by her best friend's parents. But Jennifer is surprised to find Brayden Culhane already in residence, taking time out after a shocking incident his family knows nothing about.
Once Jennifer had imagined her future might lay with her best friend's brother, after a night of tequila slammers and a mind blowing kiss, but the timing had been all wrong, and then she had met Jack. Though wary of sharing the cottage with Brayden, with no where else to go, she accepts his invitation to stay until she can decide on her next move and as she begins to piece together a new life for herself and her son, Jennifer wonders if perhaps this time she and Brayden may get the timing just right.

I enjoyed this appealing contemporary romance. It doesn't hurt that the author sets much of Fairway To Heaven very near to where I regularly holidayed as a child in southern Western Australia. In fact my grandparents owned a beach shack not unlike the one in which Jennifer and her son stay, reviving some wonderful memories for me.

And though golf bores me to tears, after a childhood spent caddying for those same grandparents, there is actually little mention of the game, alleviating the concerns I first had about the story when asked to read it.

There are some surprises in this novel that wouldn't usually be encountered in a traditional romance novel. The first involves Jennifer's physical intimacy issues, which are quite explicitly detailed by the author. The second is the serious incident that prompted Brayden's stay at the beach cottage. I think both plot points are a brave choice and add interest to the story and characters however I was a little disappointed by the lack of resolution to Brayden's woes as it left me unable to imagine his and Jennifer's happy future together. I'm wondering if perhaps Malone intends to follow this up in a future book.

I've previously read His Brand of Beautiful by Lily Malone which was published by Harlequin's digital imprint, Escape. Fairway To Heaven is a self published title but shows the hallmarks of a professional edit. It is a likeable, if not quite traditional, romance and one I'd be happy to recommend.

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Jan 20, 2014 Bree T rated it really liked it

Shelves: arc, kindle-version, romance, australian, aww2014

Jennifer Gates is looking forward to… rekindling the magic with her boyfriend, golf-pro Jack. Ever since they had their son, things in the intimacy department have been few and far between and the attempt to get together has been plagued with many difficulties. So Jennifer has made an effort, dropped their son off with her friend Emmy and is on the way to surprise Jack.

But it’s Jenn that gets the surprise when Jack isn’t in the pro shop and she finds him and someone he’s supposed to be giving “l Jennifer Gates is looking forward to… rekindling the magic with her boyfriend, golf-pro Jack. Ever since they had their son, things in the intimacy department have been few and far between and the attempt to get together has been plagued with many difficulties. So Jennifer has made an effort, dropped their son off with her friend Emmy and is on the way to surprise Jack.

But it’s Jenn that gets the surprise when Jack isn’t in the pro shop and she finds him and someone he’s supposed to be giving “lessons” to getting hot and heavy in a bunker on the twelfth. Jenn’s best friend Emmy can immediately tell that Jenn needs some time to get away and so she gives her the keys to her family’s beach house where they all spent a lot of time as teens and college students.

What Emmy didn’t know was that her brother Brayden was also getting away from it all at the beach house. Eight years ago Brayden and Jenn shared a kiss that rocked her world. She had been crazy about Brayden for as long as she could remember but they’ve never been able to get the timing quite right. Brayden left for a FIFO job and then down the road Jenn met Jack. However being at the shack again, remembering the time they almost managed to get it together and realising that both of them still have feelings for each other that have never quite gone away helps Jenn work out what she wants. As she sets about putting her life back together again, starting a new business and attempting to negotiate issues with Jack, Jenn and Brayden take tentative steps towards love. But Jenn still has things that she needs to work out, both in her head and with her body before she can be with him the way she truly wants.

I have to admit, I’m not a big fan of golf. My brother used to play throughout his teen years and occasionally still has a hit around when he can find the time if he’s not working and my grandfather loved the game and played for probably 20 or 25 years before his health became too fragile. But I’m not exactly what you would call….sporty. However if you’re anything like me, don’t let a lack of interest in golf put you off this book. Because it’s fabulous!

Jenn Gates unexpectedly finds herself facing being a single mother after she catches boyfriend Jack in the act putting on someone else’s green. As the mother of two young boys I could find myself relating to Jenn a lot. I’m not a single mother but I have taken my boys away (my eldest alone and then together after my youngest was born) and I have done it alone and it is hard. Sebby is adorable and quite a good baby, much like my own two, who all slept and ate and were generally pretty hard to put out of sorts but there’s no denying that facing down going it alone is daunting. Jenn is remarkably selfless about making sure that Jack will still be able to be a huge part of Seb’s life and she does everything she can to make sure that it doesn’t need to go to court but she also doesn’t allow him or his wealthy mother to walk all over her either. She discovers what she wants during her beach getaway and she also sticks to her guns and doesn’t let anyone intimidate her out of moving away from Perth down to Busselton.

I think many people have that ‘the one that got away’ in their past, someone that they wanted to be with but things were never quite right and that’s what Brayden is for Jennifer. She had a crush on him as a teenager that only deepened the older they got but apart from a drunken kiss on the steps of the beach shack some eight years ago, not much has happened between them. When Brayden is in residence at the beach shack as well, it gives both of them an opportunity to think about ones they’ve missed in the past. They’re now both single, although Jenn is obviously very fresh out of a relationship that has ended badly. What balances this out in a way is that Brayden is having his own big troubles, although not of the romantic kind. I’m not going to say too much about this because it would spoil it but I found it a very brave and interesting story to give to the obvious love interest. What I liked about Jennifer and Brayden was their support of each other – Brayden is supportive both about the end of her relationship with Jack and also of her starting up her own business. Jennifer is incredibly supportive of Brayden during his difficult time and she wants to make sure that he has good assistance and that he is doing what he needs to do to get through it and that he’s okay. Even though they haven’t seen each other much in the past few years, it seems clear that they know each other quite well and understand each other. Brayden is also exactly what a man should be about Jennifer’s “issues” and a stark contrast to Jack who seems to view her vagina as his personal property. Brayden is also awesome with Seb but I have to say, Seb’s at a pretty easy age to introduce such a thing into his life.

For authors who want to self-publish, I’d hold this one up as recommended reading. It’s done very well – the writing is good and the editing is excellent. Despite the fact that it has an epilogue, not everything from this story is tied up at the end. I’m hoping that Lily Malone decides to write the story of Pope and Emmy and that book might include things that were not covered in this one! ...more

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