Isabella Hargreaves

The last book in the Homecomings series ties in directly with the previous one because it is set in the same place. The female protagonist is Marion, a widow and the matron of the hospital. Jack is visited by Bill, a good friend (and of course the sixth man from the prologue of book 1). Bill declares that he finally wants to settle down and is looking for a wife - when he meets Marion he is head over heels, but she is determined not to fall in love since her late husband was such a scoundrel.
I liked the fact that Bill and Marion are a bit more mature and I rooted for them, but I found Marion's character to be inconsistent. The ending disappointed me a bit because I think that the couple could have found a better solution to their particular situation.… (más)

The second book of the Homecomings series is a novella about another of the men from the prologue of book 1. Jack has bought a cattle station in Queensland after the war because he is a changed man and suffers from terrible nightmares and PTSD. He thinks that he is a danger to others and therefore leads an isolated life.
Fleur is a British nurse who served directly behind the front line during the Battle of the Somme and lost all of her family in the war. She takes up a post at a rural hospital in Australia because she wants to start a new life and not be reminded of the war anymore. When she meets Jack she is intrigued, without knowing his secret, and he feels drawn to her but tries to keep his distance, although that is hard because there is no other hospital anywhere in the region.

Although the story is rather foreseeable, I quite liked it. Fleur and Jack are enjoyable characters and the story seemed plausible to me. The descriptions of life in the outback in the 1920s were interesting and seemed rather authentic to me.… (más)

The first book in the Homecomings series was published eight years after the other ones, but it starts with a prologue tying them all together. In late November 1918 six men are discharged from a military hospital in England - five Australians and one New Zealander who are shortly introduced to the reader.

The following four short stories each are about one of the men. I liked the first one best: In The Jade Keepsake, a teacher waits for her lover in a beach town in New Zealand. She visits the beach every day because they were happiest there, but time goes by and she almost gives up hope because she has not heard anything from or about him.
I also quite enjoyed the third story, Lemon Cupcake Homecoming, in which young Cate prepares lemon cupcakes since they were Jim's favourite. Jim danced with her the evening before he left for the war and she fell in love with him, so she has high hopes for his welcome party. However, when he comes back, it looks as if things are different to what she expected.… (más)

This novella starts with a carriage accident in a snowstorm that forces Robert (Viscount Landers), his fiancé Augusta and Augusta's companion Eleanor to seek shelter in a hut in the woods. Robert kind of inherited Augusta together with his title after his elder brother had died, but the incidents after the accident reveal that they are not suited to each other, and soon Robert realizes that he is much more attracted to Eleanor.

I think this story might have been better if it had been longer. Just a little more than 50 pages is too short even for such a basic plot. I liked Robert and Eleanor, but they could not rise much above stereotypes because there was no room. Apart from that, there were several anachronistic aspects that cut into my enjoyment of the story.

I do not regret reading this novella because it was still a good way to spend an hour after a long car drive, when I wouldn't have been able to do much else apart from stupidly scrolling on my phone. But altogether, this was not great and I will not continue with the series. I am surprised that it has such good reviews on Amazon.… (más)