Wish - Kelly Hunter
I cried when I read Wish by Kelly Hunter. Now that’s a sign of an emotionally engaging story. Kelly’s written some of my favourite contemporary romances, like the brilliantly titled, With this Fling. Wish is self-published and novella length and a wonderful example of the short form romance; emotionally punchy with a strongly drawn hero and heroine.

I’m trying to avoid spoilers, so I’ll limit myself to saying how much I appreciated the heroine’s emotional maturity. In many ways this was a Cinderella story (complete with a vulnerable alpha male), but this Cinderella saved herself and others — including a pub.

The plot not only acknowledged the complexity of modern lives and problems, but drew its strength from these challenges. I like how Kelly respected the conventions of the romance genre, but gave them a contemporary and realistic flavour. The characters were real enough that I felt I could drive to their town.

This was a fantastic small country town romance set in Australia and I just ate it up.