NEW RELEASE
Dinner at Rose's - Danielle Hawkins (2012)
After catching her boyfriend and best friend together, Jo heads back to her home town in country New Zealand to take up a temporary job at a physiotherapy clinic. With a hopeless receptionist who spends her day filing her nails, a client who won't take no for an answer and a flatmate who monitors electricity use, the only bright light for Jo is being close to her beloved honorary aunt Rose. Jo is the sort of girl who helps out wherever she can - shearing sheep, milking cows, you name it - so when a serious illness strikes the feisty Rose, Jo moves in to take care of her. Meanwhile she finds she has feelings for Rose's nephew, Matt, but he is dating Farmer Barbie. This is a beautifully written, delightful story - it's heart-warming, amusing and sad - and will teach you to cherish those close to you. And the book packaging with its rose imprint is simply gorgeous.
Dinner at Rose's, by New Zealand debut author Danielle Hawkins, is about a woman who leaves the city for her home town. The summary says: "In the wake of an unfortunate best-friend-and-boyfriend-caught-having-sex-in-a-chair incident, Jo Donnelly flees her civilised city life to take up a temporary job at the physiotherapy clinic in her small home town. Jo is ineptly assisted at work by a receptionist who divides her time between nail care and surfing the internet. Meanwhile, her new flatmate is a joyless couch potato who hogs the TV and is vigilant in her quest to prevent excessive electricity consumption. Life would seem a bit grim if not for Jo's eccentric honorary Aunty Rose, who lives up the valley with her pet piglet, four dogs and two sheep. Rose was a wise and infinitely patient friend to both Jo and her bona fide nephew, Matthew, while they were growing up. And when she is hit by illness Jo moves in to look after her, while Matt helps out as much as his farming duties allow. But illness aside, it's not long before the mischievous Rose is playing cupid." Dinner at Rose's is out in May.