Welcome to another edition of my favourite reads. It’s a tad late this month because I’ve been putting all my writing energy into a new book and, as much as I love the blog, the books must come first.

Talk about a cracking month for reading. I know I say that quite a bit but I truly read some beauties this month. The stand-out favourite has to be…

The Drifter by Anthea Hodgson

An absolute first class rural romance. Love, love, loved it. Wonderful characters, great setting, gorgeous romance and beautiful writing. Spot on.

In the interests of disclosure, I must reveal that I met Anthea (who is lovely) for the first time back in August at the Romance Writers of Australia conference in Brisbane, at which she gave me a signed copy of The Drifter. It sounded pretty good to me so I was happy to give it a whirl.

One of the cool things about knowing an author is that you feel perfectly fine sending them late night rave-y emails about their book. Which is exactly what I did with Anthea. I was so GOBSMACKED by this story that I had to let her know straight away. And warn that I would never speak to her again if she didn’t come good with the happy ever after I wanted.

So, if you’re a rural romance fan, and have yet to read The Drifter, hie thee to your nearest bookshop, library or ebook retailer and get your copy now. This book is amazeballs.

Defy the Stars by Claudia Gray

A wonderful young adult sci-fi romance with lots of action and fantastic conflict between the hero and heroine.

I read Gray’s A Thousand Pieces of You and enjoyed that (really should read books 2 & 3 in that series) but I think this one tugged my heartstrings a lot more because the romance felt so impossible, yet I still wanted it. It was nicely paced too. I adore books where the characters keep hitting major setbacks and I suffer lots of ‘oh no!’ moments, but also can’t stop reading because I just KNOW they’re brave enough and will find something extra within themselves or each other to get through.

Bring on book 2 in this series!

The Dark Lake by Sarah Bailey

An excellent Australian crime thriller that I liked a lot. Plenty of twists and turns and lots of atmosphere.

This is one of those books where the author had a great knack of making me feel anxious for the heroine. I love that. And what’s interesting is the heroine isn’t especially likable. She’s full of flaws, yet those flaws and her situation only makes the suspense more intense. Good stuff.

King’s Cage by Victoria Aveyard

Book 3 in the Red Queen young adult fantasy series sees Mare and the gang in all sorts of trouble with no apparent way out. There’s lots of political manoeuvring in this one and we also start to get a better idea of how Maven came to be the person he is.

I’m not sure this had the punch of the first two books. I loved those but this one not to the same degree, perhaps because it had less romance and more scheming and skulduggery. I’ll be curious to see where the fourth book goes.

Undiscovered by Anna Hackett

This is the first book of Anna Hackett’s I’ve read and it won’t be the last. Undiscovered was a terrific read! Having written a romantic adventure myself with The French Prize, I’m a bit of a fan of the genre and Undiscovered had everything I love in spades.

Think Indiana Jones, The Mummy and Tomb Raider all wrapped up into one action-packed and sexy read, but with a whole bunch of hot men (and women) waiting in the wings to keep the Treasure Hunter Security series rollicking along for aaaages. Excellent.

Even better, Undiscovered is currently free on Amazon. Go get ‘em!

What were your favourite reads of September?