Honor Boyce works hard at providing her partner as nice a home life as she can. With her small landscaping business she has worked hard, usually doing the work herself. She’s felt for a long time now that something was missing in her life. She comes from a family that’s never had to worry about money and even though she has a trust fund she wants to make her own way. For some reason she’s decided to keep her true worth from her partner Merrin.
She also never speaks of the huge crush she had when she was only 16 yrs old. Duscha worked at the local groceries store, and probably didn’t have a clue whether Honor felt that way about her.
Duscha Penhaligon grew up in Canberra, New South Wales and when she moved she promised herself she would never live there again. Even though her mother still lived there there were just too many memories connected to Canberra she would just as soon forget. She’s spent the last ten years living and loving her partner Noelle. It’s after Noelle’s death that Duscha moves to Wagga to get one with her life. But before she even gets settled in her new apartment she learns of her fathers death.
She only met her father once and she wasn’t impressed. He lied to Duscha’s mother by never telling her he was married. But as he states in the letter he left for her that didn’t mean he didn’t often think of her. One of the things she’s inherited was the house formerly owned by her great aunt. Problem is it’s in Canberra. Now she’s back finding out all kinds of information on her family and their early interest in the Suffrage Movement in Australia.
Now she finds herself hiring the same young girl she remembers to help with the house and garden. Ms Wigman has given us a great story along with a little history thrown in. One of the best books I've read. Characters you can’t help but like. Simply a great read.
ARC via NetGalley/Bella Books

Duscha is taking the steps to start a fresh new life after losing her partner, but then she gets the call that her father has passed away and she will be inheriting his property. She takes on a renovation project to restore the home to it's former glory. She hires a landscaping company and comes face to face with Honor who she hasn't seen since they were teenagers, where a few chance meetings formed a connection that lasted decades. The two women grow closer throughout the project, discovering each other and uncovering secrets of the history of Duscha's new home.

I really enjoyed this book, there were some odd bits but overall I enjoyed this so much that I can't give this anything less than 5 stars. I really enjoyed the parts of historical fiction in this book, I learned about little pieces of history that I am not familiar with and we got a cute little bonus love story. I really enjoyed the chemistry between Honor and Duscha, they had a really nice connection. There were also great secondary characters, with some lovely family moments and great friendships.

I received an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I’m very pleased I decided to read Closeness by Y.L. Wigman. I didn’t realize that it would be filled with so many of the genres and tropes that I love to read.

This story takes us through three generations of women in the Coxall family and the ladies they loved. In effect, we are getting three romances in one novel through the eyes of the present day couple Duscha and Honor. Through Duscha, we learn the stories of Aunt Charlotte and her lover Sylvia, and Duscha’s Great Aunt Irene and her partner Ruby. With Irene and Ruby’s story, we get the chance to learn about the Australian and UK Suffragette Movement of the early 1900s. The reader is also given an idea of how same-gender couples had to live in a time when homosexuality was illegal and thought to be perversion. Women especially had to deal with being the responsibility (read, property) of their parents or husband. That part of the novel was especially fascinating to me even though it was hard to read sometimes.

With this book, we not only have three f/f romances, historical fiction, and family drama, there is also a small element of the paranormal.

I must mention the stunning cover created by Kayla Mancuso. The three colors she used in the cover (green, white, and violet) have a special significance in the story, but I’ll let you discover that as you read.
I totally enjoyed reading this novel. If you love a good romance coupled with history, drama, and a bit of the paranormal, then I think you’ll enjoy Closeness as well.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and Bella Books for an honest review.

3.25 stars. This book is a little bit different. I found it to be an interesting read but I probably wouldn’t revisit it. If you like a mix of contemporary and historical romance you’ll definitely enjoy this one.

Set in Australia Duscha inherits a home from her estranged father unexpectedly. She’s mourning the death of her partner and the house gives her the opportunity to go back to Canberra. The house is old and needs a lot of work, which inspires her to hire a gardener.

Honor owns her own gardening/landscaping company. Her partner Merrin is the firms accountant after Honor gives her the responsibility when Merrin experiences health difficulties. Honor is called to Duscha’s to give a quote for the gardening work, when they realise they have a connection from their pasts neither expected to encounter again.

The narrative is interspersed with historical information as to how Duscha came to inherit the house. Some of this is done through her discoveries, others are done through historical flashbacks. Whilst I enjoyed the short stories that were told, I found it jarring at times to be pulled from one timeline to another. There’s also a subterfuge plot line for Honor.

I appreciated how their discovering each other again as contractor/contractee and then friends is built into the narrative. It does provide a little bit of angst, but I’m happy to say there’s no crazy conflict and the majority of the angst in the book is provided by their feelings about their situation and the things going on around them.

I liked the relationship Honor had with her father, which grew on me after initially feeling quite differently differently about it, and Duscha’s relationship with her mother. The couple of friendships interspersed in the storyline also helped with understanding both characters.

There were a couple of small bits that weren’t revisited to the full extent I would have liked but I can understand why they perhaps won’t in the overall narrative. However there was something about the book that left me with a sense of it being unfinished. It’s possible it’s because it crams in a lot in a relatively short word count.

All in all I think this book has elements people will enjoy, with a good narrative, interesting setting and elements of mystery, paranormal, romance and family conflict.

I received an e-ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Duscha returns to her hometown Canberra when her estranged father leaves her house. While she there refurbished the house she founds a letter from her aunt whom she never met written to her.

While she stills grieves her partner Noelle she has the support of her mother and friend Michele. When she hire Honor to maintain her yard and get it back to shape they remember they cross paths when they were teenagers.

Honor never really forgotten Dusha as she builds her business with her partner Merrin things become more complicated as their friendship grows but Dusha won’t act on it until Honor work out the things in her life.

This good read. I like that it had elements of paranormal we learn their were two other loves stories that happen in the house Dusha inherited Irene and Ruby who were suffragettes and Sylvia and Charlotte who were from the 60s.


I received an ARC copy of this book from the Publisher via Netgalley and voluntarily leaving my review.

Duscha Penhaligon of New South Wales returns to her home town of Canberra after inheriting a house from her father. She is the result of an affair and only has met him once. She is able to get a job in her field and be near her mother. As she paints and refurbishes the house she discovers a letter from an aunt she never met specifically written to her. Two other love stories of couples who lived in the house are told in flashbacks. Irene and her secretary Ruby who were suffragettes at the turn of the century and Sylvia and Charlotte from the 1960s. Duscha hires Honor Boyce to get the yard in shape. They actually remember meeting each other a few times in their teens and Honor has never forgotten Duscha.

My favorite things about the story were the setting and history. All the Austrialian slangs and lingo made me feel I was experiencing a different country. The history particularly in regards to the laws for gays is weaved into the story well. I even liked a hint of the paranormal. The writing style seems too formal. Maybe it is a cultural difference, but I don't feel the conversations flow easily. And some storylines don't go anywhere. Honor's father makes a big deal of wanting to know about Duscha's finances, which is important because of Honor's past relationship. But the two woman never have the conversation. It could have been sweet to have Duscha offer to pay for the additional education Honor needs in her field only to find that Honor has her own money. But that story never plays out. I did like that Duscha wouldn't become involved with Honor until she sorts out her own circumstances.

Overall a good read, particularly for the historical aspects. But the main romance felt weak in comparison. The novel is clean for language, violence and has very limited heat. Thank you to NetGalley and Bella Books for an ARC ebook in exchange for an honest review.