Unfortunately, I have not been able to read and review this book.

After losing and replacing my broken Kindle and getting a new phone I was unable to download the title again for review as it was no longer available on Netgalley.

I’m really sorry about this and hope that it won’t affect you allowing me to read and review your titles in the future.

Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity.
Natalie.

Dividido em três partes A Place to remember conta a história de Ava, uma cozinheira que no final dos anos 70 se apaixona pelo filho dos padrões com o qual divide o gosto por cozinhar, tendo o romance atrapalhado pelas diferenças sociais e preconceitos da época, passamos a acompanhar a trajetória do casal através dos anos separados. (...) É interessante acompanhar a evolução dos protagonistas e a forma como eles amadurecem devido à história de vida e experiencias de cada um (...). A Place to remember é um livro sobre encontros e desencontros, sobre recomeços e segundas chances, é um livro para ser lido aos poucos e que gera reflexões sobre o dia a dia das pessoas e como as atitudes dos outros podem influenciar em nossas vidas.
Resenha completa no blog

A Place to Remember was a brilliant read written by a brilliant and very talented Aussie author, Jenn J. McLeod. Having read a few books written by this writer, now I must say how I love the way she draws her readers in right from the start.

I flew through this book in only a couple of days which surprised me, but I just couldn’t put it down it was that good, no better than good it was fabulous. Jenn J. McLeod is one of my favorite authors her style of writing makes her books so easy and entertaining to read. This is a tale of family saga, loss, love and so much more. With thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for my digital copy to read and review.
Highly recommended.

Really enjoyable read. Good characters and a Good story. Well worth a read. Think others will enjoy.

This is a really enjoyable story and such and easy read, I spend several hours wrapped up in the story and away from the mundane day to day!

This book has so many different aspects, it has romance, heartache, love and second chances - all the great ingredients for a good story! I really liked the characters and the descriptive nature really brought it all to life and it did make me love it just a bit more.

Definitely a five star read for me and highly recommended!

DNF at 10% (it was 49 pages though).

I decided to make a concerted effort to get back into this book but within a page or two of picking it up again I was totally exasperated by the way the author felt the need to give me a botany lesson about Epiphytes and then I was subjected to teenage angst and phrases like "... but could Ava articulate any of it to his face when his expression was burning holes in her heart?" Overall I didn't like the writing and I found it difficult to get into the story which is a pity because I thought the blurb sounded intriguing.

Because the intro was so slow and I DNF'd the book so early I'm afraid I can't tell you much about the plot.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

This is the first book that I have read by this author and what a book it is. I absolutely loved reading it but more about that in a bit.
I can honestly say that there was not one character that I didn’t like or take to in this book. Each of the characters are so realistic and sympathetically written that it would take somebody with a heart of stone not to feel for them. Even the baddie in the story was understandable in a way. I loved reading about the close relationship that Ava and her daughter, Nina enjoyed. I loved the way in which Nina decided that she had to meet Ava’s lost love for herself and supported her mother when they returned to Candlebark Creek. I also loved the close relationship that John and his son, Blair enjoyed. I guess you could say I loved the characters!
‘A Place To Remember’ is one of those books that when you pick it up and start to read it, literally transports you to another land. The descriptions of the country and the landscape were so vivid that if I closed my eyes, I could literally imagine that I was in Australia with the sun beating down on my face. I have never been to Australia but I hope to go as I have recently discovered that I have family over there. It’ll be a while until I can go as I have to save lots of pennies or discover I have won the lottery, but in the meantime reading such well written books as this are the next best thing to hopping on the aeroplane. Once I picked the book up, I couldn’t put it down as I became addicted to reading it. I was so immersed in the story that I felt as though I was ‘living’ it. The story was so captivating that I was swept along by it and I found myself going through all the emotions that the different characters were going through. To say that I felt as though I had been through the emotional wringer when I had finished reading the book is a bit of an understatement. I guess I am just a softie at heart. The story is written from two different periods of time -2015 and thirty years previously. Rather than constantly swap back and forth between the different time periods, the first part deals with 1985 and the second and third parts deal with 2015. This works really well and isn’t in any way confusing.
In short, I really did enjoy ‘A Place To Remember’ and I would heartily recommend it to others. Jenn J. McLeod is certainly a new writer to me but rest assured that I will be eagerly reading all of her other books and impatiently waiting for her next book. The score on the Ginger Book Geek is a well deserved 4* out of 5*.

A story set in two timeframes in rural Queensland, Ava takes a job as a cook in a b and b and meets the owner's son John, although John's family really want him to marry the girl next door.... so obviously the path of true love is not going to run smoothly! Thirty years later Ava returns with her daughter to see what has become of him.... will the spark still be there?

I really enjoyed this book, I have been to Queensland a couple of times so could picture the setting and always like sagas in different timeframes

This book had such a great premise but the end product ultimately disappointed me.

It essentially is told in three parts. I struggled with the first part which is pretty much just your standard rural romance. It’s the 1980s and 27 year old Ava goes to work as a cook on a cattle property west of Rockhampton (Queensland, Australia, for those who’ve not heard of it). John is the 20 year old son of the family employing her. Despite their age difference they bond over cooking (baking mostly) and fall in love. Alas, John’s miserable mother and Katie, the young girl next door who’s always imagined she would marry John, team up to spoil the romance. Their opportunity soon comes when John suffers from a medical issue.

I had a hard time connecting with young John. I found him a bit of a bore. Ava’s sad past too left me a little cold. Instead of falling in love with her father, which I assume I was supposed to, I simply found him weak and complicit to his wife’s treatment of their daughter. (To do nothing is to aid and abet.)

The second part of the book started with much more promise. This John, now aged around 50, was more my type of man. He seemed so much stronger and his newfound love of painting suited him and the storyline much more than the cooking thing. Ava, now 58 and in the middle of her own health scare, decides to seek out John under the pretext of him painting her portrait. The whole idea was wonderful but I didn’t think McLeod executed it quite right. Ava and John’s scenes were too rushed. I would have preferred McLeod drag the sitting for the painting out much longer. I really wanted to get a middle aged romance with lots of UST. Instead I got a lot of Ava panicking about her scars and wrinkles and wishing she looked like she did when she was 28.

The third part of the book focuses of the romance between Ava’s daughter, Nina, and John’s son, Blair. Again, we were back to a normal rural romance which unfortunately didn’t pique my interest. (I must add, the secret surrounding Blair was quite obvious and I guessed it early on.)

I was keen to read the book seeing as it was set in my home state but McLeod’s style is not flowery descriptive prose and I was never really transported into the setting as I should have been. The fact that the characters were driving up and down from Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast to Rockhampton (about a seven hour drive) seemed unrealistic and annoyed me greatly also.

There were some good points to the book. Ava is quite the feminist and there is no slut shaming of her, NIna or Katie.

The book is quite long and I struggled because I’m fast learning I dislike rural romance, but if you’re a fan you’ll definitely get your money’s worth with essentially two featured in the book.

I think many people will love this book, but I just wasn’t one of them.

3 out of 5

I'll admit, this did take me awhile to get into but the characters were interesting and I felt the storyline picked up pace once Ava and John's relationship did. The parallel story about Katie was good, too. I've never been to Australia, and it is one of the countries I have always dreamed of visiting.

The whole setting of the town of Candlebark Creek and the whole "wilderness" feel of rural Queensland had me absorbed. The additional plot about panna cotta, while flirty, did not really capture my interest and I was more interested in the intricacies of the relationships between the characters in the book. The house, Ivy-May, seems a very rustic yet cosy place, and with all the cooking going on, it certainly seems a homely place, too.

A Place to Remember has a myriad of different plots running through it, and what I liked most about Jenn J McLeod's writing was how she put them together while keeping up a steady pace throughout the book. I felt love, loss anger sadness and was also able to discover the characters' secrets. Some of the writing was very raw and emotional. One thing that stood out about A Place to Remember are all the twists and turns in the plot. This is the first Jenn J Mcleod title I have had the pleasure to review, and I'm always intrigued by novels that span generations.

Thanks to Jenn J McLeod and Aria, an imprint of Head of Zeus, for my ARC in exchange for an honest and voluntary review.

Review: First I would like to thank Aria Fiction for asking me to take part in the blog tour for this book. 

The story is set on a cattle ranch and is based across generations. So, there are a few main characters. Two women and one man doesn't equal a happy ending and due to the era and what is expected of John he is ment to marry one of them for the family but true loves arrow falls else where, towards Ava who learns lost love is hard to bare.

I enjoyed reading this delightful tale. The plot is a typical love triangle but with a mythical twist involved. I love to read a story that goes across many generations as it gives a story real depth and shows that the love is deep and lasting. The writing is engaging and captures you from the very start.

A very enjoyable read.

It's rare for a story to make me cry, but this tale of lost chances and the abiding love of a mother and daughter did. An epic tale, set in Queensland, Austrailia, Ava and Nina's story spans over thirty years. You can't recapture the past, but Ava finds it is not the case but is she prepared to risk her heart again?

Vividly described, you get a sense of the wildness and beauty of the dramatic setting, but mostly the land is unforgiving and demands everything from those who work it. I've never visited Australia and probably never will, but this story lets me travel there in my imagination.

It takes a while to get into this story, but each twist and heartbreak and risk Ava takes, draws you into her world past and present until you are emotionally involved and want her to have a happy ending, even when it seems unlikely.

The characters are believable, and their life events realistic, not everything falls into place as Ava's past collides with her present, but there is hope. She is successful in her career and more importantly her family life, even though she has never forgotten the man she loved and left.

I read the 'Thorn Birds' about forty years ago when I was a teenager and still remember it now, and similarly, I think the emotion and poignancy of this story will stay with me too. If you get the chance, read this.

I received a copy of this book from Head of Zeus via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

A Place to Remember is women's fiction at its finest and most absorbing. Set in Australia, the descriptions of place were vivid and brought this story to life. The characters were easy to engage with and I enjoyed reading about them. There are two stories, that of a mother/daughter and father/son who come to care deeply for each other as the reader does too. Romance is in the air but its course is not smooth. There are some less likeable characters as well although clearly the reader is not meant to like them. This book would make a perfect pairing with the series A Place to Call Home that is available on acorntv.com in the U.S.

Such a great story of love and loss and secrets from over two generations.

I have never read any of Jenn Mcleod’s books but I’m certainly aware of them. So I was really pleased to access an ARC of her new novel, which I thoroughly enjoyed.
Set in two time periods, one in the 1980’s when Ada takes up a job as a cook in a country QLD B&B and then thirty years later, when Ada is experiencing declining health and thinking about the past.
When I first started this book, I thought it might be the ‘old chestnut’ of girl gets pregnant and is banished to bring up the baby alone but refreshingly it wasn’t!
It was a beautiful story of love lost and found, family and the lengths that some take to keep secrets safe. Admittedly, I have never heard of ‘Acquired Savant Syndrome’ which was a thread in the story and that was really interesting.
I also enjoyed the fact that the time periods were in ‘blocks’, therefore you could really get involved in the characters as they were, without the constant switching between chapters. (though this is not something that usually bothers me)
This book did take me more time to read and I think it was a big book but I admit I had a busy week and picked it up and put it down a bit, overall I found it enjoyable and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it.
Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for a copy to read.

I enjoyed this book so much! I read this in a little over one sitting. I loved how we got to read Ava's story both in the present and the past and I could completely relate to the characters of Ava and John Tate. A really beautiful tale of true love, encompassing our dreams, hopes and losses, the way the story and it's secrets unfolded was perfect. The weaving of Nina into the story and her search for the truth was really well done. The strength that Ava carried within herself and her unwavering belief in herself was really refreshing. The setting was delightful and I am definitely adding this part of queensland to my travel itinerary. I highly recommend this novel to anyone looking for a good read.

Thanks to NetGalley and Head of Zeus for a copy in return for an honest review.

This is a very interesting and sometimes sad novel of love lost, of unfulfilling lives and of the past meeting the present. An incident of life altering proportions couples with a mother who chooses to rewrite history changes the course of life for John Tate and Ava Marchette. Thirty years later, Ava returns to John’s home seeking reassurance that after the incident he led a live filled, abundant life. She learns of his mother’s deception and through an unraveling of hidden memories, tries to jump start John’s lost memories of her and of their love.
Upon learning about her mother’s lost love, Ava’s daughter, Nina, travels to the B & B run by John’s family to figure out her mother’s and John’s past. In the process, she meets John’s son, Blair, and a possible new and true life for her begins. If only the clouds from the past and her omission of her relationship to Ava does not complicate things for no good.

Wow. A story of family secrets, lies, illness, misunderstanding, heartbreak and family dynamics explored across two generations and thirty years. Set in Queensland Australia this story will grip you to the end

I have to admit it took me a while to get used to the switching between timelines but once I did I found it added a lot to the book to have the two stories side by side. There are wonderfully vivid descriptions, well developed characters and a storyline on an epic scale. I definitely feel this is more than your average chick lit novel. I look forward to checking out more books by this author.

Book Blurb…
A man loses five years of his life. Two women are desperate for him to remember.
Running away for the second time in her life, twenty-seven-year old Ava believes the cook's job at a country B&B is perfect, until she meets the owner's son, John Tate. The young fifth-generation grazier is a beguiling blend of both man, boy and a terrible flirt. With their connection immediate and intense, they begin a clandestine affair right under the noses of John's formidable parents.
Thirty years later, Ava returns to Candlebark Creek with her daughter, Nina, who is determined to meet her mother's lost love for herself. While struggling to find her own place in the world, Nina discovers an urban myth about a love-struck man, a forgotten engagement ring, and a dinner reservation back in the eighties. Now she must decide if revealing the truth will hurt more than it heals...

My thoughts…
I write this review with some bias; I love this author, I've read every book, and her latest novel is a story to remember that will captivate your heart. A Place to Remember is a big novel - a romantic sage that spans three generations. There are some really likeable characters, and as usual, Jenn does antagonists that you want to hate but just can't help but feel for by the end of the story. (Maybe not all of them!) Of course, her protagonists (a mother and daughter both looking for their place in the world, who find love) are resilient and determined.

You'll fall in love with Ava and John as they fall in love (in the eighties) and Nina's story (current day) will make you laugh and cry as she struggles to adapt to the land. Nina's role is also to uncover an urban myth about a love struck man, a forgotten engagement ring and a dinner reservation back in the eighties.

This is a such a good story. Its almost two love stories in the one book and Jenn's descriptions of life on the land always give me goosebumps. A Place to Remember is her best yet.

A 'must read' for 2018.