I have had this book sitting on my TBR pile for over a year now and I am sorry I didn’t read it earlier, it is my first Meredith Appleyard book but it won’t be the last, she has taken me on a journey of opening hearts, finding love and letting go of the past and looking to the future as Anna and Nick find the joy that love can give.

Anna Kelly always dreamed of being a pilot and while living in Broken Hill in her last years of high school Anna started having flying lessons, but her trainer also taught her a lot more than flying, she became a single mother struggled but did finished those lessons and became a pilot, her and her daughter are doing well and now Anna is back in Broken Hill and flying for the Royal Flying Doctor Service and loving it, but she is not looking for love or a man in her life but Nick Harrison one of the nurses seems to be pulling her in a different direction.

Nick is back in Broken Hill and working for few months on contract as a nurse with the RFDS things have been hard for Nick over the last couple of years and he is doing his best to move on and when he sees that one of the pilots is Anna who he was in high school with his teenage dreams of Anna are pushing him towards her now, in his eyes she is still beautiful but a bit more aloof these days, but he is determined to get to know her better this time.

There is a lot going on the lives of both Anna and Nick and at times I could have yelled at them both, but the sensual pull is always there, but there is a lot more to a relationship than sex and it took both of them a while before they finally opened up. MS Appleyard pulled me into this one so much, it is moving, emotional and a sensual journey, I felt the pain of Anna and Nick and then the pure joy, this is one that I thoroughly enjoyed and I highly recommend.
#20BACKLISTIN2020

Anna Kelly left Broken Hill behind as a teenager after her life changed irretrievably. Now she’s back, older and wiser. She’s a pilot and flying for the RFDS. Nick Harrison is a flight nurse and they went to high school together. Like Anna, he left Broken Hill behind and moved on with his life. They are both back for different reasons. Attraction is obvious but with both holding secrets close to their chest, can they make it work and deal with the obstacles in their way? This is a delightful rural romance.

An engaging and heartwarming rural medical romance is what you will discover with this book. It is an enjoyable women's fiction tale, with themes of general living, family, friendships, romances, life choices and the challenges of living in a small rural town. I especially appreciated witnessing the life of a shift worker and the challenges that ensue.

This story also highlighted a number of important issues such as mental health, especially when associated with remote and isolated living situations; aged care and assisting aging parents; homelessness for a range of ages - adolescent boarding school to medical shift workers, to estranged marriages, to aged care - important issues that I felt were dealt with in an appropriate and enlightening way.

At its heart, however, this is a medical rural romance, set in and around Broken Hill (NSW - Australia) with the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS). It was above average as far as romance goes but, at times, was a little repetitive and prolonged in sorting out the relevant issues for both major parties. What I did appreciate and wish was investigated further, was the gender role reversal of a male nurse and female pilot - I wish more had been attributed to this significant aspect. The plot is simple but engaging with regards to the various relationships and there are some good secondary characters.

The highlight of this book would have to be the fascinating insights into RFDS culture and traveling the vast regions of the Australian landscape. I understood but never really appreciated the difficulties of not only dealing with providing medical assistance to remote areas, but also the pressure it brings to those who provide such services eg. insufficient staffing, long shifts and available expertise. The cases themselves are dealt with in realistic ways, that bring about true empathy for all involved.

If learning of such true to life situations appeals to you, then I recommend you go on a journey to the heart of Australia and discover how life is for the teams who provide such valuable services.



This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher and provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The quoted material may have changed in the final release

Anna Kelly loved her job as pilot with the RFDS, and now based in Broken Hill, her old home town, she was finding things much the same as they’d been all those years before. The only issue she had was her fifteen-year-old daughter, Isabelle whom she’d left in Adelaide - and missed desperately – she was living at the boarding school and Anna’s sister Teresa was on hand if Izzy needed anything. Anna settled in easily in Broken Hill, house sharing with Beth.

Nick Harrison was in Broken Hill as a fill-in casual Flight Nurse – his life in Sydney had imploded and Broken Hill was where his mother was; where he’d lived for much of his youth, so the offer had come at an opportune time. His mother was misbehaving, as she was wont to do, and his frustration with her continued…

With their shift work often coinciding, Anna and Nick became friends, although Anna kept her emotions firmly locked away. Flying to outlying properties and rural districts to take clinics, pick up patients and transfer them back to Broken Hill or Adelaide was the dream job Anna had always wanted. But trouble had a way of finding Anna – and Nick as it turned out. What would be the outcome for these two friends?

Home at Last by Aussie author Meredith Appleyard is a delightful medical rural romance, set in and around Broken Hill, NSW, with the RFDS (Royal Flying Doctor Service) at its centre. The vast countryside and fascinating insight into the RFDS culture was well done. I’ve loved this author’s previous work, and this was no different. Highly recommended.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my digital ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.

I chose to read this book because I've always had a fascination with the Flying Doctor Service in Australia. I think it goes back to the years of radio when when there'd be stories that involved this incredible service.

Anna comes back to Broken Hill as a pilot for the FDS. I loved that gender roles were reversed in this novel. Anna is a very competent pilot, has had a challenging life but always seems to make something work.

She meets up with one of the FDS nurses - Nick and a relationship develops. However for both of them there are issues especially that of trust that makes things rough going for awhile. Nick has his own baggage and it all takes some time to be worked out.

The flying doctor service aspect did not disappoint, the author's own experience of nursing with the FDS made for very authentic situations. I loved the Australian rural setting, a couple of the minor characters added some fizz to the plot.The story deals with issues of parenthood, ageing parents, having work that is satisfying and of course working out a relationship. A good read.

**4.5**
Meredith Appleyard has become one of my favourite authors.
I love the way she portrays small town communities.
This time she’s ventured into Broken Hill and while this story is not so community based, it does show similarities in it’s story line.

Anna Kelly has returned to Broken Hill as a pilot for the Royal Flying Doctor. She was in the town for a short while during her final year of high school and she didn’t count on flight nurse Nick Harrison remembering her. He’s keen to get to know her better, especially as she’s aware of why he’s now back in his home town but she has a few secrets that she wants to keep.
I loved the characters in this book, I felt for Nick as he tried to do his best for his off beat Mum and the way Anna interacted with her. The book also shines a light on how the The Royal Flying Doctors work and cases they may come across, some very harrowing for those involved.
Personally, I felt Anna was a bit silly not telling Nick her ‘secret’ sooner, they both well and truely were old enough for having another life...but I get it’s part of the story. I guess that’s where it didn’t quite hit the 5 star mark for me although I still loved it and the story left me in a good place.
One I would highly recommend.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for a copy to read.

I’ve found a new favourite author! Home At Last, set in Broken Hill and starring Royal Flying Doctor Service pilot Anna Kelly and nurse Nick Harrison. I’m not absolutely sure what it was about this book but I simply couldn’t put it down. I was so invested in Anna and Nick’s story that I thoroughly resented life’s little intrusions.
This is essentially a story about two ordinary people, each with their own set of worries. They’re not rich or famous but they were very real to me throughout the story. I cared about their financial worries and about whether they were getting enough sleep when one night shift after another had one or other of them nearly dead on their feet.
In addition to Nick and Anna, there were two other people who really touched me. Nick’s mother Marlene is just priceless and grew on me more and more as the story progressed, while Anna’s daughter Izzy really shone as the story began to draw to a close.
The story itself is simple enough, yet the plot was beautifully developed with so much to like and so many little threads to keep me turning the pages. This is one story I will definitely be putting on my keeper shelf.

This is my first book by Meredith Appleyard despite having one or two on my bookshelf. I was struggling to stick with a book when I picked this up, and thankfully it was a great decision because I couldn't put it down.

Set in Broken Hill, an outback town I've only seen or heard of in books and movies, it's nevertheless a place I can easily imagine especially after living in the WA Pilbara for a while.

Home at last is a story of new beginnings, new opportunities, new friends and relationships, about not letting the past dictate our future, taking responsibility for it but not letting it define us. It is also a story about secrets and who really benefits from keeping them.

I really enjoyed this book, Meredith did a great job of giving me a glimpse into the life of the people who work in the RFDS and the good and bad that they can experience everytime they are called out to a new patient. Anna is a pilot and her love for her new job and its challenges is clear, though it's not always an easy job. Nick is the flight nurse, who does an incredible job and has given me a new appreciation for the job these nurses and doctors do with very little support.

I really loved Nick's character, and I thought the way he knew what he wanted when it came to Anna and the way he wouldn't give up was lovely. I enjoyed Anna's character, I thought the choices she'd had to make as a single mum were hard ones, but she made them for the right reasons. I didn't get however why she was so secretive about being a single mum, I started to get a little annoyed at her for this, especially when it came to Nick. Anna's daughter Izzy was an interesting teenager and the relationship between them and Anna's sister Teresa was definitely a supportive one, both were very lucky that Teresa was so willing to help with the responsibilities of caring for Izzy, something many other single mum's wouldn't have as part of their support system.

This story also highlighted some important matters, such as mental health, especially of those living in remote places, and the lack of close by support.

Another aspect was that of homelessness, especially in women over 50, which is becoming one of the biggest groups of people currently finding themselves homeless. Nick's mother Marlene was quite a character and her homeless status was part of her own making and the lifestyle choices she'd made. It was interesting though to hear why she now said she chose to live in her car rather than go into a home and lose her independence. I loved how Anna formed a relationship with Marlene and the benefits each got from that relationship as the story developed.

I began to wonder as I neared the end if the story was going to have the happy ending I wanted it to have, there were so many secrets, misunderstandings and issues still to work through, part of me was afraid to keep reading, I do love a happy ending.

A really enjoyable read with some great characters, I will definitely look at getting my other Meredith Appleyard books read after enjoying this one so much.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Australia for providing me with a digital copy to review.

Home At Last by author Meredith Appleyard is a fabulously entertaining read full of character’s that tug on the heartstrings! A stunning story with equally stunning character’s whom you cannot fault. Anna and Nick are enthralling from start to finish. Home At Last is a book where I would use the term unputdownable reading. A must for your reading lists!
Review copy received from Harlequin MIRA via Netgalley