Title: Australian Boss, Diamond Ring

Author: Jennie Adams (website)

But is she Australian?: Jennie lives inland NSW

Line: Mills&Boon Sweet

Sub-series?: No, but secondary characters from this story will have their own romances

Release date: March 2010

Still available: Yes, eformat

Book setting: Sydney’s outer suburbs

Okay, got a synopsis? Fiona takes her dream job under the direction of Brent, a driven and brilliant landscape engineer, and from the beginning she is aware of him as much more than just an employee. He seems to notice her as well, but every time they share an intimate moment, he backs off immediately. Fiona is confused, and her insecurities (made worse by an unsupportive family) come out. Brent, also suffering from family issues, has his own insecurities standing in his way. Will our lovelorn couple ever reach their happy ending? (umm…it’s a Mills & Boon. Of course they do!)

What makes it worth reading? Fiona’s insecurities stem from her body shape and size (it’s never explicitly stated, but it seems like Fiona is quite tall, with an appropriate build for her frame), which is pretty common in romance novels, but Brent’s stem from his battle with autism, which is new - at least to me. His struggle with the symptoms and how they affect his personal life is well done. Also, I don’t normally like a book ending with a proposal when the characters haven’t even been able to successfully navigate a date, so I went into the ending of this skeptical, but Adams managed to move me from ‘no way’ to ‘okay’ - it wouldn’t necessarily work for me, but I could believe (by the skin of my teeth) that it would work for this couple.

Any quibbles? Oh! My…God! The punctuation will…probably drive you mad. I have no idea what her editor was thinking letting her get away with so many … frickin’…ellipses…but she did…so you’ll have to … get over them in order to enjoy the story. Also, Adams doesn’t have a deft touch with dialogue. Brent’s stilted conversation could be forgiven as a symptom, but every character suffered from it. For example, a workman at a site: “The company hasn’t missed a deadline yet, even when things have gone pear-shaped, as they did with this project when some of the goods we ordered didn’t arrive three days ago.”

Recommended? The autism aspect makes this an interesting read, but the punctuation and strange dialogue can be difficult to get around.

Anything else? Aussie Author Month now has its own fundraising page for The Indigenous Literacy Project. Visit!