I think I could quite happily move to Watervale Downs South Australia, the central location in this story, as it has everything that a woman needs - a great coffee shop with super food and a rather delicious barista, superb wine created by the local priesthood, a well stocked library, a night sky so clear that all the stars can be counted and a diverse range of women waiting to potentially be friends. This was a gentle story that took a little time to get going but once you were immersed in the lives of the four women. Bev, Fenna, Jane and Tilly, the book is built around, you were all in. I must admit while Tilly was the central character of the four and she was great, it was Jane that I really came to love and feel for the most. I do have to give an honourable mention to Viv, mayor of the town and the driving force behind the volunteer fire fighters, she was a very endearing character. The Australian landscape was a super backdrop for all their stories. You could certainly taste, smell and see the bushfires as they consumed and transformed the land. The writing partnership of Steven Reynolds and Viktoriya Butler using the pen name Mette Menzies - really works as they have created a really engaging book. Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read this arc in return for my honest opinion.

I very quickly settled into this book and enjoyed the warmth, hope and friendship of a Aussie based community. The banter was light and fluffy while the happenings in the characters lives was quite serious. But at the end of the day they were there for one another because that is what we do. A masterfully told tale.

Set in the heart of South Australia’s wine country, The Watervale Ladies’ Writing and Firefighting Society brings together four very different women whose lives unexpectedly entwine in a small country town. When high-flying international lawyer Tilly Marr is forced to trade London skyscrapers for the quiet streets of Watervale Downs, she thinks she’ll be in and out in days. Instead, she’s drawn into the town’s daily rhythms — helping out as the local solicitor, joining a writing group in the town library, and even training with the local fire service.

There’s much to enjoy here: the warmth of country life, the growing friendships between Tilly, matriarch Bev, former TV star Fenna, and librarian Jane, and the individual stories that gently unfold as each woman faces her own reckoning. There are moments of heart, humour, and hope, all tied together with a distinctly Aussie flavour.

That said, I found it a little slow to get into, and it didn’t quite capture me in the way I’d hoped. It’s a bit different to what I usually read, and although I did enjoy it once I settled into the story, it felt a touch too long for the type of book it is. Still, it’s a light and pleasant read — one that could suit readers after a feelgood story to pass the time.

⭐️⭐️⭐️½