february

afternoons with harvey beam by carrie cox

I read this wonderful funny story while lounging under the shade of an umbrella, glass of bubbles and Miss Bella at my feet​. I love my Aussie summers and this book couldn't of been more well timed.
My heart went out to Harvey Beam (albeit not for long) heading back to his regional outback Australian home town. I felt like I could literally see and feel the shimmering heat of the tarmac as his plane landed.
​Harvey, the entitled white middle aged male, grumpy, remote and the 'why me' mentality shining through. Its a story of mid life crisis, the chaos of families, dying relatives and charting the course of changing dynamics within the family. The hurt, the pain and the bitter sweet moments of random pellets of joy. 
Thoroughly entertaining and feel good. I loved it!!

Official blurb - Confirming his suspicions that you can successfully run away from your problems and a dysfunctional family, talk-show host Harvey Beam got out of his regional hometown as soon as he could. Beam creates a stellar radio career in the city, and builds a life that bears no resemblance to the one he left behind. But as things start to unravel at work and at home, Beam is called back to Shorton by the imminent death of his father. There he finds everything is still waiting for him just as he left it. Maybe, though, Harvey Beam is not the same angry young man who ran away. And maybe the arrival of a single, wonderful stranger will mean that instead of going back, Harvey can finally move on.