This week, we’re giving away three copies of Out of the Blue by Penelope Janu. Bird researcher Flick Atherton's sub-Antarctic assignment brings an unexpected challenge: arrogant Norwegian pilot Sebastien Thorsen, whose presence forces her vulnerabilities to surface. As an unlikely attraction blooms in the closeknit Antarctic community, Flick must decide if she can leave her traumatic past behind for an out-of-the-blue love. You can also meet Australian Writers' Centre graduate Penelope on our blog and on episodes 159, 248, 380 and 522 of our podcast. Here’s the blurb:
A traumatic past, a charismatic stranger, a close-knit community…life is about to get complicated.
Flick Atherton loves the country towns where she lives, her work with migratory birds and the bond she shares with her late brother's daughter. The last thing she needs is a man telling her what to do. Particularly the arrogant, frighteningly competent Norwegian air-force pilot Sebastien Thorsen. When she accepts an assignment in the sub-Antarctic, her biggest challenge isn't the sub-zero temperature or her long-held fears, it's Sebastien.
Head of the UN environmental team funding Flick's position, and an all-round adrenaline junkie, Sebastien is the last man Flick should be attracted to. But the tiny Antarctic community is close-knit and vulnerabilities, both Flick's and Sebastien's, are impossible to hide. Working to finish a job he didn't want to take, Sebastien finds Flick a risk unlike any he has ever encountered, and he is frustrated yet entranced by her impossible mix of fragility and independence.
When the assignment is over and Flick is home again, can she leave her fears and the shadows of the past behind her? Will she accept that the love she's found, even when it is out of the blue, might be all she'll ever need?
If you’d like to win a copy, simply enter your details in the form below. Three lucky people will win a copy!
Entries close midday (Syd/Melb time) Monday 22 June 2026. Winners will be notified within a week of the competition closing.
GOOD LUCK!
THIS COMPETITION HAS NOW CLOSED. THANKS FOR YOUR ENTRIES! WINNERS WILL BE CONTACTED BY EMAIL AND ANNOUNCED IN OUR NEWSLETTER.
