Take Two | Danielle Hawkins

Sometimes, you have to revisit your past to find your future. Laura and Doug were together for ages. Their breakup was just one of those things - she wanted children, he didn't, no hard feelings - at least not until, with their relationship barely cold in its grave, he got his new girlfriend pregnant. Now, seven years later, a polite social call to his parents lands Laura back in the family, helping Doug and his playboy younger brother to cope with a whole raft of crises. And what better time to re-evaluate your major life decisions than when you're wrangling a farm, a bookshop, two small children, your ex's wife in labour and his two sick parents? This is Danielle Hawkins' best novel yet. Funny, tender and not afraid to tackle the big issues, it will have you laughing and shedding tears in equal measure.

"Hawkins is reliably kind, drily funny, and observant ... like Jane Austen in Red Band gumboots." - The New Zealand Herald. 'Take Two is that rare and special thing, a novel that is effortless to read - I sped through it in a day - but is also emotionally genuine and original. Danielle Hawkins is a natural storyteller with a light touch and she doesn't shy away from the gritty and the real. She is New Zealand's very own version of Marian Keyes.' - Nicky Pellegrino

Danielle Hawkins has written five bestselling novels, including Chocolate Cake for Breakfast and When It All Turned to Custard, and the bestselling memoir, Two Shakes of a Lamb Tail. She lives on a sheep and beef farm near Ōtorohanga with her husband and two children. She works part-time as a large animal vet and writes when the kids are at school and she's not farming. She is a keen gardener, an intermittently keen cook and an avid reader.