AustLit

'Powerful, densely rich and deeply affecting, The Tolstoy Estate shows Steven Conte to be one of our finest writers.

'From the winner of the inaugural Prime Minister's Literary Award

'In the first year of the doomed German invasion of Russia in WWII, a German military doctor, Paul Bauer, is assigned to establish a field hospital at Yasnaya Polyana - the former grand estate of Count Leo Tolstoy, the author of the classic War and Peace. There he encounters a hostile aristocratic Russian woman, Katerina Trusbetzkaya, a writer who has been left in charge of the estate. But even as a tentative friendship develops between them, Bauer's hostile and arrogant commanding officer, Julius Metz, starts becoming steadily more preoccupied and unhinged as the war turns against the Germans. Over the course of six weeks, in the terrible winter of 1941, everything starts to unravel...

'From the critically acclaimed and award-winning author, Steven Conte, The Tolstoy Estate is ambitious, accomplished and astonishingly good: an engrossing, intense and compelling exploration of the horror and brutality of conflict, and the moral, emotional, physical and intellectual limits that people reach in war time. It is also a poignant, bittersweet love story - and, most movingly, a novel that explores the notion that literature can still be a potent force for good in our world.' (Publication summary)

'This novel is about a woman called Martha. She knows there is something wrong with her but she doesn't know what it is. Her husband Patrick thinks she is fine. He says everyone has something, the thing is just to keep going.

'Martha told Patrick before they got married that she didn't want to have children. He said he didn't mind either way because he has loved her since he was fourteen and making her happy is all that matters, although he does not seem able to do it.

'By the time Martha finds out what is wrong, it doesn't really matter anymore. It is too late to get the only thing she has ever wanted. Or maybe it will turn out that you can stop loving someone and start again from nothing - if you can find something else to want.' (Publication summary)

'The bestselling author of Boy Swallows Universe, Trent Dalton, returns with All Our Shimmering Skies - a glorious novel destined to become another Australian classic.

'Darwin, 1942, and as Japanese bombs rain overhead, motherless Molly Hook, the gravedigger’s daughter, turns once again to the sky for guidance. She carries a stone heart inside a duffel bag next to the map that leads to Longcoat Bob, the deep country sorcerer who put a curse on her family. By her side are the most unlikely travelling companions: a razor-tongued actress named Greta and a fallen Japanese fighter pilot named Yukio. ‘Run, Molly, run,’ says the daytime sky. Run to the vine forests. Run to northern Australia’s wild and magical monsoon lands. Run to friendship. Run to love. Run. Because the graverobber’s coming, Molly, and the night-time sky is coming with him. So run, Molly, run.

'All Our Shimmering Skies is a story about gifts that fall from the sky, curses we dig from the earth and the secrets we bury inside ourselves. It is an odyssey of true love and grave danger; of the darkness and the light; of bones and blue skies. A buoyant, beautiful and magical novel abrim with warmth, wit and wonder, a love letter to Australia and the art of looking up.' (Publication summary)

'Combining the emotional power and dual narrative style of Before We Were Yours with the nuanced, layered, and atmospheric mystery of The Dry, a powerful debut novel revolving around a shocking disappearance, two neighbor families, and shameful secrets from the past that refuse to stay buried.

'It is 1997, and in a basement flat in Hackney, Isla Green is awakened by a call in the middle of the night: her father phoning from Sydney.  30 years ago, in the suffocating heat of summer 1967, the Greens’ next-door neighbour Mandy disappeared. At the time, it was thought she had fled a broken marriage and gone to start a new life; but now Mandy’s family is trying to reconnect, and there is no trace of her. Isla’s father Joe was allegedly the last person to see her alive, and now he’s under suspicion of murder.

' Isla unwillingly plans to go back to Australia for the first time in a decade to support her father. The return to Sydney will plunge Isla deep into the past, to a quiet street by the sea where two couples live side by side. Isla’s parents, Louisa and Joe, have recently emigrated from England—a move that has left Louisa miserably homesick while Joe embraces this new life. Next door, Steve and Mandy are equally troubled. Mandy doesn’t want a baby, even though Steve—a cop trying to hold it together under the pressures of the job—is desperate to become a father.  

' The more Isla asks about the past, the more she learns: about both young couples and the secrets each marriage bore. Could her father be capable of doing something terrible? How much does her mother know? What will happen to their family if Isla’s worst fears are realized? And is there another secret in this community, one which goes deeper into Australia’s colonial past, which has held them in a conspiracy of silence?

'Deftly exploring the deterioration of relationships and the devastating truths we keep from those we love, The Silence is a stunning debut from a promising literary star.' (Publication summary)

'Desert captives for one night... Bound forever by their unexpected baby!

'When desert prince Ashraf was kidnapped alongside geologist Tori, their desperation to escape their life-threatening situation led to a moment of passionate oblivion. Rescued the next day, Ash was never able to discover Tori's fate. He's finally found her…but in their time apart, Tori has had his son! And now Ash will stop at nothing to claim them both!'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Every day IT expert Evie rides the commuter train and fantasises about the handsome guy sitting opposite. But her daydreams clash with reality when she gets a new job - and finds he's her boss! Guarded Frenchman Armand Debussey couldn't be more different from open-hearted Evie. His daredevil past has left him in anguish, and even if it puts her own heart in jeopardy Evie's determined to help him change that...'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'The Greek's virgin bride...is hiding her royal identity!

'While helping her friend escape an arranged marriage, dutiful Princess Mina finds herself captive on enigmatic Alexei Katsaros's luxurious private island! Mina must convince Alexei that she's his future bride - but she doesn't expect their scorching chemistry to be so deliciously overwhelming. And after a night in the Greek's bed suddenly there's more at stake than just Mina's hidden identity - her heart's at Alexei's mercy too!'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Brisbane, 1983: A lost father, a mute brother, a mum in jail, a heroin dealer for a stepfather and a notorious crim for a babysitter. It's not as if Eli's life isn't complicated enough already. He's just trying to follow his heart, learning what it takes to be a good man, but life just keeps throwing obstacles in the way - not least of which is Tytus Broz, legendary Brisbane drug dealer.

'But if Eli's life is about to get a whole lot more serious. He's about to fall in love. And, oh yeah, he has to break into Boggo Road Gaol on Christmas Day, to save his mum.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'A powerfully told, gripping novel of family, guilt, empire, and race set in the dusty, deserted outback of Queensland in the 1880s. Tommy McBride and his brother Billy return to the isolated family home to find their parents have been brutally murdered. Haunted and alone, their desperate search for the killers leads them to the charismatic and deadly Inspector Noone and his Queensland Native Police - an infamous arm of colonial power whose sole purpose is the 'dispersal' of Indigenous Australians in protection of settler rights.

'The retribution that follows will not only devastate Tommy and his relationship with his brother, but leave a terrible and lasting mark on the colony and the country it later becomes.

'This is a stunning debut from a major new talent.' (Publication summary)

Dynamic city surgeon Poppy Stanfield is at the top of her game and can't believe she's been sent to work in a rural Outback town! Her colleague brooding emergency doctor Matt Albright seems to thrive on the small-town solitude. But Poppy knows he's hiding from something and she's determined to draw him out of his shell and make him face his secrets.

'She's carrying the billionaire's child... But he seems like a stranger!

'Brooding Pietro Agosti was stunned when his sizzling fling with vibrant teacher Molly Armstrong resulted in her pregnancy. Finally, the merciless Italian would be able to continue his legacy—but then an accident left Molly with no memory of him! Pietro must help Molly remember the fierce attraction that drove them together, and the fact that the baby she's carrying is the Agosti heir...

'Experience the emotion in this dramatic amnesia romance!'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Lola Fraser knows better than to fall for her best friend's brother, paramedic Hamish Gibson. Living together whilst he's training could get awkward – fast! But as they work together on a heartrending case, they can't resist the temptation to take their minds off work. Surely one night will be enough...until they discover it isn't!'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Finn can't imagine loving anyone again... But could one woman change that forever?

'After Dr. Finn Foley's wife abandoned him and their adorable baby daughter, he threw himself into being a father. But when he meets a kindred spirit in widowed midwife Catrina Thomas, he can't resist getting to know her better. One sizzling kiss later, the happiness Finn has been searching for finally seems within his grasp...if only he's willing to claim it!'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'She refused his royal proposal…but will she let him unlock the passion within?

'King Theodosius must find a queen in order to keep his throne, but his less than romantic proposal letter leaves sheltered Princess Moriana cold. So Theo decides to make Moriana an offer she can't refuse. If she'll consider becoming his bride he'll heat things up by initiating his innocent queen into the pleasures of the marriage bed…'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'She kept his royal heir a secret…now he'll make her his reluctant queen

'Prince Casimir of Byzenmaach can't shake the memory of Anastasia Douglas. With her, he forgot his royal duties in a moment of wild abandon. Seven years later he must wed – but in seeking out the unforgettable Anastasia he discovers a secret: she had his daughter! And he'll stop at nothing to claim them both…' (Publication Summary)

Burned by a greedy heiress, Tristan Barkley had sworn off romance. Until a sizzling night with Ella Jacobs, his secretive housekeeper turned blonde bombshell, made the millionaire rethink his decision. He'd find a way to guarantee she remained by his side...and in his bed. Yet when he learned she was carrying his child, he proposed the only solution: marriage. As their no-strings-attached connection turned all too real, Tristan couldn't shake the feeling that Ella was hiding something. And soon he began to doubt her true motives for the match-for love, for money...or forever?

Source: Author's web-site http://robyngrady.com/books/bedded-by-blackmail/

'The Lady Risks All in this delightfully sexy and sensuous historical romance novel from the creator of the recklessly romantic Cynster family—Regency England’s most irrepressible clan of sexy rogues and ladies—as well as the acclaimed Bastion Club books. The notorious Neville Roscoe, who lives boldly outside the bounds of proper society, is one of Laurens’s most unforgettable heroes—and the story of his seduction of prim, straight-laced Miranda Clifford is filled with intrigue, danger, and passion that will thrill not only Stephanie Laurens fans, but devoted readers of Lisa Kleypas, Johanna Lindsey, and Mary Balogh as well.' (Publisher's blurb)

'Wedded for revenge, bedded for pleasure! Gabriella St Clair is desperate: she and her family face financial ruin. One man can help her. But he’s the very man who wants to see her beg… Merciless tycoon Vinn Venadicci had a heart once. But after an encounter with the young, spoilt hotel heiress Gabriella, any feelings he had were locked away…for ever. Now she’s on his doorstep – pleading. He could send her packing. Or finally have a little vengeance of his own. After all, Gabriella Venadicci has quite a ring to it…' (Publication summary)

'Rescue medic Angus Campbell never fails to meet difficult situations head on. But bonding with his new-found son needs his heart and his time. His childhood home, Lyrebird Lake, is the best place to find both of those things. Pregnant midwife Mia is expecting a new arrival - but not this six-foot sex god and his son! Mia tries not to get involved, but Angus can't stop thinking that together they would be the perfect family.' (Publication summary)