AustLit

'Polly's on a nightmarish holiday ... and there's no one she can trust to help her out.

'Polly’s vacation in the coastal village of Charity Cove quickly turns into a ‘holiday in hell’. Though Aunt Emily and young cousins Arnold and Elliot welcome her, it’s harder to understand cousin Skye’s unpredictable moods. 

'On Polly’s first night in Cove, she learns Derek Somerset is manipulating a village desperate for money, through the re-introduction of an ancient cult. The only positive for Polly is her growing romance with Rudi Somerset. Rudi is equally interested in Polly. But his father has plans for Polly, plans Rudi doesn’t like. How can he warn her? 
'And why is everyone telling Polly lies? 
'Who can she trust?'

(Source: publisher's blurb)

'When Melbourne based 18 YO Taylor, finds herself in 1928 Berlin, she tries to stop the world heading into the second world war.

In 2017 Taylor and her grandfather, are exploring an old building in East Berlin once known as The Hummingbird Theatre and Restaurant. Taylor is angry with her two closest friends and frustrated by being advised not to apply to tertiary dance institutes.  When she wanders into an unrenovated section, hit by a falling cornice piece, she regains consciousness in 1928…

Rom Lewinsky, the Hummingbird’s junior manager, takes her home to his impoverished family. The only way Taylor can survive is by dishwashing, clearing tables, sharing a tiny room with dancer Juliet, and eventually joining her dance troupe. Rom and Juliet are in love, but Juliet’s stepfather, a member of the growing Fascist party, refuses to give Juliet permission to marry a Jew…'

Source: Author's blurb.

'Alongside Merri’s slow coming of age, we follow Stuart Macbeth’s rise and fall in the corporate world.

Home from Europe quarter way through her gap year, the only work 19YO Merri finds is as the Macbeths’ nanny. Sexually confused and lonely, she breaks with Mica, her female lover after developing a crush on her employer, the charming Stuart Macbeth.

Lorna, Stuart’s wife, exploits Merri, who overhears Lorna persuade Stuart to follow three Internet Gurus’ advice on taking over as chairman of SA Developments. Stuart uses Merri to confide how he destroys his old boss Duncan, and his best friend Banquo, and buys information on business colleagues.  As the year progresses, still taking the Internet Gurus’ advice, Stuart becomes increasingly obsessed with maintaining power, though always loathing his own excesses…'

Source: Author's blurb.

'After Prospero destroys a small space-ship owned by his brother Alonso, and Miranda and Ferdie fall in love, Ariel and the young couple are kidnapped by Caliban and flown to the dangerous planet of Trytth.

Prospero, the rightful CEO of Naples2Meta-Planetory-Corporation and his daughter Miranda, have been exiled by Prospero’s brother Alonso to an isolated spaceship where the aliens Ariel and Caliban also live. Prospero destroys Alonso’s small spaceship, but rescues the seven men on board. When Ferdie and Miranda meet, they fall instantly in love. Attempts by Zacharius and Antonio to murder Alonso, and Caliban and the comedians Trinithi and Stephano to take over the ship, are foiled by Prospero and Ariel. However, during an elaborate betrothal ceremony where Alonso apologizes to Prospero for having wronged him, Caliban steals a tube of ‘Blue Power’ and flies Ariel and four humans to the tropical but dangerous planet of Trytth…'

Source: Author's blurb.

'Tenderhearted Billie Hatchman has known no day without backbreaking hard work since she found out she was pregnant twelve years ago. Now she’s inherited a bed-and-breakfast from her great aunt, a woman she never met. It looks like her problems are solved. Except, Billie’s not prepared for the immense loneliness that comes with such a life. There’s enough to keep her distracted day to day, but thoughts of Sam Willis, her sexy chef neighbor, aren’t quite enough to fill her nights.

'Sam is the perfect man: good to her children, a supportive friend, and he stirs up feelings Billie long ago forsook. Yet Sam is taken, and his girlfriend is beautiful and socially connected—and rich. Could he truly believe a single mother of two would be a better partner and lover? That’s what the kindhearted, spitfire of a ghost in Billie’s bedroom believes. And Great Aunt Emily thinks this love is worth any risk.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'It is the year 20,043 AD. Pya, Zumi, Jafet and Trist – known as the Hatchlings – live in tiny Cells, are cared for by their tutor-holos, and can only communicate via their avatars. Pya narrates how the giant computer ComCen sends their real bodies back to the mid 21st (2043 AD) Century where they meet the twins, Rio and Charlie. But even if these six very quarrelsome youngsters manage to survive in a very dangerous world, they must also achieve Independence and Co-operation.' (Publication summary)

'Hanna Kaminsky loves gymnastics, her best friend Eva, Elzas chicken soup with dumplings and reading. But in September 1939 the happy life that Hanna has always known disappears. The Nazis have invaded Poland and are herding all Jews into ghettos in the cities. Hannas family are forced into hiding in the countryside. For a while it seems they are safe. But hiding from the Germans means trusting others. Rounded up by the SS, Hanna and her family are sent to the Warsaw Ghetto where they must use whatever skills they have to survive.' (Publication summary)

'Haunted. Haunting. Redeemed. When Lisa Harbinger takes a job as nanny to a prestigious Australian family, she gets more than she bargained for: two spoilt children, vengeful ghosts, a long-unsolved mystery and a blazing passion she and her enigmatic boss are unable to deny.

'INTO THE MIST

'Fleeing a humiliating end to a passionless marriage, Lisa Harbinger seeks refuge in a posh summer retreat on Australia’s lush South Coast. There she finds work as a nanny for two willful children on one prestigious estate. But behind Rangoon’s ivy and red brick walls lies a mystery: What really happened to the family’s beloved Penelope?

'Even more mysterious is Richard Prescott. Cold and aloof by day, Lisa’s boss heats up her nights and awakens her soul. But to have a future they both must escape their pasts. Vengeful ghosts and a generations-old curse seek to bring ruin on Richard and his family. But if Lisa can find the answers, she—and her growing love—could be the one to set him free.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'In 1954, Melbourne is still reeling from WWII; the Cold War sees suspicions running high and the threat of communism and spies hide in every shadow. Jewish schoolgirl, Ruth, is trying to navigate her own path, despite her strict upbringing and the past that haunts her family. It's a path that she wishes could include her first love, Patrick, but the rich Catholic boy is strictly off limits. When a mysterious woman moves in next door in the dead of night, Ruth is convinced she is none other than Eva or Evdokia Petrov, a Soviet spy and wife of the infamous Russian defector, Vladimir Petrov. Could Ruth's unlikely new friend really be the most sought-after woman in Australia? Will Ruth's own clandestine meetings with Patrick be discovered? How does the Petrov Affair, as it became known, impact the life of one ordinary girl and her family?' (Publisher's summary)

'17 YO Kai lives on the streets. The night Rod, his 12 YO autistic brother, comes looking for him, the two steal, crash a car and die. Searching for Rod, Kai finds himself in Hades where he meets dead Bilby-G. As their adventures continue, these youngsters are magically transformed to what they were before Kai became a street-boy and Bilby G. became anorexic. In their efforts to find Rod, the youngsters come across some of the mythical characters as described by Kai’s Greek grandmother before she died: a multi-headed dog. A blind prophet. Twin whirlpools. Three goddesses. A dangerous sea-nymph. The powerful sea-god and his evil one- eyed son.

'This novel’s journey (consisting of 47 poems that trace their journey through the underworld) is based on some of the mythical creatures from Homer’s “Odyssey”.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Cassie Georgiana Odysseos has the potential to become and Olympic swimmer. However after her parents separate, her training is interrupted when she and her little brother Timmy are sent to live with elderly Mike and Peg Calypso in Ithaca, a small country town without a training pool.

'Asked to deliver an important message to the underwater city of Neptunia, Cassie must use all her strength, strategy and spirit to survive a marathon wsim. But can she overcome King Neptune's terrifying obstacles?'

'Sam and her mother Kate live in the rear of the Conch Café, close to Sam’s best friend Melody and her dog, Billy. The building is owned by greedy witch Hecate Badminton who will do everything in her power to own the café’s Good-Luck-Conch. After Hecate steals the shell and the café burns down, the girls have a series of adventures in "eSide" where they must travel through dangerous digital worlds before they can recover their conch…' (From the publisher's website.)