AustLit

'Your ex-wife didn’t leave you because of me. She didn’t abandon her little girl because of a couple of love notes in your jeans pocket. She left because she’s twisted, and she wanted to punish you. And she’s not finished yet. You have to believe me. If you don’t, there’s no knowing what she’ll do next…

'Becoming a stepmother is the best thing that ever happened to me. My favorite part of every day is picking Charlie up from school, watching her little rucksack bounce behind her as she skips over for a hug. I love the feel of those thin freckled arms around my waist. After a few rocky months of panic attacks when her mother deserted her, Charlie is flourishing. But the day Charlie’s mother Bronwyn returns without warning—showering Charlie with gifts and making promises she can’t keep—fear ripples through me.

'When I raise my concerns, no one wants to listen. I know I sound like the jealous new wife, but nothing is more important to me than Charlie’s safety.

'Me and Bronwyn have history. We both have dark secrets in our past, and I know the dangerous lengths she will go to get what she wants.

'But Bronwyn doesn’t know me as well as I know her.

'She doesn’t know just how far I will go to protect that little girl…'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'“Thank you,” I say sweetly when she tells me I’m lucky to have such a beautiful family. But I want to tell her it’s not just luck. A family is like a fortress you have to defend all the time. You can’t relax because there’s always someone looking for a breach, always someone trying to get in. Someone just like her…

'When I arrive unannounced at my husband’s studio in need of a shoulder to cry on after hearing that my best student, Alex, has died, I see a pair of wineglasses drying by the sink and my deepest fear is confirmed: my husband is having an affair.

'Most women would fall to their knees in tears and throw him out of the house–but I just can’t bring myself to do it.

'Instead, I go home and cook a healthy dinner for our children, walk the dog and unload the dishwasher without complaint. I will make him see that I’m still the woman he married; attractive, successful, the glue that holds our perfect family together. I need this marriage to work to protect a terrible secret of my own, something that would destroy everything I’ve already sacrificed so much for.

'But when the police arrive at my door asking questions about Alex’s death that I can’t answer, and threatening text messages start appearing on my phone, I know that someone close has been watching me very carefully.

'The truth is, there are three people in my marriage, but only one of them is deadly…'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'She's a liar. She's a stalker. She's in your house.

'When Claire sees Hannah Wilson at an exclusive Manhattan hair salon, it's like a knife slicing through barely healed scars. It may have been ten years since Claire last saw Hannah, but she has thought of her every day, and not in a good way. So Claire does what anyone would do in her position—she stalks her.

'Hannah is now Mrs. Carter, living the charmed life that should have been Claire's. It's the life Claire used to have, before Hannah came along and took it all away from her.

'Back then, Claire was a happy teenager with porcelain skin and long, wavy blond hair. Now she's an overweight, lazy drunk with hair the color of compost and skin to match. Which is why when Hannah advertises for a housekeeper, Claire is confident she can apply and not be recognized. And since she has time on her hands, revenge on her mind, and a talent for acting…

'Because what better way to seek retribution—and redress—than from within the beautiful Mrs. Hannah Carter's own home?

'Except that it's not just Claire who has secrets. Everyone in that house seems to have something to hide.

'And now, there's no way out.'

(Source: publisher's blurb)

'If only she’d said no….

'Katherine knew she’d had too many drinks, but they were only going a short distance. And as Eve pointed out, it was late, there was no traffic anyway…

'Now, Katherine would give anything to turn back the clock. If anyone ever found out about the accident, it would ruin her life. But no one needs to know because Eve was there too, and she’s going to help make it all go away.

'Except something’s not quite right with Eve, and by the time Katherine realizes that…

'It’s too late.'

(Source: publisher's blurb)

'She thought they had the perfect marriage...

'Tamra never dreamed she would marry someone like Mike Mitchell: handsome, rich, a wonderful husband... until she finds out that Mike is having an affair.

'But Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, and Mike Mitchell should have remembered that before he made a fool of her. Because Tamra knows something about Mike. Something he did. Something evil. And she was prepared to carry the secret to her grave.

'Not anymore.

'To make matters worse, Mike’s daughter Madison has come to stay for a few days, and Madison doesn’t like Tamra. Well, that's too bad, because Tamra doesn’t have time to argue. She’s too busy ruining Mike’s life while remaining - on the surface, at least - the perfect, loyal wife.

'But when Tamra's plan spirals out of control, she finds that things are not what they seem.
'And now, it's too late.'

(Source: publisher's blurb)

'Everyone has secrets… and Rachel Holloway is no exception. She’s worked hard to keep the past where it belongs: dead and buried. So far, she’s been very successful.

'But now the small newspaper where she works wants to produce a podcast on a cold case: the disappearance twelve years ago of young Molly Forster.

'Some secrets should never see the light of day, and as far as Rachel is concerned, whatever happened to little Molly is one of them. Rachel has a life now, a boyfriend she loves and a three-year-old daughter she adores, and she will do anything to protect them.

'But to do that, no one can ever know that she is Molly Forster.'

(Source: author's blurb)

Emma's friends are close. Her enemies are closer.

Emma Fern has won at life: she's a prize-winning author and she's blissfully happy with her husband, Jim. It wasn't an easy rise to the top, but Emma knows you can't achieve success without sacrifice. The trouble is, Jim knows that too.

As her literary triumph starts to fade into the past, Emma comes under pressure to write a second bestseller. But her big secret is that she didn't write the first one. She's a fraud, and the only people who ever knew the truth are...no longer a problem.

What Emma didn't count on was Jim playing the long game too. He has his own secrets--and a dangerous plan that could derail her beautifully orchestrated life. Faced with the loss of everything that defines her, Emma is forced to take increasingly desperate steps.

She won't go down without a fight. And as Jim should know, she won't fight fair.

(Source: publisher's blurb)

When Beatrice said she wanted to publish her next novel under Emma's name, Emma thought she was joking. Why on earth would Beatrice, the famous crime writer, not want to publish her new book under her own name?

Precisely because she was so famous, Beatrice had explained. This time, Beatrice wanted to write something different, and publish it as an unknown author, and she wanted Emma to help.

After everything Beatrice had done for her, Emma could hardly refuse. But what was meant to be a favor has turned into a betrayal, and now Emma has done something terrible, something shocking, and the consequences are terrifying...

Source: Author's Blurb