AustLit

'Country-girl Cressida Knight fills her days with her farm, a rouge pet bull called Reggie and her volunteer emergency services work. The busier she keeps, the less she thinks about the cowboy who left her behind. She’s convinced the small-town Woodlea grapevine that she’s moved on, but now it’s time to move on for real.

'Champion bull rider Denham Rigby shares Cressy’s deep love for the land and all he’s ever wanted was to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Cressy through life. But three years ago a dark family secret left him no choice but to run. Now family duty gives him no choice but to return to the bush.

'What Denham hasn’t come home to do is to hurt Cressy by rekindling their relationship. He’s nothing but a liability and the beautiful, self-reliant cowgirl has to stay off limits. But when faced with Cressy’s desperation to save her drought-stricken farm, he can’t keep his distance. He joins her out droving on the long paddock. Then when Woodlea is hit by more than just rodeo fever, they are further thrown together and Denham loses the battle to lock down his emotions.

'But has he left it too late to stop running? And will the woman he’s always loved be prepared to risk her heart for a second time?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Small-town teacher Freya George is determined to make up for last year's disastrous Christmas. This year she will stop at nothing to ensure that she and the Woodlea community have the best holiday season ever. But from the moment Freya hangs the first piece of mistletoe, her plans unravel faster than red Christmas ribbon..' (Publication Summary)

'Dr Fliss Knight returns to small town Woodlea after losing a patient. Her confidence and city career in tatters, she buys a rundown farm. She intends to live a solitary life and hopes that the slow country pace will help her heal.

'Pick-up rider Hewitt Sinclair is no stranger to when things can get hairy in a rodeo arena. But when it is the life of his twin brother he can’t save, he hangs up his spurs. Determined to provide for his brother’s widow and young family, he gives himself no time to grieve. But when a motor bike accident proves he needs to also look out for himself, he accepts an old friend’s invitation to stay at an isolated property while his body heals.

'When Fliss meets the cowboy living in the bluestone stables across the garden, all her hopes for a quiet and peaceful life fade. Despite his reserve, Hewitt is impossible to ignore. As they work together to care for an abandoned dog and her puppies and to raise money for the local hospital by attending a mountain trail ride and charity ball, they also find themselves drawn to each other.

'But as a family secret threatens every truth Fliss has ever believed, and the heavy spring rain continues to fall, both Fliss and Hewitt must face their deepest fears. Will love be enough to guarantee happiness or will the past refuse to relinquish its dark hold?' (Publication Summary)

'For only child Neve Fitzpatrick, family is everything. When she loses her mother, she heads to the bush to rent a farmhouse near her grandmother's family home. To keep herself busy and her grief at bay, she offers to look after two little redheaded cowgirls and adopts a sassy pony and shaggy donkey in need of a refuge.

'Drover and horse trainer Tanner Callahan may have just found his mother, but he's resolved never to let anyone too close. Abandonment has cursed him all his life, and he won't let it happen again. Only two things unnerve him: children and small–town matchmaking. Then he meets occupational therapist Neve. Warm–hearted and unforgettable, she represents all that Tanner feels will forever remain out of reach.

'But when an old iron key unlocks family secrets from the Second World War, Neve needs help only Tanner can give. As the threads of the past unravel, and locusts threaten to suffocate the land, Neve and Tanner must make a choice. Will fear keep them running or is the home each yearns for already within grasp?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Country girl Bethany Galloway has a single prerequisite when choosing a man. He must be someone her mother, Edna, small town Woodlea's notorious matchmaker, disapproves of. Mac Barton ticks such a box.

'Farmer Mac Barton has always known intriguing and beautiful Bethany has been off limits. Their families have been long locked in a feud over a cattle trophy. Then at the first of the autumn bonfires he breaks with family loyalty. A conversation with Bethany leads to the start of something more.

'For Bethany, what she feels for Mac is real. Mac too has no doubts that Bethany is who he's been searching for. But when Edna, and Mac's father, unexpectedly approve of the clandestine relationship, trouble hits with the force of a winter storm.

'Can a woman desperate to be her own person, and a man who refuses to be manipulated, find their way back to each other?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Healing doesn't just take time, it takes courage...

'The scars country vet Ella Quinlivan hides are not solely on the outside. Men are off-limits. She fills her world with her friends, work and the colourful community of small town Woodlea. She also becomes custodian of a sandstone cottage of an elderly friend whose teenage daughter went missing two decades ago.

'With a broken marriage behind him, Saul Armstrong is determined to recapture his dreams by bringing American bison to the Australian bush. He intends to stick to his side of the high wire fence that divides his farm from his distracting new neighbour, Ella.

'When Saul calls out Ella for a bison emergency she isn't just thrown out of her comfort zone by dealing with an unfamiliar animal. Slow-smiling and guarded Saul stirs emotions she'd long ago discarded.

'When the summer heat parches the landscape and dust obscures the sun, hidden secrets come to light. Not only will Ella and Saul be tested, the connection forged between them will be threatened. Will love be enough to guarantee their freedom or will fear continue to dictate the direction their lives will take?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.