AustLit

'A blissful carefree summer beckons for Samantha Carmichael. But her world is turned on its head when she learns she's adopted - and that she has a twin sister, Charlie, who is critically ill.

'While Charlie recovers in hospital, Sam offers to look after Brumby's Run, her sister's home high in the Victorian Alps. Within days city girl Sam finds herself breaking brumbies and running cattle with the help of handsome neighbour Drew Chandler, her sister's erstwhile boyfriend.

'A daunting challenge soon becomes a wholehearted tree change as Sam begins to fall in love with Brumby's Run - and with Drew. But what will happen when Charlie comes back to claim what is rightfully hers?

'Set among the hauntingly beautiful ghost gums and wild horses of the high country, Brumby's Run is a heartfelt, romantic novel about families and secrets, love and envy and, most especially, the bonds of sisterhood.' (Publisher's blurb)

'Heartfelt and passionate rural romance from the bestselling author of Brumby's Run.

'When Brisbane lawyer Clare Mitchell finds herself the unlikely guardian of a small troubled boy, her ordered life is turned upside down. In desperation, she takes Jack to stay at Currawong Creek, her grandfather's horse stud in the foothills of the beautiful Bunya Mountains.

'Being at Currawong feels like coming home. Her grandad adores having them there. Jack falls in love with the animals, his misery banished. Clare relaxes for the first time in years, and finds herself falling hard for the kind, handsome local vet.

'But trouble is coming, in the form of the Pyramid Mining Company, trouble that threatens to destroy not only Clare's newfound happiness, but also the livelihoods of her new neighbours, and the peace and beauty of the land she loves.' (Publisher's blurb)

'For Nina Moore, the rare marshland flanking the beautiful Bunyip River is the most precious place on earth. Her dream is to buy Billabong Bend and protect it forever, but she's not the only one with designs on the land. When her childhood sweetheart Ric returns home, old feelings are rekindled, and Nina dares to dream of a future for both of them on the river. But a tragic death divides loyalties and threatens to tear apart their fledgling romance.

'This star-crossed rural romance sets Nina, a floodplains grazier, and Ric, a traditional cotton farmer, on a heart-rending collision course, amid the beauty of northern NSW.' (Publication abstract)

'Unlucky-in-love zoologist Zoe King has given up on men. Moving from Sydney to take up an exciting new role in marine science in the small sugar town of Kiawa is a welcome fresh start. Zoe is immediately charmed by the region's beauty – by its rivers and rainforests, and by its vast cane fields, sweeping from the foothills down to the rocky coral coast. And also by its people – its farmers and fishermen, unhurried and down to earth, proud of their traditions.

'Her work at the Reef Centre provides all the passion she needs and Zoe finds a friend in Bridget, the centre's director. The last thing she wants is to fall for her boss's fiancé, cane king Quinn Cooper, so she refuses to acknowledge the attraction between them – even to herself. But things aren't quite adding up at the Reef Centre and when animals on the reef begin to sicken and die, Zoe's personal and professional worlds collide. She faces a terrible choice. Will protecting the reef mean betraying the man she loves?' (Source: Publisher's blurb.)

'From the author of Currawong Creek and Turtle Reef comes a beautiful story of family, friendship and the healing power of love.

'When Sydney botanist Kim Sullivan and her husband inherit Journey's End, a rundown farm high on the Great Eastern Escarpment, they dream of one day restoring it to its natural state. Ten years later, however, Kim is tragically widowed. Selling up is the only practical option, so she and her children head to the mountains to organise the sale. The last thing Kim expects is for Journey's End to cast its wild spell on them all.

'The family decide to stay, and Kim forges on with plans to rewild the property, propagating plants and acquiring a menagerie of native animals. But wayward wildlife, hostile farmers and her own lingering grief make the task seem hopeless. That is, until she meets the mysterious Taj, a man who has a way with animals. Kim begins to feel that she might find love again. But Taj has his own tragic past – one that could drive a wedge between them that can not be overcome . . . ' (Publication summary)