AustLit

'A tormented psychic. An unethical Detective. A soulless demon.
'Homeless petty criminal, Grub, finds shelter in a derelict house during a storm. Why does he ignore his instincts telling him to run? 
'Detective Vic Carter resorts to dubious means to arrest anyone he believes is guilty of a crime. After two murders and a kidnapping he has Haley Shaw in his sights.
'Haley has enough to cope with: a traumatic past, keeping secrets from her husband, her inability to save those dying in her visions.
'After a night of carnage Haley is on the run and desperate to save her son. It isn’t just evil humans she has to fear. Something darker and deadlier is out there. It needs Haley’s unique soul to live again. This time nothing will stop it.'

(Source: publisher's blurb)

'Mysterious and chilling events on an alien world threaten the interstellar survival of the human race…

'They have awoken surrounded by alien stars. Following their abduction from Earth, Laura Sinclair and son, Jason, lead a group of desperate humans in a bid to forge their own future and that of their home planet.

'To succeed, they must solve the puzzle of extraterrestrial races in the throes of a perplexing and historic conflict.

'But they are in a strange, new universe; on a bizarre and dangerous planet. Who can they really trust as they struggle to understand the challenging and hostile environment that holds them in a grip of iron? And what do the aliens really plan for them and their hybrid children?

'Amidst Alien Stars is the second book in the Milijun series: Enter a world like no other as the truth will out in a realm as far away from home as it ever gets.'

(Source: publisher's blurb)

'Remote Australia, 1916. Stella Winterson wants nothing more than to be with Jasper Reynolds but she is thwarted at every turn by her father’s tyrannical rule. When her father banishes her to an isolated guest house without Jasper knowing, the young man recklessly enlists to fight in the Great War, Stella devastated when she hears of it. ' (Publication summary)
 

‘Some figured I was a broomstick rider. Others figured I was a person of wings. In case you got it wrong too; no, I’m not a witch, not a fairy. I’m just an ordinary kid. Plain ordinary, I tell you – in spite of my name also suggesting not.’

'So says Marvel, though her schoolmates disagree …

Then comes relief from the whispers and giggles at her city school, as Marvel has to return to her birth town in the country. She yearns for a fresh start, but her new classmates, including mysterious Sky, begin to notice her feats. Even Marvel ponders about herself when she stumbles upon woods that are invisible to everyone else.

In the invisible woods, she meets Zylo, who at first she mistakenly believes is no more than an unusual boy. He soon leads her to a discovery that adds to her self-doubt. 

Perplexed, Marvel goes in search of answers, which puts her in peril and unwittingly endangers the town too. Is she not who she thinks she is? Would she ever be able to escape her past?'

(Source: bookseller's abstract).

'‘The Rainbow Hijab’ follows the tale of a young girl who upon losing her favourite hijab uncovers the value it holds. Will things ever be the same without her colourful companion?

'This book aims to portray the value the hijab holds with Muslim women. It aims to bring about understanding of one of the most misunderstood pieces of clothing or concepts rather. Discover what the hijab is, and what value it holds, first-hand from a Muslim women. Given the current political climate, there has been an increase in Islamophobia attacks towards Muslim women in hijabs. This book aims to bridge the gap of misunderstanding of Islamic ideologies through creative story telling.' (Publication summary)

'"Hi Jodie, it’s Mum. I just called to let you know I’m coming to see you. Missing you heaps. Can’t wait to be together again."

'The simple phone message has Jodie spooked. She’d give anything to see her mother again but that’s impossible. Dead people only return for visits from beyond the grave in books and movies. They can’t pick up a phone and call the living to have a chat.

'Someone must be playing a sick joke.

'But when the phone calls stop, the other weird communications start and Jodie has to find out the truth. Are the messages from her mum?

Should she expect a ghostly visitor?' (Publication summary)

'School rules, home rules, Mimi-Marina is up to her neck with rules. So for the school holidays, she is only too glad to help out at her mum’s seemingly rule-free Global Village Doll Shop. She soon feels a magical vibe in the shop. Was her mind playing with her mum’s hilarious remarks? How could those comments make sense, unless the dolls gadded about and frolicked around the shop at night?

'Then Mimi-Marina makes a discovery which ties her down to big rules, freaky rules, rules that get her into trouble and brings the shop to a standstill. To get the shop back on track she must go to the Realm of Dolls. But going to the Doll Realm is fraught with danger for her. Would her life change forever? Even worse, might she never return home?' (Publication summary)

'Follow Abbie and Jess as they take a fun-filled summer holiday adventure with their little friend George.George shows the girls that by following their joy and trusting their intuition, dreams can come true.' (Publication summary)

'Driven by greed their need to manipulate has quickly become my greatest advantage. We were pawns in the silent wars until we started breaking the rules we never realized we had been following. The interferon's puppet mastery is permanently disrupted by our awakening to the truth. No longer able to reach the masses without risk of discovery and resulting consequences to bear, they reluctantly dance the steps to my rhythm of influence now. Let them learn their lesson and learn it well. Control is the ultimate illusion.' (Publication summary)

'When a bard tells a tale about a soldier’s death, he doesn’t intend to kill his brother. But he didn’t believe those who warned him he had the ability to bring his tales to life.

'Grainne recognizes the power in the bard’s tale. Desperate to protect his target – her new husband, Caedmon – she makes a pact with one of the fey. Caedmon is whisked away to the realm of the fey and Grainne fears she will never see him again.

'But Grainne isn’t the only inhabitant of Silver Downs with a secret. Eithne has fallen in love with a fey. When the fey boy stops coming to visit her, she knows something has happened to him.

'The women set off in search of their missing loved ones, only to discover that mortals aren’t exactly welcome in the realm of the fey. Captured by hostile fey, they are sentenced to serve as slaves – for one hundred years.

'Eithne and Grainne need to escape, find their missing loved ones, and get back to the mortal world before the fey find them again. Because they know they won’t escape a second time. ' (Publication summary)

'If ever it has a mind too, fate will always surpass wealth.

'Billionaire French industrialist, Monsieur Robert Turner, is set to learn this harsh lesson in life when he is kidnapped from his Alpine hunting lodge by Europe’s most experienced gang of extortionists.

'His abductors demand a ransom of thirty million U.S. dollars, which only last week he would have been able to raise in a few hours. However, this week let's just say that finding enough money to gain his freedom is going to require Robert surviving betrayal within his business, disharmony at home, two murders, and a host of other problems. ' (Publication summary)

'Mick and his family have returned home to the farm following Indonesia's withdrawal. But thousands of battle-hardened enemy soldiers remain hidden in the forests and hills, ready to strike when they are least expected. This fight will take Mick to the limit, and protecting his family will require all his strength and determination.

'Jimmy and Spud lead a platoon through the Australian scrub on relentless guerrilla strikes. But when they find themselves outnumbered and outgunned, it might have all been for nothing.

'A new Australia will rise again ... or will it?' (Publication summary)

'The Poetry of Queensland is a collection of poems that are fresh, entertaining, and give an incredible insight into our great state of Queensland. The poems are passionate entertaining and written with love.' (Publication summary)

'Today one lives in an interconnected world. You might work for a global company, enjoy world entertainment, live in a different culture from the one you were born in. How do you cope with these challenges? What is the definition of home? What makes you, you? Reflections from Down Under…' (Publication summary)

'Gotham tells of the encounter between music journalist, Jeff Foster and ‘boy pharaoh’, Nasti Boi. It reveals how hollow celebrities cast their spell.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Hotel maid turned meteorologist Audra is determined to make her mark on the world without a man getting in her way. Seizing the chance to join an expedition to the South Pole, she thinks all her Christmases have come at once.

'Until she returns to the research station and meets her new roommate.

When Jean-Pierre's wife broke his heart, he swore off women, vowing to spend his holidays in Antarctica for one final season. He didn't count on sharing a room with an Australian woman who hates him for something he can't even remember.

'Will the heat of a South Pole summer be enough to thaw two icy hearts?' (Publication summary)

'Five women. One rock star. Who will be the bride in the celebrity wedding of the year?

'Audra is back from Antarctica. Phuong the email-order bride is free, acquitted of all charges. Flavia's forgiven Jay, now she knows who's really responsible. Gaia the billionaire is determined to get what she wants. And Penelope's sporting a pink diamond engagement ring.

The weather may be as hot as Hell with the mother of all storms brewing off the coast, but Xan knows one thing for certain: come fire or flood or ex-fiancés, there will be a rock star wedding at Romance Island Resort.

But the question on everyone's lips is...who will be Jay Felix's bride?' (Publication summary)

'OYSTER POINT, a small Queensland coastal town is dying.

It takes a combination of two events to breathe life back into the place: the opening of a new mine and a whole host of people prepared to dream.

'EZRA GREEN, as a child with his father, arrived at the beginning of the town and shared the population’s dreams for the future of Oyster Point. Now, a century and a half after his arrival in the town, he watches what was once a magnificent dream slowly die. Although deceased many decades ago, he remains in Oyster Point to protect and assist in the continuation of his legacy.

Following a cyclone that devastates much of the area, entrepreneur GEOFF ROBONSON dares to take a gamble on following his dream. It leads to a planned major redevelopment that sees a supermarket and the Harbour Plaza shopping complex rise from the rubble. But rescuing the town also requires the courage of others to gamble on their dreams. The courage to become involved in the new development, and to trust that the cosmopolitan population explosion predicted to follow the opening of the new mine will turn their dreams into reality. Built on all of those dreams, HARBOUR PLAZA shopping complex is the story of each one, regardless of their nature or ultimate outcome. It also is about the making of a family as it draws together a hybrid mix of characters from diverse backgrounds to create Harbour Plaza’s family of tenants.

Through Ezra Green’s reminiscences, we follow the lives of all those who dared to dream through that first year of the Harbour Plaza story. As it is with dreams, some have happy endings, some turn into nightmares, and often they draw others into them. The dreams on which Harbour Plaza is built are no different but, by drawing in others from around them, those dreams are the fabric of the shopping complex’s discrete community.

'Shed a tear with some, laugh at others, and celebrate triumphs and happy endings but, through it all, get to know the characters and enjoy the friendships they develop.' (Publication summary)

'I began to live within my continuum of full potential upon awakening to my own limitations of sight, sound and an altered understanding of everything previously believed to be known by me. My psych shattered before me in a trillion pieces reforming like mercury drawn into the shape of my true reality. Know this .... Understanding does not by default equate to truth because perspective will always be a relative state of shifting sands founded on our limited knowledge at any given point within a spectrum of time. Change is inevitable. Are you ready?' (Publication summary)