AustLit

'The harder you fight, the harder you fall when Opposites Attract...

'Lingerie for Felons – Ros Baxter

'If there’s one universal truth, it’s this: You’re always wearing your worst underwear when you land in trouble. She is determined to make a difference in the world; he is all about the bottom line. But sometimes Mr Wrong just needs to time to find the right path.

'Funny, touching, emotional and political, Lingerie for Felons is Bridget Jones meets An Inconvenient Truth, a contemporary romance about doing the right thing, finding the right person, and always thinking through your underwear choices.

'Rescue Nights – Nina Hamilton

'English surgeon Andrew Wentworth left behind a successful career and a failed engagement to join the Cairns Rescue Helicopter team, but it's not shaping up to be the rejuvenating working holiday he expected.

'Rescue paramedic Kate Spears is used to proving herself in a man’s world, so informing the handsome surgeon that all his orders now come from her is deliciously satisfying. But she soon finds that Andrew cannot only take everything she throws at him, he keeps coming back for more.

'Opposites attract in this medical romantic suspense set in the high adrenalin world of the Cairns Rescue Helicopter team.

'This is Now – Maggie Gilbert

'A gritty, urban New Adult Cinderella story where the princess can do her own rescuing — she just needs someone to believe in her.

'Sister to car thieves, ex-girlfriend to a drug dealer, high school dropout, no-hoper and loser — Jess is on the sidelines, watching her life become one epic fail.

'Then she meets Sebastien, a gifted cellist from a very different walk of life. Sebastien is clean and strong and talented. He seems to think she can do anything, and Jess, despite her fears and the secrets she hides, is starting to believe him.

'But just as Jess dares to hope, the secrets in her past and the lies in her present catch up with her. All seems lost and she has to make a choice. Between past and future. Between home and hope. Between now and never. And this is now.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Live every day like it was your last.

'Mathematician and many-time Loser in Love Poppy Devine believes in being prepared. So when she discovers she has breast cancer, all she has to do is dust off the carefully numbered bucket list she prepared years before with her best friend Julia.

'There are only two problems: Quentin, a gorgeous younger man with rock-star ambitions, wasn’t on her list. And take-a-risk Julia, has suddenly come over all disapproving.

'Together with Poppy’s hippy mother Scarlet, the three form an unlikely alliance to help Poppy realise her goals. Sky diving, swimming with sharks, cooking classes in Tuscany, visiting an orphanage in India are all part of the journey. Along the way, Poppy is forced to confront her best friend’s grief, her fraught relationship with her mother, and the fact that she really might be using her last available time on earth to make the most imperfect match of her life.

'But Poppy comes to learn that when your days are numbered there’s no such thing as perfect and love really is all you need.' (Publication summary)

'Ten years ago, Genevieve Jenkins let the Love of her Life ride out of town while she settled for The Safe Bet. Turns out Mr Safe Bet wasn’t so safe after all, and life in her small home town of Sweet Pocket got kind of sour. The last thing she needs on top of two kids, a sick mother, a deadbeat ex and a heap of bad debt is for Mr Love of her Life to ride back into town, successful, smart, devastatingly sexy, and all the things that she can no longer be.

'And it doesn’t help that she’s dressed as cheese.

'One-time-bad-boy-now-Crop-King Brodie Brown is back in town on a mission of mercy, but he’s keeping his guard up. He can’t let this town – or the girl who broke his heart ten years before – get under his skin. He’s seen what working the land can do to people, and he built his business, and a whole new life, in the big smoke far away from the pain and despair of a farmer’s life. But he loved this town and he loves the people, so when Sweet Pocket calls, he answers. That’s just the way it is.

'But it’s only temporary and it’s only business. Brodie learned long ago that there is nothing left for him in Sweet Pocket but a broken heart and lost dreams. When the town’s future is secure, he’ll ride away again – back to his life and his future, and away from the girl who could make both worthwhile.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Lou Samuels is going home for the first time in twenty years. To the mother she can never forgive, the boy she can never forget, and a rural town that needs a saviour.

'Louise Samuels hasn’t been home to Stone Mountain since graduation night, twenty years ago. And she never, ever thinks about all she lost that night. So when her best friend convinces her to go back to their drought-stricken home for their school reunion they strike a deal. One hour: get in, shake your booty, get out.

'Lou knows all about deals – she manages acquisitions and mergers at the biggest law firm in Sydney. But the deal gets shelved when The Boy Least Likely to Succeed, Gage Westin, brings up long-buried memories, and her estranged mother calls with an SOS. Things get even more complicated when Lou agrees to help the local council but ends up working with the coal seam gas company Gage is fighting for control of his property.

'When Lou discovers her mother is dying, she starts to wonder if it’s time to face the ghosts of her past and make peace with her home. But then things heat up with Gage, the gas company and the council, and Lou is forced to make a deal with the devil to save them all.

'She’s just not sure if Gage Westin, and Stone Mountain, will ever forgive her for it.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'New in the fresh, sexy world of The Seek: he can’t trust anyone, so why should he trust his heart?

'The universe is a very dangerous place when there’s a price on your head.

'The year is 2098, and a quiet revolution has begun in the space stations of New Earth. The ruling Council has dug in to fight for a new home on Eden 13, but a group of rebels is working from the inside to support the embattled Haitites.

'Reetor is twenty years old and a deserter from the elite Avengers. He has joined The Backlash, and become an outcast, hunted by the Enforcers. On the outside, he has learned that his fears about New Earth are well founded. He has finally found a mission that matters, but he’s living on borrowed time. The Backlash desperately needs friends on the inside and Reetor’s role is to connect with the rebels and get them the help they need.

'But something deadly and surprising threatens to disrupt his mission – a lethal bounty hunter with a body made for sin and a heart of pure ice.' (Publication summary)

'It's the anniversary of Phoebe's death and Steffy is overwhelmed by the memories of her twin.

'Rick knows just how Steffy is feeling. He, too, is thinking of Phoebe and the accident.

'When Liam sees Rick and Steffy comforting each other, he is furious, and Brooke warns Rick that Steffy will break his heart.

'Steffy jumps on her motorbike and speeds away, her head spinning.

'Are they right? Is she dangerous to anyone who gets close to her?' (Publication summary)

'Donna believes Eric is the man she needs to get her life back on track. She is convinced that he has begun to notice her again. But then Ridge returns to Forrester Creations and becomes increasingly fascinated by Donna.

'When Eric asks Donna to accompany him on a photographic shoot in the South of France, he says he plans to make some big changes in his life. Donna is convinced that they must include her and jumps at the opportunity to be close to him again.

'When she arrives at the airport, however, she discovers that Ridge is joining them.

'When Donna falls off a yacht, Ridge jumps into the water to save her, and Donna realises she has feelings for him. What should she do about Eric?

'But Eric has news for her too. He has a new girlfriend and, as the most loyal of his friends, he wanted to introduce his new love to Donna first. That's why he asked her to come on this trip.

'Donna and Ridge are free to give their love a chance.' (Publication summary)

'When everything else is gone, all you have is hope.

'The year is 2098, and the people of New Earth have been homeless for seventeen years. Ruled by a mysterious Council and adrift in a fleet of space stations, their sole mission is to survive long enough to find a new home. They call it The Seek.

'Kyntura is the first and only female Avenger — one of the secret, separate elite who stand on the frontline between the refugees of Earth and a universe that would do them harm. For Kyn, fight and pain are the only things that drive out memories of the Apocalypse...and of the boy she left behind when she enlisted. But a young recruit called Mirren and a deadly mission will bring her face to face with all she has tried to forget.

'As she leads a squad of Avengers in The Seek, Kyntura will have to face her demons — and the boy whose heart she broke a decade before — to confront the truth about New Earth and save the future of humanity.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'If there’s one universal truth, it’s this: You’re always wearing your worst underwear when you land in trouble.

'Lola’s parents told her that everyone can make a difference. And she believed them. She’s been fighting the good fights since she was eleven years old. But at 23, Lola falls hard for an Australian stockbroker who thinks Doctors Without Borders is a porno and Joni Mitchell sounds like a harp seal being battered to death. She cuts him loose, but over the next fifteen years, through protests, misunderstandings, humiliating predicaments, and a number of poor underwear choices, their lives and paths continue to converge.

'Along the way, Lola learns a few important life lessons: Never wear a red lace thong to a strip search. Make sure you take motion sickness pills if you’re going to the Southern Ocean to save the whales. And sometimes, Mr Right can be all wrong, and Mr Wrong just needs time to find the right path.

'Funny, touching, emotional and political, Lingerie for Felons is Bridget Jones meets An Inconvenient Truth, about doing the right thing, finding the right person, and always thinking through your underwear choices. ' (Publication summary)

A sexy, funny mystery about strength, love, and French fries.

'What if your only chance at survival was to seduce the man who broke your heart?

'Seventeen years after the Apocalypse, Admiral-class Explorer Tabysha is caught up in a firefight and shot down over Tyver, where ice vampires hunt human warmth. Seeking shelter in an ice cave, she is instructed to stay put and await rescue. But after another ship crash-lands, and the Hunter Gatherers stalk its wounded pilot, Tabi breaks protocol.

'When it turns out the survivor is the man who stole her heart then skipped out on her ten years before, it seems to Tabi that no good deed goes unpunished, and things can’t get any worse. But she’s so wrong.

'As the Hunters pick up the escalating heat signature of the former lovers, Tabi has to tell Asha that there is only one way to repel the creatures stalking them.

'And it involves picking up where they left off ten years before.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Dirtwater's straight-talking Deputy Sheriff Rania Aqualina has a lot on her plate: a nicotine addiction that's a serious liability for a mermaid, a soldier-of-fortune ex who's hooked on her Mum's brownies, a gorgeous, naked stranger in her shower, and a mysterious dead blonde with a fish tattoo on Main Street.

'Heading home to Aegira for a family wedding, Rania has a sinking feeling that's got nothing to do with hydroporting seven miles under the sea and everything to do with the crazy situation. Now, if she can just steal a corpse, get a crazy Aegiran priest off her case, work out who the hell's trying to kill her, and stop sleeping with the fishes, she might be able to unravel the mysteries. And maybe even save her own ass while she's at it.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Two very different sisters. Once inseparable, they have long been estranged after an unimaginable betrayal. Organised and uptight Frances married the only man she′d ever slept with. But no-one told her that seven years later she′d be having sexual fantasies about everyone from the pizza delivery guy to Denis Thatcher.

Scatterbrained animal-lover Joni never knew she was so attached to her kneecaps until she thought she might have to say goodbye to them forever. After their beloved grandmother -- a game-show addict -- dies, they discover that they have each been left one million pounds in her will.

The kicker is that they can only inherit if they participate as a team in a gruelling reality TV program, Endurance Island. They can survive the jungle. They can survive the humiliating challenges. But can they survive each other?' Source: ww.harpercollins.com.au/ (Sighted 28/05/2012).

'Four brothers.

'Three mistakes.

'This time, Beth’s determined to stay out of trouble.

'Beth Gibson has a bad history with the Canning boys. And no-one’s ever believed that none of it was her fault.

'So when the hottest of all of them gets snowed in at her place on Christmas Eve, somehow she knows it’s going to end badly. After all, Jimmy Canning knows all her sins. And he still remembers her as reckless Lizzie.

'Can Beth show him that she’s not that kind of girl anymore? And does she even want to?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Anne's always been a good girl.

'But her best friend Nico is about to put a stop to all that nonsense.

'When Faithless Fergus ran away with the seventeen year old bridesmaid at his sister's wedding, Anne just wanted to keep busy and move on.

'But her best friend Nico had other ideas, devising a recovery program just for her. He called it Seven Steps to Fuck You Fergus.

'Problem is, Anne's not sure she has even one little sin in her, let alone seven deadly ones.

'Until she meets a boy who makes all kinds of sinning seem like a very good idea indeed.

'Will Anne make it through Nico's seven step program, or will Envy be her undoing before she gets anywhere near Lust?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.