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The Tea Chest
by Josephine Moon'I loved it - a perfect blend of sweet and spice.' Jenny ColganKate Fullerton, talented tea designer and now co-owner of The Tea Chest, could never have imagined that she'd be flying from Brisbane to London, risking her young family's future, to save the business she loves from the woman who wants to shut it down.Meanwhile, Leila Morton has just lost her job; and if Elizabeth Clancy had known today was the day she would appear on the nightly news, she might at least have put on some clothes. Both need to start again.When the three women's paths unexpectedly cross, they throw themselves into realising Kate's magical vision for London's branch of The Tea Chest. But every time success is within their grasp, increasing tensions damage their trust in each other.With the very real possibility that The Tea Chest will fail, Kate, Leila and Elizabeth must decide what's important to each of them. Are they willing to walk away or can they learn to believe in themselves?An enchanting, witty novel about the unexpected situations life throws at us, and how love and friendship help us through. Written with heart and infused with the seductive scents of bergamot, Indian spices, lemon, rose and caramel, it's a world you won't want to leave.
Close Enough to Touch: A Novel
by Colleen OakleyOne time a boy kissed me and I almost died...And so begins the story of Jubilee Jenkins, a 28-year-old woman with a unique and debilitating medical condition - she's allergic to other humans. After a humiliating, near-death experience in high school, Jubilee has become reclusive in her adulthood, living the past nine years in the confines of the Victorian house her unaffectionate mother deeded to her when she ran off with a wealthy businessman. But now, her mother is dead, and without her financial support, Jubilee is forced to leave home and face the world - and the people in it - she's been hiding from.One of those people is Eric Keegan, a man who just moved into town for work. With a daughter from his failed marriage no longer speaking to him, and a brilliant, if psychologically troubled, adopted son who believes he has untapped telekinetic powers, Eric's struggling to figure out how his life got so off course, and how to be the dad - and man - he wants so desperately to be. Then, one day, he meets a mysterious woman named Jubilee...
What She Left: An unputdownable summer read
by Rosie FioreWhat would make you walk away from your life, your family and friends, in search of a completel fresh start?Helen Cooper has a charmed life. She's beautiful, accomplished, organised - the star parent at the school. Until she disappears.But Helen wasn't abducted or murdered. She's chosen to walk away, abandoning her family, husband Sam, and her home.Where has Helen gone, and why? What has driven her from her seemingly perfect life? What is she looking for? Sam is tormented by these questions, and gradually begins to lose his grip on work and his family life.He sees Helen everywhere in the faces of strangers. He's losing control.But then one day, it really is Helen's face he sees...
The Lovers' Guide to Rome: A Novel Full of Heart and Romantic Delight
by Mark LamprellThis gorgeous novel set around the beautiful sights of Rome tells the story of three couples and their adventures with love in the eternal city.Young artist Alice has come to Rome for adventure and inspiration before settling down. Is there such a thing as love at first sight and how will she know if it's happening to her? Middle-aged Meg and Alec have come to Rome to rekindle their love affair, which has faded over the years. Constance and Lizzie are here to scatter the ashes of Constance's beloved husband, Lizzie's brother Henry. Rome will play a part in the lives of all these characters to make sure they find the happiness they deserve.
Lovesong
by Alex MillerWinner of the 2011 Christina Stead Prize for FictionWinner of The Age Book of the YearWinner of thePeople's Choice Award at the NSW Premier's Literary AwardsStrangers did not, as a rule, find their way to Chez Dom, a small, rundown Tunisian café on Paris's distant fringes run by the widow Houria and her young niece, Sabiha. But when one day a lost Australian tourist, John Patterner, seeks shelter in the cafe from a sudden Parisian rainstorm, a love story starts to unfold. John and Sabiha's becomes a contented but unlikely marriage-a marriage of two cultures lived in a third-and yet because they are essentially foreigners to each other, their love story sets in train an irrevocable course of tragic events. Years later, living a small, quiet life in suburban Melbourne, what happened to them in Paris seems like a distant, troubling dream to John. He confides the story behind their seemingly ordinary lives to Ken, an ageing, melancholic writer who sees in his neighbours the possibility of one last simple love story.Told with Miller's distinctive clarity, intelligence and compassion, Lovesong is a pitch-perfect novel, a tender and enthralling story about the intimate lives of ordinary people. Like the truly great novelist he is, Miller locates the heart of his story in the moral frailties and secret passions of his all-too-human characters.
China Rich Girlfriend: There's Rich, There's Filthy Rich, and Then There's China Rich... (Crazy Rich Asians #2)
by Kevin KwanFrom the bestselling author of Crazy Rich Asians (Soon to be a MAJOR MOTION PICTURE starring Constance Wu, Henry Golding, Michelle Yeoh and Gemma Chan) comes a deliciously fun story of family, fortune, and fame in Mainland China. It's the eve of Rachel Chu's wedding, and she should be over the moon. She has a flawless oval-cut diamond, a wedding dress she loves, and a fiancé willing to give up one of the biggest fortunes in Asia in order to marry her. Still, Rachel mourns the fact that her birth father, a man she never knew, won't be there to walk her down the aisle.Then a chance accident reveals his identity. Suddenly, Rachel is drawn into a dizzying world of Shanghai splendor, a world where people attend church in a penthouse, where exotic cars race down the boulevard, and where people aren't just crazy rich... they're China rich.
Happy People Read and Drink Coffee: A Novel
by Agnès Martin-LugandDiane, owner of Happy People Read and Drink Coffee, a cosy coffee shop turned library in Paris, seems to have the perfect life. But when she suddenly loses her husband and daughter in a car accident, her life is overturned and the world as she knows it disappears. Trapped by her memories, Diane closes her shop and retreats from friends and family. One year later, she moves from Paris to a small town on the Irish coast, determined to heal by rebuilding her life alone, without anyone's help or pity - until she meets Edward, a handsome and moody Irish photographer. Along windy shores and cobbled streets, Diane falls into a surprising and tumultuous romance. As she works to overcome her painful memories, Diane and Edward's once-in-a-lifetime connection inspires her to love herself and the world around her with new-found inner strength and happiness. But will it last when Diane leaves Ireland, and Edward, for good?
Second Chance Town
by Karly LaneThe town of Bundah is dying, with many of its young people fleeing for jobs in the city. A desperate plan to revive Bundah's fortunes - with generous incentives to attract new businesses - results in a flood of people coming to the town to set up shop.As Bundah begins to come to life with the new arrivals a spate of teenage drug overdoses starts to divide the locals. Many are convinced the narcotics trade has been brought to town by one of the newcomers. It doesn't help that the mysterious new owner of one of the local pubs has a dark past.Lucy Parker is a single mother doing her best to support her teenage daughter, Belle, through her last year of high school. It's long been Belle's dream to go to university, so when she starts to turn wayward, hanging out with the wrong kids and experimenting with alcohol and possibly drugs, her mother is deeply troubled.The very last thing Lucy needs is for a man like Hugh Thompson to mess with her heart and disrupt her life. However, it seems fate has other ideas...
Gemma's Bluff
by Karly LaneSmart and reliable, Gemma Northcote has always done what's expected of her. So it's not surprising that after university she defers to her father's wish that she join the family business.Gemma's best friend, Jasmine, is a different personality altogether. She thrives on spontaneity, is unpredictable and has generally pursued her own path.When Gemma and Jasmine decide to spend a working holiday on a large rural property, their friends and family are surprised. Neither has any experience of country life (unless you count Jasmine's love of McLeod's Daughters) and they're not exactly farming types.Away from her family, Gemma feels liberated. The longer she's away the more she questions what she really wants to do with her future. Ultimately, she realises she needs to choose between duty and what's right for her in life - and love.
Tallowood Bound
by Karly LaneWhen Erin Macalister leaves the city to take care of her beloved grandmother, she's relieved to be escaping the remnants of her broken marriage.Arriving in the small rural community she grew up in, Erin finds nothing much has changed - including Jamie McBride, who is still as ridiculously good looking as he was when they were seventeen and madly in love.Leafing through old photo albums evokes vivid memories for her grandmother of a soldier she once loved. Erin's curiosity about this mysterious soldier deepens when she finds an engagement ring he once gave her grandmother.Meanwhile, Jamie seems intent on rekindling his relationship with Erin, even though she's not at all sure she wants to risk heartache again.
Emerald Springs
by Fleur McDonaldAfter finishing university, Amelia Bennett returns to her home town. Determined to lose her old reputation for being scatty, she works hard to prove herself as the treasurer of the local rodeo committee.Flushed with triumph on the evening of the best rodeo in the town's history, Amelia is driving the bags of cash into town when she becomes the victim of a terrifying smash and grab. Injured and distraught after her ordeal, she's even more devastated when she finds out that she and her boyfriend Paul are in the frame for the crime.To prove her innocence and that of the man she loves, Amelia must convince a sceptical detective that her account of what happened does add up and that he must help her track down the real culprits...With its cracker plot, feisty heroine and engaging love story, Emerald Springs will have you reading well into the night.
Indigo Storm
by Fleur McDonaldWhen Ashleigh decides to flee her difficult husband, Dominic, she's all too aware he'll come looking for her. The only way to escape, she realises, will be to move as far away as possible and reinvent herself.Changing her name to Eliza, she drives for days until she comes across a tiny rural town with friendly locals and a nice vibe about it. There, she rents a room, gets a job and begins the long road to healing and regaining her self-confidence.Then one day, on an excursion to a ruined homestead in the area, Eliza becomes fascinated with a family who lived there during the nineteenth century. But just as Eliza begins to unlock the secrets of her own past, Dominic arrives in town, determined to punish her...
The Lightkeeper's Wife
by Karen ViggersElderly and in poor health, Mary has lived in Hobart a long time. But when a letter is delivered to her house by someone she hoped never to see again, she knows she must return to Bruny Island to live out her last days with only her regrets and memories for company. Years before, her husband was the lighthouse keeper on Bruny and she raised her family on the windswept island, until terrible circumstances forced them back to civilisation. Now, the secret that has haunted her for decades threatens to break free and she is desperate to banish it before her time is up. But secrets have a life of their own and, as Mary relives the events of her life, she realises her power over the future may be limited. Back in Hobart, Mary's adult children are respectively outraged, non-committal and sympathetic about her escape from their care. But no amount of coaxing will shake her resolve. Her youngest son Tom loves Bruny, and can understand her connection to that wild island, a place of solitude, healing and redemption for them both. As Mary's secret threatens to tear her apart, both she and Tom must face their pasts in ways they couldn't even begin to imagine. Mary finds that the script she's written to the end of her life has taken a few twists of its own.
Buddhism for Couples: A Calm Approach to Being in a Relationship
by Sarah NapthaliEvery now and then - not very often - we meet a woman who has mastered the art of being in a couple, who has managed to keep the flame alive long after the honeymoon period and well into the trials of parenting. Sarah Napthali is not one of these women but is happy for readers to learn from her mistakes. With her trademark emphasis on self-compassion, she explains how she has applied Buddhist teachings to patch things up, hold things together and even, on good days, scale the heights of relationship happiness. Written for both men and women, Buddhism for Couples tackles the loaded subjects of housework, anger, sex, conflict and infidelity, before introducing Buddhist strategies that can enrich a relationship.Applying Buddhist teachings can improve our relationship by guiding us to delve more deeply into our psyches. Through mindfulness and ever-growing self-awareness, the teachings help us to become more familiar with the workings of our minds and bodies, more aware of our thoughts and beliefs, so that we can see our behaviours with more clarity. Alongside Buddhist teachings, Sarah explores the latest psychological research on relationships and discovers numerous overlaps.Humorous and informative, Buddhism for Couples provides a fresh approach to living as a couple, persuading us to leave behind stale, habitual ways of relating that don't seem to work.
The Grass Castle
by Karen ViggersAbby is a young woman shying away from close contact with others and running from a terrible event in her early teens which has shaped her life. Then she meets Daphne, the daughter of a pastoralist, who grew up in a remote valley of the Brindabella Ranges. Daphne raised her family in the high country with her husband Doug, in a world of horses, cattle and stockmen. But the government forced them off their land, and years later, Daphne is still trying to come to terms with her departure from the mountains and the tragic impact it had on her husband.Though years and life experience separate Abby and Daphne, they understand each other, and a gentle friendship forms. While Abby's traumatic past hampers her involvement with journalist Cameron, Daphne tussles with her own family history and the shadow it may have cast over the original inhabitants of the land. Both women must help each other face the truth and release long-buried family secrets before they can be free.The Grass Castle is a sweeping rural epic that reflects the strength which resides in us all: the courage to learn and grow from the past.
Dinner with the Dissidents
by John TesarschIt is 1970, and the Kremlin is struggling to quell dissent. Though censored at home, Alexander Solzhenitsyn is lauded in the West for exposing the underbelly of communism. Now the Nobel laureate is rumoured to be writing his most devastating work yet. The KGB turns to Leonid Krasnov, an aspiring young writer. It promises to make him Moscow's next literary star if he can infiltrate Solzhenitsyn's inner circle and uncover what the great author is hiding. At first Leonid complies, but when he falls in love with Klara, a dissident musician, his allegiances waver. By then he is enmeshed in a plot that is more sinister than he could ever have imagined. Many years later, Leonid is a recluse living in Canberra under an assumed name. Haunted by his past, he seeks one last, desperate chance to make amends. Dinner with the Dissidents is a gripping portrayal of tumultuous times, and a thrilling story of love, courage and deception.
The Way of a Man with a Maid: The Tragedy And The Comedy (Wordsworth Classic Erotica Series)
by AnonymousAided by his first victim, Alice, Jack lures women into The Snuggery, a soundproofed dungeon in his basement, where he imposes his sexual will on them, eventually compelling each to become an active participant in her own sexual degradation. <P><P>First published in 1908, The Way of a Man with a Maid is remarkable for its humour and detailed eroticism, and is a must-read for those excited by domination and submission.
The Lustful Turk (Erotic Classics )
by AnonymousTold through letters sent by a young and beautiful English woman, The Lustful Turk details her absolute surrender to the insatiable sexual appetite of Ali, Dey of the Turks. Published in 1828, this story of a girl abducted by pirates and delivered to a harem shocked the world on publication with its frank eroticism and explicit descriptions of the most private of acts in the most veiled of places.
The Romance of Lust: A Classic Victorian Erotic Novel
by AnonymousFirst published in 1873, The Romance of Lust is the story of Charlie, an incredibly well-endowed man with insatiable appetites, who openly describes his sexual life, including his relationships with his sisters, his governesses, and his male and female friends. A highly controversial book that was not published in the US for nearly 100 years after its first appearance, The Romance of Lust confronts many taboos and fetishes.
The Memoirs of Fanny Hill: Memoirs Of A Woman Of Pleasure (Isis Large Print Ser.)
by John ClelandIn a series of letters to an unknown woman, Fanny defends her life—in particular her career as a prostitute. With its extraordinary and explicit descriptions of sex Fanny Hill scandalized the world upon its release and resulted in author John Cleland's arrest for obscenity. Fanny Hill was not formally published until the mid-20th century, and continues to be revered as an erotic classic.
Venus in India (Harper Perennial Forbidden Classics Series)
by Charles DevereauxVenus in India purports to be the autobiography of the randy Captain Devereux, who details his sensual adventures with the wives and daughters of his fellow soldiers in colonial India. Venus in India was first published in 1889 and will surprise and excite readers with its explicit descriptions of erotic dalliances and ménages ? trois.
A Night in a Moorish Harem (Erotic Classics )
by George HerbertA Night in a Moorish Harem tells the thrilling story of a shipwrecked British sea captain who washes ashore near a Moroccan harem. He spends the night listening to each of the nine concubines' explicit stories of sexual awakening. This is a must-read erotic novella that has led to several bookseller corruption trials since its publication in 1900.
Indiana: A Love Story (Erotic Classics )
by George SandTrapped in a marriage to a domineering soldier, love-starved and submissive Indiana searches for someone to desire her deeply and passionately. While she looks for love, she is pursued relentlessly by a charming, rakish neighbour who has already seduced her maid. Written by Amandine Aurore Dupin and published under the name of George Sand, Indiana is a romantic tale of a woman's journey into passion that details what happens between good women and bad men.
Venus in Furs
by Leopold von Sacher-MasochWhat woman doesn't secretly wish for a submissive man to hand her the whip? Severin is a young nobleman who can only love the most ruthless of women—one who will make him bleed and hurt—and so offers himself to the wealthy and beautiful Wanda to pursue his darkest dreams. Although he at first revels in the submission, he soon realizes that Wanda may be too good at dominating him . . . But he is now powerless to escape. Published in 1870, the classic erotic story Venus in Furs defined for the first time what we now call sadomasochism.
My Secret Life: Vol. 1-3 (Wordsworth Classic Erotica Ser.)
by WalterSuppressed regularly since its publication, My Secret Life details the erotic experiences of the narrator "Walter," a Victorian gentleman of wealth and status. Painstakingly detailed, the novel describes his incredible womanizing over several years, which includes his exploits with partners of his own stature as well as prostitutes and those of the lower class.