For readers everywhere
A Respectable Girl by Fleur Beale
It is 1859 in the raw township of New Plymouth where Hannah Carstairs walks between two worlds. She finds that both her worlds are changing. First there are the disturbing hints about her dead mother’s past. Then, the tensions between the Maori tribes and the settlers boil over into war.
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Black Widow by Carol Baxter
‘Never before in the hundred year history of Australia has a female prisoner become so notorious as Louisa Collins.’ – Evening News..Two inquests, four trials, three hung juries and the executioner…but was Louisa Collins really a husband killer? Was she the callous adulteress, drunkard and liar known as the Botany Bay Murderess and the Lucrezia Borgia of Botany Bay? Or was this mother of seven a spirited and defiant woman who was punished for breaching society’s expectations of womanly behaviour?..Compelling, freshly told and richly detailed, Black Widow uncovers the truth of a story that challenged the morality, the politics and the notion of law in an Australia on the edge of nationhood…
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Within These Walls by Robyn Bavati
Whatever is coming, we’ll face it together, as a family. As long as we’re together, we’ll be okay.
For Miri and her family, life in Warsaw is full of simple joys. The smell of freshly baked challah, the promise of summer holidays, and Fridays when everyone comes together to celebrate the Sabbath. But when the Germans march into Warsaw with their campaign of hatred against the Jews, Miri and her family must move to the ghetto. One by one her family are taken from her, and Miri finds herself alone. Can she survive, and will she even want to?
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The Scent Keeper by Erica Bauermeister
Emmeline lives an enchanted childhood on a remote island with her father, who teaches her about the natural world through her senses. What he won’t explain are the mysterious scents stored in the drawers that line the walls of their cabin, or the origin of the machine that creates them. As Emmeline grows, however, so too does her curiosity, until one day the unforeseen happens, and Emmeline is vaulted out into the real world—a place of love, betrayal, ambition, and revenge. To understand her past, Emmeline must unlock the clues to her identity, a quest that challenges the limits of her heart and imagination.
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Through the Skylight by Ian Baucom and illustrated by Justin Gerard
When Jared, Shireen, and Miranda are each given one glittering gift from an old Venetian shopkeeper, they never fathom the powers they are now able to unleash; they never expect that their very reality is about to be utterly upended. And the adventure has hardly begun.
For in another time, centuries earlier, another trio—Rashid, Maria, and Francesca—have been thrown together under terrible circumstances: They have been kidnapped and, along with hundreds of other children, will be sold into child slavery. Unless, that is, they can find some way to save them all.
But all their fates lie in the hands of Jared, Shireen, and Miranda. The future—and the lives—of these three very modern children become entirely intertwined with those of the children from the past. Danger, it seems, has a way of spanning centuries.
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A Bucket List of Sorts by Leah Battaglio
Tilda Loxley doesn’t have time for extras. She’s a single mom. She volunteers. She tries hard to meet the expectations Pinterest has drawn out for her.
Everything changes for Tilda when she’s summoned by the estate attorney of her late Aunt Beebie. A 40th birthday reveals one last item Beebie has left for her favorite niece…a bucket list filled with travel, adventure and only a bit of bare skin.
It’s a bumpy ride as Tilda attempts to step out of her comfort zone, be the mom she needs to be and maybe even kiss a fella with reckless abandon…what could possibly go wrong?
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Ashes and Prophets by Aiden Bates and Jill Haven
As our head of security, it’s my job to secure the weyr from all incursions – but somehow, this slip of a man got through all our defenses and into the very heart of our land.
He says he’s here to help. Sent by a god. A prophet to aid us in an impending apocalypse. And worse, he has some of our people already believing him.
I don’t trust him. His past is shrouded in mystery, and his magical abilities make this old dragon snarl in my scales. I plan to treat him like any other threat – by keeping him under lock and key. Now if only I could hold back the lust that overwhelms me every time I look at him…
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Ashes and Flame by Aiden Bates and Jill Haven
After uncovering a threat to dragons everywhere, my mission was simple – find the mage with the evil magic book, and bring him back home to Emberwood Weyr. There we could figure out what he knew… and what we could do about it.
Finding him was easy… but protecting him is hard.
The more I get to know Daniel, the more I realize that he’s another victim in all this – hunted, afraid, and so beaten down he can’t even recognize a helping hand when it’s offered. He tugs at my heartstrings even while his out of control magic threatens to burn the world down around us. Good thing I’m fireproof.
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Ashes and Grave by Aiden Bates and Jill Haven
I don’t normally deal with nasty ghosts, but when Nix needs help, I’m the only one qualified. His dragons are under attack, and it’s up to me to stop it. But Nix isn’t making it easy. He seems determined to hate me because I’m a necromancer, and he wants nothing to do with the attraction smoldering between us.
This specter isn’t a random haunting, and its connected to both Nix and me. We’re going to have to work together to defeat it, but if Nix finds out how I’m connected, any trust I’ve built with him will go up in smoke.
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Ashes of Memory by Aiden Bates and Jill Haven
Three years ago I tried to do the impossible, defying my leaders and facing off with a dark mage in the hope of saving Tam and his fellow dragons. It ended with me barely alive, and it took me a year to recover. There was a spark between Tam and I, the promise of a mating bond, but that was ripped from us along with the rest of the tragedy. But now Tam’s brother is dead, and his nephew missing.
I can’t do it again, not when I’ve seen the true depths of dark power. But when Tam comes to me, I know I’m his only hope. He has no right to ask me, but even after all these years he still owns a piece of my heart. I can’t say no.
But now that I’ve been burned, I know just how badly this can go. And if I fail, I won’t just lose my mate. This mage has to be defeated … or the whole world may suffer.
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