He has promised one too many victim's families he will find the answers they need and it's taken its toll. Now retired, a series of disappearances see him return to the gun. On his terms. But he knows, every promise has a price to pay.After surviving a gunshot wound to the head, Darian calls it quits and retires to the Sunshine Coast in an attempt to leave the demons behind. But he should have realised, there are demons everywhere and no place is safe. A serial killer is prowling the Sunshine Coast area and Darian tries to ignore the fact his experience could make a difference hunting him down.All he wants is to sit at the end of his jetty on the Noosa River and ignore the fact that girls from the area have vanished over the past fourteen months. All blonde and pretty. Youngest: 13. Oldest: 16. He knows they are all dead but the cops were saying 'missing' or 'vanished’. That’s what you have to say if you don’t have a body.Jenny Brown was the first. She vanished sometime after 4 in the afternoon, Saturday 15 October the previous year. Except for her parents and her friends and everybody who knew her, it was thought she was just a runaway. Especially by the cops who allowed a good two or three minutes before arriving at that conclusion. By the time they’d reached the gate to the front yard of her house, before they’d even walked across the road and climbed into their cruiser, they would’ve forgotten Jenny Brown even existed.But then others disappeared and they couldn’t call them all runaways. Darian can’t sit idly by and he decides he is going to find the killer and deal with him... his way.

    

    Facebook-worthy baby? Tick. Bikini-body six weeks after giving birth? Um … not so much.Fashion PR exec Ally Bloom got her happy ending. Okay, her marriage might be showing the odd crack, her battleaxe mother-in-law might have come to stay, and she might not be the yummy mummy she'd imagined, but it's nothing a decent night's sleep and a firm commitment to a no-carb diet won't fix.But when Ally returns to work and finds she'll be reporting to a 22-year-old airhead, she decides to turn her back on life as a professional fashionista and embrace her inner earth mama instead.So it's out with the Louboutins and champagne and in with the sensible flats and coffee mornings with the Mummy Mafia. From attending her first grown-up dinner party only to discover that placenta is top of the menu to controlling her monster crush on local playgroup hottie Cameron, Ally must find her feet in the brave new world of the stay-at-home mum.

    Their seafront business is failing with the loss of Genie’s grandmother and her legendary ice cream flavours. Genie is determined to be the one to save her family’s heritage, but suddenly her mother wants to sell to developers and leave their shared history behind.Buying the business and taking on a sixty-eight year old business partner, Ada, with a mysterious past and a gorgeous but distracting grandson, Genie sets out to prove her parents wrong.Ada’s grandson, Cal, wants to protect his gran from ‘pensioner persuader’, Genie, but soon realises that living in a little seaside town and away from the paparazzi in Hollywood can actually give him time to heal. Hiding in a seafront business with its fiery owner and working as kitchen staff, is the only way he can think of to keep his ex-Hollywood glamour-puss, gran from harm. But his meddling might also ruin Ada's second chance at love. Hiring a private detective and learning about Genie’s parent’s past makes Cal regret his own impulsiveness. The information he has unearthed could destroy their blossoming romance and turn Genie’s world upside down.Genie soon discovers that friends can become enemies and your closest family can have lied to you for your whole life.

    The rarest of these are worth colossal fortunes, and can make their finders fabulously wealthy in the blink of an eye.Against this backdrop, young Houston lawyer Jack Carver meets his newest client, Ashley Marcum. She is looking for help after the mysterious death of her brother, who died while working for a giant oil company. Jack and Ashley’s only clue about his death is a set of unidentified gold coins, of indeterminate age and value.As Jack and Ashley scramble to discover how her brother died and uncover the origin of the coins, the oil company sends their powerful lawyers to stop them. Jack and Ashley soon find themselves caught up in a legal battle to uncover the truth—a battle they are ill-equipped to win.As the saga unfolds, Jack and Ashley soon discover that the coins belong to an ancient shipwreck—perhaps one of the greatest of all time. As the oil company tries to subvert legal process and shut them out, Jack and Ashley are forced to fight a case that begins in Texas but soon spreads across the globe.Amidst twists, turns, and roadblocks, Jack and Ashley must race through a history shrouded in secrets, spurred on by a case that ignites a firestorm around the world.

    

    Meanwhile, her older sister Peggy works as an apprentice at the Girls' School, hoping for a more prosperous future as a schoolteacher.Jennet and Titus Eastwood have always made decisions for their daughters' futures. But as the sisters near adulthood they are determined to make their own choices. And with temptation in the way, will the girls find love - or infatuation - leads them astray?Then an unexpected but familiar face arrives in town, and the family's future is threatened. For Bessie and Jennet, a difficult choice must be made - love or family . . .

    You have to come home. I can’t run this place on my own.”From Amazon #1 Best Selling Author...Sarah Edwards is living her dream as a highly acclaimed marine biologist, settled in a beautiful downtown apartment with nothing but a bright future ahead...That is, until she receives a phone call that changes everything.Her mother’s untimely death not only leaves her devastated - it leaves her with so many unanswered questions and responsibilities she’s not ready to take on. As an only child, she finds herself at the helm of a high-scale resort on the coast of California.Now she's faced with a life-altering decision. To sell the resort her mother dedicated her entire life to, or move back to California to run the resort - leaving behind the dream life she's worked so hard to build.While traveling across the country to comfort her grandmother, Sarah meets a charming stranger and offers him a complimentary stay at the resort in exchange for a lighthearted distraction.But when Sarah stumbles upon a letter written just weeks before the accident - her mother's final words leave her no choice but to continue on with the search in her place…Embark on this adventure filled with mystery, diversions, and unsettling details that might just be the answer to Sarah's biggest questions.This is Book 1 of 6 in the Search for Truth series.

    However, that doesn’t last long. With Brian’s constant demands for more than what she is willing to give, Savannah finds herself in a familiar place of loneliness. Finally, she calls it quits, but Brian isn’t willing to say it’s over unless it’s on his terms. Roxie’s dislike for Brian grows even stronger once she gets a hold of some confidential information. She’s determined more than ever to destroy her best friend’s man. Get ready for round two of this gritty tale of obsession in, My Bestfriend's Man 2.

     In Sarah's Valley, Patrick Smithson meets Frank Lawdry. Frank, who prefers his Abenaki name, Winnipesaukee, spends the night recalling his life story. He and his sister, Sarah, were left orphans when everyone on a wagon train died in a horrific tragedy. It was their story of survival. Return to Sarah's Valley continues where Sarah's Valley leaves off. Now an old man in his nineties, Patrick meets Michael Lawdry, one of Winnipesaukee's descendants, and tells him how two Lawdry men influenced his life. This is a story of life during the Great Depression, struggles and heartache, but also the deep love that a man has for one woman.

    She tells herself she has no regrets, but sometimes the isolation and the relentless demands of three small children threaten to swamp the love between Bonnie and her partner, Pete. Then an old mate of Pete’s arrives. Doug is eccentric and intrusive, and his unsettling presence disrupts Bonnie’s world further. Yet as the cracks really start to show in the life Bonnie and Pete have built together, it seems the dangers might also come from within.House of Sticks is a revealing portrait of contemporary family life, its joys and compromises, and how quickly things can unravel. It’s about trying to stay connected in our disconnected society; a story of identity and community, loyalty and love.

    Described as the most original voice in cricket, The Grade Cricketer represents the fading hopes and dreams of every ageing amateur sportsman. In this tell-all 'autobiography', The Grade Cricketer describes his cricketing career with unflinching honesty and plenty of humour, in turn providing insights into the hyper-masculine cricket 'dressing room'. This one-time junior prodigy is now experiencing the lean, increasingly existential years of adult cricket. Here, he learns quickly that one will need more than just runs and wickets to make it in the alpha-dominated grade cricket jungle, where blokes like Nuggsy, Bruiser, Deeks and Robbo reign supreme. Through it all, The Grade Cricketer lays bare his deepest insecurities - his relationship with Dad, his fleeting romances outside the cricket club - and, in turn, we witness a gentle maturation; a slow realisation that perhaps, just maybe, there is more to life than hitting 50 not out in third grade and enjoying a few celebratory beers afterwards. Or is there? * * * The Grade Cricketer book is based upon the popular Twitter account, @gradecricketer, which has received critical acclaim for its frighteningly honest portrayal of amateur cricket. Now, the time has finally come for this middling amateur sportsman to tell his story in full. 'The Grade Cricketer is the finest tribute to a sport since Nick Hornby's Fever Pitch, and the best cricket book in yonks. It's belly-laughing funny but it's also a hymn to the grand and complex game delivered with a narrative pace and ability I'm afraid most Test players don't have. For anyone who ever dreamed of excelling at a sport but never quite made it but still gave it your life, this is the story. A great read!' - Tom Keneally AO.

    Grey prays that his mother will be returned to him in some form, so he might protect her from the world as his father did not. This prayer, Grey believes is answered in his sister Irene. He becomes obsessed with protecting her purity and innocence.Also with his mother gone and his father turned to drink, Grey begins running with the wild boys, horse-handlers and fox hunters and part-time timber workers - members of a small, vanishing tribe who find themselves caught between an old relationship with place and a new one that is exemplified by the highway that threatens their town. A rash gamble by Grey and Irene's broken father means he and the Mary Smokes boys must steal horses to ensure Irene's safety. The consequences seem set to fall on Greys' closest friend, Ook' Eccleston. As Grey's, Eccleston's and Irene's lives are put at stake his allegiances falter and the world of Mary Smokes slips into a heightened state of darkness and threat.With the passion of Emily Bronte in Wuthering Heights and the distilled beauty of Ondaatje Patrick Holland captures the fragility and grace of small town life and how one fateful moment can forever alter the course of our lives.

    Seduced and left pregnant by the son of the family, she feels forced to marry the butler, but finds herself condemned to a life of abuse and poverty.Only her love for her daughter, Laura, keeps Elin going. Laura grows up with her natural father's intelligence and drive, as well as his talent for business, and when she seizes the chance to buy an ailing company, it is the start of a meteoric career. But Laura's personal life is less of a success, and it will take a twist of fate to enable Laura and her mother to find love and happiness.

    In each of these exclusive e-novellas, Marcus Salvius Magnus, leader of the Crossroads Brotherhood, must overcome his own problems whilst battling his way through Rome's savage and corrupt political arena.