the grandeur of Ayers Rock... legendary Alice Springs... the Great Barrier Reef... the primal beauty of Cape Tribulation…Two women, from different continents, with different values, collide with spectacular results... UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS.American Lee Paynter has built her Small travel agency into an international tour company. Brash, confident, openly lesbian, her great love is her business. Women? They're to enjoy and let go.Alexandra Findlay is pursuing a career in Australian tourism with quiet focus and determination, convinced that her career is the best she can hope for in her arid, closeted emotional existence.Now Alex has been assigned to accompany Lee on the American woman's visit Down Under, to win Lee's company over to Australian tourism. Suddenly Alex's quiet life explodes... And Lee is challenged by a woman unlike any she has ever known.

    After assaulting him, she’s suspended from her job. She uses her unexpected time off to make some home improvements, but Kay has no idea Rayne is stalking her, and he’s hell-bent on revenge. Brenda Jansen owns Jansen Construction with her father. A routine job brings her to Kay’s doorstep, and Brenda is blissfully unaware of the twists and turns her life is about to take. The instant attraction she feels toward her newest client is something Brenda’s doing her best to ignore. Since her two previous girlfriends cheated on her, she’s having a hard time putting her trust in anyone. Brenda’s indifference toward her intrigues Kay, who does everything she can to get Brenda to admit their attraction is mutual. As they grow closer, so does Tommy Rayne, until he finally threatens everything Kay holds dear.

    We were totally wrong for each other, so why does this feel so right? Lisa was the good girl. Prom queen. Captain of the cheer squad. Geeky games weren't her thing, but she was home from college and bored. And when she heard Kylie was going to be there she knew she had to at least check things out. Kylie was a proud geek who didn't care what the world thought. Kylie figured it was game night as normal until Lisa stepped into the game room reigniting old feelings she never thought she'd nave to deal with again after going to college. Two girls who've spent years hiding who they truly were. Two girls afraid to admit how much they need each other. Two girls who are tired of denying who they really are. Especially to each other. What was supposed to be a simple game quickly becomes a game of love that will change both of their lives! But will they be able to let go and finally let it happen?

    Sebastian, a close friend and head of the entertainment section, encourages him to write his memoirs. As Sebastian enthusiastically devours the pages written by the music critic, the reader is dragged into Agustin's amorous world, his multiple affairs with Virginia Tuten, the violinist whose exotic Caribbean fire almost burned his marriage to the ground, with the pianist Clint Verret, who was not the only man in his life, with Clarissa Berdsley, a diaphanous horn player... Every musician with whom he became involved touched a new chord in him. And when he conquered a new musician, he got more than their bodies--he believed he had their deep purple, that inner melody that all of us strive to achieve.

    When tragedy strikes, Rachel is separated from her brother Sam and sent to a Jewish orphanage where Dr. Mildred Solomon is conducting medical research. Subjected to X-ray treatments that leave her disfigured, Rachel suffers years of cruel harassment from the other orphans. But when she turns fifteen, she runs away to Colorado hoping to find the brother she lost and discovers a family she never knew she had.Though Rachel believes she’s shut out her painful childhood memories, years later she is confronted with her dark past when she becomes a nurse at Manhattan’s Old Hebrews Home and her patient is none other than the elderly, cancer-stricken Dr. Solomon. Rachel becomes obsessed with making Dr. Solomon acknowledge, and pay for, her wrongdoing. But each passing hour Rachel spends with the old doctor reveal to Rachel the complexities of her own nature. She realizes that a person’s fate—to be one who inflicts harm or one who heals—is not always set in stone.Lush in historical detail, rich in atmosphere and based on true events, Orphan #8 is a powerful, affecting novel of the unexpected choices we are compelled to make that can shape our destinies.

    Joining forces, they struggle to escape the ruins, only to lose touch after their dramatic rescue. In a chance meeting several months later, Anna Kaklis reconnects with her partner in survival, Lilian Stewart. Now on a journey of discovery, they forge a friendship that grows into the strongest bond either has ever known. Armed with the lessons of their underground ordeal, Anna and Lily unearth what is really important in their lives. Ultimately, Shaken is a story of challenge and courage, loss and triumph, love and family.

    The only downside? When the nearest neighbour is hundreds of kilometres away, it’s hard to date.Newly qualified teacher, Grace, can’t wait to start a life away the town where she’s only known for one thing. Travelling across the country to take a job as a governess is about as far as she can get.Grace and Ari are easy friends, spending their time riding horses, swimming in waterholes and watching their favourite movies late into the night.But Ari’s feelings begin to extend beyond friendship. Ari has a crush, no matter how much she tries to talk herself out of it. What she doesn’t know is Grace is harbouring feelings of her own. And in close confines, the attraction is becoming difficult to ignore.Their connection is strong, but if they want to build a relationship, they will need to move beyond the shadows of the past.Can they find a way to each other’s hearts?

    Woody is a handsome young contractor and he and Jake get along great. After the house is finished Woody hires Jake for the next house. They soon become great friends. Jake is awkward with girls. He's never really had any luck with them and isn't much interested in them. He's never had any sexual contact with a guy either but he's curious and attracted to Woody. He's determined to make Woody see him in a different light.

    a young woman confident, even nonchalant, about her sexual conquests of other women. She works as a body piercer at a full-service tattoo parlor, rides a motorcycle, and has slept with every girl in San Francisco who is so inclined. But none can replace Sasha "Shy" Mallon, the next-door neighbor from her girlhood. As teenagers, they discovered themselves together; then Shy fled to Seattle and entered a relationship with a man. Now Shy has returned, pregnant, to be at her dying mother's bedside. Alta joins her there; and soon they are tending toward intimacy again, in a way that shakes up their notions of who they are, as well as opening up the secrets of their mothers' lives.

    Eli's sister, Salem, now runs the lodge alone. She’s overworked, broke, and desperate to find love, but refuses to leave the area, confident her younger brother will one day return home.When two mysterious men arrive in Winterlake, possessing a unique key that once belonged to Eli, Salem wonders if they have a connection to his disappearance. Her suspicions grow when she learns one of them is the grandson of a strange recluse who lived deep in the woods behind the lodge. She keeps her guard up, but uses the opportunity to elicit his help in the hunt for her brother.With her best friend and the mystery men at her side, Salem may finally be able to discover the shocking truth about what really happened to Eli. But while following a sinister trail of clues, a second person goes missing, and she quickly finds herself knee-deep in drama, chaos, and an unexpected whirlwind romance.

    But strange events at the house have her worried for the safety of her charges. Steeped in horrific history Rose Mansion isn't a welcome place. Floorboards creak, doors open and close, and strange sounds resonate at night. Nothing unusual for such an old house. Surely? But Ashley feels there is something else. Something dark. Something sinister. As matters begin to escalate, she begins to doubt her own sanity...

    They hoped it would be over by Christmas... Britain is at war and the proximity of the docks means that life in and around London's Turnbury Buildings is hard and dangerous. Chances are taken, people have secrets, hearts are broken. And feelings about foreigners are running high. Sixteen-year-old Freddie Jarrett is secretly seeing a girl from the local Chinese community - a relationship that would be frowned on by both families, despite the fact that they all support the fight for freedom from oppression. And his sister Grace has her own secret to hide. A secret that no one outside the immediate family must ever know. As the threat of the Luftwaffe looms over the docks, the community is threatened with being torn apart by prejudice, fear and separation, and the disturbing loss of stability that brings with it the feeling that it is only what happens today that counts for anything...

    A disfigured, jaded young actor narrates the story of a seductive and monstrous film director who has convened his international cast and crew in Colombia, where a serial killer is on the loose. The making of his film of vast, if vague, ambition, brings together a group of people whose implosive relationship - fired by narcissism, sex, alcohol and drugs - are fiercely dissected by the narrator against an ominous backdrop of cultural dissolution, social anarchy and political violence.

    She’s a rising star at her Chicago tech start up. She’s well liked, she’s funny, she’s smart, she’s pretty. But despite all this, for some strange reason, Amy’s had an absolutely awful love life. It couldn’t possibly be Amy’s fault… right? Enter Josephine Taft, rich and successful tech investor, swooping in to save Amy’s company from financial ruin. In addition to being wealthy and accomplished, Josephine is also a total fox and Amy can’t help but swoon over her. No pressure here. As our quirky heroine maneuvers through this stylized romantic comedy, often butting heads with a whimsical cast of characters, she’ll have to look within to both save her company and get the girl. Will Amy be able to rein in her eccentricities and prove to Josephine that she’s worth the investment?

    Moaning softly, she was drawn into a wonderful warmth. A strong arm came around her, firm fingers splayed over her back, and she begged for the softness to cover her, to meld with her, to make her whole... Jo couldn't remember when the dreams began, but they always ended the same way - with her desperately reaching out for something just beyond her grasp. The dreams could easily be a metaphor for her own unfulfilled existence. Having given up all hope of love and happiness long ago, Jo now seeks only escape from the scattered remnants of failed marriage and the dreadful apathy that seems to engulf her more and more each day. On an extended vacation, she hopes that a change of scenery will help her get on with her life. But never in her wildest dreams did she imagine that a chance meeting with an attractive stranger would lead to her first taste of real passion - on the lips of a woman with the strength and the desire to make all her dreams come true.