The Commitments are spreading the gospel of the soul. Ably managed by Jimmy Rabbitte, brilliantly coached by Joey 'The Lips' Fagan, their twin assault on Motown and Barrytown takes them by leaps and bounds from the parish hall to the steps of the studio door. But can The Commitments live up to their name?

    The fiercely nationalistic government of the god-king Sukarno has brought Indonesia to the brink of chaos. Engulfed in the violence are Guy Hamilton, a Western journalist; Billy Kwan, his Chinese-Australian cameraman; and the young British woman they both love. Kwan's disillusionment with his hero Sukarno leads him to desperate action, and a complex drama of loyalty and betrayal is played out in the eye of the political storm.

    A handsome, newly appointed duke, bound by his honour. Her one opportunity to steal his heart. Disowned by her parents for helping her sister elope to the Americas, Grace Curtis never expected to capture the attention of the witty and bold George Blackmore, the Duke of Cromford. After the sudden death of his father leaves him with the responsibilities of his elevated station, he has little time for romance… not even with the beautiful Grace. When Cromford’s younger brother, Edmund, takes an interest in her best friend, Grace encourages the relationship, in the hope of seeing the duke again – and stealing his heart. However, Edmund divulges some unexpectedly worrying truths about his older brother, and Grace soon finds herself questioning her attraction to the newly appointed Duke of Cromford. As she finds herself embroiled in a bitter war between two brothers, Grace must choose carefully where to place her trust. Will she be able to fathom the duke’s true colours and find happiness? A tale of love, duty, mistaken assumptions, drama and intrigue, set against the glittering backdrop of Regency England.

    The future is another time.In a remote corner of Tanzania, Essie Lawrence lives with her husband in an archaeologist’s camp. One morning a chance encounter with two strangers sees her making a rash promise. When she returns home to the research base, she has a baby in her arms. Essie is to care for the little girl until the coming of the rains. And then hand her back.The organised world of Magadi Research Camp is turned upside down. As her heart opens up to new life, Essie is drawn into the ancient wisdom of the Hadza, the last hunter-gatherer tribe in East Africa. And she is led back to memories of her own mother and her first home on the island of Tasmania, at the far end of the world. But there is a price to pay. Essie's marriage, her career - everything she's worked for - is put at risk.On the shores of the flamingo lake, personal stories are played out alongside the Lawrences’ quest to find the origins of the human species. Nightmares and dreams go hand in hand as past and present merge. What is real and what will turn to dust? And after a season of being a mother, will Essie be able to survive the hardest challenge of all? To love, and then let go …An exquisite and heart-piercing story of one woman’s bond with a baby, The Beautiful Mother will resonate with every parent, crossing time, place and culture. It is an unforgettable exploration of what it really means to be a member of the human family, revealing the deep need we all have to find our own tribe.

    A classics professor, Mrs. Curren has been opposed to the lies and brutality of apartheid all her life, but has lived insulated from its true horrors. Now she is suddenly forced to come to terms with the iron-hearted rage that the system has wrought. In an extended letter addressed to her daughter, who has long since fled to America, Mrs. Curren recounts the strange events of her dying days. She witnesses the burning of a nearby black township and discovers the bullet-riddled body of her servant's son. A teenage black activist hiding in her house is killed by security forces. And through it all, her only companion, the only person to whom she can confess her mounting anger and despair, is a homeless man, an alcoholic, who one day appears on her doorstep. Brilliantly crafted and resonant with metaphor, Age of Iron is "a superbly realized novel whose truths cut to the bone." (The New York Times Book Review)

    And it has always been played with the lives of the most loyal and brave.Colonel "Wild Bill" Fogarty has been a dedicated soldier for most of his adult life -- an able warrior who was bloodied but survived the folly called Vietnam. Now short-sighted policy-makers in Washington are manufacturing another little war for questionable purposes, gambling with human lives in cut-throat game of power, greed, and personal ambition. "Wild Bill" has seen too many young men destroyed in pursuit of shadow causes. But it is not his role to question, simply to serve--no matter where or for what reasons...no matter who has to die.From bestselling author, decorated Vietnam veteran and former Secretary of the Navy James Webb comes a blisteringly authentic novel of the ruthless politics of war -- a searing indictment of those at the top who dictate military policy...and a moving tribute to the courageous soldiers who must pay the ultimate price.It is a bloody game as old as nations and politics. And it has always been played with the lives of the most loyal and brave.It is a bloody game as old as nations and politics. And it has always been played with the lives of the most loyal and brave.Colonel "Wild Bill" Fogarty has been a dedicated soldier for most of his adult life---an able warrior who was bloodied but survived the folly called Vietnam. Now short-sighted policy-makers in Washington are manufacturing another little war for questionable purposes, gambling with human lives in cut-throat game of power, greed, and personal ambition. "Wild Bill" has seen too many young men destroyed in pursuit of shadow causes. But it is not his role to question, simply to serve---no matter where or for what reasons...no matter who has to die.From bestselling author, decorated Vietnam veteran and former Secretary of the Navy JAMES WEBB comes a blisteringly authentic novel of the ruthless politics of war---a searing indictment of those at the top who dictate military policy...and a moving tribute to the courageous soldiers who must pay the ultimate price.

    It goes down into the guts of the world. But a child’s love for a parent is different. It goes up. It’s more ethereal. It’s not quite present on the earth.’In present-day Melbourne, a man attempts to piece together the mystery of his father’s apparent suicide, as his young family slowly implodes. At the ashram of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, in 1976, a man searching for salvation must confront his capacity for violence and darkness. And in a not-too-distant future, a woman with a life-altering decision to make travels through a climate-ravaged landscape to visit her estranged father.In Moonland is a portrait of three generations, each grappling with their own mortality. Spanning the wild idealism of the 70s through to the fragile hope of the future, it is a novel about the struggle for transcendence and the reverberating effects of family bonds. This long-awaited second outing from Miles Allinson, the multi-award-winning author of Fever of Animals, will affirm his reputation as one of Australia’s most interesting contemporary fiction writers, and urge us to see our own political and environmental reality in a new light.

    Previous novels by Williams include 'The Palace of Heavenly Pleasure' and 'The Emperor's Bones'.

    But when she drops out of vet school to get her jockey’s license in New York, intent on coming back to Ontario to ride Chique in the Queen’s Plate in three years, he’s the obvious choice to keep an eye on the filly. Nate’s content to watch Liv go, even though he’s got similar aspirations – when he’s not talked out of them by voices from his past. His growing bond with Chique might earn him Liv’s approval and give him the fresh start he’s looking for, but that’s as involved as he’s getting with the boss’s daughter. Not that Liv’s been receptive to anything more. Liv’s determined to keep their relationship professional, no matter how much Chique draws them together. Because racetrack romances are messy…and nothing can interfere with getting Chique to the Plate.Set against the backdrop of North America’s greatest racetracks, Good Things Come is a story about the hearts of Thoroughbreds...thepeople who love them...and the allure of Canada’s most prestigious race.

     Amazon UK reviews for Steven's first book, No Place Like Home, Thank God: "A superb book I devoured in two days." "This book made me laugh out loud." "Great read. Laugh out loud funny." "I really enjoyed this book!" "Steven's style of writing made me laugh out loud." "I couldn't put it down." "One of the best books I've read in a long time." "Found his one liners very funny." "A highly entertaining read." "So well written with brilliant humour." Seventy year-old British ex-pat miserymonger George Pearly lives on the Costa del Sol, all alone except for his ancient, three-legged dog, Ambrose. George hates his life and everybody in it. These feelings are mutual. Everyone hates George too. From this unhappy equilibrium the situation quickly deteriorates. First, George discovers he is dying of a mystery illness. Then his 35 year-old ape-child nephew, Kevin, moves into George's tiny and once tranquil home with a passion for Vimto, Coco Pops and slobbing around in his greying underpants. Worst of all, George's neighbours start to disappear and all accusing fingers point towards George. Pull up a sun lounger, grab yourself a piña colada and enjoy a murder-mystery romp on Spain's sunny southern coast.

    Cameron Cooke... Elijah Jones is a man with a violent past ... Setting out for the Arizona Territory, Jones seeks to escape his past and live a quieter, gentler life in the vast wilderness of the Mogollon Rim. But men who once made their living with the gun cannot simply walk away. In an untamed land teeming with Apaches and desperadoes, Jones finds himself unwittingly embroiled in a territorial war pitting him against new foes - and old ones... Through showdowns on dusty streets to savage gunfights in the wild, Jones is dogged by the demons of his former life, and realizes he must face them if he ever hopes to leave the trail of the gunman far behind...

    Being a tenacious girl, she chose to take education into her own hands after losing her father. So, from a very young age, she has been working her way up in educating younger children. But little does she know that her life is about to change drastically when she gets interviewed by a handsome Earl for the position of the new governess for his orphaned nephews. Will she deny the tender feelings she will start having for her charming employer, fearing they could complicate her work? Or will she let her heart decide what is the right choice?Richard Langley is the Earl of Hawkscombe and lives a peaceful life until he receives word that his twin sister and her husband have perished in a tragic accident. When he surprisingly learns that their two boys made it alive, he considers it his duty to take them as his own. However, he could never expect that choosing to hire the Irish governess he initially looked down upon would make him question his own values like no one has ever before. Will he let his prejudice aside, look deep into the lady's beautiful soul and accept her unconventional methods? Or will he decide that his perfect match should fit into society's standards and rules?Just when Molly and Richard start getting closer to each other, Molly's sophisticated former employer is about to arrive at the estate, and things will get truly complicated. Who will eventually succeed in capturing the Earl's heart?

    On the northern bank of the water, people live spoiled, luxurious lives. They feast on lamb and shop boutiques and want for nothing. On the southern side of the river, however, life is quite the opposite. Downtown residents know nothing but destitution and poverty, and they are not welcomed by their northern neighbors. Spinster Ursula Underwood shares an apartment with a gray and white cat on the impoverished southern side. Because of the loss and hardship she’s endured, Ursula has earned the nickname “Unfortunate”. She harbors great resentment at her lot in life, but a call on a diner payphone changes her outlook and gives her new purpose. Unfortunate Ursula Underwood takes us on a journey through an unknown world riddled with prejudice and hate, but one woman may change it all− as she learns to love the unlovable, forgive the undeserving and heal the intolerance in her heart.

    Read a complete short story at BookBrowse.Sightseeing is a masterful new work of fiction, a collection of stories set in contemporary Thailand and written with a grace and sophistication that belie the age of its young author. These are generous, tender tales of family bonds, youthful romance, generational conflicts, and cultural shiftings beneath the glossy surface of a warm, Edenic setting. Rattawut Lapcharoensap offers a diverse, humorous, and deeply affectionate view of life in a small Southeast Asian country that is inevitably absorbing the waves of encroaching Westernization.In the prizewinning opening story, "Farangs," the young son of a modest beachside motel owner commits the cardinal sin of falling for a pretty tourist, and the confrontation that ensues between the native boy and the girl's pompous American boyfriend culminates wondrously amid flying mangoes and Clint Eastwood—a pet pig—swimming out to sea. In "Sightseeing," the much-anticipated holiday of a young man about to leave for college and his loving and fiercely independent mother becomes a different kind of pilgrimage altogether when they are forced to confront the mother's impending blindness. The concluding novella, "Cockfighter," is a triumph of storytelling in which a young girl witnesses her proud father's valiant but foolhardy and drawn-out battle against the local delinquent and violent hoodlum whose family's vicious stranglehold on the villagers has passed down unchecked through generations.Through his vivid assemblage of parents and children, natives and transients, ardent lovers and sworn enemies, Lapcharoensap dares us to look with new eyes at the circumstances that shape our views and the prejudices that form our blind spots. Gorgeous and lush, painful and candid, Sightseeing is an extraordinary reading experience, one that powerfully reveals that when it comes to how we respond to pain, anger, hurt, and love, no place is too far from home.

    Tails you die ... Can one man's revenge become his redemption?Young Luke Tyler has everything going for him: brains, looks and a larrikin charm that turns heads. The future appears bright, until he defends his sister from the powerful Sir Henry Abbott. His reward is fifteen years hard labour on a prison farm in Tasmania's remote highlands.Luke escapes, finding sanctuary with a local philanthropist, Daniel Campbell, and starting a forbidden love affair with Daniel's daughter, Belle. But when Luke is betrayed, he must flee or be hanged.With all seeming lost, Luke sails to South Africa to start afresh. Yet he remains haunted by the past, and by Belle, the woman he can't forget. When he returns to seek revenge and reclaim his life, his actions will have shattering consequences - for the innocent as well as the guilty.Set against a backdrop of wild Tasmania, Australian Gold and African diamonds, Fortune's Son is an epic story of betrayal, undying love and one man's struggle to triumph over adversity and find his way home. - Praise for Jennifer Scoullar -'Scoullar, it turns out, is a writer of documentary calibre ... lovely, lyrical prose.' The Australian. 'Jennifer is a writer of great imagination.' Author Andrea Goldsmith'The people, the animals and the places ... such vivid and vibrant story-telling which wholly swept me away' Beauty and LaceFortune's Son is the first book in the Tasmanian Tales trilogy. Buy it now to discover why Jennifer Scoullar is one of Australia's favourite story-tellers!