Cirrus@Austlit

'A family gathering, but not everyone who sits down to dinner will survive it. Poisonous lies, family secrets, addiction and revenge - always a dish best served cold - are all on the menu. For readers of Sally Hepworth, Jo Dixon and Ali Lowe, this twisty domestic suspense holds you captive from its gripping beginning to its shocking denouement.

'Maz Antonio has spent the last two years in prison so is determined to make the first major family gathering in their new home deep in Australian suburbia as perfect as possible. She owes it to everyone after the terrible mistakes she's made ... mistakes for which she will always be trying to atone. This special lunch is her chance to make things right for her husband and children, to show everyone that she can maintain her sobriety, that things can go back to normal. (Whatever normal looks like when you have traumatic, confusing flashbacks of that fateful day where two innocent lives were lost.)

'Her sister, Elli, is in. So is her husband's brother. Her distant father-in-law is gracing them with his presence and her mum Margaret is on the way from Newcastle, bringing a colleague - a virtual stranger she impulsively invited.

'But is this man really a stranger? Or could it be that he is intimately connected to the past that Maz has so desperately been trying to put behind her - a past that's about to explode across the dinner table in the deadliest of ways...'(Publication summary)

'Amid the rising flood waters and shearers' strike violence, can one brave woman reclaim her future? From an Australian bestselling author comes a riveting historical adventure about one woman's journey from a life of isolation to one of love and acceptance.

'1894, Echuca, Victoria

'Tess Hawthorn is a woman on the run from her abusive husband. All she has to do is get on the riverboat Victor and she will be free.

'But with tensions at an all-time high between unionist shearers and Scabs, Tess isn't the only person trying to board a boat under the cover of night. When a brawl erupts between the union and non-union men, Tess is mistaken for a fellow Scab and in the chaos pulled aboard the PS Rodney - the same boat heading up the Darling River that her husband was bound for.

'The last person Bram Kempster expects to see on board is Tess Hawthorn, the girl he's loved from afar since they were young. But he can't afford to get distracted, not when he's on an urgent trip to Renmark. Tess didn't want him back then and, if her haughty behaviour is anything to go by, she certainly doesn't want him now.

'But childhood hurts are the least of their problems. The continent is a tinderbox of violence and bloodshed waiting to ignite, and at home the Murray River is rising fast. Can they overcome their past in time to work together and survive?' (Publication summary)

'Bestselling author Tricia Stringer asks whether age necessarily brings wisdom when the sale of a deceased estate pits sister against sister, divides a community and wreaks havoc in a small country town.

'Margot and her sister Roslyn have lived side by side in a little town in the Adelaide Hills most of their lives, supporting each other through thick and thin.

'Then their neighbour Gunter dies. Surprisingly, his will asks that his house and vineyard be sold and that Roslyn donate the money to a charity of her choice. When a developer wants to buy the land and create a hotel just over Margot's fence, Margot is outraged and decides to stand for Mayor and fight the development. But Roslyn feels differently. Her awareness of family violence and homelessness is sparked by the arrival in town of a young pregnant woman, who is escaping abuse and sleeping in her car. Determined to do some good, Roslyn supports the sale - she has found her charitable cause and the money will go to the homeless.

'Suddenly the sisters are on opposite sides of the fence, literally and figuratively. As the row heats up, their local community is divided between those pro-development and those against, and battle lines are drawn, neighbours eyeing each other angrily either side. As vandalism erupts, bitter words are hurled, and pots are stirred. Will the town - and the sisters - ever recover their community spirit? Will anything ever be the same again?

'Gentle humour, practical wisdom and trademark warmth underpin this clever novel from a bestselling Australian author.' (Publication summary)

'A terrible crash... but the facts don't add up. Worlds converge and two women's lives are torn apart when a devastating accident uncovers a shocking web of lies. A gripping and thought-provoking new mystery from bestselling Australian author Fiona Lowe. Perfect for readers who enjoy Liane Moriarty and Sally Hepworth.

'Freya thought she could relax when Ryan's best mate Jamie got engaged to her best friend Hannah. Two couples, four friends - what could be better than that? But a day before the wedding Freya's torn between keeping the peace or blowing it up.

'Hannah's perfect wedding is hours away and she's daydreaming of a honeymoon in Tahiti and starting the family she longs for when she hears the first-responder sirens. Is it a grass fire? Worse? And why aren't Ryan or Jamie answering their phones?

'When a car veers off the road with devastating consequences, the small wheatbelt town of Garringarup is left reeling, but no one's world is more shattered than Hannah and Freya's.

'As disturbing details surrounding the accident emerge and questions pile up, ugly secrets rise to the surface.

'Mystery, lies and scandal - it's soon obvious nothing is as it seems in this small town...' (Publication summary)

'A diehard country girl. A city-boy newcomer. Some rules were meant to be broken... Opposites attract in this delightful rural romance, set in charming small-town Bundilla, from bestselling Australian author Alissa Callen

'Horsewoman Brenna Lancaster has no time for relationships. Unless a man looks good on a horse and lets her call the shots, she isn't interested. She'd rather wear a dress and heels than give someone else power over her life.

'Finance guru Wyatt Killian is a self-made man who has left the train wreck of his childhood behind. There is zero room in his workaholic world for downtime and distractions, let alone emotions or country girls.

'When Wyatt's corporate horse-riding retreat is led by a woman determined to unplug him from his urban life, it isn't just his laser focus that becomes compromised. Being in a saddle unlocks a part of himself that he'd long ago discarded. In a rare moment of nostalgia, he prolongs his stay in the high country.

'After Brenna becomes mired in a family secret that involves a historic feud and bushrangers, she has no choice but to involve Wyatt in the search for answers. But as Wyatt's past collides with his future, and the only home Brenna has known comes under threat, both must decide what they need to let go of and what is worth fighting for.' (Publication summary) 

'Beloved key characters from The Lawson Sisters return in a standalone rural romance about motherhood, family traditions and having the courage to chart a new future. A new novel from award-winning romance author Janet Gover.

'Kayla Lawson believes nothing is good unless it's perfect. This search for perfection has made her a successful high-end wedding planner. But all that comes crashing down when Kayla discovers she is pregnant. She retreats to the sanctuary of Willowbrook Stud to consider this imperfect future as a single mother.

'Connor Knight has never known perfection. A kid from the wrong side of the tracks and a motorcycle gang member, he's no stranger to trouble with the law. But he's trying to leave that past behind. By giving a run-down pub in Scone a new lease on life, he's hoping to rebuild his own.

'At Willowbrook, Kayla is reunited with her childhood best friend. Jen and her two kids have come to stay while her husband is awaiting trial for a crime he didn't commit. While struggling to decide her future, Kayla is suddenly exposed to what motherhood really looks like.

'When she meets Connor there's instant chemistry between them that can't be denied. But with her plans in tatters around her, is there any way to make the pieces fit? Or are the obstacles in front of them insurmountable?' (Publication summary)

'Trouble with the law, a missing sister, and a growing attachment to the wrong man - Evie Emerson has a dangerous path ahead of her... From a bestselling Australian author comes an exciting and twisty historical mystery and adventure.

'1898: Bendigo, Victoria

'Evie Emerson has worked hard to build a fashionable clientele for her hats. But when an ex-paramour employs underhanded tactics after his attempt to coerce an engagement fails, Evie's reputation is in tatters. On the heels of having to put a case together to defend herself in court, Evie's life is thrown into further turmoil when the disappearance of her sister takes her to Cobram.

'Roving reporter Fitzmorgan O'Shea has troubles of his own: his involvement in uncovering police corruption has placed a target on his back. And while hunting a new story in Cobram his problems collide with Evie's when his research exposes malicious intimidation and threats designed to make local landholders give up their properties.

'For Raffety Dolan, he accepted long ago it's Fitz Evie loves - and his feelings will remain unrequited. But when a disgraced ex-policeman comes searching for revenge, he's ready to go save his friends.

'There, on the banks of the mighty Murray, with so much misunderstood history and secrets between the three friends - plus the legitimate threat of being shot at - will they survive long enough to discover the truth?' (Publication summary)

'Bestselling author and voice of Australian storytelling Tricia Stringer tackles troubled relationships, ageism, and love old and new in this warm, funny, uplifting story of colleagues and unlikely travel companions thrown together on an astonishing (and revealing) train trip across Australia.

'Ketty Clift's couture dressmaking business is thriving but the same can't be said for her staff. Lately, cracks have appeared in the team's harmony, testing relationships and causing issues with customers. Worse, the rumour that Ketty has lost her touch is circulating. So when Ketty's old friend Carlos suggests a holiday by train - on the iconic Ghan, no less - Ketty decides to take her surprised staff with her in the hope of fixing what ails them.

'But it's not turning out to be the cure-all Ketty had hoped for. Her protective second-in-command, Judith, doubts Carlos' intentions and sews suspicion in Ketty's mind. Her younger staff members, Birgit and Lacey, are beset by relationship disasters and financial worries, whereas invaluable employee Ning is under pressure from her family to retire, and seamstress Tien is terrified of everything outside her comfort zone - especially the outback.

'Each new stop on the way, and the surprising behaviour of some of the other passengers, affects the group and reveals something more about each of them. As the train pulls deeper into the mesmerising outback, matters seem set to come to a disturbing crescendo.

'Ketty must sidestep the drama, reunite her troubled workers and save her business and relationships. But will her transformative magic work to bring them all back on track?' (Publication summary)

'A gripping exploration of modern greed as bestselling Australian author Fiona Lowe unpicks the moral quagmire of those who trade on the bonds of their closest friendships and family for money.

Izzy Harrington's fiance is a successful entrepreneur and everyone's friend, but today she's waiting for him to get home so she can tell him they're over. Except Brad never arrives.

Instead, three angry men knock on the door and insist on talking to Brad. When the police arrive asking difficult questions and demanding to see his passport, Izzy's packed suitcases suddenly take on a whole new meaning.

Brad's disappearance sends ripples through their small town and a furious mob camps on Izzy's lawn desperate to recover their losses. They have Izzy in their crosshairs, determined to make her pay for Brad's audacious con.

As the search intensifies, conflicting clues emerge. Clues that suggest no one really knew Brad - least of all Izzy ...' (Publication summary) 

'A heartwarming story of friendship in an imperfect world, this is binge-worthy, feel-good fiction at its best.

'Meredith established the Copeton Crochet Collective (no knitters please) because it would be like having friends, only with her in charge, and because there would be no men. It comes as a nasty shock, then, when Luke, the handsome grandson of no-nonsense Edith, decides to stay and learn to crochet.

'Claire has five children, which is why people sometimes look at her with mild concern. She longs for an Insta-perfect life like her online hero, Siobhan, but she's drowning in domestic failure. She joins the Copeton craft group in the hope of making some non-virtual friends.

'Yasmin is Muslim and proud. But sometimes it would be great if people stopped asking her about her hijab and instead asked who she thought was going to win MasterChef. Pregnant with her first child, she should be elated. So why can't she stop panicking? Perhaps crocheting a set of baby clothes can get her in the right headspace.

'With plans for a new mosque and the resettlement of refugees in the retirement village, Copeton becomes a breeding ground for Islamophobia. Together with the other members of the group, this small band of fibre-arts enthusiasts battle racism and bigotry with colour and creativity, but will the fragile threads of community be enough to bind them when more than one member has something to hide?' (Publication summary)

'A town scandal. A kelpie chaperone. A winter ball. The bush telegraph has never had so much to talk about...

'A delightfully charming rural story about love and healing from bestselling Australian author Alissa Callen.

'Hettie Burbrook is the first to admit she's happiest when flying solo through the outback skies. After her hobby of photographing farmers lands her a book deal, it provides the ideal cover story to visit small-town Bundilla. But every photograph brings her closer to uncovering the answers behind why she is really in the mountains...

'Deer farmer Taite Lancaster is as strong as the tempered steel he welds into lifelike animal sculptures. Unlike his father, he will never allow feelings to break him. But when the old schoolfriend of his twin sister lands on the airstrip of their high-country station, he knows he's in trouble. Hettie is the one woman he can't forget.

'While they're both determined to keep to themselves, between dog races, a ute muster and a winter ball, Hettie and Taite are forced to face how much they need each other. And when a long-buried scandal erupts into the present, relationships and lives are threatened.

'Can a man who locks away his emotions reveal his vulnerability before the mountain snow melts? And can a woman intent on righting a decades-old tragedy listen to her heart before history repeats itself?' (Publication summary)

'Widow Marcella Ross won't let anything - or anyone - stop her from discovering the truth behind a deadly family mystery ... Mystery and romance collide in this compulsive historical adventure from a bestselling Australian author.

'1898, South Australia

At the gateway to the Flinders Ranges lies Kanyaka Station, once a thriving sheep and cattle property, now abandoned and in ruins. But a discovery in her late mother's papers draws recently widowed Marcella Ross out to its remote landscape in search of clues to the disappearance of her Uncle Luca, an Italian immigrant whose fate seems to have been bound up in that of his mysterious partner - also long-since vanished. When Marcella is nearly run over by a handsome stranger, she discovers he too is entangled in the secrets of the past. When tragedy and obsession threaten Marcella's fragile independence, how far will she have to go to unlock the secrets of Kanyaka - or solve the puzzle of her own future?

'1955

After learning that they are unlikely to have children, Frances and Joe MacDonald have taken the unusual step of buying a caravan and travelling together through the outback. They stop and camp at Kanyaka Station, where Fran becomes mesmerised by the past. Family lore holds that an ancestor met an untimely end amid the desolate ruins. But what truly happened, and to whom, at the isolated station? As fate alters the course of her life, Fran's footsteps echo another woman's from so long ago ...

'As the mystery unravels, will these two women have the chance to take control of their own destinies?' (Publication summary)

Fearless. Tough. Uncompromising.
This was the persona of former elite footballer and senior AFL coach, Danielle Laidley.

'Fearful. Vulnerable. Uncertain.
This is how Danielle felt, for most of her life.

'For the best part of five decades, within a hyper-masculine sporting environment, Danielle Laidley harboured a dark secret. As a boy growing up in the backblocks of Perth, as a teenager and young man playing AFL, as a married father of three, she knew she was female, regardless of the gender she was assigned at birth.

'For years Danielle lived a compartmentalised life, managing her secret first with a relentless quest for sporting success and workaholism, and eventually with substances that dulled the pain. She covertly experimented with her transgender life but eventually rumours began to circulate. The walls started closing in. Then there was nowhere to hide.

'This is an unflinching account of what it's like to know you don't fit the body you were born into, and the desperate measures taken to mask the fear of being outed, of losing those you love. It's also an uncensored behind-the-scenes look at elite football from the perspective of player and coach, where Danielle is both participant in and analytical observer of her double life.

'It's about the courage it takes to step into the world as Danielle May.'(Publication summary)

'The Trainor women have always been excellent at hiding their true feelings... until now. Ellen's estranged husband, David, has managed to interrupt her fabulous life of bridge and zumba by getting himself killed in a Thai boating accident. She's hardly surprised. It's simply the final in a long line of mistakes, the first was leaving her to go on a worldwide sailing trip with his mysterious, long-lost brother. Ah, well. At least she's now free to marry her rich but dull boyfriend, Kenneth.

'Regrettably, her daughter, self-possessed TV news broadcaster Natasha and granddaughter, reality TV producer Georgie, seem to take the whole 'dead' thing very personally and they decide to dig deeper, though neither really has time. Natasha is on the nose at her network and a toxic secret from her past is about to set off a catastrophic personal crisis. Meanwhile, Georgie is furiously focused on denying her true feelings for a contestant on her show, The Single Gal.

'Neither Ellen, Natasha, nor Georgie are agreed on quite how they should feel about David's death but they're certain about one thing - it isn't quite what it seems - and discovering the truth will unravel the tapestry of lies they've been spinning to themselves and each other.

'One way or another, all three women are faking it and as matters come to a head, the truth wills out in the most unexpected of ways...' (Publication summary)

'How can you know so little about those you love?

'With a coveted promotion dangling within reach, the last thing Addy Topic needs to do is waste precious time singing in Rookery Cove's choir. But when she's reminded how much music meant to her late mother, she can't say no. The building pressure raises the ghosts that sent her running from Rookery Cove years earlier - memories she's spent decades hiding from, silencing them with work, alcohol and sex.

'For Stephanie Gallagher, Rookery Cove was meant to be a new beginning in the slow lane. A place where she and her husband can embrace community, parenthood and evenly share the load. But the sea-change is changing everything. How much longer can they survive as a family?

'Brenda Lambeck is finding her feet after the death of her husband when her best friend convinces her to join the choir. Beloved as a grandmother, Brenda is determined to mend the fraught relationship she has with her daughter, Courtney. But is that even possible when she continues to lie?

'In the wake of a spectacular betrayal, three women are forced to face the uncompromising truths about the choices that have shaped their relationships with those they love most. The consequences will shatter their lives and all they hold dear. After such a disaster is rebuilding even possible?' (Publication summary)

'When a lethal bushfire tore through Myrtle, nestled in Victoria's breathtaking Otway Ranges, the town's buildings - and the lives of its residents - were left as smouldering ash. For three women in particular, the fire fractured their lives and their relationships.

'Eighteen months later, with the flurry of national attention long past, Myrtle stands restored, shiny and new. But is the outside polish just a veneer? Community stalwart Julie thinks tourism could bring back some financial stability to their little corner of the world and soon prods Claire, Bec and Sophie into joining her group. But the scar tissue of trauma runs deep, and as each woman exposes her secrets and faces the damage that day wrought, a shocking truth will emerge that will shake the town to its newly rebuilt foundations...'

Source: Publisher's blurb.