Cirrus@Austlit

'Six notorious cousins, known to the ton as the Bar Cynster, have cut a swath through the ballrooms of London. Yet one by one, each has fallen in love and married the woman of his heart, until only one of them is left unclaimed...the most rakish of Stephanie Laurens' captivating clan...and he's not about to go easily.

'Alasdair Cynster -- known to his intimates as Lucifer -- decides to rusticate in the country before the matchmaking skills of London's mamas become firmly focused on him, the last unwed Cynster. But an escape to Devon leads him straight to his destiny in the irresistible form of Phyllida Tallent, a willful, independent beauty of means who brings all his masterful Cynster instincts rioting to the fore. Lucifer tries to deny the desire Phyllida evokes -- acting on it will land him in a parson's mousetrap, one place he's sworn never to go. But destiny intervenes, leaving him to face the greatest Cynster challenge -- wooing a reluctant bride.

'Phyllida has had a bevy of suitors -- her charm and wit are well known throughout the countryside -- but none of them has tempted her the way Lucifer does. His offer to teach her all about the ways of love is almost too tantalizing to resist. And though she's not yet completely surrendered, she knows only a fool stands against a Cynster...and Phyllida is no one's fool.' (Publisher's blurb)

'When the daughter of an old Florentine family dies, she leaves a bequest to her lover Max Mather, an American art historian who has been managing the family's rare art collection. Mather is left with two priceless artworks by the great Renaissance master Raphael—without the family's knowledge. As Mather contrives to have the artworks discovered at auction in New York, big-time collectors, dealers and auctioneers are drawn into his game. In trying to out-deal the deal-makers, he becomes embroiled in a tangled web surrounding the brutal murder of a promiscuous Manhattan painter, Madeleine Bayard. The two stories intertwine in this fast-paced tale of intrigue and murder in the international art world.'

Source: Publisher's blurb (Allen & Unwin, 2017).

'The profound story of a cardinal who steps out from the Iron Curtain to become Pope amid the machinations of Cold War politics—the first title in the Vatican Trilogy.'

Source: Publisher's blurb (Allen & Unwin, 2017).

'Pope Leo XIV battles enemies from within the Vatican and Islamic terrorists determined to assassinate him—the third title in the Vatican Trilogy.'

Source: Publisher's blurb (Allen & Unwin, 2017).

'Even in death, Cassidy is larger than life.

'Charles Parnell Cassidy is a powerful politician. He's a backroom fixer generous, but also greedy and cunning. Martin Gregory is his disenchanted protégé who, having married Cassidy's daughter and become a success on his own terms, scorns his father-in-law.

'When the terminally ill Cassidy arrives in London to die, he makes Gregory the executor of his will and sets a complex trap by offering him the keys to a vast empire of wealth and corruption spanning Australia and Southeast Asia. With Cassidy's evil influence ever-present Gregory tries to unravel the old man's complicated obligations and debts, while struggling to ensure the security of his family.'

Source: Publisher's blurb (Allen & Unwin, 2017).

'Son of a Norwegian master-mariner and grandson of Kaloni, the last of the great Polynesian navigators, Gunnar Thorkild is a man consumed by a dream. Convinced that the Polynesians' legendary Island of the Dead is real, he risks his career, his life—and those of his fellow adventurers—to find it.

'Shipwrecked on the very island they seek, the castaways are forced to leave behind everything they know and rely upon. To survive in this lush tropical paradise, they must make new laws of power and property, of sex and marriage.'

Source: Publisher's blurb (Allen & Unwin, 2017).

'Paul Desmond admires his close friend George Harlequin for his impeccable European breeding. Head of a prestigious Swiss bank, Harlequin belongs to a vanishing class of gentlemen whose handshake is their bond.

'Then their gilded world is blown apart. A computer printout identifies the Harlequin et Cie bank as the target of a gigantic takeover. The mastermind is Basil Yanko, a ruthless financial genius whose instruments are fraud, blackmail and terror.

'As the conflict moves from Zurich to London, New York and Mexico, Harlequin must become a 'villain by necessity'. Can Desmond help his friend save his bank—and his family?'

Source: Publisher's blurb (Allen & Unwin, 2017).

'A famous writer travels to the remote, windswept islands of Scotland's Outer Hebrides looking for peace of mind and a chance to dispel his inner demons.

'On the way, a car accident throws him together with the raven-haired doctor Kathleen McNeil. He also falls in with the Red Wolf, a man who lives by the old codes—some of them violent. As a love triangle develops, the refined, civilised writer finds himself pitted against the rough-hewn man of nature.

'Summer of the Red Wolf is an epic story for a modern age; a fast-paced narrative in a rugged landscape, driven by the timeless themes of love and jealousy.'

Source: Publisher's blurb (Allen & Unwin, 2017).