Australian romance
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The Place That Sleeps by L.R. STARR
Miss Mary Mack, Mack, Mack. All dressed in black, black, black.
He likes to watch.
The place that sleeps, that’s what the natives call it. A sweet little coastal coast town on the Central Coast of New South Wales, Australia.
Piper decides it’s time for a seaside visit, she’s a frustrated investigative journo who’s on a quick getaway with her girlfriends. She picks a holiday house that’s owned by a wealthy barrister. The overpriced oceanfront rental mysteriously goes on the market every two years, except it never sells.
The walls are dripping wet with secrets that threaten to overflow from its cracks.
Then there’s Jack McMaster, the hot boy broody surfer and son of the owner. He’s drawn to Piper for more reasons than one. Locals start whispering in her ear about the house amongst the dunes, as a monster lurks and her investigative nose starts sniffing.
She might break the story of the year, but when her friends go missing and she unravels one deadly secret after another the monster wants to take her to a watery grave.
What will she discover about the broody McMaster from the sleepy side town?
You can only cover things up for so long…
Second Chances by Ava Paris
Is life giving me lemons, or lemonade?
Just when Chloe’s life should feel like it’s falling apart post-divorce, things begin to take off in unexpected ways. She had been feeling undesirable and suddenly she’s insatiable to men; for the first time in her life she was completely financially stable after many years of worrying about money. Chloe doesn’t even have to worry about blaring alarm clocks anymore.
But when there is no drama, we create some amiright? That’s exactly what Chloe is doing when an eligible lawyer starts pursuing her.
Will Chloe be with her new beau? Or will she cut the strings and fly solo, happy with her new found freedom and the joy of never having to work again?
Second Chances is the first in the Besties series that follows the love lives of four very different but very cool best friends. All books have no cheating, a guaranteed happily ever after and can be read as standalone novellas with no cliffhangers.
Apathy & Vigor by Faye Hall
Will the love of a woman save him from his own apathy?
Tristen Brone lived a carefree life of wealth and passion…until it all came crashing down around him. The night Tristen’s best friend died in a fire, Tristen tried to save him, but he failed. Not only did Jacob die, but Tristen is left with scars that make him feel like a monster. There are those in town who think Tristen is responsible for starting the fire, which includes Jacob’s sister, the woman Tristen is in love with. The once confident, handsome, young man is now on a downward spiral of sorrow and depression.
Soon after Amalie Fergus lost her brother in a fire, her father died and their family properties were repossessed. She had nothing left and no one to turn to. When she took a job as a maid for a wealthy gentleman she never expected that he would try to force himself on her, or that she would now be on the run for his murder.
Running from the scene of the crime, Amalie collides with a man from her past who offers to keep her safe from the police on one condition—she return to Tristen and steal some property papers from him.
When Amalie shows up at Tristen’s doorstep, begging him to take her in, he’s suspicious. Despite their passionate past, and the feelings he still has for her, all he can think about is how quickly she abandoned him. So why has she come back into his life after all these months?
With the two former lovers reunited, it becomes obvious that the passion between them is still smoldering, but can they overcome everything that stands in their way, and will they ever discover who is responsible for the fire that changed their lives forever?
Love, Tears, & Coffee by Melza Jane
Emily had been a late developer—she’d never given boys, or sex, much thought. Not when she was at school, she was much too shy back then. Later on, when a boy at university asked her out on a date she’d said yes, because that was what was expected of her. From then on she’d have told you she was straight—everyone was, in the Australian country town she came from, and if they weren’t, they kept quiet about it. It was that kind of place. It was also the kind of place you left, as soon as you could. Emily made it to Melbourne, and never looked back.
She wasn’t the kind of girl who did one-night-stands, but he’d seemed nice, the boy she met at the party. When he treated her like dirt the morning after, she went to a café, trying to make her life feel normal. It didn’t work, nothing could. But that was where she met Laura, a waitress working behind the counter. Laura’s phone number, scribbled on a scrap of paper ripped from her order pad was just a gesture, an offer of support, one Emily never planned on taking up.
But a chance encounter brings Laura into Emily’s life again, and she is offered the possibility of new friends and a new social scene—musicians and artists, talented, witty, and clever, so much more interesting than the people Emily knew. Along with this glimpse of a sparkling new life comes a revelation. Laura is a lesbian.
Emily has to recalibrate her feelings for Laura. Can she be friends with her? Does she want to be friends with her, or something more?
Love, Tears, & Coffee is the story of Emily and Laura. Emily’s journey of self-discovery takes time, and her awakening comes with its fair share of trials and setbacks. Ultimately though, she discovers who she really is, and who she really loves.
Avarice and Charity (Sins of the Virtuous Book 3) by Faye Hall
Would you risk everything to protect the one you love from relentless greed?
After the death of her mother, Charity Bohdan vowed to carry on her work—providing free treatment to those who are sick or injured. What started off as patching up wounds soon took a very different direction when she was being called to treat young women who’d been brutally raped and left pregnant. She knows the risks involved with treating and re-homing these women, but she can’t turn them away.
When Charity is called to treat a drunk’s wounded hand, she expects to find some elderly station hand. Instead she finds a handsome, young man, who isn’t drunk at all. As she tends to his injury, she can’t ignore the feelings he stirs inside her when their skin touches.
Avarice Licciardi has spent his life working for his father—a greedy, loveless man who has destroyed everyone in his way. But when Avarice meets Charity, a woman with the touch of an angel, he discovers there’s something he craves much more than his father’s money. He wants this woman to be a part of his life.
As they spend time together, talking of Irish legends and going on picnics, Avarice begins to win the beautiful woman’s heart. But then his father orders him to retrieve some hidden papers at Charity’s estate. He refuses…until his father threatens to go get the papers himself. Avarice is determined to protect Charity from this brutal man—even if that means deceiving her.
What Avarice finds at her estate is a hidden tunnel with incriminating mysteries far greater than hidden papers. Together Avarice and Charity uncover secrets from the past that sicken their souls as an evil, greedy man threatens to tear them apart in his search for the evidence hidden at the Bohdan estate.
Indulgence and Temperance (Sins of the Virtuous Book 2) by Faye Hall
Would you abandon the woman you love for your own indulgence?
Beth Meridian has returned home, hoping to leave her sordid past behind her and settle into a quiet life. When her childhood friend, Hannah Raeburn, offers her a place to stay, Beth knows it won’t be long until she runs into Hannah’s brother, Daniel. What she doesn’t expect is for him to reignite feelings deep in her heart, reminding her of the kiss they shared before she left town.
Daniel Raeburn’s past is scandalous, his sinful indulgences allowing him more wealth than he could ever need. Still, he wants more, and his gluttonous appetite for wealth and women leads him to buy into a partnership at the local hellfire club.
When Hannah goes missing, Beth and Daniel follow her trail through the Australian outback. Witnessing the womanizer Daniel is, Beth flees on a cattle train headed north. Desperate to explain his actions, Daniel follows her.
Arriving in the small town of Jarvisfield, Daniel is shocked to learn that Beth is now the owner of the largest cattle company in the area. He’s even more shocked to discover that the preacher controlling the town, and stealing from the townspeople, is his once business partner William Maxon. He’s convinced this man is also responsible for his sister’s disappearance. When he learns William has Beth picked out as his next victim, Daniel knows he must do whatever it takes to make her listen to the truth. But she has no interest in hearing anything he has to say.
Faced with losing the two women he loves, Daniel is forced to choose between their freedom and the possessions and wealth he has hoarded over the years. But even if he gives it all up, he still might lose everything.
Lust & Chastity by Faye Hall
Would you surrender the pleasure of lust to become a lady of chastity?
Darien Avery followed Caitlyn Sinclair from England to Australia, memories of their intense love affair fresh in his mind. When they arrive he quickly learns he isn't the only man in this new country who's infatuated with the breathtaking, blonde-haired beauty.
Women are turning up dead, victims to the worst kinds of depraved acts—women who fit Caitlyn's description—and every clue to the murderer leads back to Darien's family. Frantic to save Caitlyn's life, he sends her up north to her family, hoping to free her from the murderer's grasp. But she never makes it there. When he receives word that her dead body has been found, his heart breaks and he throws himself into a life of debauchery and sin as punishment for failing to save the woman he loves.
When yet another murder occurs, Darien believes he will be accused of the crime, so he flees. He finds himself in Jarvisfield—the same town where Caitlyn's family lives. But he soon learns that the murderer who has been butchering blonde-haired, green-eyed women has followed him there.
He's in for even more of a shock when he discovers that his beloved Caitlyn is not dead, and has in fact, been living in Jarvisfield for months. This time he will protect her. However, Caitlyn is having none of it. She believes Darien has betrayed her, and she won't fall for him again. No longer is she his lustful lover, but rather a lady of chastity, determined to live an independent life—one without Darien.
Content Warning: contains sex, strong language, and some violence
Ran From Him by Jenny Schwartz
Six years ago Cate Trapani fled emotional blackmail and a forced marriage with tycoon Daniel Garren. But now she’s back, determined to save her brother from a similar fate: his happiness sacrificed on the altar of their father’s business interests and her ex-fiancé Daniel Garren’s ambition. But Daniel isn’t the villain she remembers, and she’s not the awkward, innocent girl she used to be. This time, she’ll fight for what she wants. But so will Daniel—and what he wants is Cate.
A love story in the classic category romance style, set in Perth, Australia.
Heat rating: sensual.
