Showing results by narrator "Kate Hosking" in All Categories

In a small town near Port Arthur in Tasmania in the mid-90s, Kate Byrne is having an affair with the father of her most gifted student. As the young teacher's sexual life is awakened by the father in scenes of escalating eroticism, the guilt she feels towards the son is compounded. Meanwhile, Veronica, her lover's wife, has just published Murder at Black Swan Point, a true crime book about the brutal slaying of a young adulteress some years before, set in a nearby town.

Lexie's back, and she's going to find out just how deep some grudges can go.... A young nurse's body is found at Clovelly Beach in Sydney's eastern suburbs. Apart from a puncture wound in her neck, she is in perfect condition. But she's also clutching a rose in her hands - and there's an empty packet of prescription drugs in her pocket. Investigating the scene, Detective Lexie Rogers and her partner Brad Sommers know something is not right. It appears to be a staged suicide.

"We must be ruthless," Edward snarls, "because we lead ruthless lives: you, of anyone, should understand that. This is our existence, Jordan, this house, this land, that father, that mother - there's no pity, there's no mercy, there's probably no escape. It is hard, Jordan, and we have to be hard to survive it, and the best we can do is fight anything that threatens to make it worse."

For 12 years Winter has been haunted. Her past, her memories, her feelings, will not leave her alone. And now, at 16, the time has come for her to act. Every journey begins with a single step. If Winter is going to step into the future, she must first step into the past.

Australian swimmer Petria Thomas won the hearts of millions around the world with her triple gold-medal-winning triumph at the Athens Olympic Games in 2004. Having overcome the pain and anguish of three shoulder reconstructions and two ankle reconstructions over the length of her glittering 12-year career, Petria is admired and respected for her grit, determination, and steely will to win.

Di Morrissey returns to the red earth of the Kimberley with a passionate story of resistance and resilience under its soaring blue skies. After the upheaval which separated Jacqui Bouchard from her beloved son, she has finally settled in Broome, a magical remote town on the northwest coast of Australia. But when a proposed mining development is unveiled, the town begins to tear itself apart. Rifts run deep as friends, families and lovers are faced with a battle that could change their lives irrevocably.

Indiana O’Meara is no stranger to the forces of evil. Now a policewoman, Indy is always fighting to redeem herself and defeat the dark. So when girls begin to go missing at a remote cattle station in Tasmania, she agrees to go undercover to investigate chief suspect Logan Atherton, the owner of Calico Mountain Lodge. But her early encounter with Logan reveals a man full of contradictions. His deep empathy for horses and those he cares for is obvious but he is also taciturn to the point of rudeness, and there is a strange atmosphere at the lodge. It doesn’t add up.

Neville 'Pom' Darling is on the hunt for the perfect photograph. Skye Stewart is searching for her long-lost grandfather. It's 1939, and Neville, escaping an unhappy marriage and his memories of the Great War, finds himself in Mackenzie Crossing on the day of the terrible Black Friday bushfires. He meets the beautiful Georgie Mackenzie and in an instant knows that she is the subject he has been looking for. As the heat intensifies, Georgie and Pom begin to wonder if they have a future together, but first they must survive the blaze.

Louie has finished her old life, and stepped into a world of sinners. For her, things are not going to be the same again. This darkly funny, disturbing novel explores a lawless world where morality is a nuisance, everything can be bought, and the prices paid are high.

The story of how gold miners rebelled against British authority, beginning a process that would ultimately lead to democracy in Australia. The Eureka Stockade. It's one of Australia's foundation legends - yet the story has always been told as if half the participants weren't there. But what if the hot-tempered, free-spirited gold miners we learned about at school were actually husbands and fathers, brothers and sons? What if there were women and children right there beside them, inside the stockade, when the bullets started to fly?

It's 1931, and Belle Bartholomew has arrived in rural Sweet Wattle Creek to claim her inheritance - a run-down grand hotel formerly owned by Martha Ambrose. Determined to solve the mystery of her birth and the reason why she was bequeathed the hotel, Belle runs into difficulties with the townsfolk and their desire to keep their secrets safe. Sixty years later Sophie Matheson is on a quest to find Belle and her family after discovering the wedding dress. The Sweet Wattle Creek centenary brings more challenges when her past catches up.

Rachel tightened her ponytail as she took up the position of Wing Attack. She knew what Mr E said was true, but this was her chance to impress the talent scouts. Rachel's big dream - her only dream - was that one day she would play netball for Australia. Rachel loves netball. She plays the game, reads about it, and tapes all the big matches. She's willing to do anything to realise her ambition to play in the rep team. Just when she has the chance to be noticed, everything goes wrong. Now she has to play for a new club with some less-than-friendly teammates and it's not as much fun anymore.

I gulped. My mouth was dry. How could I tell her? How could I just announce that her son?s innards had been sucked out by giant worms and that his skin was probably flapping somewhere in the morning breeze? I turned away, struggling to find the words.

This stunning and intoxicating novel speaks of passion and obsession, ranging in setting from an Australian rainforest to Boston and Toronto. A mysterious and elusive love affair haunts the lives of three women in Australia. Twenty years later, on the other side of the world, Charade Ryan sorts through story and counter-story for her father, the legendary Nicholas, and the truth about her origins.

In 1998 Kate O'Hara rents an old cottage on the banks of a river in Tasmania. She wants peace and quiet, to come to terms with her husband's death and the end of her unhappy marriage. But her cottage is haunted by the ghost of Devlin, a boatman from convict days. Captivated by Devlin's story and his mysterious disappearance, Kate falls deeper under the spell of the past. And then Kate steps back in time and meets Devlin in person.

City girl Paula married her lovely farmer, the only problem is he comes with a farm...Another heart-warming rural romance from the queen of Australian storytelling. Self-reliant Sydney girl, Paula, is looking forward to a new life in the country. Just married to sheep farmer Dan Woodcroft, she can't wait to escape her protective family and exchange her busy existence for a new life down on the farm in rural South Australia. But life on the farm proves rather different to what she was expecting.

Paula knew when she moved to the country that the life would be tough. Nearly a year into her marriage with farmer Dan, and now pregnant, she is proud of her ability to feed shearers, bake a pastie and fix a fence while still running her accountancy business from home. With a wedding to plan, the farm to run and neighbours to help out, life is busy but good. But there are clouds on the horizon.

Gracey's come home to Cunningham on holidays. But now she's a state athletics champion and a private school student, and everything looks different - even frightening. Part history, part mystery, Gracey is a challenging story about the past and the present, murder and compassion, and black and white identity.

Angela and Gracey were going to be 'best friends forever' and make it into the same university as care-free first-year students. But for Gracey, her Aboriginal heritage takes on a new significance. While Angela falls in love for the first time, Gracey is drawn into Black politics and their friendship drifts apart. Then Angela discovers that she too has a heritage - one her family would sooner deny. The conflict of the past possesses the power to draw the friends together, but it could as easily blow them apart forever.

The gripping new crime thriller from Karen M. Davis. Detective Lexie Rogers is tough, smart and at the top of her game. She's seen it all, from bikies, blood and betrayal to drugs, deviants and deception...and the violent knife attack that almost killed her as a young cop on the beat. Lexie's sent on the job of a lifetime - to go deep undercover, as beautiful Lara Wild, a drug distributor, to expose a huge dealing ring among Sydney's most treacherous criminals.