Showing results by narrator "Olivia Beardsley" in All Categories

She's the victim. But is she so innocent? Sophie McCarthy is known for her determination, ambition and brilliance at work. She's tough, but only because she wants to get the best out of people. Aidan Ryan is strong, honourable and a family man. He's tough, too; the army requires it. When these two strangers are brought together in a devastating incident, Sophie's life is left in ruins. Her family wants to see Aidan pay for what he did. Aidan's prepared to sacrifice everything - including his marriage and his child - to fix the mess he's made.

Coming together for a writing workshop with bestselling author Jan Goldstein, four strangers converge upon a luxury forest retreat. But along with their notepads and laptops, each of the participants has brought some emotional baggage. Beth is a solo parent and busy career woman haunted by a tragic car accident. Simone, the youngest at 26, is a successful Instagram star but she's hiding behind a façade. Jamie is the only man. He's a handsome personal trainer - but he looks out of place with a pen in his hand. Finally, Alice is a wife and mum recovering from post-natal depression.

Cait is a bookshop owner and book nerd. Her social life revolves around her mobile bookselling service, which hand-picks titles for elderly clients, particularly the grandmotherly June. After a tough decade, Book Fiend is the last bookshop in the central business district and the last independent retailer on a street given over to high-end labels. Profits are small, but clients are loyal. When James breezes into Book Fiend, Cait realises life might hold more than her shop and her cat.

As the owner of the art gallery at Noosa Heads, Jack Montgomery comes strolling back into the life of sculptor Sienna Sacchi. Her plan to buy the gallery is ruined, yet Sienna refuses to let him interfere with the most important thing - her debut exhibition. But Jack's not only taking over her workplace. He's also intruding on her art studio, her home...and maybe even her heart.

When Sophie Cartwright comes home to Augathella, she doesn't get the welcome she expected. Her brother, Braden, has got his father act together, the new staff at Kilcoy Station are keeping things running, and Sophie, well, she feels...unwanted. As for her ex, Kent Mason, he and his attitude could go take a flying leap.

Widowed and at a crossroads in her life, Sandra Porter knows she must find the courage to find her true self. Deciding it's time to push her boundaries, she makes a booking to trek the Larapinta Walk across the centre of the remote Northern Territory. Renowned nature photographer Graysen Hughes has come to the outback seeking solace after the death of his wife. Always a loner, Graysen isn't happy when the tour guide insists on the participants walking in pairs. After a suspicious accident and the sudden disappearance of their guide, the group struggles on.

After a year apart, Maryanne returns to her husband, Roy, bringing their eight-year-old son, Daniel, and his teenage sister, Freya, with her. The family move from Sydney to Newcastle, where Roy has bought a derelict house on the coast. As Roy painstakingly patches the holes in the floorboards and plasters over cracks in the walls, Maryanne believes, for a while, that they can rebuild a life together. But Freya doesn't want a fresh start - she just wants out - and Daniel drifts around the sprawling, run-down house in a dream, infuriating his father, who soon forgets the promises he has made.

When Laura Adnum arrives unexpectedly in Augathella to visit the three sons of her deceased sister Julia, it seems she is there to cause trouble. Laura is not impressed that her brother-in-law Braden Cartwright is planning to marry Callie Young. Newly appointed local doctor Harry Higgins is surprised when Laura insists on visiting him to check that the care of her three nephews is adequate. Harry has his own demons and has come to Augathella for peace and a quiet life. Harry is suspicious of Laura's motives. Why has she suddenly decided to visit three nephews she has never met?

Freya ‘Free’ Paterson has finally come back home. She’s landed the job of her dreams working on an art project with the local school, but she hadn't planned on meeting the man of her dreams as well. With his irresistible Irish accent, Constable Finn Kelly is everything Free wants - genuine, kind...and handsome as hell. He's also everything Free isn’t - stable and dependable. Yet despite the passion simmering between them, he just wants to be friends. What is he trying to hide?

Amelia Foley's parents hoped for a professional career in the city for their only daughter. But she hates city life, and sets off to work as a jillaroo on Kilcoy Station. Local shire building inspector Ben Riley visits Kilcoy to advise Braden Cartwright on a planned expansion. After a run-in with Amelia's sidekick - Chilli, the golden retriever - Ben insists she and her pet come to town to attend the local dog obedience classes. As the jillaroo and the inspector spend more time together, attraction grows quickly.

Grace MacCullagh didn't come back to Australia for love. Six months ago, after her sister's wedding, Grace spent one unforgettable night with Jasper, her brother-in-law's maddeningly handsome, emotionally unavailable brother. Jasper knows letting her go was the biggest mistake of his life and he's not about to waste his second chance, but Grace isn't making it easy.

Ten years ago, 15-year-old Darren Davies was shot dead at the river mouth. The killer was never found. Now, Darren's mother Sandra receives a visit from the police. Her best friend, Barbara Russell, has also been found dead, out in the bush. And Barbara's DNA matches the DNA found under Darren's fingernails. When the investigation into Darren's murder is reopened, Sandra begins to question what she knew about her best friend. As she digs, she discovers that there are many secrets in her small town - and that her late son had his own, too.

Two years after a family tragedy, and still consumed by her grief, Willa receives a strange letter from halfway across the globe. She has inherited a house in Australia, in a town she’s never heard of, from a woman she doesn’t know.... Following the mystery to the inviting shores of Sisters Cove, Willa is entranced by the dilapidated old Chapel House she now owns, perched high on a windy cliff within the grounds of Merrivale Estate.

Happily working on her family’s macadamia farm in the rolling hills of northern New South Wales, Dee Peters receives an enigmatic letter hinting of family secrets and the prospect of her inheriting a cattle station in the Northern Territory outback. Intrigued, Dee decides to stay on the station for six months while she attempts to make sense of the past. Ryan Carey has managed Wilderness Springs cattle station since his father died suddenly - the last thing Ryan expects is the arrival of a woman, and one who is keen to take over the running of the property.

They were best friends who never meant to fall in love - but for one of them, it was already too late. Willow 'Banjo' Paterson and Tom Forrest were raised on neighbouring cattle stations in the heart of the Kimberley. But as young adults, something came between them that Willow cannot forget. Now 10 years have passed since she's spoken to Tom. When her father falls ill, Willow is called home to run the family property - but her vision for a sustainable organic cattle station is proving hard to achieve. She needs Tom's help, but is it too late to make amends?

As a vulnerable 17-year-old, Beth Paterson gave a fellow student private tutoring. She didn't expect to fall deeply in love with him and have her life changed forever in just a couple of months. And she didn't expect him to vanish without even saying good-bye. Now an accomplished businesswoman and doctor, Beth's life is thrown into turmoil when Charlie Campbell comes back to town to help his family. He's a big star on the alternative rock scene these days - but he remembers Beth and seems just as mad at her as she is at him.

Bestselling author Liam Wyndham needs an escape. Noosa, with its small-town charm and beautiful ocean, is the perfect place to hide out from the scandal surrounding his estranged dead wife. Georgie wants an adventure, and she has a plane ticket that promises her everything: excitement, independence, and a way to escape the memory of her last ruined relationship. Still, she has one last job to complete before she can leave the country. And the last thing she needs is a recalcitrant author distracting her from her plans.

When horticulturist Tarni Morgan takes on a part-time position at the McClaren Mango Farm, it's a chance for a new beginning in the Northern Territory. Hiding a tragic past, Tarni treasures her privacy. She is surprised when the property owners leave on a three-month trip not long after she accepts the position, but is happy to house-sit in their absence. The only downside is Cy Prescott, the relieving manager. As they work together, Tarni begins to realise that Cy holds secrets just as she does, and fights her growing attraction to this taciturn man.

It is 1941. Eighteen-year-old Ruby leaves behind the family farm, her serious mother and roguish father and heads for Adelaide. After a brief courtship, she enters into a hasty marriage with a soldier about to go to war - who returns a changed man. With an eyebrow pencil in one hand and gardening shears in the other, Ruby navigates the years doing her duty as a woman, contending with her damaged husband and eccentric in-laws, allowing marriage and motherhood to fill her with purpose and pleasure - and only occasionally wondering, is this all there is?

In the aftermath of a personal decision, Shea O’Byrne has retreated to Melbourne, abandoning her career as a vet nurse to counsel women through pregnancy loss - a pain she understands all too well. When her father’s genealogical research uncovers a long-buried scandal involving the family’s forgotten ancestor, Samuel O’Byrne, Shea reluctantly agrees to help investigate.