Showing results by narrator "Casey Withoos" in All Categories

Jenny's family think pastoral agent John Downing would make the perfect husband for her. But Jenny knows that she is not in love with him and never will be. Thanks to her childhood friend Geoff Hallam, Jenny gets a job on an opal safari. It's an ideal opportunity to get away for the pressures of home in Yaraandoo. Safari boss Drew Carey has a magnetic effect on Jenny. Yet it seems the beautiful and wealthy Nicole Armstrong has already staked her claim on him. Then Jenny makes a discovery that changes everything for the safari party.

It’s the 1980s, and in their small coastal town, Ali and her best friend, Jessie, are on the cusp. With The Golden Book, a journal of incantation and risk-taking as their record, they begin to chafe at the restrictions put on them by teachers, parents, each other. Then Jessie suffers a devastating accident, and both their lives are forever changed. When Ali is an adult, with a young daughter herself, the news of Jessie’s death brings back the intensity of that summer, forcing her to reckon with her own role in what happened to Jessie so many years ago.

In the small town of Jericho, New South Wales, Sylvia Knight is losing hope that the person who killed her husband will ever face justice. Since the night of the hit-and-run, her world has been shrouded in hazy darkness—until she meets Theo St John, the discoverer of a rare comet soon to be visible above Jericho.

We all carry stories within us - wrenching, redemptive, extraordinary, and laced with unexpected and hard-won wisdom. These are the real-life stories that a group of women tell each other when they gather for a deep and structured conversation - once a month in a suburban living room - about the things that really matter. They discover that life can be a heartbeat away from chaos; that bad things happen to good people; that good people do outrageous things; that the desire for transformation is enduringly human.

In present-day Melbourne, a group of power-hungry academics are trying to reassemble a 19th century grimoire designed to summon Satan. For centuries magicians have compiled grimoires to call up demons. In Victorian London an ambitious warlock called Peter Owling designs a book to summon the Lord of Demons himself and thereby achieve eternal life. But not even his beautiful young acolyte Christian grasps the full extent of his master’s plans....

The 1950s are a carefree time for a young woman like Grace. The war is over and when her family moves to Brisbane, plans are made for her to complete her studies at the University of Queensland. Ewan is also studying the same course and when he meets the beautiful, head-strong Grace, the differences in their backgrounds are pushed aside as they plan their future together. However, not everyone is happy with the romance and when the young couple are forced to separate, decisions are made that will determine their path in life.

The close-knit community of Kinton Bay is shocked when fifteen-year-old Siena Britton makes a grisly discovery in the national park. She believes it's a skull from the town's violent colonial past and posts a video which hits the news headlines. Her parents, Meri and Rollo, aren't so sure. In 1998, their classmate went missing after a party in the Killing Cave. They're horrified to discover the destructive teenage parties are still happening, and Siena was there last weekend.

In 1941, Queensland drover Michael McTavish leaves behind his young daughter Gracie and joins the 2/22 AIF, his destination, Rabaul, New Guinea, a small town surrounded by impenetrable jungles and steep jagged mountains, its shores lined by tranquil bays and active volcanos. Joanie has also arrived in New Guinea, with a chance to manage a trading store with her father, Reg, too exciting an opportunity to pass up.

I’m the most authentic version of myself when I’m around Jack. We’ve known each other since we were kids, and our relationship was always one of mudpies and mocking. Then everything changed. Beautiful Kate, my best friend, disappeared on a moonlit beach after Jack dumped her for me. Jack was a suspect and, sure of his innocence, I lied to protect him. I know Jack didn’t kill her. Our betrayal did.

In this helpful, practical, and realistic guide to good psychological health, Dr Ahona Guha shows us how to cope, thrive, and still feel hopeful for the future. Combining techniques from a range of therapeutic modalities, she demonstrates how we can build a range of essential psychological skills, and apply them to live a more tranquil and joyful life.

The Carrington family owns the only pub in the small country town of Kangaroo Ridge. It’s been eight years since the five siblings became orphans and since twins Sebastian and Tamara stepped up to look after their younger brothers and sister with the help of their aunt, Maddie. Seb and Tam gave up their teenage years to make sure the family stayed together, but that’s been hard and they’ve grown apart. Seb is silent and stoic; Tam, on the other hand, wants to kick over the traces and catch up on the life she missed out on.

It happened the day of the Moon Festival. It could have been left behind, they all could have moved on with their lives. But secrets have a habit of rising to the surface, especially in small towns. Two couples, four ironclad friendships, the perfect coastal holiday town. With salt-stung houses perched like lifeguards overlooking the shore, Lago Point is the scene of postcards, not crime scenes. Wife and mother Abbi, town cop Blake, schoolteacher Hannah and local doctor Will are caught in their own tangled webs of deceit.

Romance in rural Australia, three captivating Woodlea novellas from best-selling author Alissa Callen.

On the wild Yorkshire coast, Maisie hopes to uncover the secret of the long-running feud between her mother and her recently deceased grandmother, Sybill. In one of Sybill’s old trunks Maisie finds a diary written by a young woman in the 18th century. Georgette eloped with her poet lover from London to Solgreve – and entered a Gothic world of grave robbing and diabolical science. Then Maisie starts seeing a figure that exudes unearthly evil outside her tiny cottage. Gradually she uncovers the terrifying secrets of Solgreve, secrets that contain an evil that threatens to claim her.

Jodie Garrow is a teenager from the wrong side of the tracks when she falls pregnant. Scared, alone and desperate to make something of her life, she adopts out the baby illegally - and tells nobody. Twenty-five years on, Jodie has built a new life and a new family. But when a chance meeting brings the adoption to the notice of the authorities, Jodie becomes caught in a nationwide police investigation, becoming the centre of a media witch hunt. What happened to Jodie's baby? And where is she now?

Nessa keeps the world at arm's length. It's easier that way, for everyone. Her orbit is no bigger than her sister, her parents and a solitary work colleague with a penchant for dying wishes. But even these people don't see the real Nessa. Saddled with her father's impossible gift, a rundown homestead in the middle of nowhere, Nessa reluctantly develops a wellness retreat of sorts–a no-frills escape for women. All too quickly, keeping her distance becomes a trickier dance, even for someone so good at it.

From the best-selling author of Under Southern Skies comes the story of one woman's courage in a man's world. Joanna Kingsford is passionate about horses - and it's the world she shares with her father, champion trainer Charlie Kingsford. Jo's socialite mother, Nina, wants Joanna to pursue more ladylike interests, like modelling and finishing school. Jo can't think of anything duller. When a tragic accident changes everything, Jo is determined to prove she has what it takes to become a champion trainer.

A clear-eyed, insightful and wildly entertaining look into the complicated, emotional world of mothers and their teenage daughters. Four mothers. Four teenage daughters. An isolated tropical paradise with no internet or mobile phone reception. What could possibly go wrong? There's tension, bitchiness, bullying, sex, drunken confessions, bad behaviour and breakdowns - and wait till you see what the teenagers get up to. How can we let our daughters go to forge lives of their own when what we most want to do is hold them close and never let them go?

Daisy's in trouble. Her car is stalled in the middle of a flooded creek, with the water rising quickly. Dale is in no mood to rescue the woman about to be swept away by a raging tropical storm, who's clearly a city girl, unfamiliar with the country roads, and driving a completely unsuitable car. He has half a mind to leave her right where she is. Stranded on the wrong side of the creek, Daisy has no other option than to accept Dale's offer to spend the night at the luxury resort, Stormcloud Station.

In an odd and serene moment, she wondered how something so bright and actually beautiful, such a vibrant red, a colour synonymous with passion, romance and love, the colour of blood, of life, could also be the colour of so much appalling devastation. Sent south to the Snowy mountains to work on his Cousin Jack's farm, George Sutherland finds himself fighting for a beautiful woman, his job and ultimately his life. He is driven to breaking point as he is made to question his own reality, if he is worthy of the job and ultimately, the family name.