Five #MustRead Releases – February

Five #MustRead Releases – February 2019

 

Lawson’s Bend
Nicole Hurley-Moore

For a long time Lawson’s Bend had held little for Henny. Almost ten years ago she’d got out and vowed never to come back. But sometimes things change . . .

In the hot summer of 2008, Henny Bolton loses her best friend on a night they should have been celebrating their futures. It’s a loss about which she remains grief-stricken.

Right after the accident, Henny flees the small country town and true to her word, she’s not been back.

Stephen Drake never left Lawson’s Bend. He once had ambitions for a different life but staying close to family became more important after that tragic night.

But when Henny’s mother dies suddenly in a fall near the old quarry, and Henny is forced to return to Lawson’s Bend, it’s apparent that questions need to be asked. Was it really an accident?

Her plan was to get out of town again as quickly as possible. But then there is Stephen . . .

Betrayed
Renee Dahlia

What happens when your best friend betrays you? Can you forgive a teenage mistake?

When ESTHER WOODHALL steps out of a hotel lift and sees a glorious naked man standing by the concierge, all her sense tingle. As she looks up at his face, her heart sinks. Jordan, her neighbour and best friend, the man who abandoned her eight years ago after she tricked him into sex to escape a forced marriage with an older man. Caught in the act and thrown onto the streets took her from one bad situation into another. Homeless and pregnant, a wonderful foster family took her in, but the friendship with Jordan was broken beyond repair. For the past eight years, she’s worked hard to create a decent life for her and her profoundly deaf daughter, Ashia. Will he forgive her when he finds out the truth?

For the past eight years, JORDAN STOJANOV has stayed away from Sydney where he grew up. An important business trip reinforces his frustrations when he ends up naked in a hotel lobby. The last person he expects to see is Esther—the very reason he left eight years ago—and he doesn’t expect the chance meeting to change everything. Jordan believed she destroyed their friendship, and when he hears the truth, he must reconsider his assumptions. Throw in a new chemistry between him and Esther, and their old friendship has grown into a fierce sensual fire. The revelation that he has a daughter is an added complication, and Jordan rearranges his life to meet Ashia, except not everything is quite as it seems. Can he move beyond his past to claim the future he yearns for?

 

The Round Yard
Alissa Callen

For only child Neve Fitzpatrick, family is everything. When she loses her mother, she heads to the bush to rent a farmhouse near her grandmother’s family home. To keep herself busy and her grief at bay, she offers to look after two little redheaded cowgirls and adopts a sassy pony and shaggy donkey in need of a refuge.

Drover and horse trainer Tanner Callahan may have just found his mother, but he’s resolved never to let anyone too close. Abandonment has cursed him all his life, and he won’t let it happen again. Only two things unnerve him: children and small–town matchmaking. Then he meets occupational therapist Neve. Warm–hearted and unforgettable, she represents all that Tanner feels will forever remain out of reach.

But when an old iron key unlocks family secrets from the Second World War, Neve needs help only Tanner can give. As the threads of the past unravel, and locusts threaten to suffocate the land, Neve and Tanner must make a choice. Will fear keep them running or is the home each yearns for already within grasp?

 

The Ice Queen
Sasha Cottman

For Caroline Saunders, beauty is a curse. Everywhere she goes, she is surrounded by men who worship her. But Caroline knows none of them could ever love her just for herself.

She treats her court of suitors with cool disdain, gaining herself the title of the Ice Queen.

After an ugly altercation with an insistent suitor, Caroline decides it is time to escape the crowded ballrooms of London.

With a heart scarred by his parent’s disastrous marriage Julian Palmer, Earl Newhall has been in no particular hurry to take on a wife. But men with titles need heirs.

He reluctantly agrees to allow his aunt to arrange a week-long party at his Derbyshire estate. A handpicked group of eligible young women and their chaperones will be in attendance.

When a sudden heavy snowstorm stops all but one carriage from making the journey to Newhall Castle, Julian decides he should make the best of a bad situation.

However, matters turn from bad to worse when he discovers that it is Caroline Saunders who has arrived wet and freezing cold on his doorstep in the middle of the night.

The Ice Queen is the one woman in all of London society he knows he could never be prevailed upon to marry, let alone love.

But when Newhall Castle becomes Caroline’s only place of sanctuary, Julian quickly discovers that beneath her icy demeanor there beats a passionate heart.

Two stubborn souls come together in this beautiful tale of enemies to lovers.

 

Playing for Time
Leesa Bow

Darcy Rayne.

King of his team, his club, his city.

Every girl wanted a shot at winning his heart.

I wanted to know the real man behind those guarded eyes.

It started like any other night at the club.

Our eyes connected. More fleeting glances.

Awareness.

The game clock started for us.

I played with my heart, and in doing so almost stole his dream.

I underestimated a footballer’s determination and focus to the game.

I underestimated a footballer’s determination and focus to the game.

Played with my heart, and in doing so almost stole his dream.

Misjudged the importance of the clock in the game of love.

Even elite athletes miscalculate the rules.

And he undervalued mine, realising all too late.

You can’t play for time.

Only hope for a second chance…