New Women

As a teenage orphan in England in 1791, Mary Reibey was sentenced to death for stealing a horse. When police cornered her, she was dressed as a boy, and she maintained that disguise until she was unmasked at her trial. Due to her 'tender age', Reibey was spared the hangman's noose and sentenced to seven years' transportation to the colony of New South Wales. With the odds stacked against her, Reibey went on to become Australia's first female business tycoon and the richest woman in the colony, founding the Bank of New South Wales, now one of the nation's biggest financial institutions.

Blindsided by a breakup, and asking herself the usual why, how, what questions, Tatiana Jerome went online. She used social media as a way to uplift and empower herself by venting but also working through her own part in the relationship's demise. Her posts struck a chord with thousands and then hundreds of thousands of readers - no surprise since most relationships (approximately 85 percent) end.

Old New Worlds intertwines the immigrant stories of the author and her great-great grandmother. Sarah Barker and her new husband sail from England in 1815 to minister to the indigenous Khoihoi in South Africa’s Eastern Cape. In the midst of conflict, illness, and natural disasters, Sarah bears 16 children. Two hundred years later, Judith leaves post-apartheid South Africa with her new American husband to immigrate to the United States. She is drawn to Sarah’s immigrant story in the context of her own experience, and she sets out to try and trace her.

Hey, baby, Debbie and Edwina aren’t likely to thank anybody very much when a despicable sneak thief pilfers Elvis Presley’s blue suede shoes—the main exhibit at a Salt Lick, Texas, festival for the King. But with everyone’s favorite Southern detectives on the case, the proceedings are likely to be as tasty as a bacon, banana, and peanut-butter sandwich.

When Manhattan business tycoon, commonly known as the Takeover King, Montgomery Livingstone is pushed off a Widow's Walk and falls to his death, Maeve and Meg are again thrust into a murder investigation as they attempt to help a seemingly innocent young woman accused of the crime. But it turns out there are many secrets to be uncovered, and once again, Maeve, Meg, and their savvy Boston Irish mother must band together to solve the murder. Maeve races against the clock to bring the killer to justice while caring for her patients and pursuing her goal of motherhood.

Botanist Millie Whitehall leaves her New Jersey home to take a job in New Mexico. She plans to spend a peaceful summer surveying rare plants. Instead she becomes entangled in two heartless murders. Millie befriends one too many characters that she encounters during her work in the back country. Will it be the friendly oil and gas hand, out-spoken environmentalist, laid-back cowboy, charming foreign tourist, or handsome young Navajo biologist that ends up threatening her life?

New Orleans, 1982. Voodoo spells, prostitutes, prisoners, and veterans who are adamant about the size of their manhood—it's all just another day at Charity Hospital, also known as The Big Free. It's a medical free-for-all with the toughest trauma surgery in America, and Elizabeth—fresh from medical school in Charleston, wearing pearls and pink plaid socks—is one of the first women to work there. Half of the doctors who start the surgery program never finish. Nothing in her proper Southern upbringing prepared Elizabeth for the gritty and gruesome world she now experiences on a daily basis.

Set in 1995 against the backdrop of Auckland's burgeoning party scene, Golden Days is the story of an intense late-teens friendship between bookish Becky and star-dusted Zoe Golden, and what happened when one terrifying night changed their lives and destroyed their friendship forever. After finding out that her husband has been cheating on her, Becky is mourning the end of her picture-perfect marriage at the bottom of a bottle. She thought she'd left that summer far behind, but the trauma of her present day brings back memories of the horrific night her brother died.

For many years Elizabeth Lawson has battled single-handedly to run the family's historic horse stud in memory of her beloved father. But a devastating loss puts her dreams at risk. With no options left, Liz is forced to turn to her estranged sister Kayla for help. Kayla has built a new life in the city as a wedding planner, far removed from the stableyard sweat and dust of her rural upbringing. She never thought she'd go back. But when Liz calls out of the blue, Kayla forms a plan that could save their childhood home.

Sometimes the life you planned isn't the one you get to live. Sometimes the pain of the past overshadows the future. And sometimes to start over you have to go back to where it all began.

Izzy has always taken everything in her stride, but motherhood is proving more difficult than she thought. She keeps telling herself it’s just a phase, but the dark clouds are starting to appear. Neighbour and widower Arthur might be in the winter of his life, but he’s not ready to be packed off to a care home. He’s determined to do things his way. When Izzy hears about Arthur’s big move, she offers to help. But Arthur isn’t telling her the whole story.

Beth Burnham is in trouble. She's broke, underemployed, and her house is falling down around her. Down to the last $20 bill in her grocery jar, she approaches the local law firm, hoping that they'll hire her as a part-time attorney. But when she finds that the new managing partner is the man she jilted eight years ago, and when she realizes that he still loves her, her world is turned upside down. What's more, a handsome young tattoo artist is in town, ready to sweep her off her feet.

Jack had two dying wishes: that his wife scatter his ashes somewhere "exotic", and that she not give up on life once he was gone. He intended to spur her on to new adventures, but despite clinging to her red suitcase, Geraldine Verne hasn’t left the house for three months. It takes an accident for Geri to accept help from her friends, but when Meals on Wheels arrive she is mortified. Yet heartbroken volunteer Lottie brings with her more than cottage pie and custard. Like Geri, she too is struggling to cut loose.

New Hampshire, 1865. Marion Abbott is summoned to Brawders House asylum to collect the body of her sister, Alice. She’d been found dead after falling four stories from a steep-pitched roof. Officially: an accident. Confidentially: suicide. But Marion believes a third option: murder. Returning to her family home to stay with her brother and his second wife, the recently widowed Marion is expected to quiet her feelings of guilt and grief. Just when the search for the truth seems hopeless, a stranger approaches Marion with chilling words: I saw her fall.

Iris Buckley is hoping for a bit of rest and relaxation now that the summertime rush is winding down in Blueberry Cove, Maine. Her apron shop Ruffles & Bows has been a huge success, her friendships are stronger than ever, and now she's ready for all of the end of summer cookouts on the beach that she can handle. But before Iris can even turn on the grill, Bella's latest fling, former Olympian sailor and gorgeous bad boy Lance Pederson, is killed in a hit-and-run while jogging at dawn - and all the evidence points to Bella herself.

Jen, Faith, and Carrie have worked hard to make sure that the Newport Harbor house is out of the woods and stays in the family. New plans, a new future for Faith's pillow business and new love for Jen and Carrie are on the horizon. But the unexpected high tide from the full moon coupled with high winds put the house—and their dreams—in jeopardy once again. All hands on deck are required to keep everything on track, and the friends come together to ensure the future of the house—and their plans.

Thea has made it to Apprentice and is exploring where her magic can take her when an outbreak of mysterious magical attacks sweeps NOLA. Bodies are piling up and strange dreams are the only thing connecting the bizarre deaths, a group of people thought to be members of a dark cult have gone missing, and a powerful cursed object seems to be responsible for a rash of violent crimes plaguing the city. Can Thea's nascent abilities be the key to unraveling all three cases?

In war-torn London, American Kate Isaacs grieves her husband, awaits their child's birth, and welcomes her best friend, Addie. But after her miscarriage, another meeting with mysterious Monsieur le Blanc launches her into Britain's Secret Operations Executive, the SOE. In late 1943, Kate parachutes into southern France to aid the Resistance.

State of my professional life: Brilliant, if counted in terms of sales of eight Poppy Cantwell children's books starring my often-confused blue hippo, Hazel; the very substantial proceeds from selling my Kiwi Adventures New Zealand glamping business; and any number of glossy magazine articles about my charmed existence. Of course, I couldn't seem to write or draw anymore, but that would pass. Surely.

Anita and Miguel met at a music rehearsal. Their voices blended like Ashford and Simpson or Peaches and Herb. Yet, someone from their past is trying to silence their sweet sounds.