Showing results by narrator "Kathryn Hartman" in All Categories

With her dreams of dominating Melbourne's fashion scene in tatters, Nella Martini returns to Torrente Blu, the market garden inherited from her late nonna Esta. She just needs to clean up the property and sell it quickly before taking on the fashion world once more, while avoiding run-ins with her neighbour, surly Adrian Tomaso. But when Nella comes across her nonna's cookbook, things start to change. The place, with its endless tomato plants and gallons of olive oil in storage, gets under her skin, as does Adrian.... 

It’s been 20 years, but all is not forgiven. Katy is not the shy schoolgirl she once was, and she’s looking forward to showing her classmates who she’s become. Annabel was the queen bee, but her fall from grace changed her life forever. Zach was cruel, but he thinks he’s changed. Robbie was a target. And he never stood a chance. Their reunion will bring together friends and enemies, many for the first time in decades. But someone is still holding a grudge and will stop at nothing to reveal their darkest secrets.... 

When Laura discovers an old photo of her grandmother, Lillian, with an intriguing inscription on the back, she heads to the sleepy seaside town of Banksia Bay to learn the truth of Lillian’s past. But when she arrives, Laura finds a community where everyone seems to be hiding something. Virginia, owner of the iconic Beach Shack café, has kept her past buried for 60 years. As Laura slowly uncovers the tragic fragments of that summer so long ago, Virginia must decide whether to hold on to her secrets or set the truth free.

Dandelion House, 1974: Two teenage girls - strangers - make a pact never to tell their secret. Calingarry Crossing, 2014: For 40 years, Beth and her mum have been everything to each other. But Beth is blindsided when her mother dies, and her last wish is to have her ashes spread in a small-town cemetery. Nearby is Dandelion House Retreat. 

Harriet Blue used to be a detective. Now she's inmate 3329. Prison is a dangerous place for a former cop - as Harriet Blue is learning on a daily basis. So, following a fight for her life and a prison-wide lockdown, the last person she wants to see is Deputy Police Commissioner Joe Woods. The man who put her inside. But Woods is not there to gloat. His daughter Tonya and her two-year-old child have gone missing. He's ready to offer Harriet a deal: find his family to buy her freedom.... 

Five women, best friends for decades, meet once a month to talk about books...and life, love and the jagged bits in between. Dissecting each other's lives seems the most natural thing in the world - and honesty, no matter how brutal, is something they treasure. But each woman harbours a complex secret, and one weekend, without warning, everything comes unstuck. Izzy has to make a decision that will change everything whilst Veronica, recently divorced and dedicated to raising the best sons in the world, has forgotten who she is. 

Thirty-something jeweller Emma Hamilton returns to her childhood home town of Tingara, a charming historic village in the foothills of the Victorian Alps. Builder Malcolm Webster commutes to Tingara from nearby Bendigo each weekend to work on restoring a beautiful old Victorian homestead. When Emma and Mal meet, attraction flares; but he is younger, and, wary after her failed marriage, Emma is not in the market for romance. Will Mal's humour and charm break down her barriers?

Running away for the second time in her life, 27-year old Ava believes the cook's job at a country B&B is perfect, until she meets the owner's son, John Tate. The young fifth-generation grazier is a beguiling blend of both man and boy and a terrible flirt. With their connection immediate and intense, they begin a clandestine affair right under the noses of John's formidable parents.

Nicole is starting again. She’s left her old life behind and has just arrived in the sleepy Australian town of Rosella Cove, renting the old cottage by the water. At first Nicole is determined to avoid making personal ties, but when she discovers a hidden box of letters she soon realises that she’s not the first person with secrets to have lived there. As Nicole begins to let her guard down, she starts to find connections with the close-knit community - especially with handsome Danny, who has been helping her restore the cottage. 

The past: For Hattie, the cafe has been her refuge for the last 50 years - her second chance at a happy ending after her dreams of being a star were shattered. But will the ghosts of her past succeed in destroying everything she’s worked so hard to build? The present: For Alice, the cafe is her livelihood. After Hattie took her in as a teenager, Alice has slowly forged a quiet life as the cafe’s manager (and chief cupcake baker). But with so many tragedies behind her, is it too late for Alice’s story to have a happy ending?

When city naturopath Rilee Summers meets gorgeous farmer Dan Kincaid, a whirlwind romance follows, and the next thing she knows she's married and living on her husband's family property in a small rural community. But Rilee's city ways and new naturopathy practice, and her outspoken views on teen pregnancies, only serve to alienate her from the deeply conservative townsfolk and her in-laws.

Rural Queensland, 1929. Edwina Baker wants more from life than to be a daughter, sister and, perhaps soon, wife. So when her father bans her from attending the visiting circus Edwina defiantly rides to the showground dressed as a boy. And when the night ends in near-disaster, this one act of rebellion offers Edwina the rare chance to prove herself in a man's world. The question is, how far is she prepared to go?

August, 1944. Over a thousand Japanese soldiers attempt to break out of a prisoner of war compound near Cowra. In the carnage, hundreds are killed, many are recaptured and imprisoned, and some take their own lives rather than suffer the humiliation of ongoing defeat. But one soldier, Hiroshi, determined to avoid either fate, manages to escape.... At nearby Erambie Aboriginal mission, Banjo Williams, father of nine and proud man of his community, discovers a distraught Hiroshi pleading for help. 

In the small suburb of Gawler, South Australia, the tang of cut grass and eucalyptus seems to mingle perpetually on the warm air. The neat houses perched under the big gum trees on Church Street have been home to many over the long years. Years of sprinklers stuttering over clipped lawns, children playing behind low brick walls. A seemingly endless stream of youthful paperboys. Family barbecues. Gossipy neighbours. Arguments. Accidents. Births, deaths, marriages. This ordinary street has seen it all. Until the arrival of newlyweds Thomas and Elsie Mullet.

Flora's teenage crush, Mitch, is standing at the altar when his bride has a sudden change of heart. Decades earlier, in the same church, a similar story of heartbreak played out. From the rolling green hills of the Tablelands to the crowded streets of Shanghai on the eve of the Second World War, this beautiful romantic saga asks the question - do we ever get over our first love, and is it ever too late to make amends?