Showing results by narrator "Olivia Beardsley" in All Categories

As she approaches thirty, dedicated nurse Ellie Sutton's life is how she wants it—well, almost. Her younger sister, Carrie, seems to have it all sorted though: a successful hair business, a devoted new boyfriend and a rosy future together. Even Ellie's brother, Bodhi, is settled with his petite, super-chill chef girlfriend, Ingrid. So why does Ellie suddenly give up her career and family for the red dust and toil of an outback cattle station? She's never run from anything before—it's new territory in more ways than one.

Popular lifestyle blogger Libby Cartwright is being boggled by business when help shows up in the shape of gorgeous but shy Charlie Richmond. Libby’s determined to keep it at ‘just good friends’ - she’s dated someone from ‘Corporate Land’ before, and it didn’t end well. As she and Charlie begin spending more time together, Libby is starting to waver - until she discovers something which makes her question if she’s ready for love.

When Amy takes up her first teaching position in an outback Queensland town she feels like her life is going ahead in leaps and bounds. However, her new boss doesn't make life easy and she begins to question her choice of career. Angus, a third-generation local, also struggles with life in the small town. A mistake made in his youth haunts him and stops him from letting anyone get too close. As the two become friends and hostilities within the small town come to a head, Amy and Angus are faced with decisions that could take them in an unknown direction.

Kindergarten teacher Jacinta Mason is horrified when she attends the hen's night at the local pub for Sophie Cartwright, her future sister-in-law. Meeting Ryder Francesco again leaves her reeling. His new career is a far cry from his past studies in medical research. Jacinta is the last person Ryder expected to encounter on the outback tour with his male dance troupe. Circumstances have changed his life drastically since he had to leave her. Jacinta is torn. The hurt from her past tells her to steer clear of Ryder, but her heart wants to dig deeper and find why he really left

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.

Little Gem is settling into her life at Ellsworth Pining with the help of Ghost Henry and her other friends. Everyone is preparing for the Midsummer Festival, and Little Gem is in charge of the special effects for the Midsummer play. But when her magic starts to go wrong and she receives several mysterious letters, she's worried that the festival is going to be a disaster! Will Little Gem be able to work out who is sending the letters and regain her confidence before opening night?

Blake Buchanan and Ana Delaney lived in a shared house at university and could never see eye-to-eye about anything. Except for one night of passion...before Ana left without a word, never expecting to cross paths with Blake again. Years later, Blake has made his millions. He comes to Noosa to manage a corporate takeover that will close down the home-flipping business Ana has poured her heart and soul into. The fiery Ana is determined to convince money-minded Blake of her company's worth - but when a family emergency throws them together, their walls come tumbling down once again.

Environmental Engineer Dru Porter loves her work, despite the relentless heat and red dust. The remote Matsu diamond mine in the Kimberley is the perfect place for her to hide: her insignificance in that vast and rugged landscape helps her feel invisible and safe. Surely the terror she left behind in Dubai will never find her here.... Security Specialist Connor Kirk knows from experience that beautiful women are capable of treachery. When he arrives at Matsu to investigate a diamond theft, he immediately suspects the reclusive but obviously capable Dru Porter. 

It’s 1850, and the Noble family have travelled to the other side of the world to start a new life after scandal drove them from their native England. Pippa Noble is determined to reclaim their honour by making her father’s plan for an outback farm a reality, although her ambition is frowned upon by a society that has very set ideas about a woman’s place. Pippa learns the hard way about the unforgiving nature of the bush, sometimes with devastating consequences. 

Helicopter pilot Ellie Porter loves her job. Soaring above the Kakadu National Park, she feels freed from the questions around her father’s suicide and the heavy loss of her beloved family farm. But when a search-and-rescue mission on the boundary of the old farm reveals unusual excavation works, Ellie vows to investigate. 

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? 

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. 

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? 

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.  

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. 

When entomologist Emlyn Rees arrives at Hidden Valley she wants nothing more than to escape her marriage breakdown by burying herself in the research team's hunt for new species of insects in the depths of the dramatic Undara lava tubes. Travis Carlyle is initially resistant to letting some city folks tramp over his cattle station, though the researchers' findings bring opportunities to turn around his struggling farm. But when things start going wrong for the farm and around the dig site, Emlyn and Travis are at a loss to understand why.

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?  

The Daintree breeds survivors - those who can weather the storms, heat and floods that come hand in hand with its beauty. Doctor Emma Porter is one such survivor, living in an isolated cottage as past hurts heal, dedicated to her patients and to preserving this precious land where she has made a home. But her quiet life is disrupted when Doctor Jeremy Langford starts working at the hospital, bringing back painful memories: Jeremy was her first love and embodies all that she left behind in Sydney. 

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. 

When her spell at Witchcraft School goes wrong, Gem lands in an unfamiliar, empty cottage, outside a strange, colourful town. Everyone in Ellsworth Pining thinks Gem is their new village witch, even when Gem tries to correct them. And Gem's new friends do need her. The Weather Worker is missing, and there are tales of a terrifying beast in the woods. Gem might know a spell that could help - if she can get it right.