Victoria Purman

CEO Callum Malone has it all: power, Italian suits, a house on one of Sydney’s stunning beaches and a new life without a woman in it. Just the way he likes it, ever since his nasty divorce. Landscaper Ava Gibson is in no position to turn down a job, even if it is for her despised ex-brother-in-law. But when resentment gives way to underlying attraction, Ava is finally forced to confront her truth… she’s falling for him. Will Ava be able to keep her growing desire in check? Because the irresistible Cal doesn’t want her to…

The CEO

From the bestselling author of The Land Girls comes a beautifully realised novel that speaks to the true history and real experiences of post-war Australian women. Sydney 1945 The war is over, the fight begins. The war is over and so are the jobs (and freedoms) of tens of thousands of Australian women. The armaments factories are making washing machines instead of bullets and war correspondent Tilly Galloway has hung up her uniform and been forced to work on the women's pages of her newspaper - the only job available to her - where she struggles to write advice on fashion and make-up. As Sydney swells with returning servicemen and the city bustles back to post-war life, Tilly finds her world is anything but normal. As she desperately waits for word of her prisoner-of-war husband, she begins to research stories about the lives of the underpaid and overworked women who live in her own city. Those whose war service has been overlooked; the freedom and independence of their war lives lost to them. Meanwhile Tilly's waterside worker father is on strike, and her best friend Mary is struggling to cope with the stranger her own husband has become since being liberated from Changi a broken man. As strikes rip the country apart and the news from abroad causes despair, matters build to a heart-rending crescendo. Tilly realises that for her the war may have ended, but the fight is just beginning...

The Women's Pages

A moving story of love, loss and survival against the odds by bestselling author of The Last of the Bonegilla Girls, Victoria Purman. It was never just a man's war... Melbourne,1942 War has engulfed Europe and now the Pacific, and Australia is fighting for its future. For spinster Flora Atkins, however, nothing much has changed. Tending her dull office job and beloved brother and father, as well as knitting socks for the troops, leaves her relatively content. Then one day a stranger gives her brother a white feather and Flora's anger propels her out of her safe life and into the vineyards of the idyllic Mildura countryside, a member of the Australian Women's Land Army. There she meets Betty, a 17-year-old former shopgirl keen to do her bit for the war effort and support her beloved, and the unlikely Lilian, a well-to-do Adelaide girl fleeing her overbearing family and theworld's expectations for her. As the Land Girls embrace their new world of close-knit community and backbreaking work, they begin to find pride in their roles. More than that, they start to find a kind of liberation. For Flora, new friendships and the singular joy derived from working the land offer new meaning to her life, and even the possibility of love. But as the clouds of war darken the horizon, and their fears for loved ones - brothers, husbands, lovers - fighting at the front grow, the Land Girls' hold on their world and their new-found freedoms is fragile. Even if they make it through unscathed, they will not come through unchanged... MORE PRAISE 'a well-researched and moving story' - Canberra Weekly

The Land Girls

A post-Second World War story of strong female ties and family, secrets and lies, set in the multicultural Australia of the fifties. Can the Bonegilla girls defeat their past? Or will it come to claim them? 1954: When sixteen–year–old Hungarian Elizabeta arrives in Australia with her family, she is hoping to escape the hopelessness of life as a refugee in post–war Germany. Her first stop is the Bonegilla Migrant Camp on the banks of the Murray in rural Victoria, a temporary home for thousands of new arrivals, all looking for work and a better life. There, Elizabeta becomes firm friends with the feisty Greek Vasiliki; quiet Italian Iliana; and the adventurous Frances, the daughter of the camp's director. In this vibrant and growing country, the Bonegilla girls rush together towards a life that seems full of promise, even as they cope with the legacy of war, the oppressive nature of family tradition and ever–present sorrow. So when a ghost from the past reaches out for Elizabeta and threatens to pull her back into the shadows, there is nothing that her friends wouldn't do to keep her safe. But secrets have a way of making themselves known and lies have a way of changing everything they touch... MORE PRAISE 'A poignant and compelling read, this is a delightful novel that celebrates all that is good in our multicultural country. It's a beautiful story about female friendship and how it can transcend cultural and language barriers.' - Books + Publishing 'A heartwarming novel...' - The Weekly Times 'A story of strong female ties and family.' - Better Reading

The Last Of The Bonegilla Girls

The astonishingly rich prize of the 1956 Australian Women's Weekly cookery competition offers two women the possibility of a new kind of future, in this compassionate look at the extraordinary lives of ordinary women - our mothers and grandmothers - in a beautifully realised post-war Australia. It's 1956, and while Melbourne is in a frenzy gearing up for the Olympics, the women of Australia are cooking up a storm for their chance to win the equivalent of a year's salary in the extraordinary AustralianWomen's Weekly cookery contest. For two women, in particular, the prize could be life-changing. Mother-of-five Kathleen O'Grady has no time for cooking competitions, but the prize could offer her a different kind of life. As her forays into new recipes boost her confidence, she finds her desire to make her own life decisions - for herself and her children - becoming more important. For war widow Ivy Quinn, the competition means more time to spend with her 12-year old-son, Raymond, the development of an unexpected friendship with colleague, Dr Harry Johnson, and the courage to tell the truth about Raymond's father. As winter turns to spring and the contest deadline looms, both women begin to realise that the competition has given them so much more than cooking skills - it offers a new way of seeing the world and the chance to free themselves from the ghosts of the past. As each woman begins to question their lives, the question becomes whether it is winning the competition that will change their futures, or the changes in themselves.

A Woman's Work

There is more than one way to fight a war...An extraordinary story of grit, love and loss, based on the true history and real experiences of Australian nurses in World War 1. 'Heart-achingly raw yet filled with the beauty of the human spirit, this novel is a triumph that will linger in the heart and psyche.' Karen Brooks, author of The Good Wife of Bath In 1915, as World War 1 rages in Europe and the numbers of dead and injured continue to grow, Australian nurse, Sister Cora Barker, leaves her home in Australia for England, determined to use her skills for King and country. When she arrives at Harefield House - donated to the Australian Army by its expatriate Australian owners - she helps transform it into a hospital that is also a little piece of home for recuperating Australian soldiers. As the months pass, her mission to save diggers lives becomes more urgent as the darkest months of the war see injured soldiers from the battlefields of France and Belgium flood into Harefield in the thousands. When the hospital sends out a desperate call for help, a quiet young seamstress from the village, Jessie Chester, steps up as a volunteer. At the hospital she meets Private Bert Mott, a recovering Australian soldier, but the looming threat of his return to the Front hangs over them. Could her first love be her first heartbreak? Cora's and Jessie's futures, their hearts and their lives hang in the balance as the never-ending wave of injured and dying soldiers threatens to overwhelm the hospital and the hopes of a nation rest on a knife edge. The nurses war is a war against despair and death, fought with science and love rather than mustard gas and fear - but can they possibly win it? And what will be the cost?

The Nurses' War

She didn't expect to run into her first love...or to fall back in love with him. At the age of eighteen, Julia Jones left her hometown — the small beachside town of Middle Point — with a head full of grand plans. Plans for an exciting life in a town that didn't involve a main street with only one pub or a particular boy named Ryan Blackburn. But fifteen years and a lifetime later, Julia's forced to put her career and big-city life on hold when she returns home to finalise her mother's estate. Which is exactly where she runs smack-bang into the town's hero, Ry. As in Ryan Blackburn! The sensible thing to do? Stay the hell away from him and head back to Melbourne as fast as her stilettos can carry her! But instead, Julia finds his offer of a helping hand and a hot body too delicious to refuse. Soon, she's ignoring her better judgement and diving into an 'I'll think about it tomorrow' fling with Ry. But what she doesn't realise is that tomorrow has a way of sneaking up on you...and that saying goodbye to her hometown — and to Ry — is so much harder the second time around.

Nobody But Him

What on earth has happened to Dan McSwaine? When Lizzie Blake knocks on the door of Dan McSwaine's beach house at Middle Point, she barely recognises the man who answers. Whatever happened to the guy who swaggered into her home town with a grin and left with her heart in his back pocket? Lizzie wonders if he'll ever be that man again — and if she should risk everything she's built her life on to help him. Dan can't normally bear to be more than ten minutes from a hip bar, an imported beer and a group of hot women. So what is he doing holed up in a falling down beach shack at Middle Point? All he knows is that he's made some crazy decisions since the night a truck slammed into his car and almost killed him. The first one was to think that buying a crumbling piece of coastal real estate was a good idea. The second crazy decision was to try to hide away from the world when a woman like Lizzie Blake is determined to drag him right back into it...

Someone Like You

From a bestselling Australian author comes a compelling narrative set in the 1930s and modern-day South Australia. How much of who we are is destiny and how much chance? In 1934, the three Miss Allens – Ruby, Adeline and Clara – arrive in the seaside town of Remarkable Bay for their annual summer holiday. It's the last time they'll spend summers as a family. Adeline is engaged, Ruby is weighing up an offer, and Clara is just eighteen and about to start her life. But by summer's end, the lives they have known will change irrevocably and a mysterious secret will tear the family apart. Eighty–two years later, Ruby's great–granddaughter Roma Harris moves to the now sleepy Remarkable Bay, retreating from tragedy. Roma's distant cousin Addy arrives too, fleeing a life with too much drama. It's only when the women discover an old guest book that they start asking questions about the mysterious third Miss Allen. Who was she? Why has she disappeared from the family's history? If they solve this mystery from their past, could it change the women's futures?

The Three Miss Allens

Isabella Martenson never expected to be a runaway bride. She never expected to be a bride, period. She simply has the wrong DNA to do the whole happily married thing. Until one night in Vegas with a handsome winemaker changes everything... A year later, Harry Harrison’s bride is still a mystery. Who was she? Where was she? And why did she run? When Harry flies to a Australia for his best friend's wedding, he runs straight into the woman he’s never been able to forget. All she asks is for their marriage to be kept a secret. All he asks is for a divorce. But after a week together, Harry and Isabella are forced to face what they really want.

Belle's Secret

Juliet Madison

Maddie Jane

A collection of heartwarming stories from three bestselling local authors. Only We Know by Victoria Purman When Calla Maloney arrives to Kangaroo Island, she's not on a holiday but a mission: to track down her estranged brother. Sam Hunter is the reluctant prodigal son when his father's illness forces him home. The last thing he needs is playing tour guide to a redhead with no sense of direction. As Sam and Calla dig deeper into their long-buried family secrets, they discover that no one is an island and that opening up their hearts to love again might be the most dangerous thing they will ever do... Backpack and a Red Dress by Maddie Jane Managing a flailing second-hand clothes shop is not part of Cally Kirkwood's life plan. But she's travelled across the world to meet her birth father and she won't leave until he acknowledges her. Soon Cally finds herself invested in turning the store around, despite the opposition of her new employer's son, Sam Hunter. But an unexpected discovery means Cally must decide where her true loyalty lies...She thought she'd do anything to find love; but choosing between her past and her future may leave her with no love at all. February or Forever by Juliet Madison Chrissie Burns has a plan: renovate her late aunt's rundown beach house, sell it, and move on. But Tarrin's Bay has a lot to offer. Now, Chrissie is shocked to discover she will be the private yoga instructor to Drew Williams, Australia's top singer/songwriter. Drew's down-to-earth nature draws happiness out of Chrissie and though her days of stretching may bring Chrissie peace, she knows that this interlude must end. Because there's no pose to aid her if Drew leaves her heartbroken.

Just for the Holidays/Only We Know/Backpack and a Red Dress/February Or Forever

Anna is... unexpected... unbelievable... unstopppable. And unavailable. Will what happened in Middle Point stay there? Dr Anna Morelli rarely makes mistakes. But this one is big, bordering on huge. Somewhere between sunset and sunrise at the simple beachside wedding of two old friends, she's cried in the ladies bathroom, danced to too many ABBA songs and survived the best, knock-your-socks-off one night stand in recorded history. Has she gone crazy? She's supposed to be running from the disasters in her life, not creating more. Award winning journalist Joe Blake is back in Middle Point to lick his wounds after being dumped by his wife and sacked from his Sydney job on the same day. But after one incredible night with Anna, he finds he'll need all his investigative skills to figure out why she won't give in to their sizzling chemistry .... A Boys of Summer novel

Our Kind of Love

Land Girls

Last of the Bonegilla Girls

A moving story of love, loss and survival against the odds by bestselling author Victoria Purman. It was never just a man's war... Melbourne, 1942 War has engulfed Europe and now the Pacific, and Australia is fighting for its future. For spinster Flora Thomas, however, nothing much has changed. Tending to her dull office job, and beloved brother and father as well as knitting socks for the troops leaves her relatively content. Then one day a stranger gives her brother a white feather and Flora's anger propels her out of her safe life and into the vineyards of the idyllic Mildura countryside, a member of the Australian Women's Land Army. There she meets Betty, a 17-year-old former shop girl keen to do her bit for the war effort and support her beloved, and the unlikely Lilian, a well-to-do Adelaide girl, fleeing her overbearing family and the world's expectations for her. As the Land Girls are dropped into a new world of close-knit community and backbreaking work, the trio start to find pride in their role. More than that, they find a kind of liberation. But as the clouds of war darken the horizon, and their fears for loved ones - brothers, husbands, lovers - fighting at the front grow, the Land Girls' hold on their world and their new-found freedoms is fragile.Even if they make it through unscathed, they will not come through unchanged ...

There is more than one way to fight a war...An extraordinary story of grit, love and loss, based on the true history and real experiences of Australian nurses in World War 1. In 1915, as World War 1 rages in Europe and the numbers of dead and injured continue to grow, Australian nurse, Sister Cora Barker, leaves her home in Australia for England, determined to use her skills for King and country. When she arrives at Harefield House - donated to the Australian Army by its expatriate Australian owners - she helps transform it into a hospital that is also a little piece of home for recuperating Australian soldiers. As the months pass, her mission to save diggers lives becomes more urgent as the darkest months of the war see injured soldiers from the battlefields of France and Belgium flood into Harefield in the thousands. When the hospital sends out a desperate call for help, a quiet young seamstress from the village, Jessie Chester, steps up as a volunteer. At the hospital she meets Private Bert Mott, a recovering Australian soldier, but the looming threat of his return to the Front hangs over them. Could her first love be her first heartbreak? Cora's and Jessie's futures, their hearts and their lives hang in the balance as the never-ending wave of injured and dying soldiers threatens to overwhelm the hospital and the hopes of a nation rest on a knife edge. The nurses war is a war against despair and death, fought with science and love rather than mustard gas and fear - but can they possibly win it? And what will be the cost?

Rachael Johns

Alissa Callen

Fiona Greene

Alissa Callen, Fiona Greene, Rachael Johns, Juliet Madison, Victoria Purman This collection of heartwarming Australian stories is full of the joys of the season and guaranteed to brighten your Christmas. Under Christmas Stars – Alissa Callen [BRAND NEW STORY] Small–town teacher Freya George is determined to make up for last year's disastrous Christmas. This year she will stop at nothing to ensure that she and the Woodlea community have the best holiday season ever. But from the moment Freya meets cattleman Drew Macgregor, her plans unravel faster than red Christmas ribbon… Home For Christmas – Fiona Greene [FIRST TIME IN PRINT] When Sergeant Tate McAuliffe, stationed in Afghanistan, opens his Christmas care package from Australia, he is stunned by both its contents and the sender, Layla Preston. Little could Layla know that this impersonal–but–cheerful holiday gift is set to be the start of something big… The Kissing Season – Rachael Johns A wild past, a secret pregnancy and a disastrous marriage: every family has a black sheep…and Hannah Elliot is it. But when she returns to her home town of Wildwood Point, she is determined to stay on the straight and narrow. Then gorgeous Italian Matteo Della Bosca walks into her life and Hannah's resolve starts to slip… 12 Daves Of Christmas – Juliet Madison [FIRST TIME IN PRINT] Can love transcend time and space? An uplifting story of a lonely writer, her grandmother's ghost and a Christmas road trip to visit 12 different Daves. Christmas At Remarkable Bay – Victoria Purman [BRAND NEW STORY] Prickly Mara has hit a crossroads and is hoping a Christmas alone in idyllic Remarkable Bay will help. Police officer George is also alone for Christmas. Drawn together unwillingly, they try to stay out of each other's way. But Remarkable Bay is a small place…

A Very Country Christmas - 5 sparkling holiday reads

Our Kind Of Love

What on earth has happened to Dan McSwaine? When Lizzie Blake knocks on the door of Dan McSwaine's beach house at Middle Point, she barely recognises the man who answers. Whatever happened to the guy who swaggered into her home town with a grin and left with her heart in his back pocket? Lizzie wonders if he'll ever be that man again – and if she should risk everything she's built her life on to help him. Dan can't normally bear to be more than ten minutes from a hip bar, an imported beer and a group of hot women. So what is he doing holed up in a falling down beach shack at Middle Point? All he knows is that he's made some crazy decisions since the night a truck slammed into his car and almost killed him. The first one was to think that buying a crumbling piece of coastal real estate was a good idea. The second crazy decision was to try to hide away from the world when a woman like Lizzie Blake is determined to drag him right back into it...

Victoria Purman

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