AustLit

Set in the same world as A Curse of Salt, a heartbreaking sapphic romantasy inspired by Little Red Riding Hood.

A broken treaty

'A wolf in sheep's clothing

'And a love that will need to defy all odds to survive

'HER RED HOOD CAN'T PROTECT HER HEART . . .

'A fifty-year-old treaty between pirates and the city of Bray lies in tatters, so Mersey sets out to free her city - and herself - from the clutches of the Heartless King. But when her reckless plan fails, she finds herself captured by the world's most notorious pirate crew.

'As Mersey battles between fighting for Bray's safety and falling into the arms of the ship's cold-blooded first mate, Golde, she's soon caught up in the beginnings of a war; one she knows will have disastrous consequences for the people she loves, but just might be the thing to set her free.

'Amid lies, betrayal and a blossoming love for someone she is supposed to want dead, Mersey is torn between two lives.

'Uncover lurking wolves prepared to pounce and a sweeping romantasy in this enemies-to-lovers fairytale twist set upon stormy seas. Perfect for fans of Lies We Sing to the Sea and Marissa Meyer.' (Publication summary)

 'Prepare for stormy seas and swoony romance in this addictive retelling of Beauty and the Beast set on board a cursed ship where love blooms in the darkest of hearts ...

'A heartless beast
'A sister's sacrifice
'And a love so strong it will drown the raging sea ...
THIS FAIRYTALE IS CURSED

'In a kingdom that fears the sea, Ria Lucroy longs to be brave.

'Bodies are washing ashore and everyone knows who's to blame. Legends of the Heartless King shroud the continent in fear; they call him a pirate, a monster, a god. When his mercenaries raid her father's merchant ship, Ria's family is faced with a horrifying demand. They will spare his life, in exchange for one of his daughters.

'Determined to save her sisters, Ria launches herself into the world of pirates. Face-to-face with the Heartless King, she finds he is far more than the stories told. He is a man, with a human name and blood-stained hands, bound to the seas by a centuries-old curse. As their chemistry blooms into something more, Ria finds herself caught in an ancient web of secrets.

'Battling creatures of the deep alongside those that reign its surface, Ria discovers how to love a heartless man and that some curses aren't so easy to break.

'Prepare for stormy seas and swoony romance in this addictive retelling of Beauty and the Beast ... Perfect for fans of Brigid Kemmerer's Cursebreakers series and Sarah J Maas's A Court of Thorns and Roses.'(Publication summary)

'Romance, revenge, and reality TV. The new queer YA rom-com from Sophie Gonzales, bestselling author of Only Mostly Devastated.

'Eighteen-year-old Maya dumped her cheating ex-boyfriend Jordy two years ago. So, when she receives a call to participate in Second Chance Romance - a reality show in which the now-famous Jordy re-dates his ex-girlfriends - she isn't interested . . . until she realizes she can use this opportunity to exact her revenge. If she can make it to the final spot on the show, she can reject Jordy in front of the nation, and publicly break his heart.

'Maya's fellow contestants include Skye, the beautiful, charismatic girl Jordy cheated on Maya with. Skye charms the socks off everyone she meets, except for Maya, who knows that underneath all the sparkle, she's the girl who dated her boyfriend while he was still her boyfriend.

'The reality show is a challenging environment. Amidst backstabbing, bickering, and having to see Jordy again, Maya finds herself becoming friends with Skye. Together, they come up with a plan for the ultimate revenge on Jordy.

'But as she spends more time with Jordy and Skye, Maya is torn. Is Jordy a good guy who made a mistake? Is there more than friendship between her and Skye? As the season finale approaches, can Maya execute her plan, or will she go off-script?'  (Publication summary)

'Welcome to Horror Heights: can the children who live here conceal the strange goings on behind closed doors? Book three in the creeptastic series.

'Yas loves her new phone, especially the awesome new camera feature. Recently, she has grown her following by uploading her photos to social media. But then Yas notices an old lady appearing in all her photo posts - it's like a bad filter that can't be removed. Best friend Ren tells Yas to re-set her phone, but when she re-opens the camera app, the woman is in in each photo silently screaming. Yas is officially being haunted.

What does the old lady ghost want? Can Yas and Ren find a way to banish her for good?

'A creeptastic new series for readers aged 8 and up - are you brave enough to discover the scares behind every door at Horror Heights?'(Publication summary)

'Welcome to Horror Heights: can the children who live here conceal the strange goings on behind closed doors? Book two in the creeptastic series.

'Ryan's favourite hobby is watching influencer's videos online. One day Ryan posts a comment underneath a video of his favourite influencer, Grimmf, and is delighted when Grimmf video calls him. Grimmf asks Ryan wants to swap lives with him - all Ryan has to do is repeat "yes" three times. It's a no brainer! On the third yes, Ryan is pulled into the laptop.

'Ryan is thrilled. He watches his Grimmf doing his chores in his bedroom, while he gets to have fun being an influencer! When lots of followers stream his channel Ryan asks for anything he likes and it appears. Time flies when you're having fun.

'But by night time, Ryan is exhausted by having to be "on" all the time. When he asks Grimmf if they can swap back, Grimmf laughs and cuts off the connection. As Ryan loses followers, his food supply runs low. There appears to be no way out. Unless he can get someone to swap with him ...

'Can Ryan find a way back home, or will he be stuck on screen forever?' (Publication summary)

'One of the world's biggest boy bands. A secret love. What happens if the world finds out? A queer YA boy band romance from Sophie Gonzales and Cale Dietrich, perfect for fans of Only Mostly Devastated and What If It's Us.

'Eighteen-year-olds Ruben Montez and Zach Knight are two members of the boy-band Saturday, one of the biggest acts in America. Along with their bandmates, Angel Phan and Jon Braxton, the four are teen heartbreakers in front of the cameras and best friends backstage. But privately, cracks are starting to form: their once-easy rapport is straining under the pressures of fame, and Ruben confides in Zach that he's feeling smothered by management's pressure to stay in the closet.

'On a whirlwind tour through Europe, with both an unrelenting schedule and minimal supervision, Ruben and Zach come to rely on each other more and more, and their already close friendship evolves into a romance. But when they decide they're ready to tell their fans and live freely, Zach and Ruben start to truly realize that they will never have the support of their management. How can they hold tight to each other when the whole world seems to want to come between them?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Her advice, spot on. Her love life, way off.

'Darcy Phillips:
Can give you the solution to any of your relationship woes - for a fee.
Uses her power for good. Most of the time.
Really cannot stand the new Australian jock at school, Alexander Brougham.
Has maybe not the best judgement when it comes to her best friend, Brooke...who is in love with someone else.
Does not appreciate being blackmailed.

'But when Brougham catches Darcy in the act of collecting letters from locker 89 - out of which she's been running her questionably legal, anonymous relationship advice service - that's exactly what happens. In exchange for keeping her secret, Darcy begrudgingly agrees to become his personal dating coach. The goal? To help him win his ex-girlfriend back.

'Darcy has good reason to keep her identity secret. If word gets out that she's behind the locker, some things she's not proud of will come to light, and there's a good chance Brooke will never speak to her again.

'Okay, so all she has to do is help an entitled, bratty, (annoyingly hot) guy win over a girl who's already fallen for him once? What could possibly go wrong?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'When Ollie meets Will over the summer break, he thinks he's found his Happily Ever After. But once summer's ended, Will stops texting him back, and Ollie finds himself short of his fairy-tale ending.

'A family emergency sees Ollie uprooted and enrolled at a new school across the country - Will's school - and Ollie finds that the sweet, affectionate and comfortably queer guy he knew from summer isn't the same one attending Collinswood High. This Will is a class clown, a basketball jock and, well, a bit of a jerk.

'Ollie isn't going to pine after a guy who isn't ready for a relationship. But as school life repeatedly throws them together, from music class to the lunch table, Ollie finds his resolve weakening.

'With the noisy drama of their friends as the backdrop - from ambitious Juliette and frosty Lara, to big-hearted Darnell and king-jock Matt - Ollie has a decision to make.

'The last time he gave Will his heart, Will handed it back to him trampled and battered. Ollie would have to be an idiot to trust him with it again. Right?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Ricky is flying high above a dog and a pack of Girl Guides. If they look up he will fall. Straight on top of them. Not just embarrassing, but deadly. ' (Publisher's blurb)

'Henry has the Perfect Pet - a duck call Spot - who thinks he's found the Perfect Present for Henry's Birthday. But when the big day comes, Henry's grandparents arrive with a Perfect Present of their own - a strange and wobbling box - with something inside that could change things between Spot and Henry forever...

'This dearly loved duo returns in a heart-warming tale about never letting good friends go...' (From the publisher's website.)

'When a mysterious island emerges from the River Riddle, panic spreads through Owlchurch. It's the Island of Ghosts, where ghosts of past Rymers dwell in afterlife. Its appearance means only one thing: a living Rymer is in mortal danger. Only one known Rymer lives. Thomas Trew.

'A plan is quickly hatched to send Thomas back to London where he is safe from the dangers of the Hidden World, but Thomas has other ideas. He loves living in Owlchurch - now his real home - and can't bear to leave all his new friends for boring, dreary London. Thomas soon devises his own daring plan to search the island to seek his mother, Mab, a past Rymer whose ghost must live there. And so awaits a dark and dangerous adventure as Thomas enters the island's door . . .'. Source: bookseller's website.

' A novel in three acts! It is Christmas Eve 1910, and in the drenched Louisiana countryside, a band of travelling players is struggling to try and find shelter in a massive downpour of rain. They have been trying to tour a once-famous play, Malvolio's Revenge, a continuation of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, in the glittering city of New Orleans but have had all the theatre doors closed on them; and have attempted to put the play on in the countryside, but have been gulled and swindled at every turn. Then, around the bend of a road, they literally fall over the gatepost of what looks like a derelict plantation mansion, called 'Illyria'...

Only two people are left in Illyria, an old black woman with strange green eyes, called Marie Laroche, and her charge, the last of an old aristocratic French Creole family, the beautiful, confident 16 year old Isabelle de Casteljaloux. They make the players very welcome, and soon propose them a strange but very tempting bargain: they will gain them entry into a New Orleans theatre, in return for going along with the company, and taking part in the staging of Malvolio's Revenge: but in disguise! And so the stage is set for a wild, fun ride into a dark secret, adventure, comedy, and romance...in an atmosphere redolent of old New Orleans, in the exciting beginning of the jazz area!' Comment on the author's website under 'Existing Books', which is archived at PANDORA.