Showing results by narrator "Taryn Ryan" in All Categories

You’d never know what secrets the house on Hogarth Street holds - what’s happening, right this second, behind closed doors. An emerald-green front lawn. Perfectly trimmed hedging. An ivy-covered front gate and the scent of honeysuckle in the air. In the yard, two scooters lie on the grass. One blue, one pink, belonging to five-year-old twins.

When Julia Hudson is involved in a near-fatal accident, the lives of her children – nurse Flo and her twin sister, high-flying lawyer Ari – are sent into freefall. As they sit vigil by their mother’s bedside, the sisters discover that Julia, who has always preached unwavering principles and integrity, has been keeping a terrible secret. A secret that shatters everything they’ve ever believed about their family. But the twins have each other… or do they? Because Julia is not the only one keeping secrets…

In Western Australia, Sarah chuckles as she describes her final will and testament—which will throw the metaphorical cat among the family pigeons—whilst sharing a bottle of wine with her neighbour Thomas as they sit on the terrace of her luxurious waterside home. Six months later, at the age of 95, she peacefully passes on. Married and widowed three times, Sarah has had a great life as a successful businesswoman. Now she's left her Australian house to her two great-nieces—on the condition that they live in it together for a year.

They never found Leah Parata. Not a boot, not a backpack, not a turquoise beanie. After she left me that day, she vanished off the face of the earth. A close-knit community is ripped apart by disturbing revelations that cast new light on a young woman's disappearance 25 years ago. After years of living overseas, Emily returns to New Zealand to care for her father who has dementia. As his memory fades and his guard slips, she begins to understand him for the first time - and to glimpse shattering truths about his past.

When Olivia Molly Rogers was crowned Miss Universe Australia, she knew exactly what she wanted to shine a light on: her struggles with disordered eating and anxiety. While many of her Instagram followers are eager for her fashion, art and insanely cute dog content, the heart of Olivia's audience is there for her refreshingly honest voice on body positivity and mental health.

I am cooking spaghetti, his favourite, while he plays in the garden. But when I look up, he’s gone. I call the police, my hands shaking so much that I hit the wrong digits twice. "My son is missing." When the police turn up, I’m trapped in the web of my lies. I have hidden the truth from eight-year-old Riley, my little boy who loves climbing trees and always has scraped knees. I have hidden my secret from everyone.

When Mara Gregory receives a letter from the father whom she believed to have died when she was a child, her world is turned upside down. Aaron Buchanan only discovered that he had a daughter a couple of years ago and now he's desperate to play a part in her life. In the face of her mother's opposition, Mara arranges to meet her father and his family. In a breath-taking corner of the world, amid a waterfront community on Australia's west coast, will Mara find him the disappointment that her mother promises?

Hannah Bird has just arrived in Thailand. Disoriented and out of her depth, she meets Deven, a fierce and gutsy Australian expat who sweeps her into thrilling adventures rescuing elephants. As they head deeper and deeper into the fraught world of elephant tourism, their lives become tangled in ways Hannah never imagined. But how far will they go to save a life? Hannah is about to make a critical decision from which there will be no turning back, with shattering consequences.

To overcome her tragic past and move on, Bingun school teacher Tilly Schroder longs to love again, but her yearning lies neglected. Instinct tells her there is more behind the accidents five years ago, but how to uncover the truth? When a stranger returns to the district, change rustles into the small country town. New information comes to light, the catalyst for long hidden revelations. Can Tilly resist his mysterious appeal to finally break free and leave the past behind?

Kree Garrett's younger brother Seth is all the family she has left, so when he goes missing while working in the Australian outback, she races from America to join in the search. To everyone's relief, Seth is rescued just in time by local volunteers and Kree finds, in an abandoned historic Cobb & Co coach house, the opportunity to thank the community she's fallen in love with. But it isn't only the town she's fallen for....

In 1841, Australia's first children's book was published, the anonymous writer known only as 'a lady long resident in New South Wales'. The identity of the author was one of the most puzzling literary mysteries until 1981, when she was finally given a name: Charlotte Waring Atkinson. Today, her great-great-great-great-granddaughters Kate Forsyth and Belinda Murrell are also celebrated authors. They grew up on stories about Charlotte's life of love, grief and violence - and her struggle to assert an independent spirit.

It’s a dream come true for Frances Palmer: a voyage from Australia to England on the Empress of the Sea, together with her fiancé, Jack Sullivan, and her uncle Sal, a.k.a. ‘Salvatore the Magnificent’. They’ve been hired to entertain the passengers with magic tricks and daring stunts. But all is not well below deck, with jealousy and larceny ruffling the cheerful atmosphere. Frances and Jack soon find themselves in stormy seas, together with newfound allies.

Crime fiction is the single most popular genre in international publishing, and Australia has some of the finest practitioners when it comes to walking the mean streets and nailing the bad guys. Australia's best crime writers - Michael Robotham, Kerry Greenwood, Shane Maloney, Peter Corris, Tara Moss and more - share the secrets to their success, their best-ever writing tips and their favourite 'must reads'. An ideal guide for aspiring writers and crime fiction fans alike.

1931. Frances Palmer is overjoyed when her brother, Rob, returns to Adelaide as a racecourse veterinarian. But all is not well on the turf, and when a man is murdered, there's only one suspect - Rob. Frances and her boyfriend, charming night-club owner Jack Sullivan, along with ex-vaudevillian Uncle Sal and their friends, have only one chance to unmask the real murderer by infiltrating the racecourse. The odds are against them...luckily, putting on a dazzling show where everything depends on sleight of hand is what they do best. But nothing is a dead cert against a cold-blooded killer.

In 1983, backstage at the Lyceum in London, Tracey Thorn and Lindy Morrison first met. Tracey's music career with the Marine Girls had just begun, while Lindy, drummer for The Go-Betweens, was ten years her senior. They became confidantes, comrades and best friends, a relationship cemented by activism and agitprop theatre, lesbian punk bands and rock 'n' roll love affairs. Morrison came to be a kind of mentor to Thorn, a strong female role model in a male dominated industry. They both faced a chauvinist music media wanting them to behave to type.

Adelaide, 1931: Telephone switchboard operator Frances’ life is difficult as sole provider for her mother and adopted uncle. But it’s thrown into turmoil when she overhears a suspicious conversation on the phone, planning a murder. If a life is at risk, she should tell the police; but that would mean breaking her confidentiality clause and would cost her the job. And Frances soon begins to doubt the evidence of her own ears - it was a very bad line, after all. She decides to put it behind her and meets slightly dangerous nightclub owner Jack.

Sydney journalist Chloe Brown is left devastated when her long-term boyfriend finally admits he never wants children. Impulsively, she takes a job on a small country newspaper in Queensland's far north to escape disappointment. But she soon realises that no place is free from trouble or heartache. The grouchy news editor, Finn Latimer, is a former foreign correspondent who has retreated after a family tragedy. Emily, the paper's elegant, 60-something owner, is battling with her husband's desertion. Meanwhile, the whole town is worried when their popular young baker disappears.

If you think you weren't born with confidence, it's time for a reframe. Step beyond imposter syndrome, a crisis of self-belief or a deficit of bravery with this empowering and practical guide to making friends with your fear and building the skills of confidence in every aspect of your life. Human behaviour and performance specialist Mel Schilling walks you step by step through taking control of your relationships, career and life, demonstrating that confidence, resilience and self-esteem are skillsets to be learned and are essential to helping you thrive.

Verity Fassbinder thought no boss could be worse than her perfectionist ex-boyfriend—until she agreed to work for a fallen angel. The angel is a jealous—and violent—employer, so she's quit working for the Weyrd Council and sent her family away. The angel has tasked Verity with finding two lost treasures. That would be hard even without a vengeful Dusana Nadasy on her heels. And Inspector McIntyre won't stop calling: the bodies of Normal women who disappeared decades ago are turning up, apparently subjected to Weyrd magics.

When tragedy brings biological sisters Jessica Williams and Reeve Elliot together, the initial shock of learning of each other’s existence is quickly replaced by a commitment to be there for each other. As the bond between the two women deepens, their relationship is tested in ways they’d never have imagined. When Jess’s past comes back to haunt her, the nightmare that is Reeve’s present intensifies.