Fiction Genres Recent Picks

New Zealand fiction

February 2011

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All that we remember / Zoë Adams.
"When a young woman loses her memory after a traumatic car accident, she decides to recuperate in her palatial family home, a gorgeous mansion set high on the cliffs, which is about to be sold. Seizing this as her last opportunity to enjoy summer there and hoping it will stimulate her memory, which is alarmingly blank for large sections of her childhood, she moves in. But instead of the peace she is seeking, she begins to relive someone else's memories of the house, and her every movement stirs another presence" (Amazon)

Hand me down world / Lloyd Jones.
"A quiet, mysterious, unnamed woman has come from Africa on an impassioned quest. From the shoreline of Tunisia to the confusion of Berlin, she relies on strangers, some generous, some exploitive, to guide her passage, encountering love and betrayal in its many guises along the way. When the truth behind this spellbinding story is finally revealed, we are forced to revisit everything that has goon before." (Book cover)

Branded by fire / Nalini Singh.
"Though DarkRiver sentinel Mercy is feeling the pressure to mate, she savagely resists when Riley Kincaid, a lieutenant from the SnowDancer pack, tries to possess her. The problem is not simply that he pushes her buttons; the problem is that he's a wolf, she's a cat, and they're both used to being on top. But when a brilliant changeling researcher is kidnapped from DarkRiver territory, Mercy and Riley must work together to track the young man before his shadowy captors decide he's no longer useful. Along the way, the two dominants may find that submitting to one another uncovers not just a deadly conspiracy, but a passion so raw that it'll leave them both branded by fire." (Book cover)

The legend of Beau Baxter / Ivan Dunn.
"Beau Baxter is a loveable rogue who may (or may not have played as part of the Invincibles. A physically handsome, strapping specimen of manhood, who is also part Red Indian, Beau is inveigled into the Maori All Blacks bay a conniving coach who sees Beau’s raw potential. Our hero is soon caught up in a bawdy farce of subterfuge and naughtiness, mainly involving the pert young wife of the President of the NZRFU. From there he progresses to the role of contender for the Invincibles, and much borax is poked at conventional history and post-Edwardian sensibilities, not to mention Spank-me Sally." (Book cover)

Gifted : a novel / by Patrick Evans.
"One day in 1955 the ‘father of the nation’s fiction’ finds a young woman on his doorstep. A writer herself she has recently emerged from a lengthy spell in hospital and is looking for somewhere safe to live and write. Somewhat to his own surprise, not to mention discomfort, he takes her in. What happens behind that high Takapuna hedge in the ensuing year is the story told in this delightful moving novel." (Book cover)

The graphologist's apprentice / Whiti Hereaka.
"When January’s obsession with a married man begins to jeopardise her emotional stability, she decides to risk it all and respond to a mysterious card with the word “Tell me a secret”. Not content with her home life or work place, January takes comfort in reading romance novels but is suddenly brought back to reality when she meets the secret keeper, Mae, a graphologist. (Book cover)

Surrender / Donna Malane.
"Missing persons expert, Diane Rowe, is used to making sense of other people’s lives. Pity she’s not having much luck with her own. The brutal murder of her little sister, and the break-up of her marriage have tested her usual optimism. When Niki’s killer turns up dead, Diane sets out to nail the truth. But uncovering Niki’s seedy past reveals truths and dangers she never expected, or wanted to face." (Book cover)

Blood lines / T.K. Roxborogh.
"Fleance is the new King of Scotland but he is a ruler of a divided nation. According to his advisors he must marry a woman from a royal bloodline to strengthen his position. It seems that Rachel, sister of Fleance’s dead friend King Duncan will be next Queen of Scotland, although Fleance cannot forget Rosie, his first love. But when Rachel is abducted, Fleance’s position becomes more dangerous and a bloody civil war seems inevitable." (Book cover)

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