The Farm at Peppertree Crossing
Australian Rural Romance, Allen & Unwin July 2020
~A traumatic past, an unexpected inheritance, and a family whose secrets are kept by the town~
Surrendered at birth, city-girl Roni has convinced herself she has no need of anyone – other than her not-as-tough-as-he-looks rescued street cat, Scritches, and her unborn baby, who she’s determined will feel all the love she was denied.
In South Australia, rural matriarch Marian faces her mortality with her customary forthrightness. Deciding to right the wrongs done by her family, she bestows her estate upon her estranged niece, Roni. However, this is no simple inheritance: Marian seeks to control her legacy from beyond the grave by setting tasks – which disguise life-lessons gleaned from the tragedies of her own past – that Roni must complete before she can claim the property that could change her future.
Planning to sell the farm and return to the mundane but safe familiarity of Sydney, Roni’s decision is complicated by an unexpected friendship with her aunt’s life-partner, a reluctant attraction to the farm manager, Matt – who inexplicably seems to believe he has a claim to Peppertree Crossing – and the discovery that her birth mother is still alive and wants her share …of both Matt and the property.
Slowly unearthing the years of dark secrets hidden within the tiny rural community, Roni must somehow survive betrayal, heartbreak and loss if she is to eventually find joy. Above all, she must learn to trust in the truth of Marian’s most important lesson: everyone deserves love.
The Farm at Peppertree Crossing is a story of intergenerational friendship, finding humour in unexpected places, grief, the pursuit of dreams – and, most importantly, love.
'Everything you want in a ruro - so much heart, humour and hope!'
~ Sandie Docker, Best-selling author
'Well layered and offers a tapestry of intrigue and well-developed characters'
~ Happy Valley BooksRead
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Malicious Desire
Published under my pen name, Laney Kaye.
Women's Fiction/Outback Noir/Romantic Suspense
They think they can break her.
But if life hasn’t succeeded, how can four men?
Now she'll fight for freedom — and revenge.
-Terror and forbidden desire stalk the heart of the Australian Outback -
A trip to the beach with her elementary class turns into teacher Kayla Petrovic’s worst nightmare.
Abducted.
Held for ransom.
For years, she’s believed she’s nothing more than the whore of her alcoholic mother’s taunts, trading her body for a roof, food, money, and stealing men’s hearts to heal her emptiness. But when the kidnappers threaten her students, she’ll sacrifice everything, including the last vestige of her self-respect, to save them.
Hardened army veteran, Captain Nick West, bears his own scars—not all of them visible.
He knows how to handle a world turned to shit. He’ll get in, retrieve the hostages, and get out, doing little damage —except to the kidnappers. They’re fair game. What he doesn’t expect is the kick in the chest—worse than the recoil on a sniper's rifle—of recognizing there’s something special about the woman he rescues. After years of avoiding emotional
intimacy, he's sure as hell not interested in her.
Love is a weakness he will never permit.
Refusing to be labelled a victim, but haunted by PTSD-induced nightmares and ashamed of her illicit desire for Nick, Kayla is desperate to find a way free. When a kidnapper tracks her down, hell-bent on revenge, can she discover the strength to save not only herself, but the one man she may be able to love?
The Bent, Not Broken series:
Stories of the immense strength of women facing almost insurmountable odds, and the men who will love them—if they are allowed.
Trigger warnings: story contains possible triggers, including but not limited to: physical violence, cutting, self-harm, alcoholism, abduction.